Main content

Forever chemicals

What goes into our water supply and never comes out? We find out if levels of so-called ‘forever chemicals’ are too high in our drinking water.

PFAS chemicals, also known as forever chemicals, don’t break down in the environment. They can accumulate in the body and are found to have an array of harmful effects on human health.

A major mapping project has revealed worryingly high levels of PFAS across thousands of sites in the UK. Experts are concerned that not enough is being done to reduce these chemicals from drinking water. They’re urging the government to re-evaluate current regulation. This week we dive into the properties of these chemicals: how dangerous are they and what can be done to protect public health? Professor Crispin Halsall, an environmental chemist from Lancaster University, tells us more.

As charges are brought against four people for stealing and selling on US$1 million of dinosaur bones, we find out about the illegal – and legal – trade in fossils from palaeontologist Professor Steve Brusatte.

New research has discovered the Moon is 40 million years older than we previously thought. Professor Sara Russell, a cosmic mineralogist and planetary scientist from the Natural History Museum, tells us more.

And is there something we can we learn from animals about how to age better? Nicklas Brendborg discusses his book, Jellyfish Age Backwards: Nature’s Secrets to Longevity, which has been shortlisted for the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize.

Presenter:  Victoria Gill
Producers: Hannah Robins, Harrison Lewis and Alice Lipscombe-Southwell
Editor: Richard Collings
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

±«Óãtv Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Thu 26 Oct 2023 21:00

Broadcasts

  • Thu 26 Oct 2023 16:30
  • Thu 26 Oct 2023 21:00

Explore further with The Open University

±«Óãtv Inside Science is produced in partnership with The Open University.

Podcast