Sarah Sorci Sarah Sorci

PFAS, Part 3: To what extent are PFAS taken up by plants?

Uptake of PFAS can also vary by plant species, and depending on which plant part we’re looking at. Do PFAS tend to accumulate in some parts more than others?

In general, fruits and seeds tend to have lower concentrations of PFAS than leaves and stems (University of Maine).

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A New Year's Ode to Rachel Carson

Future historians may well be amazed by our distorted sense of proportion. How could intelligent beings seek to control a few unwanted species by a method that contaminated the entire environment and brought the threat of disease and death even to their own kind? Yet this is precisely what we have done. We have done it, moreover, for reasons that collapse the moment we examine them. 

-Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (19)

Rachel Carson's story has been featured in several books I've picked up recently, including Living Downstream by Sandra Steingraber and Paul Hawken's Blessed Unrest. When I discovered that several friends hadn't heard of her, I felt moved to feature Rachel here. Though I'm not one to feel starstruck by a film actor or rock star, imagining what I might have said to Rachel Carson (if I'd had the opportunity before she passed) makes me feel a bit weak in the knees. Really, "Thank you!" is all there is to say for her brave and groundbreaking work for environmental sustainability and justice.

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Sarah Sorci Sarah Sorci

Biosolids #2: Industrial, Household, & Ag Chemicals

This is the second of several articles exploring the use of biosolids in agriculture and residential composting products. We begin with general info about contaminants in biosolids—which wastewater treatment can and cannot remove—and how well plants may absorb those contaminants. 

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Sarah Sorci Sarah Sorci

Biosolids, Part 1: An Orientation

This is the first of several articles exploring the use of biosolids in agriculture and residential composting products. We will start with general info about contaminants in biosolids, which contaminants wastewater treatment can and cannot remove, and begin to explore how well plants absorb those contaminants.

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