When groundwater or soil near hazardous waste sites become contaminated with certain chemicals, such as volatile organic compounds, vapors from the contaminants can move up into the air of nearby homes and businesses. This process is called vapor intrusion and can result in unexpected exposure to contaminants in indoor air. Vapor intrusion can be difficult to identify, so when residents learn that vapor intrusion is a problem in their homes or communities it can be quite distressing. In this podcast, we’ll hear how researchers are working to better characterize and predict vapor intrusion so they can help communities understand what it may mean for their health. We will also share tips for improving the air quality in your home.

Vapor Intrusion and Your Health

This podcast series explores how environmental exposures affect our health. Each short episode highlights ways researchers work in partnership with community groups to understand and address environmental health issues.

Natural Sciences

Science & Medicine

Science

In this episode, Sappho Gilbert, a doctoral candidate at Yale University School of Public Health, discusses her NIEHS-funded project to better understand how climate change and other environmental factors are altering food security and nutrition among Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic.

Food Security, Nutrition, and Indigenous Health in the Arctic

In this episode, Kari Nadeau, M.D., Ph.D., talks about how climate change and air pollution affect children’s health. She also discusses what health care professionals, policy makers, and parents can do to better protect kids from climate change- and air-pollution-related health impacts.

Climate Change, Air Pollution, and Children’s Health and Your Health

In this episode, Laurel Schaider, Ph.D., talks about how PFAS exposures affect health and how communities can learn more about this large class of chemicals, including ways to reduce exposure.

PFAS and Your Health

In this episode, we hear from Elizabeth Shapiro-Garza, Ph.D., from Duke University, and Veronica Carter, with the North Carolina Coastal Federation. They discuss “Stop, Check, Enjoy!” a campaign to help fishers in southeastern North Carolina understand the risks of consuming certain fish from the Cape Fear River. They also share tips on how to choose, prepare, and cook fish to reduce exposure to harmful contaminants.

Campaign Promotes Eating Safer Fish

In this episode, we’ll hear from Rachel Morello-Frosch, Ph.D., who discusses how historical policies have shaped disparities in health and environmental exposures today.

Vapor Intrusion and Your Health

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