A story of siloed scientists
In view of yesterday’s first ever guilty verdict of a former U.S. President I considered not posting at all today, but I wish to distract you with fascinating article I have now read twice while several readers independently flagged the article to me as a landmark story well worth the time to read.
The story by Sharon Learner first appeared on line by ProPublica on May 20. The title in ProPublica was “Toxic Gaslighting: How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe”. The same article appeared the same day in the New Yorker under the title “How 3M Discovered, Then Concealed, the Dangers of Forever Chemicals.” (Click either title to read. You may run into a paywall with The New Yorker.)
Of course, the story’s local relevance plays out on the West Plains. Officials associated with Spokane International Airport, almost certainly including Spokane County Commissioner Al French (who serves the Airport’s board), knew that PFAS (the “forever chemicals”) from fire fighting foams used on site were found in test wells in 2017—but kept the discovery quiet even as French’s downstream constituents, kept in the dark, drank PFAS-laden water.
Read the story and marvel at how company profits override consideration of human health.
Keep to the high ground,
Jerry