The Fight Over Toxic Chemicals - with Dr. Philip Landrigan

The nation's leading expert on environmental toxins talks about his work and recent study on glyphosate.

This week on Green Street, Patti and Doug dedicate the entire program to their interview with the nation's leading expert on environmental toxins, Dr. Philip Landrigan. Over a career spanning decades, Dr. Landrigan has been out front on efforts to inform the public about the links between common environmental exposure and human health, including groundbreaking work on lead, asbestos, and pesticides. A pediatrician by training, Dr. Landrigan is currently the Director of the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good, and Director of the Global Observatory on Planetary Health at the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society at Boston College.

The Fight Over Toxic Chemicals - with Dr. Philip Landrigan

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Links from the interview

Glyphosate study: "Carcinogenic effects of long-term exposure from prenatal life to glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides in Sprague-Dawley rats" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40490737/

Dr. Landrigan's page at Boston College: https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/morrissey/departments/biology/people/faculty-directory/Phil-Landrigan.html

The Ramazzini Institute web page: https://www.collegiumramazzini.org/

Dr. Philip Landrigan

The Battle Over Plastic - with Judith Enck

Legislators are hesitant to make action to regulate plastic, but the problem gets worse every day.

In the news this week, Patti and Doug talk about the surprising toxicity of homes of Los Angeles due to the recent fires, and the decades of delay for people in Chicago waiting to get rid of lead pipes. Then former EPA Regional Administrator and Beyond Plastics founder Judith Enck talks about the recent battle in New York State over legislation to reduce the amount of plastic in product packaging.  

Green Street - The Battle Over Plastic, with Judith Enck

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Links from the Interview

The website of Beyond Plastics: https://www.beyondplastics.org/

Links from the News

California Homes That Escaped Fire Didn't Escape Toxins: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/24/realestate/los-angeles-fires-toxic-homes.html

It's OK for People in Chicago to Wait 50 Years for Lead Pipe Replacement: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26062025/chicago-lead-pipe-replacement-plan/

Pollinators in Peril - with Dr. Tara Cornelisse

Changes in our environment are having a devastating impact on the little creatures who make our natural world function.

This week on Green Street, Patti and Doug discuss the EPA’s plan to ease scheduled restrictions on certain types of asbestos, and the failure of the New York Assembly to pass any of the strong environmental protection bills which had broad public and legislative support. Then entomologist Dr. Tara Cornelisse, Lead Zoologist of NatureServe, joins the conversation to talk about the plight of our pollinator population, and what we need to do to protect this critical part of our interdependent natural world.

Pollinators in Peril - with Dr. Tara Cornelisse

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Links from the Interview

Website of NatureServe: https://www.natureserve.org/

More about Dr. Cornelisse: https://www.natureserve.org/whos-who/staff/87171

Tara's study on the plight of pollinators: https://www.natureserve.org/news-releases/over-one-fifth-native-north-american-pollinators-elevated-risk-extinction

Links from the News

EPA planning to ease scheduled restrictions on asbestos: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/us/epa-trump-asbestos-ban-delay.html

New York legislature fails to adopt any environmental bills: https://www.wxxinews.org/new-york-public-news-network/2025-06-18/ny-lawmakers-halt-brakes-on-plastic-packaging-and-other-environmental-bills

Dr. Tara Cornelisse - Lead Zoologist at NatureServe