Teaser: The Chemistry of Pollution

In this miniseries, Chain Reaction takes listeners on a sweeping journey through the hidden chemistry of pollution—above us, around us, and beneath our feet.The series begins with the air we breathe, tracing how chemists developed tools to detect invisible pollutants and how those discoveries revealed major public health crises, from urban smog and industrial emissions to the often‑overlooked danger of polluted indoor air.From the sky, the story flows into water, where marine and analytical chemists unravel how things like plastics and “forever chemicals” move through oceans and drinking water, threatening ecosystems and human health alike. Then the focus shifts downward, to soil to explore how pollutants accumulate underground and how chemists tackle the complex challenge of remediation.Finally, we will zoom out to look at the planet as a whole and the systems we need to protect most.Together, these episodes reveal pollution as a deeply interconnected chemical problem—and show how chemistry is key to understanding, mitigating, and ultimately repairing our planet. Transcripts and episode sources at acs.org/chainreaction