Time zones: 10 AM Alaska / 11 AM Pacific / 2 PM Eastern
This conversation followed up on a previous webinar on the science behind the recent documentary "The Plastic Detox" to explore how chemical exposures are playing out in one of the most rapidly changing regions on Earth: the Arctic.
In this CHE Alaska webinar, leading environmental and reproductive epidemiologist Dr. Shanna Swan joined Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT) Executive Director and Senior Scientist, Pamela Miller, to connect the science behind endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), plastics, and fertility to emerging realities in Arctic communities. As climate change reshapes ecosystems, shifts in food systems, and global pollution pathways, Arctic populations face unique and often disproportionate exposures to persistent chemicals.
Together, they examined what we know about plastics and reproductive health, how scientific findings featured in the astonishing documentary “The Plastic Detox” translate to Arctic contexts, and what policy changes are needed to protect the health of individuals and communities.
Featured Speakers
Pamela Miller, the founder and Executive Director of ACAT since 1997, brings more than 35 years of research, education, and advocacy experience in environmental health and justice to her present work. Pam is currently an elected member of the Steering Committee and served as Co-Chair of the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) from 2009-2025, a coalition of more than 700 public interest organizations from more than 130 countries. She is also a principal investigator for community-based research projects supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. She was the recipient of the Alaska Conservation Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.
Shanna H. Swan, PhD, MS, has worked for over twenty-five years to understand the threats posed by chemicals to our environment and our health, and, when necessary, to develop new paradigms to assess their risks. Of most concern to Dr. Swan are the chemicals that our bodies can confuse with its own hormones (the “endocrine disrupting” chemicals). At the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Dept of Preventive Medicine, Dr. Swan is working with a wide range of collaborators, including epidemiologists, biostatisticians, toxicologists, geneticists and systems biologists, to conduct studies and develop methods to evaluate the risks from such chemicals — methods that are sensitive enough to tease out the often subtle health effects of complex mixtures
This webinar will be hosted by the CHE-Alaska Partnership, which is coordinated by Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT). Driven by a core belief in environmental justice, ACAT empowers communities to eliminate exposure to toxics through collaborative research, shared science, education, organizing, and advocacy.