Endocrine Disruptors: What They Are & How To Avoid Them | Dr. Leo Trasande

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The products we use every day are full of invisible chemicals that mess with our hormones and make us sick. But what do we do about these endocrine disruptors? And what exactly are they doing to our bodies?

WELCOME TO THE DARIN OLIEN SHOW 

Dr. Leo Trasande wants us to recognize endocrine disruptors so we can avoid them.

As the Director of the Division of Environmental Pediatrics and Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Pediatrics at NYU School of Medicine, Dr. Leonardo Trasande clearly cares about the health of children. He also serves on the faculty of the NYU Wagner School of Public Service and the NYU College of Global Public Health. Dr. Trasande is an internationally renowned leader in environmental health. The main focus of his research is the impact of chemicals on the hormones in our bodies. He’s led the way in documenting the economic costs of the failures of policymakers to prevent diseases caused by environmental factors. 

As research for this episode, I read Dr. Leo’s book, Sicker Fatter Poorer: The Urgent Threat of Hormone Disrupting Chemicals on Our Health and Future and What We Can Do About It. I couldn’t put it down! This book was not only eye-opening, but it gave a real sense of hope for the future. We can identify these endocrine disruptors and take them out of our lives. It’s just going to take some collective awareness on our part.

Most of us don’t really understand the role of hormones in our body, 

or what our endocrine system really does. Dr. Trasande really does an amazing job of breaking down the science for us. He paints a terrifying picture of what these dangerous chemicals do to our bodies. But he also gives us actionable advice on how to avoid them. 

Unfortunately, most of these endocrine disruptors are extremely hard to avoid. They’re in our food packaging, our cosmetics, our hygiene products– they’re everywhere! And of course, the biggest culprit of all is plastic. But the more people wake up to the dangers of these chemicals, the harder we can fight to remove them. It’s going to take massive change from policymakers, legislators, and people in power. But if we all start opening our eyes to the dangers of these hormone-disrupting toxins, we can work together to make real change. And with Dr. Trasande’s expertise, we can know where to start.