Secret Ingredient

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It begins with an unlikely detective. Diane Cotter wasn’t a researcher, a scientist, a journalist or a sleuth. But she became all of that after her firefighting husband got cancer. Then, dozens of his firefighting colleagues also got cancer. Diane suspected it was more than just occupational risk that caused these cancers.

She set out to answer questions of how and why and found herself pulled into a rabbit hole where the world appeared upside down. She discovered that the protective suits firefighters wear are contaminated with chemicals – called PFAS – that can kill. She found a scientist to test the gear for the chemicals, and the results are shocking. But it wasn’t enough to convince the union and the agency that approves the equipment.

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A firefighter’s wife and a corporate lawyer in different parts of the U.S. get pulled into solving separate mysteries. Something was making cows die and deer hemorrhage to death in West Virginia. That same something could also be giving firefighters cancer — all over the country.

When the lawyer and the firefighter’s wife met, they found out they were working on the same mystery.

The mystery was caused by a human-made chemical that environmental regulators should have known about but didn’t. A chemical that is said to be so toxic, it is unclear if any contact with it is safe.

The chemical was created by a corporate giant, and then another corporate giant began using it to provide the world with so-called revolutionary products. Products that come with a very steep price.

This is a fascinating story of two people unravelling a ball of yarn that would reveal the poisoning of the world.

Funding for this podcast came from Dragonfly Ventures and the Institute for Sustainability, Education and Action.

The Poison Detectives podcast is also Supported by Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia.

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