Living in a World of Chemicals - with Dr. Arlene Blum

We all live in a chemical soup, and some of those chemicals can be really harmful. Dr. Arlene Blum is working to make things better.

This week on Green Street, Patti and Doug talk about big problems for Fiji water, how the EPA is eliminating a database of hazardous chemicals used by scientists around the world, and how RFK Jr., wants to eliminate food dyes from most foods in America. Then Dr. Arlene Blum, founder and CEO of the Green Science Policy Institute, talks about the health and safety problems associated with flame retardants in lithium-ion battery housings, and her work trying to get regulators to look substances, in this case polymers, that are currently unregulated.

Living in a World of Chemicals with Dr. Arlene Blum

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Links from the Interview

Home page of the amazing Dr. Arlene Blum: https://www.arleneblum.com/

The Green Chemistry Policy Institute: https://greensciencepolicy.org/

Dr. Blum's latest column in Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/arleneblum/2025/02/02/why-are-toxic-flame-retardants-in-your-earbuds/

Links from the News:

The Plastic Pollution Coalition files a lawsuit against Fiji water: https://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/blog/2025/2/3/plastic-pollution-coalition-files-false-and-deceptive-marketing-complaint-against-makers-of-fiji-water

Republicans take aim at the EPA's IRIS database: https://www.propublica.org/article/legislation-targets-epa-science-toxic-chemicals

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to rid the food supply of harmful dyes: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/12/rfk-jr-pressures-pepsico-kraft-heinz-to-remove-artificial-dyes.html#:~:text=Removing%20artificial%20dyes%20from%20the,that%20was%20viewed%20by%20CNBC.