Toxic Justice

Subscribe to The Poison Detectives on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

In this episode, everyone has given up on the regulators, who move slowly if at all. Lawsuits are filed by Diane Cotter’s husband Paul and his colleagues. The union, the International Association of Fire Fighters, sues the National Fire Protection Association, which sets the safety standards for firefighting equipment. And lawyer Rob Bilott files a class action suit, which includes every person in the U.S., and requires the chemical companies to pay for blood tests of all 325 million Americans. Will the chemical companies let him get away with it?

And we learn about Diane Cotter’s hardest days. After years of abuse on social media, email attacks and shunning, she felt she couldn’t go on. But something pulled her back from the edge.

Do you have questions or comments? Email us at [email protected]

Subscribe to The Poison Detectives on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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.

We are crowdfunding to cover the cost of this podcast.

If you'd like to contribute, as little as five dollars per month can help support this work.

Support this podcast

See all episodes