Toxicology & Communities of Resistance: Melina Packer

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In Episode 18, “Toxicology & Communities of Resistance," I’m speaking with Melina Packer, Ph.D.

Melina is a postdoctoral research associate in the Feminist Lenses for Animal Interaction Research (FLAIR) Lab at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is currently writing a queer feminist history of toxicology in the U.S., in which she argues that racial, gendered, and economic hierarchies are embedded into the science itself. These inherent biases, in turn, help explain how and why marginalized peoples remain disproportionately more exposed to toxic environmental chemicals.
In our conversation, Melina explores:

• How society became inundated with synthetic chemicals or toxicants.
  
• How women, especially women of color, factory- and farm-workers, LGBTQ+ people, and members of other socially marginalized groups, are often over-burdened by toxic exposures.
  
• What endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are and how they challenge core tenets of toxicology.
  
• How over-exposed communities are pushing back against the chemical industry.

Melina Packer’s website

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1. Toxicology & Communities of Resistance: Melina Packer (00:00:00)

2. Aaron introduces the podcast and episode. (00:00:05)

3. Melina talks about Black feminist and queer theory and their connections to toxicology. (00:04:12)

4. Melina talks about her personal background and how it connects to her research. (00:06:23)

5. Melina explains why she started studying toxicology. (00:07:38)

6. Melina explores how societies became inundated with toxicants. (00:10:31)

7. Melina shares how toxicants in the US are under-regulated and how laws favor corporations. (00:17:15)

8. Melina talks about citizen science and how regulations could better match many people's needs. (00:21:21)

9. Melina shares how women's experiences with chemicals are not widely understood by toxicologists. (00:27:27)

10. Melina shares more problems with toxicology. (00:32:38)

11. Melina talks about communities that have pushed back against chemical manufacturers and laws that do not protect them. (00:36:37)

12. Melina talks about DES and thalidomide. (00:42:47)

13. Melina speaks about "the need to care" and how this is relevant to toxicology. (00:55:21)

14. Melina talks about how sharing one's experiences about MCS online is a form of activism. (01:00:20)

15. Aaron concludes the episode. (01:03:05)