Living Downstream

Friday, December 9, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Yale Peabody Museum, New Haven

Living Downstream is an eloquent feature length documentary that charts the life and work of biologist, author, cancer survivor and cancer prevention advocate, Sandra Steingraber. Living Downstream is based on Sandra’s book of the same name, and, like the book, documents the growing body of scientific evidence that links human health with the health of our environment. Part scientific exploration, part personal journey, the film follows Sandra during a pivotal year in her life: as a biologist and author, speaking to groups across North America about cancer prevention; and as a cancer survivor, when she receives ambiguous results from a cancer screening test. The film captures this movement between the scientific and the personal, which is also a hallmark of Sandra’s work.

Raised in small town Illinois, cancer seems to run in Sandra’s family. Sandra was diagnosed with bladder cancer when she was just 20 years old. Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when Sandra was in high school. Many of her close family members have also struggled with the disease, and her aunt died of the same form of cancer that Sandra had.  But while cancer runs in her family, she cannot say that it runs in her genes. Sandra is adopted.  Thus, Sandra asks what else families have in common besides DNA. The answer is all around us: our environment.

The film closely follows the trajectory of Sandra’s life and work, but it also tracks the important progress of scientific investigation on environmental links to cancer and other health ailments. Several experts in the fields of toxicology and cancer research make important cameo appearances in the film, highlighting their own findings on such pervasive chemicals as atrazine, one of the most widely used herbicides in the world, and industrial compounds, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Their work further illuminates the significant connection between a healthy environment and human health.

The film is directed by Chanda Chevannes of The People’s Picture Company (The PPC). “The film follows Sandra who is on a journey,” says Chanda, “but the chemicals against which she is fighting are also on the move. We follow these invisible toxins as they migrate to some of the most beautiful places in North America. We see how these chemicals enter out bodies, and how, once inside, scientists believe they may be working to cause cancer.

This film screening is part of the Quinnipiac River Watershed project.