Representatives of four Alaska-based organizations will present a film and discussion this evening in Fairbanks about PFAS contamination in communities around Alaska, and worldwide.
The film is titled “Revealed: How to Poison a Planet.” It outlines a years-long campaign by environmental activists to draw attention to the health hazards caused by PFOS, one of a group of chemical compounds known collectively as PFAS.
“We're presenting this film because PFOS contamination in Fairbanks is a very real and urgent public health issue,” says Pam Miller. She’s the executive director of Anchorage-based Alaska Community Action on Toxics, or ACAT.
Miller said the film will be shown for the first time in Alaska during tonight’s event at the Carlson Center. It’ll be followed by a panel discussion.
“ There are over 500 PFAS-contaminated sites around Alaska,” she said. “So this is a statewide issue. It's a national is issue, it's an international issue.”
PFAS contamination is widespread because the chemical compounds have been used in numerous products worldwide -- like Teflon non-stick cookware, carpeting, cosmetics and food packaging. One of the biggest sources of contamination comes from fire-suppressing foam, mainly used by airport fire departments.
But Miller says the contamination is no longer confined to airfields like those at Fairbanks International, Eielson Air Force Base, and the city’s Regional Fire Training Center. It’s now showing up in outlying areas.
“There are problems in rural Alaska Native communities with PFAS,” she said.
That’s been shown in studies like those conducted by the National Institutes of Health on Alaska Native villages on St. Lawrence Island and Native American communities in the Lower 48.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PFAS has been shown to cause health problems that include cancer, immune- and reproductive-system disorders and developmental problems in young children.
Miller says that’s why the four organizations that organized tonight’s event are urging elected officials to respond to the problem in Alaska. Those organizations are ACAT, Citizens for Clean Air, Just Transition Collective and the Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition.
“We're also pushing for state legislation that will establish health protective, enforceable drinking water standards, which we don't yet have.”
The doors open for tonight's event at the Carlson Center at 5:30 p.m., and the program begins at 6.
The event was organized by ACAT, Citizens for Clean Air, Just Transition Collective and the Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition.
