The effects of chemicals found in plastics is the focus of October's Whanganui Science Forum talk.
Dr Trisia Farrelly will speak about "Disposable plastics: a toxic addiction", addressing the issues around compounds in plastics that have an endocrine (hormone) mimicking or disrupting effect.
Dr Farrelly is a senior lecturer in social anthropology at Massey University and the co-director of Massey University's Political Ecology Research Centre. She is also a co-founder of the New Zealand Product Stewardship Council and the environmental lobby group Carrying Our Future and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Dr Farrelly's current research focus is the political ecologies of waste, specifically plastic waste.
Strange effects on growth, reproduction and development of many species of animals have been linked to chemicals that are frequently found in plastics. Dr Farrelly's talk at the Whanganui Science Forum will address:
- What are endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs)?
- Which EDCs can leach from plastics and which are attracted to plastics?
- What does this mean for human and non-human health?
- What are the politics associated with this issue?
