Green Foundation Ireland hosted a talk “Persistent Organic Pollutants: Pathways to human consumption” which took place online on 16 Sep 2025. Our guest speaker was CIARAN MONAHAN, a postdoctoral researcher in University College Dublin. His research interests include education, environmental risk assessment, and food safety.
A number of persistent pollutants, such as PFAS (forever chemicals, the ones on the non-stick pans) and microplastics resulting from human activities, are ubiquitous in our natural systems. These chemicals can enter human food chains through a number of pathways with a range of potential health impacts. Our talk explored these pathways, as well as demonstrating methods for reducing their presence in foods.
Below you can see a video of this event.
Ciaran Monahan