1042 - The Red Hill Water Crisis: How Jet Fuel Contaminated the Water Supply of More Than 60,000 People

About this episode: A 2021 leak of jet fuel into the drinking water supply on O'ahu has caused neurological, gastrointestinal, and respiratory conditions and prompted outrage from community members. In this episode: the story of an in-depth investigation into the disaster, which covered how to measure exposure and support the individuals and families compromised by this crisis. Guest: Natalie Exum, PhD, MS, is an assistant professor of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an affiliate of the Johns Hopkins University Water Institute. Andrew Whelton, PhD, MS, is a professor of civil and construction engineering at Purdue University. Host: Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department. Show links and related content: Clinical Follow-up and Care for Those Impacted by the JP-5 Releases at Red Hill—National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine About the Fuel Releases at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility—United States Environmental Protection Agency How to Investigate a Cancer Cluster—Public Health On Call (December 2025) Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌PublicHealthPod on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.