March 24, 2026 • 21 mins
In this episode of Wellness Unmasked, Dr. Nicole Saphier breaks down the growing concern surrounding “forever chemicals” — also known as PFAS — and their potential impact on long-term health, especially in children.
A new study tracking children from birth to age 12 reveals a troubling link between PFAS exposure and reduced bone density during critical developmental years. While the research is still emerging, it adds to a growing body of evidence connecting these chemicals to hormonal disruption, fertility issues, cardiovascular disease, and even neurodevelopmental changes.
Dr. Saphier explains where PFAS are found — from drinking water and non-stick cookware to food packaging and household products — and why they’re so difficult to avoid. More importantly, she outlines practical, realistic steps families can take right now to reduce exposure and protect their health.
This is an essential listen for parents, families, and anyone concerned about environmental toxins and their long-term effects.
In this episode:
- What PFAS “forever chemicals” are and why they persist
- The latest research linking PFAS to lower bone density in kids
- How these chemicals impact hormones, growth, and overall health
- Everyday sources of exposure you might not expect
- Simple, actionable ways to reduce your family’s risk
Take control of your environment, your health, and your future — starting today!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Wellness, sun Mass. I'm doctor Nicole Sapphire. I
hope everyone's enjoying March and it's starting to look like
spring wherever you are. I just came back from being
away for two weeks, and I was cold and wet
for about those whole two weeks. I was away half
of it. I was kind of in a colder climate
with a lot of rain, and then we went skiing.
(00:25):
So I was excited to come back home, thinking, hey,
maybe spring has sprung, because I was getting reports from
home that it had been warm and sunny while we
are away. Well, it's cold and rainy. I guess we
brought that cold and rainy weather with us. But that's okay.
I'm starting to see the buds on trees. I believe
spring is on its way. I'm going to maintain that
(00:47):
positive outlook and hope we don't have a last minute
snowstorm at the end of March. Sometimes that happens here
in the Northeast. But you know, fingers crossed, We're going
to think positively. I was kind of perusing topics on
my flight home, like what are we going to talk
about this week? And I've tried to stay away from
being online while I was away. That's a big thing
(01:10):
I do. But there's a lot of talk about vaccines,
the fact that the CDC is in an entire state
of disarray. They're running on a deadline. They have to
appoint a CDC director, they still haven't confirmed the surgeon
in general the AHHS right now, it's kind of a mess,
and I don't want to talk about it though, because
(01:31):
we've talked about it a lot. There's not a lot
of new information going on right now, so we're not
going to waste this episode talking about that. But maybe
we'll have an update for the rundown later this week.
What I did see was a small study, mind you,
very small study. But studies like this kind of pique
my interests because my common sense tells me that this
(01:52):
is an issue, and when I actually see in writing,
I get a little bit nervous, and I wonder if
I'm doing enough as a mom, and I wonder if
as a society we're doing enough. So let's just talk
about it. Essentially, what I saw was, again a very
small study published in the Journal of Endocrine Society, raising
(02:15):
concerns that these forever chemicals. I'm not sure if you've
heard that term before. You probably have, But when you
talk about quote unquote forever chemicals, we're talking about pfas
per and polyfloral alcohol substances. These chemicals they're everywhere. They're
in our water, they're in our food, they're in our cookware.
They're also in our clothing. We've mentioned them here on
(02:36):
Wellness and mass. But I want to kind of dive
into the study a little bit more, breaking down what
the study found, what we already know about pfast in health,
and most importantly, what we can do about it. So
let's start with this new study. It was a prospective
birth cohort study, which usually when you see studies like this,
(02:57):
they're retrospective, meaning they're looking back at old data and
there's usually a lot of confounding factors. But this is
interesting because this was a prospective study looking at two
hundred and eighteen children. Obviously, that's a small number in
the world of research and tracking the p fast exposure
from birth through age twelve. Researchers measured p fast levels
(03:20):
at multiple time points at birth, you know, their cored blood,
seeing how much they were exposed to in utero via
their mother, age three, age eight, and age twelve. Then
they looked at the bone mineral density at the age
twelve because this is a really critical time for bone
development as kids in their pre adolescence, as their hormones
(03:41):
are starting to change, their growth plates are starting to close.
This is when you look at how strong are those bones,
how well are they growing and developing. And here's what
they found in the study. Higher levels of PFOA, which
is one of the most common p fasts, were consistently
associated with lower bone density, particularly in the forearm. Forearm
(04:05):
is the area between your elbow and your wrist. We
look at these bones when we're trying to gauge the
age of a patient's bones and how well the bones are.
The effect appeared stronger in girls and boys, but most importantly,
timing matter, meaning exposure during certain developmental windows had different
(04:26):
impacts on the bone. So that's interesting right now. Again,
not a massive study. I want to continue to say
there's always limitations with studies, but this study is significant
because it followed children over time, it looked at real
life exposure, and it reinforces what we've already been seeing
in earlier data that these chemicals may be interfering with
(04:50):
how children are growing, specifically how children build bone during
the most critical years of development, because bone health it's
not just about childhood. About forty percent of total bone
mass is built during adolescence, you know, kind of our
eleven through fifteen eleven through sixteen years of age. And
if that process is disrupted even slightly, it can lower
(05:14):
total bone mass, It can increase fracture risk, it can
raise the likelihood of osteoporosis later in life, and it
can also affect you know, how tall or how well
the child grows. The mechanism here is concerning in the
sense that, well, how is this impacting. Is it because
the pfasts are being directly deposited into the bone, or
(05:38):
are they endicin disruptors, which we kind of already known
about them, meaning they're interfering with hormones, the hormones that
are responsible for making bones grow. So the research, not
just this current study we're talking about, but existing research,
is that these p fass chemicals they think that maybe
they buying to vitamin D receptor and this is impairing
(06:02):
bone mineralization, you know, the bone from forming in the
first place. They also have shown that they could be
disrupting thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones are very important for our
overall body formation. It impacts our physical health, our immune health,
our mental health, all of those. It can also affect
sex hormones during puberty, which has been largely discussed in
(06:24):
the sense that we are having lower fertility rates on
the female side. Also on the male side, we're also
seeing higher levels of polycystic ovariance syndrome and other things,
and it has been pointed to well, we believe that
there are external factors that are disrupting the normal endocrine channels,
(06:44):
and these forever chemicals are probably one of them. But
it's not just about environmental exposure. This is all about
biological interference during our development. And yes, these things come
from our environment, but you know it's not just the
air breathe. We have to take a deeper look into
what actually contains all of these forever chemicals, you know,
(07:06):
these endocrine disruptors. So this study, it's just one piece
of a much larger puzzle. Because pfasts are called forever
chemicals for a reason. They don't break down in the environment.
They accumulate in the body and they can remain there
for years. Even decades. In fact, their half life in
humans is estimated to be anywhere from two years to
(07:29):
nine years. If you think about that. If you think
an exposure to a chemical on day one, and it's
going to last for at least nine years throughout your body,
if you are continuously exposed to that chemical, just think
about how much accumulates. Of course, it's going to affect
the body, and the exposure obviously starts early. Babies are
(07:50):
exposed to these forever chemicals in utero, because adults are
being exposed to them as well. We already know from
other data these forever chemicals can cross the placenta. They're
also found in breast milk, and children are exposed through water, food,
and household products. For babies that use formula, okay, maybe
they're avoiding it from the breast milk, but let's talk
(08:13):
about that water. You're mixing the formula in forever chemicals
in that water too. Now, other research has linked these
forever chemical exposures to what we're talking about today, you know,
the lower bone density. They've also linked it to reduced
growth and lean body mass in early childhood, meaning the
amount of muscle neurodevelopmental changes and brain structure differences. People
(08:38):
are continuously talking about their rise in autism rates. Well,
we also have data showing that these forever chemicals are
disrupting neurons and brain development, also adverse birth outcomes, including
low birth weight and pre term birth. For women who
are exposed to more forever chemicals, their babies are born
smaller and sometimes they're even or prematurely. So it's pretty
(09:02):
clear that these forever chemicals are affecting us in many
different ways. And beyond children, we're also seeing associations with
fertility issues like I've mentioned, hormonal disruption, like we've mentioned
cardiovascular effects. They've actually looked at arteries throughout the body,
you know, the little tubes that take your oxygenated blood
from the heart and it feeds the nutrients all throughout
(09:24):
the body. Instead of just these plaques that we have
always seen, these plaques that are created by cholesterol that
cause our athoschlorotic disease or our heart disease or peripheral
vascular disease you've heard about. Well, now that they're starting
to look in these arteries and do you know what
else they're seeing. They're seeing microplastics, they're seeing forever chemicals.
(09:45):
All of these external things that we are exposed to
are building up into our vascular system. So if our
poor diet wasn't enough, we have forever chemicals that are
trying to narrow all these blood vessels. As you know,
as they get narrowed, it can cause stroke, dementia, heart attack,
peripheral neuropathy, peripheral vascularities, and all these other things. It
(10:08):
can affect us in so many different ways, kidney disease
and other things, blindness, I mean, the list goes on
and on and on. It also can affect our immune system.
So while this new study is focusing just on bone health,
the broader concern is absolutely clear. These chemicals are interacting
with not just one part of our body, but our
(10:29):
entire body. Our entire health is being negatively impacted by
these forever chemicals. And honestly, it's a big waste basket
in the sense that if you're talking about forever chemicals,
you might as well talk about microplastics and nanoplastics because
they're all part of the same thing. They're all part
of the exposure because of all of these modern day
inventions which we love so much, but when they were invented.
(10:51):
They didn't think about the long term consequences of the
exposure to some of the materials that they were putting
in things that were making them so convenient, Like what
are the most common sources for these forever chemicals. Well,
things that we love, things that make our life super convenient.
So drinking water, we've talked about this, especially near industrial sites,
(11:14):
military bases, nonstick cookware, fast food packaging, and any sort
of plastic wrappers, stain resistant fabrics and carpets. That's right,
we just spray at all with chemicals. It's great for
stopping stains, but we're exposed to it. Think about when
you're laying on the carpet, especially kids love to lay
(11:36):
on the carpets. My kids love being on the carpets.
They play with the dogs on there. Well, what are
they absorbing through their skin when they're laying on that carpet.
Personal care products like cosmetics, lotions, lipsticks, anything that you're
putting on your body is being absorbed into your body
because our skin is one of our largest organ systems
(11:58):
and it absorbs things. If you're laying your skin, I
mean I put on lotion at least twice a day,
what am I actually putting on my body? If you
look at some of the ingredients it's concerning, It's not
like we're just putting on olive oil, which is probably
the only thing we should be rubbing our body in.
And I'm not just saying that because I'm Italian and
I'm a fan of olive oil as a moisturizer. But
(12:20):
the reality is most of the stuff that we put
all over our body has chemicals in it. And most importantly, though,
kids are often more exposed than adults, mainly because it's
affecting them more because their body's constantly changing, so as
they're being exposed to this, their cells are dividing a
little bit faster and it can really disrupt their formation.
(12:43):
So here's the part for me at least, that matters
the most. It's I hate talking about some of these
things because it's like, well, we can't avoid these forever chemicals, really,
unless we're going to go and live in a glass
bubble and never be exposed to any sort of toxin.
I mean, that's just not reality. It's not reality in
the modern industrialized world that we live in. But there
(13:05):
really are some things that you can do to decrease
exposure to these forever chemicals, especially if you are considering
getting pregnant, if you're pregnant, if you have young children
in the home, you should really start taking some of
these steps. I'm going to try and start taking. I
already have actually in my home. But here's some some
easy things that you can do. Filter your water. Don't
(13:27):
just take it out of the tap. Look for filters
that are certified for pfas removal. They will actually say
that on the labels. Specifically, I don't know if you
want to write this down, but if you specifically look
for NSF slash ANSI fifty three or fifty eight. These
are supposed to be certified to remove p FAST from
(13:49):
the water. This is one of the highest impact changes
you can make because that is one of the biggest
sources of our consumption and exposure of these forever chemicals
through the water that we drink. Also, rethink cookware. Listen,
I get it. Nonstick pans. They're amazing. I used to
love them. We've actually gotten rid of nonstick pans in
(14:12):
my household. We have now switched to ceramic and cast
iron and that's all we use, and we don't use
plastic spatulas on these, just again as a way to
reduce the microplastics. Listen, Seramic not nearly as easy to
cook eggs on full disclosure, And you know, we love
eggs in our household. I have hens. We cook eggs
(14:35):
maybe four or five days a week because I just
think they're incredible for nutrients and protein. And since we
have the hens outside, it's a you know, I am
able to control what's going into the hens and therefore
what's being consumed by my family. I do not love
cooking eggs on ceramic, but I will tell you it's
(14:55):
worth it. In my opinion, it's worth the headache a
little bit. Instead of having a nonstick pan. We do
have one tiny nonstick pan in case we ever really
want it for eggs, but I'm trying really hard not
to use it. But I do reserve the right to
use it occasionally, because I'll tell you sometimes it's very
difficult eggs on those ceramic pans. Now, you should try
(15:18):
to reduce package and fast foods for many reasons. The
forever chemicals, the microplastics, and the fact that they're usually ultraprocessed,
which there's a plethora of data that tells us ultra
process is bad for our health anyway. So those takeout containers,
anything that's wrapped in plastic, if you can avoid them,
(15:38):
I highly recommend avoiding it. When you're at the grocery store.
Do your best to stay in the periphery of the
grocery store for your fresh fruits and vegetables and meats,
and avoid everything in the center because that tends to
be more ultra processed, tends to be more plastic in
that area. Whatever you can do. Anything that's stained resistant,
you know, stain resistant, stain resistant, blankets and carpets, anything
(16:04):
labeled waterproof, wrinkle free, stain resistant, high probability. They have
some sort of pea fasts, you know, forever chemicals in it,
unless it is specifically labeled P fast free, so you know,
as you're shopping for things, you can actually look for
that on the label P fast free. That's the way
(16:25):
to go. It sounds horrible, but like raincoats, most of
them have forever chemicals and it's awful. I'm sorry we're
all still going to keep wearing rain coats. I get it,
but I just want to make you aware of these
things right in your house. You want to use HEPA
filters if possible. Make sure you're constantly changing your HVAC filters.
Try to reduce exposure through the air, because we take
(16:48):
the air from the outside and it's coming inside. Dust
in our house can kind of cling to those forever chemicals,
So I have some air purifiers in our household. You know,
we do try to change our h BAC filter on
a regular basis. But on top of that, I do
have some HEPA indoor filters. One because a couple people
in our household have really bad seasonal allergies, so I
(17:09):
try to keep the inside as clean as possible. We
also have dogs, and dogs bring in crap from the outside,
so we brush them. We clean them on a weekly basis,
and I just put in extra filters in size just
to try and decrease that dust and any other toxin exposure.
And I don't know that's really what you can do
(17:30):
from a lifestyle perspective. We also, since we can't reduce
our exposure entirely, some of the big things you can do,
especially in kids, make sure that they're getting enough calcium
and vitamin D since we know p fasts from this
study affects the vitamin D absorption, so that's how it
affects the bones. So make sure your kids are getting
(17:50):
vitamin D. In the wintertime, consider vitamin D supplementation because
if your kids are outside a good amount, you know,
you don't have to be outside a ton to get
adequate vitamin D exposure from the sun. But in the wintertime,
when it's dark and gloomy and we have shorter sunlight hours,
you may want to consider vitamin D supplements. If they
(18:10):
don't drink enough milk. I mean, my kids thankfully love milk.
They have been drinking whole milk since they were one
year old. When they stop breastfeeding and they have a
glass of milk every single day. They also get adequate
sun exposure because vitamin D it's crucial for your physical health,
your mental health, and something that I have really tried
to educate my children on. You want to make sure
(18:32):
they're also doing weight bearing exercises. Weight bearing exercises keep
your bone strong, not just kids, adults too. Premenopausal, perimenopausal,
postmenopauseal ladies, I'm talking to you. Weightlifting very important for
our bone health as we get older. And no, I
don't want your kids going and lifting iron in the gym,
but they absolutely can be lifting light weights because you
(18:55):
want to make sure that they have the muscle mass
that is supporting their bone structure and that'll help them
have less bone injuries. Kids break bones all the time,
so if you have strong muscle around the bones, they're
less likely to break their bones. You know, Really, you
can get all of this from just a nutrient dense diet.
If your kids are getting enough fruits and vegetables and
(19:16):
meats and dairy, they're getting what they need unless they
have some sort of metabolic or nutritional deficiency, which obviously
you want to talk to your doctor about. But kids,
for the most part, don't need to be taking supplements.
They should be just having nutritious meals and getting enough
exercise and sun exposure. So obviously you know where I
(19:37):
land on this this new study. It's small, but it's meaningful,
and it just adds to a huge, growing body of
evidence that environmental exposures are really shaping long term health
in ways that we're only beginning to understand. And when
it comes to our kids, the bar should be set
so much higher. We don't need to panic, but we
(19:58):
also don't need to weight for absolutely certainty. We don't
need to wait for five or ten years for them
to say, Okay, we've reviewed the data for the last
twenty years and uh oh, these few chemicals they're impacting
us negatively. There's enough evidence at this point for us
to say we need to be making some changes. I'm
making changes in my household. I'm imploring you to make
(20:19):
some changes in your household. Because by the time we
have perfect data, the exposures already happened, it's already accumulated.
So this is about awareness. It's about making some smart
choices where we can, reducing risk whenever possible, and just
pushing for better transparency and regulation where needed, because protecting
long term health it doesn't just happen. You know, your
(20:42):
doctor doesn't have to tell you this. Your doctor's probably
not going to have a conversation with you about forever chemicals. Okay,
this is on you. Take control, Take control of your household,
take control of your kid's environment, and also what you're
exposed to as well. We only live once, so it
starts in the environment that we create for ourselves and
our families every single day. Thank you so much for
(21:04):
listening to this important conversation. On Wellness on MASS. I
hope you learn something. I hope you think about it.
Maybe you're going to make some changes. Maybe you won't
spread the word, spread the good word, because I think
this information is very important. I'm doctor Nicole Safire. Make
sure you listen to Wellness on MASS on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts, and we'll see you
(21:25):
next time.
Welcome to Wellness, sun Mass. I'm doctor Nicole Sapphire. I
hope everyone's enjoying March and it's starting to look like
spring wherever you are. I just came back from being
away for two weeks, and I was cold and wet
for about those whole two weeks. I was away half
of it. I was kind of in a colder climate
with a lot of rain, and then we went skiing.
(00:25):
So I was excited to come back home, thinking, hey,
maybe spring has sprung, because I was getting reports from
home that it had been warm and sunny while we
are away. Well, it's cold and rainy. I guess we
brought that cold and rainy weather with us. But that's okay.
I'm starting to see the buds on trees. I believe
spring is on its way. I'm going to maintain that
(00:47):
positive outlook and hope we don't have a last minute
snowstorm at the end of March. Sometimes that happens here
in the Northeast. But you know, fingers crossed, We're going
to think positively. I was kind of perusing topics on
my flight home, like what are we going to talk
about this week? And I've tried to stay away from
being online while I was away. That's a big thing
(01:10):
I do. But there's a lot of talk about vaccines,
the fact that the CDC is in an entire state
of disarray. They're running on a deadline. They have to
appoint a CDC director, they still haven't confirmed the surgeon
in general the AHHS right now, it's kind of a mess,
and I don't want to talk about it though, because
(01:31):
we've talked about it a lot. There's not a lot
of new information going on right now, so we're not
going to waste this episode talking about that. But maybe
we'll have an update for the rundown later this week.
What I did see was a small study, mind you,
very small study. But studies like this kind of pique
my interests because my common sense tells me that this
(01:52):
is an issue, and when I actually see in writing,
I get a little bit nervous, and I wonder if
I'm doing enough as a mom, and I wonder if
as a society we're doing enough. So let's just talk
about it. Essentially, what I saw was, again a very
small study published in the Journal of Endocrine Society, raising
(02:15):
concerns that these forever chemicals. I'm not sure if you've
heard that term before. You probably have, But when you
talk about quote unquote forever chemicals, we're talking about pfas
per and polyfloral alcohol substances. These chemicals they're everywhere. They're
in our water, they're in our food, they're in our cookware.
They're also in our clothing. We've mentioned them here on
(02:36):
Wellness and mass. But I want to kind of dive
into the study a little bit more, breaking down what
the study found, what we already know about pfast in health,
and most importantly, what we can do about it. So
let's start with this new study. It was a prospective
birth cohort study, which usually when you see studies like this,
(02:57):
they're retrospective, meaning they're looking back at old data and
there's usually a lot of confounding factors. But this is
interesting because this was a prospective study looking at two
hundred and eighteen children. Obviously, that's a small number in
the world of research and tracking the p fast exposure
from birth through age twelve. Researchers measured p fast levels
(03:20):
at multiple time points at birth, you know, their cored blood,
seeing how much they were exposed to in utero via
their mother, age three, age eight, and age twelve. Then
they looked at the bone mineral density at the age
twelve because this is a really critical time for bone
development as kids in their pre adolescence, as their hormones
(03:41):
are starting to change, their growth plates are starting to close.
This is when you look at how strong are those bones,
how well are they growing and developing. And here's what
they found in the study. Higher levels of PFOA, which
is one of the most common p fasts, were consistently
associated with lower bone density, particularly in the forearm. Forearm
(04:05):
is the area between your elbow and your wrist. We
look at these bones when we're trying to gauge the
age of a patient's bones and how well the bones are.
The effect appeared stronger in girls and boys, but most importantly,
timing matter, meaning exposure during certain developmental windows had different
(04:26):
impacts on the bone. So that's interesting right now. Again,
not a massive study. I want to continue to say
there's always limitations with studies, but this study is significant
because it followed children over time, it looked at real
life exposure, and it reinforces what we've already been seeing
in earlier data that these chemicals may be interfering with
(04:50):
how children are growing, specifically how children build bone during
the most critical years of development, because bone health it's
not just about childhood. About forty percent of total bone
mass is built during adolescence, you know, kind of our
eleven through fifteen eleven through sixteen years of age. And
if that process is disrupted even slightly, it can lower
(05:14):
total bone mass, It can increase fracture risk, it can
raise the likelihood of osteoporosis later in life, and it
can also affect you know, how tall or how well
the child grows. The mechanism here is concerning in the
sense that, well, how is this impacting. Is it because
the pfasts are being directly deposited into the bone, or
(05:38):
are they endicin disruptors, which we kind of already known
about them, meaning they're interfering with hormones, the hormones that
are responsible for making bones grow. So the research, not
just this current study we're talking about, but existing research,
is that these p fass chemicals they think that maybe
they buying to vitamin D receptor and this is impairing
(06:02):
bone mineralization, you know, the bone from forming in the
first place. They also have shown that they could be
disrupting thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones are very important for our
overall body formation. It impacts our physical health, our immune health,
our mental health, all of those. It can also affect
sex hormones during puberty, which has been largely discussed in
(06:24):
the sense that we are having lower fertility rates on
the female side. Also on the male side, we're also
seeing higher levels of polycystic ovariance syndrome and other things,
and it has been pointed to well, we believe that
there are external factors that are disrupting the normal endocrine channels,
(06:44):
and these forever chemicals are probably one of them. But
it's not just about environmental exposure. This is all about
biological interference during our development. And yes, these things come
from our environment, but you know it's not just the
air breathe. We have to take a deeper look into
what actually contains all of these forever chemicals, you know,
(07:06):
these endocrine disruptors. So this study, it's just one piece
of a much larger puzzle. Because pfasts are called forever
chemicals for a reason. They don't break down in the environment.
They accumulate in the body and they can remain there
for years. Even decades. In fact, their half life in
humans is estimated to be anywhere from two years to
(07:29):
nine years. If you think about that. If you think
an exposure to a chemical on day one, and it's
going to last for at least nine years throughout your body,
if you are continuously exposed to that chemical, just think
about how much accumulates. Of course, it's going to affect
the body, and the exposure obviously starts early. Babies are
(07:50):
exposed to these forever chemicals in utero, because adults are
being exposed to them as well. We already know from
other data these forever chemicals can cross the placenta. They're
also found in breast milk, and children are exposed through water, food,
and household products. For babies that use formula, okay, maybe
they're avoiding it from the breast milk, but let's talk
(08:13):
about that water. You're mixing the formula in forever chemicals
in that water too. Now, other research has linked these
forever chemical exposures to what we're talking about today, you know,
the lower bone density. They've also linked it to reduced
growth and lean body mass in early childhood, meaning the
amount of muscle neurodevelopmental changes and brain structure differences. People
(08:38):
are continuously talking about their rise in autism rates. Well,
we also have data showing that these forever chemicals are
disrupting neurons and brain development, also adverse birth outcomes, including
low birth weight and pre term birth. For women who
are exposed to more forever chemicals, their babies are born
smaller and sometimes they're even or prematurely. So it's pretty
(09:02):
clear that these forever chemicals are affecting us in many
different ways. And beyond children, we're also seeing associations with
fertility issues like I've mentioned, hormonal disruption, like we've mentioned
cardiovascular effects. They've actually looked at arteries throughout the body,
you know, the little tubes that take your oxygenated blood
from the heart and it feeds the nutrients all throughout
(09:24):
the body. Instead of just these plaques that we have
always seen, these plaques that are created by cholesterol that
cause our athoschlorotic disease or our heart disease or peripheral
vascular disease you've heard about. Well, now that they're starting
to look in these arteries and do you know what
else they're seeing. They're seeing microplastics, they're seeing forever chemicals.
(09:45):
All of these external things that we are exposed to
are building up into our vascular system. So if our
poor diet wasn't enough, we have forever chemicals that are
trying to narrow all these blood vessels. As you know,
as they get narrowed, it can cause stroke, dementia, heart attack,
peripheral neuropathy, peripheral vascularities, and all these other things. It
(10:08):
can affect us in so many different ways, kidney disease
and other things, blindness, I mean, the list goes on
and on and on. It also can affect our immune system.
So while this new study is focusing just on bone health,
the broader concern is absolutely clear. These chemicals are interacting
with not just one part of our body, but our
(10:29):
entire body. Our entire health is being negatively impacted by
these forever chemicals. And honestly, it's a big waste basket
in the sense that if you're talking about forever chemicals,
you might as well talk about microplastics and nanoplastics because
they're all part of the same thing. They're all part
of the exposure because of all of these modern day
inventions which we love so much, but when they were invented.
(10:51):
They didn't think about the long term consequences of the
exposure to some of the materials that they were putting
in things that were making them so convenient, Like what
are the most common sources for these forever chemicals. Well,
things that we love, things that make our life super convenient.
So drinking water, we've talked about this, especially near industrial sites,
(11:14):
military bases, nonstick cookware, fast food packaging, and any sort
of plastic wrappers, stain resistant fabrics and carpets. That's right,
we just spray at all with chemicals. It's great for
stopping stains, but we're exposed to it. Think about when
you're laying on the carpet, especially kids love to lay
(11:36):
on the carpets. My kids love being on the carpets.
They play with the dogs on there. Well, what are
they absorbing through their skin when they're laying on that carpet.
Personal care products like cosmetics, lotions, lipsticks, anything that you're
putting on your body is being absorbed into your body
because our skin is one of our largest organ systems
(11:58):
and it absorbs things. If you're laying your skin, I
mean I put on lotion at least twice a day,
what am I actually putting on my body? If you
look at some of the ingredients it's concerning, It's not
like we're just putting on olive oil, which is probably
the only thing we should be rubbing our body in.
And I'm not just saying that because I'm Italian and
I'm a fan of olive oil as a moisturizer. But
(12:20):
the reality is most of the stuff that we put
all over our body has chemicals in it. And most importantly, though,
kids are often more exposed than adults, mainly because it's
affecting them more because their body's constantly changing, so as
they're being exposed to this, their cells are dividing a
little bit faster and it can really disrupt their formation.
(12:43):
So here's the part for me at least, that matters
the most. It's I hate talking about some of these
things because it's like, well, we can't avoid these forever chemicals, really,
unless we're going to go and live in a glass
bubble and never be exposed to any sort of toxin.
I mean, that's just not reality. It's not reality in
the modern industrialized world that we live in. But there
(13:05):
really are some things that you can do to decrease
exposure to these forever chemicals, especially if you are considering
getting pregnant, if you're pregnant, if you have young children
in the home, you should really start taking some of
these steps. I'm going to try and start taking. I
already have actually in my home. But here's some some
easy things that you can do. Filter your water. Don't
(13:27):
just take it out of the tap. Look for filters
that are certified for pfas removal. They will actually say
that on the labels. Specifically, I don't know if you
want to write this down, but if you specifically look
for NSF slash ANSI fifty three or fifty eight. These
are supposed to be certified to remove p FAST from
(13:49):
the water. This is one of the highest impact changes
you can make because that is one of the biggest
sources of our consumption and exposure of these forever chemicals
through the water that we drink. Also, rethink cookware. Listen,
I get it. Nonstick pans. They're amazing. I used to
love them. We've actually gotten rid of nonstick pans in
(14:12):
my household. We have now switched to ceramic and cast
iron and that's all we use, and we don't use
plastic spatulas on these, just again as a way to
reduce the microplastics. Listen, Seramic not nearly as easy to
cook eggs on full disclosure, And you know, we love
eggs in our household. I have hens. We cook eggs
(14:35):
maybe four or five days a week because I just
think they're incredible for nutrients and protein. And since we
have the hens outside, it's a you know, I am
able to control what's going into the hens and therefore
what's being consumed by my family. I do not love
cooking eggs on ceramic, but I will tell you it's
(14:55):
worth it. In my opinion, it's worth the headache a
little bit. Instead of having a nonstick pan. We do
have one tiny nonstick pan in case we ever really
want it for eggs, but I'm trying really hard not
to use it. But I do reserve the right to
use it occasionally, because I'll tell you sometimes it's very
difficult eggs on those ceramic pans. Now, you should try
(15:18):
to reduce package and fast foods for many reasons. The
forever chemicals, the microplastics, and the fact that they're usually ultraprocessed,
which there's a plethora of data that tells us ultra
process is bad for our health anyway. So those takeout containers,
anything that's wrapped in plastic, if you can avoid them,
(15:38):
I highly recommend avoiding it. When you're at the grocery store.
Do your best to stay in the periphery of the
grocery store for your fresh fruits and vegetables and meats,
and avoid everything in the center because that tends to
be more ultra processed, tends to be more plastic in
that area. Whatever you can do. Anything that's stained resistant,
you know, stain resistant, stain resistant, blankets and carpets, anything
(16:04):
labeled waterproof, wrinkle free, stain resistant, high probability. They have
some sort of pea fasts, you know, forever chemicals in it,
unless it is specifically labeled P fast free, so you know,
as you're shopping for things, you can actually look for
that on the label P fast free. That's the way
(16:25):
to go. It sounds horrible, but like raincoats, most of
them have forever chemicals and it's awful. I'm sorry we're
all still going to keep wearing rain coats. I get it,
but I just want to make you aware of these
things right in your house. You want to use HEPA
filters if possible. Make sure you're constantly changing your HVAC filters.
Try to reduce exposure through the air, because we take
(16:48):
the air from the outside and it's coming inside. Dust
in our house can kind of cling to those forever chemicals,
So I have some air purifiers in our household. You know,
we do try to change our h BAC filter on
a regular basis. But on top of that, I do
have some HEPA indoor filters. One because a couple people
in our household have really bad seasonal allergies, so I
(17:09):
try to keep the inside as clean as possible. We
also have dogs, and dogs bring in crap from the outside,
so we brush them. We clean them on a weekly basis,
and I just put in extra filters in size just
to try and decrease that dust and any other toxin exposure.
And I don't know that's really what you can do
(17:30):
from a lifestyle perspective. We also, since we can't reduce
our exposure entirely, some of the big things you can do,
especially in kids, make sure that they're getting enough calcium
and vitamin D since we know p fasts from this
study affects the vitamin D absorption, so that's how it
affects the bones. So make sure your kids are getting
(17:50):
vitamin D. In the wintertime, consider vitamin D supplementation because
if your kids are outside a good amount, you know,
you don't have to be outside a ton to get
adequate vitamin D exposure from the sun. But in the wintertime,
when it's dark and gloomy and we have shorter sunlight hours,
you may want to consider vitamin D supplements. If they
(18:10):
don't drink enough milk. I mean, my kids thankfully love milk.
They have been drinking whole milk since they were one
year old. When they stop breastfeeding and they have a
glass of milk every single day. They also get adequate
sun exposure because vitamin D it's crucial for your physical health,
your mental health, and something that I have really tried
to educate my children on. You want to make sure
(18:32):
they're also doing weight bearing exercises. Weight bearing exercises keep
your bone strong, not just kids, adults too. Premenopausal, perimenopausal,
postmenopauseal ladies, I'm talking to you. Weightlifting very important for
our bone health as we get older. And no, I
don't want your kids going and lifting iron in the gym,
but they absolutely can be lifting light weights because you
(18:55):
want to make sure that they have the muscle mass
that is supporting their bone structure and that'll help them
have less bone injuries. Kids break bones all the time,
so if you have strong muscle around the bones, they're
less likely to break their bones. You know, Really, you
can get all of this from just a nutrient dense diet.
If your kids are getting enough fruits and vegetables and
(19:16):
meats and dairy, they're getting what they need unless they
have some sort of metabolic or nutritional deficiency, which obviously
you want to talk to your doctor about. But kids,
for the most part, don't need to be taking supplements.
They should be just having nutritious meals and getting enough
exercise and sun exposure. So obviously you know where I
(19:37):
land on this this new study. It's small, but it's meaningful,
and it just adds to a huge, growing body of
evidence that environmental exposures are really shaping long term health
in ways that we're only beginning to understand. And when
it comes to our kids, the bar should be set
so much higher. We don't need to panic, but we
(19:58):
also don't need to weight for absolutely certainty. We don't
need to wait for five or ten years for them
to say, Okay, we've reviewed the data for the last
twenty years and uh oh, these few chemicals they're impacting
us negatively. There's enough evidence at this point for us
to say we need to be making some changes. I'm
making changes in my household. I'm imploring you to make
(20:19):
some changes in your household. Because by the time we
have perfect data, the exposures already happened, it's already accumulated.
So this is about awareness. It's about making some smart
choices where we can, reducing risk whenever possible, and just
pushing for better transparency and regulation where needed, because protecting
long term health it doesn't just happen. You know, your
(20:42):
doctor doesn't have to tell you this. Your doctor's probably
not going to have a conversation with you about forever chemicals. Okay,
this is on you. Take control, Take control of your household,
take control of your kid's environment, and also what you're
exposed to as well. We only live once, so it
starts in the environment that we create for ourselves and
our families every single day. Thank you so much for
(21:04):
listening to this important conversation. On Wellness on MASS. I
hope you learn something. I hope you think about it.
Maybe you're going to make some changes. Maybe you won't
spread the word, spread the good word, because I think
this information is very important. I'm doctor Nicole Safire. Make
sure you listen to Wellness on MASS on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts, and we'll see you
(21:25):
next time.
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