The Forever Chemicals - a Great Lakes Now documentary

It’s a curious acronym — PFAS — and it stands for a family of chemicals that’s in most homes and being detected in an increasing number of people’s water systems around the world. Research is only beginning to determine the health effects and what, if any, treatment there might be. In this documentary, produced in partnership with MLive Media Group, the Great Lakes Now team explores what this new water crisis has meant for families and communities in west Michigan.

Support for this documentary was provided by the Ravitch Fiscal Reporting program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.

Great Lakes Now shares stories about the Great Lakes Basin and the 40 million people who live, work and study here.
SUPPORT for Great Lakes Now comes from the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, Laurie & Tim Wadhams, Consumers Energy Foundation, Eve & Jerry Jung, the Polk Family Fund, the Richard C. Devereaux Foundation Fund for Energy and Environmental Programming at Detroit Public Television, Americana Foundation and the Brookby Foundation as well as from viewers and readers like you.

[jimmy]

From Michigan here, everywhere I fish they have signs saying I can’t eat fish because of high leveles of pfas, I would really appreciate a follow up on this, this is really relevant to my life and hobby’s.

[hollynonya]

We're so blessed with all this fresh water that the world envies in these drought times
How dare we take advantage of this world wonder
Clean this crap up!

[laurajimenezgarcia]

Hello! My law school's law review journal is preparing to publish a piece that cites to this documentary. Is there any possibility we could obtain a transcript of this piece to annotate it? We are looking forward to having this documentary cited in our journal!

[granskare]

In Illinois, we have what is called "creeping charlie" it has deep roots, I put at my mom's former camp at the end of Shelter Bay road and I believe it is still holding the land. It ought to be looked at and see what it does.

[johnneedy]

Well we HAD MOSIER LEATHER HERE IN New Albany, Indiana, there is a " pond" where they dumped there stuff, said was cleaned up, the nick name for the dump is blood pond, my God you ought to seen the frogs and fish that came out of there, now they call the area the ( green way)

[santatigerclaus]

a friend bought a expensive house on the rogue river near belmont, quietly moved to texas shortly after claiming "dislike of cold" -more like dislike of toxic water

[jayarnold]

So if I throw out scotch guard treated products I am contributing to the problem? This stuff is still being made isn't it ? I bet it is being dumped into a Chinese or third world river as you read this.

[jaco]

I live in Belmont (which is located in Plainfield Township). Plainfield Township is CONSTANTLY squandering money on bike trails, parks, and a myriad of other unnecessary expenditures year after year. They’d have plenty of money to kick-in a few coins for contamination clean-up if they weren’t spending so much time looking for ways to use up all our excess tax money. SMH

[CmmnSns]

The people crack me up doint you do research before you buy a house?