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    Product Testing for Toxins with guest Heather Stapleton, PhD

    enMay 04, 2023
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    About this Episode

    Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of The Smart Human Podcast. Today I had the pleasure of chatting with Professor Heather Stapleton, an environmental chemist and exposure scientist in the Nicholas School of Environment at Duke University. And also Dr. Stapleton serves as director of the Duke environmental analysis laboratory. Today we're talking nonstick, waterproof and greaseproof chemicals, flame retardant chemicals, drinking water quality and different types of water filters and so much more!

    Here are a few links that might be helpful 

    Heather's research website:
    https://sites.nicholas.duke.edu/stapletonlab/?_ga=2.18850623.768299926.1674595325-2095479730.1672774084

    Heather's foam testing website:
    http://foam.pratt.duke.edu

    Company website for under the sink RO water filter Heather had installed back in 2019:
    https://www.theperfectwater.com/reverse-osmosis

    water filter study:
    https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00004

    article on flame retardants:
    https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/success/2021/stapleton/index.cfm

    Heather Stapleton Bio:
    https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/es2007462
     

    Heather M. Stapleton, Ronie-Richelle Garcia-Johnson Distinguished Professor, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC USA.

     Professor Heather Stapleton is an environmental chemist and exposure scientist in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University.  Her research interests focus on identification of halogenated and organophosphate chemicals in building materials, furnishings and consumer products, and estimation of human exposure, particularly in vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and children.  Her laboratory specializes in analysis of environmental and biological tissues for organic contaminants to support environmental health research.  Currently she serves as the Director for the Duke Superfund Research Center, and Director of the Duke Environmental Analysis Laboratory, which is part of NIH’s Human Health Environmental Analysis Resource.

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    Breast Health and Chemicals with guest Dr. William Goodson

    Breast Health and Chemicals with guest Dr. William Goodson

    Dr. Goodson grew up in Missouri and graduated from the University of Missouri Columbia and Harvard Medical School. He trained as a general surgeon and specialized in breast surgery before it was a recognized field. He was a member of the research group that established breast conservation, i.e., lumpectomy, as the preferred treatment for early breast cancer. Recognizing that he was treating more young women with breast cancer, he joined with Dr. Shanaz Dairkee in 2005 to investigate how common environmental chemicals such as BPA, methylparaben, PFOA, etc. disrupt the normal biology of non-cancerous, human breasts. He has been a professor at the University of California San Francisco and a Senior Scientist at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a member of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, and a spokesperson for The Halifax Project. In addition to research, he enjoys photography, writing, and creating hand-drawn animation as on his website, www.drwilliamgoodson.com

    Dairkee SH, Luciani-Torres G, Moore DH, Jaffee IM, Goodson WH 3rd. Toxicol Sci. 2018 Sep 1;165(1):131-144. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfy126. PMID: 29846718 Free PMC article.
     
    Assessing the carcinogenic potential of low-dose exposures to chemical mixtures in the environment: the challenge ahead.
    Goodson WH 3rd, Lowe L, Carpenter DO, Gilbertson M, Manaf Ali A, Lopez de Cerain Salsamendi A, Lasfar A, Carnero A, Azqueta A, Amedei A, Charles AK, Collins AR, Ward A, Salzberg AC, Colacci A, Olsen AK, Berg A, Barclay BJ, Zhou BP, Blanco-Aparicio C... See abstract for full author list ➔ Carcinogenesis. 2015 Jun;36 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S254-96. doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgv039. PMID: 26106142 Free PMC article.
     
    Consensus on the key characteristics of endocrine-disrupting chemicals as a basis for hazard identification.
    La Merrill MA, Vandenberg LN, Smith MT, Goodson W, Browne P, Patisaul HB, Guyton KZ, Kortenkamp A, Cogliano VJ, Woodruff TJ, Rieswijk L, Sone H, Korach KS, Gore AC, Zeise L, Zoeller RT. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2020 Jan;16(1):45-57. doi: 10.1038/s41574-019-0273-8. Epub 2019 Nov 12. PMID: 31719706 Free PMC article.
     
    Exposure to the polyester PET precursor--terephthalic acid induces and perpetuates DNA damage-harboring non-malignant human breast cells.
    Luciani-Torres MG, Moore DH, Goodson WH 3rd, Dairkee SH. Carcinogenesis. 2015 Jan;36(1):168-76. doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgu234. Epub 2014 Nov 19. PMID: 25411358 Free PMC article.
     
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    Using the Key Characteristics of Carcinogens to Develop Research on Chemical Mixtures and Cancer.
    Rider CV, McHale CM, Webster TF, Lowe L, Goodson WH 3rd, La Merrill MA, Rice G, Zeise L, Zhang L, Smith MT. Environ Health Perspect. 2021 Mar;129(3):35003. doi: 10.1289/EHP8525. Epub 2021 Mar 30. PMID: 33784186 Free PMC article.
     
    Bisphenol-A-induced inactivation of the p53 axis underlying deregulation of proliferation kinetics, and cell death in non-malignant human breast epithelial cells.
    Dairkee SH, Luciani-Torres MG, Moore DH, Goodson WH 3rd. Carcinogenesis. 2013 Mar;34(3):703-12. doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgs379. Epub 2012 Dec 7. PMID: 23222814 Free PMC article.
     
    Activation of the mTOR pathway by low levels of xenoestrogens in breast epithelial cells from high-risk women.
    Goodson WH 3rd, Luciani MG, Sayeed SA, Jaffee IM, Moore DH 2nd, Dairkee SH. Carcinogenesis. 2011 Nov;32(11):1724-33. doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgr196. Epub 2011 Sep 1. PMID: 21890461 Free PMC article.
     

    Food as Medicine with guest William Li, MD

    Food as Medicine with guest William Li, MD
    ATTRIBUTION/INTRO LINE: 
     
    SHORT BIO:
    William W. Li, MD, is an internationally renowned physician, scientist and author of the New York Times bestseller “Eat to Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself.” His groundbreaking research has led to the development of more than 30 new medical treatments that impact care for more than 70 diseases including diabetes, blindness, heart disease and obesity. His TED Talk, “Can We Eat to Starve Cancer?” has garnered more than 11 million views. Dr. Li has appeared on Good Morning America, CNN, CNBC, Rachael Ray and Live with Kelly & Ryan, and he has been featured in USA Today, Time Magazine, The Atlantic and O Magazine. He is President and Medical Director of the Angiogenesis Foundation, and he is leading global initiatives on food as medicine. His newest book New York Times bestseller, “Eat to Beat Your Diet: Burn Fat, Heal Your Metabolism, and Live Longer” was released March 21, 2023.
     
    HEADSHOT: 
     
    BOOK COVERS: 
             
           
     
    BOOK LINKS:
     
    A report on cancer statistics just published in, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, states that:
    •  The number of new cancer cases had ticked up to more than two million in 2023, from 1.9 million in 2022. 
    • According to the report, cancer rates are increasing for six of the 10 most common cancers: breast, prostate, melanoma, kidney, pancreas and uterine, while lung, colorectal and pancreas cancers cause the most deaths. 
    • Among adults younger than 50, colorectal cancer has become the leading cause of cancer death in men and the second-leading cause in women, behind breast cancer. In the late 1990s, it ranked fourth in both men and women younger than 50.  
    So, it seems that there's  no more appropriate time than now to listen to this important discussion I had with Dr. William Li about his research applying both biology and biotechnology to understand cancer preventing compounds in food and how the body responds to what it's fed!

    Sports Turf with guest Dr. Rachel Massey

    Sports Turf with guest Dr. Rachel Massey

    Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Smart Human Podcast. Today, I have the pleasure of talking with Dr. Rachel Massey, who is Senior Science and Policy Advisor at the Collaborative for Health and Environment and a Senior Research Associate at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts. Today, we are talking about a very important topic to me, artificial sports turf. We talk about materials, health effects, alternatives, and ways to stay safe. So stay tuned.

     

    Rachel Massey is Senior Science and Policy Advisory at the Collaborative for Health and Environment, and a Senior Research Associate at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She has over two decades of experience working at the intersection of public interest science and policy making in state, national and international arenas. Until recently she served as Senior Associate Director at the Toxics Use Reduction Institute at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where her projects included state, federal and international chemicals policy initiatives, analyzing toxics use reduction opportunities for businesses and communities, and working in partnership with small businesses and grassroots organizations addressing toxics at the community level.

     

    In 2022 she received the Ken Zarker Memorial Pollution Prevention Champion Award from the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable. She has authored numerous reports and articles on chemicals policy and safer alternatives, including reports for European government agencies and the United Nations on chemicals and development, chemicals in consumer products, and other topics. Rachel received a Master of Science in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford University, a Master of Public Affairs from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and a Doctor of Science in Work Environment from the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

    Here are some suggested links/resources:

    Blog posts through the Collaborative for Health and Environment:

    https://www.healthandenvironment.org/join-us/blog/playing-on-plastic-artificial-turf-hazards-and-safer-alternatives

    https://www.healthandenvironment.org/join-us/blog/6ppd-in-tires-a-concern-for-playgrounds-artificial-turf-and-more

    https://www.healthandenvironment.org/join-us/blog/playground-surfacing-fall-protection-and-fun-without-toxic-chemicals

    Resources from the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production and the Toxics Use Reduction Institute at UMass Lowell:

    https://www.uml.edu/research/lowell-center/athletic-playing-fields/

     

    One-page overview of artificial turf concerns: 

    https://www.turi.org/content/download/13559/206802/file/ArtificialTurfConcerns_flyer_April2021.pdf
    Extended fact sheet on athletic fields (2020): 

    https://www.turi.org/content/download/13271/203906/file/Factsheet.Artificial_Turf.September2020.pdf.pdf
    Report on athletic fields (2018-2019): 

    https://www.turi.org/content/download/11980/188623/file/TURI+Report+2018-002+June+2019.+Athletic+Playing+Fields.pdf
    PFAS in artificial turf carpet: https://www.turi.org/content/download/12963/201149/file/TURI+fact+sheet+-+PFAS+in+artificial+turf.pdf 

    Natural grass field case studies: turi.org/organicgrasscasestudies
    Short videos on natural grass fields in MA:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmjv1qteLho
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nws-ZpeaQJc

     

    Resources from Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai:

    https://mountsinaiexposomics.org/artificial-turf/
    https://icahn.mssm.edu/files/ISMMS/Assets/Departments/Environmental%20Medicine%20and%20Public%20Health/CEHC/CEHC%20Artificial%20Turf%20Consumer%20Guide%205.2017.pdf
    https://icahn.mssm.edu/files/ISMMS/Assets/Departments/Environmental%20Medicine%20and%20Public%20Health/CEHC/CEHC%20Artificial%20Turf%20Position%20Statement%205.2017.pdf
    Healthy Playing Surfaces website, housed at Mt. Sinai: https://www.healthyplayingsurfaces.org/

    Other:

    CHE webinar: https://www.healthandenvironment.org/webinars/96595
    Webinar Q&A: https://www.healthandenvironment.org/assets/images/webinarimages/Artificial%20Turf%20Q&A_FINAL.pdf
    Healthy Building Network: https://healthybuilding.net/products/11-turf
    Webinar by CCE and PEER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCi6-8JI8zE
    Non Toxic Communities: https://www.nontoxiccommunities.com/

    Cell Phone Radiation with guest Theodora Scarato MSW

    Cell Phone Radiation with guest Theodora Scarato MSW

    Theodora Scarato MSW is Executive Director of Environmental Health Trust (EHT). Scarato has published several research papers include a paper on reducing EMF exposures in buildings

     

    Davis and Scarato co-authored a major state of the science review paper with numerous experts entitled “Wireless technologies, non-ionizing electromagnetic fields and children: Identifying and reducing health risks” published in Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care. 

     

    EHT filed a historic lawsuit-  EHT et al., v the FCC- against the FCC regarding their wireless radiation safety limits and received a favorable decision whereby the FCC has been mandated to re-examine the record evidence on wireless radiation. 

     

    Environmental Health Trust Read the Science on Wireless

     

    Action Steps

     

    Learn easy ways to reduce exposure at Healthy Tech at Home, Factsheets For Healthy Home 

    Read Science

     

    The Kidney with guest Barry H Cohen, MD

    The Kidney with guest Barry H Cohen, MD

    Barry H Cohen, M.D., F.A.C.P. Dr. Cohen is one of the founders and medical directors of Mercer Kidney Institute, in New Jersey, specializing in the treatment of kidney disease and hypertension for over 51 years. He is board certified in Nephrology and is a Fellow of American College of Physicians. He was Director of Dialysis Services at Capital Health Regional Center and St. Francis hospital and Chairman of the Nephrology section at Capital Health System in New Jersey for over 45 years. He has been past president of the Capital Health medical staff and is currently the Medical Director at FMC Princeton Dialysis Unit.

    Dr. Cohen was instrumental in bringing dialysis to New Jersey over 50 years ago, when he started the first chronic outpatient dialysis program in Trenton in 1977, soon after its introduction into mainstream medical care. He has trained hundreds of young physicians as a founder and chairperson of continuing medical education for over 40 years has held countless conferences for continuing medical education (CME), and remains ones of the most highly respected clinicians in the east coast for his profound knowledge of medicine, his humility, warmth, gentle demeaner.

    Product Testing for Toxins with guest Heather Stapleton, PhD

    Product Testing for Toxins with guest Heather Stapleton, PhD

    Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of The Smart Human Podcast. Today I had the pleasure of chatting with Professor Heather Stapleton, an environmental chemist and exposure scientist in the Nicholas School of Environment at Duke University. And also Dr. Stapleton serves as director of the Duke environmental analysis laboratory. Today we're talking nonstick, waterproof and greaseproof chemicals, flame retardant chemicals, drinking water quality and different types of water filters and so much more!

    Here are a few links that might be helpful 

    Heather's research website:
    https://sites.nicholas.duke.edu/stapletonlab/?_ga=2.18850623.768299926.1674595325-2095479730.1672774084

    Heather's foam testing website:
    http://foam.pratt.duke.edu

    Company website for under the sink RO water filter Heather had installed back in 2019:
    https://www.theperfectwater.com/reverse-osmosis

    water filter study:
    https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00004

    article on flame retardants:

    Heather Stapleton Bio:
     

    Heather M. Stapleton, Ronie-Richelle Garcia-Johnson Distinguished Professor, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC USA.

     Professor Heather Stapleton is an environmental chemist and exposure scientist in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University.  Her research interests focus on identification of halogenated and organophosphate chemicals in building materials, furnishings and consumer products, and estimation of human exposure, particularly in vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and children.  Her laboratory specializes in analysis of environmental and biological tissues for organic contaminants to support environmental health research.  Currently she serves as the Director for the Duke Superfund Research Center, and Director of the Duke Environmental Analysis Laboratory, which is part of NIH’s Human Health Environmental Analysis Resource.

    Battling DuPont over Toxic PFAS with guest Robert A. Bilott

    Battling DuPont over Toxic PFAS with guest Robert A. Bilott

    Rob is a partner in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky offices of the law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where he has practiced in the Environmental and Litigation Practice Groups for over 31 years. During that time, Rob has handled and led some of the most novel and complex cases in the country involving damage from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including the first individual, class action, mass tort, and multi-district litigation proceedings involving PFAS, recovering over $1 billion for clients impacted by the chemicals. In 2017, Rob received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on behalf of those injured by PFAS chemical contamination.  Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the 2019 motion picture, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob.  Rob’s story and work is also featured in the documentary, “The Devil We Know.”  Rob is a 1987 graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida, and a 1990 graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Rob also serves on the Boards of Less Cancer and Green Umbrella and is frequently invited to provide keynote lectures and talks at law schools, universities, colleges, communities and other organizations all over the world.  Rob is a fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina.  Rob also has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Ohio State University and New College.

     

    Multiple Sclerosis with guest Terry Wahls, MD

    Multiple Sclerosis with guest Terry Wahls, MD

    Dr. Terry Wahls is an Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner and a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Iowa where she conducts clinical trials in the setting of Multiple Sclerosis. In 2018 she was awarded the Institute for Functional Medicine’s Linus Pauling Award for her contributions in research, clinical care and patient advocacy. She is the author of The Wahls Protocol: A Radical New Way to Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions Using Paleo Principles, (http://terrywahls.com/about-the-wahls-protocol/) and the cookbook, The Wahls Protocol Cooking for Life. (https://terrywahls.com/wahls-protocol-cooking-for-life/) Learn more about the current study Efficacy of Diet on Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis at https://wahls.lab.uiowa.edu/. Pick up a one-page handout for the Wahls™ Diet at https://terrywahls.com/diet/

    Sugar with guest Robert Lustig, MD

    Sugar with guest Robert Lustig, MD

    Robert H. Lustig, M.D., M.S.L. is Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, and Member of the Institute for Health Policy Studies at UCSF. Dr. Lustig is a neuroendocrinologist, with expertise in metabolism, obesity, and nutrition. He is one of the leaders of the current “anti-sugar” movement that is changing the food industry. Dr. Lustig graduated from MIT in 1976, and received his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College in 1980. He also received his Masters of Studies in Law (MSL) degree at University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 2013. He is the author of the popular books Fat Chance (2012), The Hacking of the American Mind (2017), and Metabolical: The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine (2021). He is the Chief Science Officer of the non-profit Eat REAL, he is on the Advisory Boards of the UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health, the Center for Humane Technology, Simplex Health, Levels Health, and ReadOut Health, and he is the Chief Medical Officer of BioLumen Technologies, Foogal, Perfact, and Kalin Health.

    Toxins & Cancer with guest Fran Drescher

    Toxins & Cancer with guest Fran Drescher

    Welcome to The Smart Human Podcast, today I have the pleasure of chatting with actor Fran Drescher! Yes, you may know her as the star of the TV show The Nanny, but she's also an author, an activist and an educator. Today we're talking about her work in health education, her history as a cancer survivor, her plans as new president of The Screen Actors Guild and much much more.

    Fran Drescher was elected president of SAG-AFTRA in September 2021.

     

    A 20-year cancer survivor, Drescher has a reputation for passion and commitment.

    She is Founder and Visionary of the Cancer Schmancer Movement; dedicated to educating, motivating, and activating patients into medical consumers by connecting lifestyle to disease with her Master Class Health Summit and teen-targeted education video, Be The Change, starring Jamie Foxx.

    Fran received two Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations for her portrayal as the lovable “Miss Fine'' on CBS’s hit series, The Nanny, which she both created and executive produced. She also created, executive produced and starred in the groundbreaking TV Land sitcom, Happily Divorced, which was inspired by her real-life relationship with her gay ex-husband, Peter Marc Jacobson. Fran recently starred in the new NBC sitcom, Indebted, about a Baby Boomer couple who go broke and have to move in with their adult son and his young family. She has worked with many great directors in films such as Rob Reiner’s This is Spinal Tap, to which Fran won Esquire Magazine’s One Minute Oscar, Milos Forman’s Rag Time, and Francis Ford Coppola’s Jack. She also starred in Beautician and the Beast opposite Timothy Dalton. Her famous voice is currently featured in the top-grossing SONY animated feature franchise film, Hotel Transylvania: In her role as Eunice, the wife of Frank Stein. In 2019, Fran starred in two indie films, The Creatress and After Class.

    An accomplished author, Fran received the prestigious NCCS writer’s award for Cancer Schmancer, which, along with Enter Whining, were New York Times Best Sellers. She also penned the celebrated children's book, Being Wendy. Furthermore, Fran made her Broadway debut as “Madame” in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Tony-Award winning, Cinderella.

    Fran has won countless awards for her leadership in the health space, including the John Wayne Institute Woman of Achievement Award, the Gilda Award, City of Hope Woman of the Year Award, The Albert Einstein Medical School Lifetime Achievement Award, Queens College Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Citizen Artist Award.

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