Latest news with #Shapero
Boston Globe
24-06-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
Nantucket has a PFAS problem in the drinking water. It's his job to solve it.
And now, PFAS is cropping up on different parts of the island, too. The levels detected vary but, the worry is the same: these chemicals, technically called Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, can cause a troubling range of medical problems, from low birthweight to cancer, as well as effects on the thyroid, liver, kidneys, hormone levels, and the immune system. Advertisement Starting in the 1950s, PFAS were used in just about everything — nonstick coating on pans, candy bar wrappers, carpets, cleaning products, dental floss. One of the biggest sources, when it comes to ground water contamination on Nantucket and elsewhere, is firefighting foam, which can infiltrate the ground water. Because the chemicals don't easily break down, people who are exposed repeatedly over time can find that PFAS builds up in their bodies. 'The more we test, the more we're going to detect,' said Andrew Shapero, Nantucket's new environmental contamination administrator. Related : According to the town, Shapero is the first full-time municipal employee focused solely on PFAS mitigation, testing, research, communication, and education anywhere in the United States. Advertisement Shapero discussed the latest PFAS detection, what's known — and isn't — about the extent of the problem on the island, and how homeowners and vacation-goers should feel about their drinking water. The following interview has been edited and condensed for space. Q: How should people feel? How should homeowners and vacationers feel about the water on Nantucket? PFAS have been detected in many wells on the island. PFAS have also been detected in many water sources throughout the country. [The US Geological Survey And so from that perspective, Nantucket has a PFAS problem that is similar to the rest of the country. We definitely know we have some hotspots, like the airport or like Tom's Way. At the same time, MassDEP [Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protections] and UMass So, Nantucket has a PFAS problem. The rest of the state and the rest of the country have a PFAS problem, too. Related : Q: Why did Nantucket take the step of creating this position and hiring you? Nantucket does have a few interesting things going for it. One is that Nantucket is a sole source aquifer, so all of the water on Nantucket comes from the ground that residents live on top of, whether that's private wells or the public water supply. So Nantucket really has no alternative options. Advertisement We have gotten detects in private wells. We've gotten detects in the public water supply as well, and the town is busy getting treatment installed on the public water supply. On top of that, we also have all of our town utilities on the island as well. Nantucket has a waste water treatment facility. It also has a landfill. It has an airport, of course. So a lot of towns have maybe some of those utilities, but don't have all of those. Nantucket, everything is just squished together. Q: You mentioned Nantucket has a sole-source aquifer. Is the aquifer contaminated with PFAS? And if so, once it's contaminated, can it be un-contaminated? Certainly, to some extent, there is PFAS in the aquifer. Getting it out of the aquifer is challenging. Out of people's water is a little bit easier. These are forever chemicals, as you know, but filtration is an option. Our public water supplier is installing treatment on the public water supply. Private well owners can install filtration on their private wells. Near the airport, MassDEP assisted and provided a point-of-use treatment system for homeowners. Filtration is also an option. Q: What does all of this mean for people's health? The dose is important, and getting your blood tested is a great way to assess your cumulative dose. We all know that water is only one source of PFAS to the human body, so the National Academies has some guideline values for PFAS. Advertisement They say that if you have two nanograms per milliliter of PFAS in your blood or less, you shouldn't reasonably expect to have health effects associated with PFAS. If you have two to 20, you might have some effects from PFAS, and they have found that 91 percent of Americans fall into that category. On top of that, they have a threshold of 20, where you are in kind of the elevated area. And so that's about 9 percent of Americans who really should be keeping an eye on potential health effects from PFAS. We should all expect that we have PFAS in our blood. The question is, how much for individual people? Q: It's tourist season on Nantucket. How should people feel about drinking water when they're out there? The town water in Nantucket meets the Massachusetts state standards. Massachusetts has some of the strictest PFAS regulations in the country. If you're coming from out of state, you might have PFAS in your well or in your public water supply that exceeds the Massachusetts standards. They are largely unregulated in other states. Q: You recently learned of PFAS in a new part of Nantucket — at the corner of Hummock Pond and Burnt Swamp. The levels were well above the state's standard of 20 parts per trillion. What do you know about the latest detection and the extent of the problem? A: It was 124 parts per trillion. So it's not quite as high as the highest concentrations on Tom's Way or the highest concentrations near the airport, but it is in MassDEP's uppermost threshold. We are still collecting data. MassDEP is still doing its investigation. We have a lot of voluntary samples that come in. ... So, we're getting a lot of new PFAS data, and I think the more we test, the more we're going to see detects of PFAS. Advertisement Q: And what was the source of the latest detection? A: MassDEP is still investigating this new detection, so we'll see what they find out. We've seen data that suggests probably a third of wells have PFAS on the island, at least in some concentration. Q: What's one thing you hope everyone will do? A lot of my work focuses on private wells, so I would say, follow MassDEP's recommendation and get a PFAS well test. Every well owner should do it at least once. People can pick up a PFAS test at our Health Department for $275, which is admittedly pricey, but that's probably about as cheap as you can find. Q: Any advice for people outside of Nantucket? I would say just be aware of PFAS if you are on a private well. It's not just a Nantucket problem; it is a statewide and a countrywide problem. My guess would be that a lot of private well owners might have PFAS in their wells — probably not the majority, but a substantial portion. And so, yeah, it's incredibly important to get your well tested. Sabrina Shankman can be reached at
CNBC
02-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Hiring managers are increasingly looking for AI skills, says LinkedIn COO: Those that embrace it ‘will be seen as the future leaders'
C-suite executives are increasingly broadcasting their AI literacy as AI adoption becomes more widespread in the workplace. New data from LinkedIn shows that three times as many C-suite executives have added AI literacy skills to their LinkedIn profiles compared to two years ago. That is based on research of more than 1 million senior leaders, according to LinkedIn. This signals a shift in not only what skills workplace leaders are valuing but how they approach their daily work, says LinkedIn COO Dan Shapero. "There's an increased belief that … if I want to have my organization really capitalize on AI as a capability that changes how we operate, I can't just make sure that we have AI tools," Shapero tells CNBC Make It. "[I need to make sure] that I'm actually showcasing how AI can be used in day-to-day work." The data shows an opportunity for individual contributors to get ahead, Shapero says. The increased emphasis on AI could mean that those who willingly and wholly adopt it quickly improve their performance, he says. "My expectation is that we will start to see a set of employees at every company that are delivering results at an unparalleled rate because they figured out how to embed AI into their workflow," Shapero says. That could be a factor in landing a job or promotion. LinkedIn's press release said that "8 in 10 leaders [are] more likely to hire someone who is comfortable with AI tools than someone with more experience but less AI proficiency." A 2024 Slack poll found a similar result. "Those that embrace AI, are curious with the technology, and use it in their daily work will be seen as the future leaders at each company," Shapero says. Shapero also says questions about AI usage are becoming more prominent in job interviews. He says a head of recruiting he recently talked to now consistently asks candidates about their AI experience, something that he has begun to do himself. "I'm not looking for the best prompt," Shapero says. "What I do want to hear is that … you figured out how to embed it in your life because I think that shows forward thinking." AI has been met with a mixed response from employees, though. A recent report from ADP found that as much as 31% of the workforce is afraid that AI will replace their jobs. Individual contributors have also largely been more hesitant to adopt AI in the workplace than their more senior counterparts, according to a survey from Workday. For those who have been hesitant to adopt AI, Shapero suggests trying it in small doses at home and seeking out someone your workplace who has adopted AI and asking what they do. "I think you'll find that it can do much more than you expected," Shapero says. "You'll come up with the thing that works for you."
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
LinkedIn's COO tells BI he leans on AI in 3 ways for work
LinkedIn COO Dan Shapero said leaders need to use AI themselves. Shapero uses AI for meeting summaries, learning new topics, and meeting preparation. He said AI can't replace human judgment in recruiting and decision-making. As LinkedIn rolls out artificial intelligence products, Dan Shapero, the chief operations officer, has also been trying out AI tools. "My advice to business leaders is to get comfortable with the technology, to use it," he told Business Insider. "It is almost certain that you're going to be asked by your CEO or your board, what's your strategy for embracing AI in your area?" He said the leaders who have good answers to those questions will be successful in the next decade. Top tech leaders, including Nvidia's Jensen Huang and OpenAI's Sam Altman, have said they use AI at work daily. Some, including e-commerce platform Shopify's CEO Tobe Lütke, have even mandated the use of the technology at their companies. Shapero shared three ways he has been using AI to become more efficient in his day-to-day — and the aspects of his job he still prefers to do manually: One way Shapero said he uses AI is to summarize notes for meetings he misses. "There are a lot of meetings that I think would've been valuable to attend, but sometimes I can't be everywhere," he said. Shapero said he likes using Copilot for this because it is built into Teams, which the Microsoft-owned company uses. "I'll often use Copilot to summarize meeting outcomes to make sure that I can stay on top of the business." Shapero also said he uses AI to learn about topics he is not well versed in. "Oftentimes, I'll have to learn about new technologies, new legislation, and different industry trends," the COO said. "I find that having a conversation with ChatGPT can be very helpful in me learning deeply about a topic that I'm not familiar with." Shapero said he also likes using AI to cut down the time it takes for meeting prep. He said he uses LinkedIn's Account IQ product, which is geared toward sales roles. "It takes all the news that's been going on around a company, all of the things they've shared on LinkedIn, their trends on who they're hiring, and it summarizes it into a one-page dossier that I can then read to be prepared for my discussion," he said. Shapero said he also uses chatbots for advice on how to write and present ideas more succinctly. There's one big exception: He said he doesn't need LinkedIn's AI summary feature for writing his own profile, since he has lots of practice writing in first person. Still, Shapero said there are parts of his job he cannot imagine AI doing, such as the later stages of recruiting. He said that once AI helps him find and shortlist candidates, he thinks about questions like "How do I really assess whether they're a good fit for the job?" and "How do I have a conversation with them to convince them that we're a good match for them?" He also said AI can't do leadership functions. "While AI has shown that it can synthesize information, I'm not sure that it's shown that it can inspire a team or that it can connect with people at a deeper level," he said. He said chatbots and AI tools also struggle with a lack of data, which makes human decisions more important. "Ultimately it has to be you at the center, making the decision and seeing the path forward." Read the original article on Business Insider
