Environmental hazards near schools

Environmental hazards near schools

Author: PNAS September 21, 2026 Duration: 10:46

Schools' proximities to hazardous materials sites

Science Sessions are brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, National Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us.

In this episode, Matthew Kraft maps the proximities of schools to hazardous materials sites.

In this episode, we cover:
•[00:00] Introduction.
•[00:59] Education and economics researcher Matthew Kraft recounts the background of the study. 
•[02:11] He introduces the hazardous waste sites included in the study.
•[03:50] Kraft talks about what surprised him about mapping results.
•[05:08] He lists the risks these sites might pose to the millions of children and thousands of employees at these schools.
•[06:09] Kraft lists the groups of students disproportionately potentially exposed to hazardous waste sites.
•[07:00] He talks about the takeaways for policymakers.
•[08:03] He lists the caveats and limitations of the study.
•[10:21] Conclusion.

About Our Guest:

Matthew Kraft
Professor 
Brown University

View related content here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2605971123

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