6Today’s episode is all about synthetic or man-made chemicals, how they can affect our health, and what we should be most concerned about. Around the time of the Second World War, we saw a chemical revolution, with harmful substances being created for warfare purposes and because they were believed to solve several of mankind’s problems. Sometime after, however, the negative impacts started manifesting in the health of people and the environment, and we became aware that perhaps these chemicals do far more harm than good. I talk about the principles for determining the toxicity of a chemical, how we can manage its associated risks, how humans and living organisms are exposed to these chemicals, and why it is so dangerous for them to accumulate in our bodies and the food web. I also give you some actions to take at home and things you can ask of your government to protect our health and that of the environment, so be sure to tune in for another enlightening episode! 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Learn about synthetic chemicals and when they started to be mass-produced. 
• The kind of problems people once thought they could solve with synthetic chemicals. 
• When people became aware of the harm these chemicals do to the environment. 
• Hear about the important role that the marine biologist Rachel Carson played in the 1960s. 
• The principles for determining the toxicity of a chemical and the necessary regulations. 
• Managing the risk of toxicity by considering the chemical hazard itself and the receptors. 
• How we are exposed to chemicals: Ingestion, inhalation, absorption, and injection. 
• The problem of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) accumulating in an organism and the food web. 
• The roots of the precautionary principle and why it should be incorporated into legislation. 
• Suggestions for the personal actions we can take to embrace the precautionary principle. 

Key Messages: 

1.  Chemicals have the potential to cause harm based on how they enter and behave in the body. 
2.  Synthetic chemicals can persist in the environment and continue to cause harm and accumulate in our bodies and up the food web. 
3.  Ten out of the twelve chemicals on the Dirty Dozen list are pesticides and fungicides. 
4.  Use the precautionary principle and ask for it to be implemented in the legislation in your jurisdiction. 
5.  Avoid potentially hazardous chemicals in your home and garden. 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Kristina Hunter Flourishing

Kristina Hunter Organic Gardening

Silent Spring (Rachel Carson)

Science & Environmental Health Network (Precautionary Principle)

IUCN (Precautionary Principle Guidelines)

Toxicology Education Foundation (Hazard vs Risk)

Berkeley (Environmental Exposures) 

Stockholm Convention (POPs)