Perjantaina 13.10. apulaisprofessori Katya Cronin piti vierailuluennon otsikolla ”Organic Food Meets Organic Pollutants: The Legal, Economic, and Practical Implications of PFAS-Contaminated Sustainable Food. Luennolla hän käsitteli perfluorattuja alkyyliyhdisteitä (lyhennettynä PFAS) kulkeutumista ympäristöön ja ruokaan sekä sitä, millaisia yhteyksiä terveyteen näillä yhdisteillä on havaittu. Erityisen tarkastelun kohteena olivat PFAS-yhdisteet luomuelintarvikkeissa sekä PFAS-tuotannon ja -käytön nykyinen sääntelykehys. Tutustu luennon tarkempaan sisältöön luennon englanninkielisestä kuvauksesta sekä luennon luentokalvoista alta.
Organic Food Meets Organic Pollutants: The Legal, Economic, and Practical Implications of PFAS-Contaminated Sustainable Food
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (or PFAS, for short) are wreaking havoc on our food systems and our health. Recent studies link even small exposure to PFAS to a host of adverse health outcomes, including thyroid disease, liver damage, kidney and testicular cancer, autoimmune disease, childhood obesity, reproductive problems, and birth defects. And food consumption is one of the main routes of exposure.
Organic farming practices have long been our best defenses against toxic contaminants in food. These defenses alone, however, cannot stand against the pressures of persistent organic pollutants like PFAS. From water to soil to fertilizers, compost, and even the air, PFAS find their way into sustainable and organic farms at an ever-increasing pace, contaminating everything in their path. This year alone, PFAS has turned up in high concentrations in organic dairy, eggs, and vegetables.
This presentation will delve deeper into the issue of PFAS in agriculture and, specifically, in organic food. It will explore in depth PFAS contamination of food as an inevitable by-product of our polluted environment, the current regulatory framework of PFAS production and use, and the steps that farmers and others impacted by this crisis can take to navigate the many challenges posed by it.
Katya Cronin – Bio
Katya Cronin is an Associate Professor in the Fundamentals of Lawyering Program at the George Washington University Law School in Washington, DC. Professor Cronin’s research resides at the intersection of food and health law. Her recent scholarship explores the issue of food contamination through environmental pollutants and Professor Cronin often speaks on these issues at food law and agricultural policy events in the United States and Europe.