dr. (Abby) AM Onencan

Biography

Abby M Onencan's core areas of interest and expertise are 'forever chemicals,'  environmental harm, state-corporate crime, systems engineering and environmental governance. Her research focuses on industrial environmental harms, specifically those resulting from the production and use of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These synthetic chemical substances have been widely used throughout society, and are easily transported in the environment, polluting soil, water and air. They resist degradation, resulting in unprecedented persistence into the environment and in any living species. In 2009 the Stockholm Convention listed them as persistent organic pollutants. The research project combines green-critical criminological, environmental philosophical and public health approaches to examine the historical and contemporary drivers and dynamics of the industrial environmental harms related to these synthetic chemical substances. As a member of the multidisciplinary research team of Erasmus Initiative on Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity, she seeks to find innovative solutions to environmental degradation by PFAS, where companies, governments, and communities can jointly improve existing governance frameworks for more inclusive prosperity.