Episode notes
Former workers at Saint-Gobain’s New Hampshire plant share what they did — and didn’t — know about PFOA and its potential health effects. And how the chemical industry has worked to sow doubt to its own benefit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Podcast
Safe to Drink
NHPR · Tech & Science · English
A New Hampshire town finds out their water has been contaminated by a chemical. Their most basic question — whether the water is safe to drink — doesn’t have a clear answer. Nobody seems to know much about this so-called forever chemical, which is weird because… this has all happened before. From t
More from Safe to Drink All episodes →
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4 Jun 2026 · 49 min
Bonus: Community Resilience
Hear more on the research into how "forever chemicals" impact our health and how communities can actually come together to face environmental threats like PFAS in this excerpt from the conversation at NHPR's 2026 Climate Summit. The panel, moderated by Safe to Drink Senior Producer, Jason Moon: Safe to Drink Host Mara Hoplamazian Community organizer Victor Davila of Slingshot Vermont Environmental health researcher Dr. Julia Varshavsky of Northeastern University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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S1 · E4 · 29 Jan 2026 · 46 min
4: The neighborly thing to do
When we’ve been exposed to something that could harm us, what are we supposed to do — as regulators, as doctors, as company executives, or as people just trying to live our lives? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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S1 · E2 · 29 Jan 2026 · 47 min
2: A flash of genius
We go back in time to Hoosick Falls, New York where a man looks for answers after his father dies of cancer following his retirement from the local Saint-Gobain plant. What he finds changes the course of this whole story: a remarkable kind of chemical once used to help make the Atom Bomb that manufacturers knew could be dangerous for decades. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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S1 · E1 · 29 Jan 2026 · 33 min
1: You don’t know about this?
A New Hampshire town finds out its water has been contaminated by a “forever chemical.” The source appears to be the nearby Saint-Gobain plant. Officials say the potential health effects are unclear, but most people can still drink the water. One resident doesn’t buy it and goes down a research rabbit hole. She soon learns all this has happened before. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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13 Dec 2025 · 3 min
Trailer: Safe to Drink
A New Hampshire town finds out their water has been contaminated by a chemical. Their most basic question — whether the water is safe to drink — doesn’t have a clear answer. Nobody seems to know much about this so-called forever chemical, which is weird because… this has all happened before. From the Document team at New Hampshire Public Radio, “Safe to Drink” is a four-part series about the water contamination story that keeps repeating in town after town — and about the people who fought for answers through a maze of chemistry, regulations, and illnesses. Learn more about your ad choices.…
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