This researcher is building a future free of forever chemicals
Northeastern Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Health Sciences Phil Brown is honored for his work tackling contaminants
If you love to scrape off the last bit of mac and cheese from the pan, you might have heard the warnings: don’t do it, especially if you’re using a Teflon pan. That crunchy crust could be laced with so-called “forever chemicals” known scientifically as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
They are organic molecules based on a particularly strong bond that links carbon to fluorine atoms. Notoriously hard to get rid of, experts describe them as a health nightmare. In fact, Northeastern Professor Phil Brown calls PFAS the “biggest current toxic problem.”
Contaminants have been on Brown’s radar for over 40 years, with PFAS being a particular focus for the last 13. His interest in contaminants was sparked in 1985 when a link between toxic waste and childhood leukemia in Woburn, Mass., became the subject of his book No Safe Place: Toxic Waste, Leukemia, and Community Action.
Discovered back in the 1930s, PFAS were initially a godsend when it came to making sure that things “don’t get stuck” to your frying pan—as the Teflon slogan goes—or that your Scotchgard carpet “protects against the things you need to last.”
As Brown explains, the chemicals are used in everything from firefighting foams and building materials to cosmetics, feminine hygiene products, and dental floss. In fact, “almost all plastics production involves the use of PFAS,” and “every airport in the country, every military base, every oil producing area” is a known source, Brown says.
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That very durability means that once they make their way into drinking water, landfills, and the bodies of living things, they stay there for good.
Over the years, research has shown that PFAS can elevate cholesterol levels, disrupt immune functions that make vaccines – such as the combination children’s vaccine DTaP – less effective, and even cause some cancers.
At this point, it’s everywhere. This 2023 map published by the EWG shows that 600 species ranging from pandas to sea lions and tigers have traces of “forever chemicals” in their bodies, while a 2020 study by the same organization found that a whopping 200 million Americans are affected.
“Virtually every person in the U.S. has PFAS in their blood, based on CDC testing,” Brown says. “It’s so prevalent, that if you just measure rain, you’ll find PFAS … What we’ve done is perpetually poisoned the planet.”
Brown has been at Northeastern since 2012. For all his work on these dangerous chemicals, he was honored earlier this month with a Lifetime Achievement award given jointly by the National PFAS Conference and the National PFAS Contamination Coalition.
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National PFAS Conference Achievement Awards Committee member Courtney Carignan calls Brown a “pioneering force in community-engaged research” who is “consistently centering the voices of affected communities while shaping the direction of the field through scholarship, advocacy, and leadership. As founder of the NAtional PFAS Conference and PFAS Project Lab and co-lead of the PFAS Exchange and PFAS REACH, his career has advanced both scientific understanding and community empowerment.
The National PFAS Contamination Project, in turn, aligns with Brown’s activist streak reflected in the actionable nature of the PFAS Lab’s resources, as well as in his efforts to connect victims with legal resources.
While Brown’s is a reminder that there truly is “no safe place” when it comes to PFAS, he and his colleagues at Northeastern University’s PFAS Project Lab have been studying ways to navigate the dangers and they are building practical solutions to prevent further contamination.
The PFAS Project Lab brings together an interdisciplinary team that cites its mission as being to stop contamination in its tracks before more of the planet and human bodies reap the forever consequences.
The Lab, which has become a central player in all things PFAS, operates under the umbrella of the Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute at Northeastern, where Brown also serves as director. It brings together toxicologists who figure out how “forever chemicals” cause illness, sociologists examining the effects of contamination on the community, public policy scholars setting policy changes in motion, and psychologists who understand the trauma of living with contamination. The Lab regularly organizes community-oriented conferences, gathering experts in the field.
Part of the problem with PFAS is that their chemical structure is invisible, says Brown. Teflon pans aside, you can’t tell if that salmon fillet you ordered at a restaurant is contaminated or if a water-repellent couch cover you’ve been eyeing might be suspicious.
In order to “make the invisible visible,” the Lab has created a set of interactive maps that identify the sources of PFAS across the U.S. The first is dotted with 2,219 orange specks representing known contamination sites. The second is flooded with nearly 80,000 others that mark sites of likely contamination.
Brown co-authored a 2025 paper that explains the findings in detail. Along with flagging firefighting foam as the biggest known culprit, the study pegged suspects that have remained under the radar, such as metal plating facilities that reinforce base materials with metal for added durability or conductivity and electronic plants that manufacture semiconductors that are used in computing.
In addition to shining a light on pollution, the maps illuminate environmental injustice. For example, the Lab’s work showed that PFAS sites are often close to tribal lands and prisons and revealed a positive correlation with income and racial inequalities.
Brown explains that the maps have even inspired Western European journalists to embark on a similar project on their turf. In 2023 the Forever Pollution Project revealed around 23,000 known contamination hotspots in Europe, along with almost as many presumptive ones.
The Lab also posts practical information people can use when making decisions in their daily lives. Want to reduce your exposure? Check out a handy list that suggests skipping the microwave popcorn and opting for nylon or silk dental floss instead of the wax kind. Shopping for a new raincoat? See why the Arcteryx Beta Lightweight Jacket or anything from Houdini and Exped gets the green light.
While creative methods of filtering PFAS out of the body are in the works, preventing further contamination is the way to go for now, says Brown, and he’s making sure that everyone involved is in the best position to do so.
“Most of the products that PFAS are used in, they don’t need to be,” he says.
