FLUOROS 2021 – Global Community Coming Together to Problem-Solve PFAS

Addressing PFAS isn’t easy, but it’s necessary – and worthy of global village problem-solving. That’s the positive and informed approach of leaders of the University of Rhode Island (URI) STEEP (Sources, Transport, Exposure, & Effects of PFAS) Superfund Research Program (SRP), as they prepare for FLOUROS 2021.

“Cooperative efforts are critical to our future as a global community, and FLUOROS Global 2021 is an opportunity for us all to join together to address the PFAS challenge,” says URI Coastal Institute Director Judith Swift, a director of STEEP, a multi-organization effort that includes Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Silent Spring Institute.  

PFAS, “silent” and dangerous chemicals often present in common household goods, industrial settings, and military installations, pose threats to people and the environmental. FLUOROS Global 2021 is a prime opportunity to engage in learning about protecting drinking water and human and natural environments from PFAS – especially when harm is compounded by other global health issues.

“A major concern is the insidious threat of PFAS exposure to the immune system,” states Philippe Grandjean, co-lead of the STEEP SRP and a member of the Harvard team.  “In a time with widespread COVID-19 infections, a fully functional immune system is crucial.” 

And everyone can play a role in helping lessen the effects of PFAS in family, work, and community life; that’s why FLOUROS Global 2021, first offered in 2005, offers a multitude of venues (in-person and virtual), dialogues, and events.

“It’s critical that we come together to disseminate and understand the biomedical and environmental research advances we’re making on the PFAS front, so we can ultimately minimize both human exposure and environmental effects,” says URI Professor of Chemical Oceanography Rainer Lohmann, a lead STEEP researcher.

FLUOROS Global 2021 – International Perspectives on PFAS Science” takes place October 3-7, 2021, both in-person at the WaterFire Fine Arts Center (Providence, RI) and virtually on-line. More Information.