By Elise Pierce & Laura Vandenberg
Endocrine disrupting chemicals are no joke. Scientists and public health professionals know this, but much of the general public is still largely uninformed about the threat that everyday exposures to these chemicals pose to health.
Understanding this simple fact led us to create A Daily Dose – a new podcast, written by public health students at UMass Amherst that focuses on endocrine disrupting chemicals and the scientists who study them. This podcast aims to educate the general public about exposures to environmental chemicals and their effects on the endocrine system in a fun and engaging way. Though these chemicals are no joke, people can be entertained while they learn about them.
Each of the 28 episodes of A Daily Dose dives into a specific topic in environmental endocrinology – some examine a certain chemical or class of chemicals, others dive into a common physiological effect, and still others describe the process of how these chemicals are assessed and regulated. Each episode also includes audio clips from interviews that were conducted with 24 researchers who study endocrine disrupting chemicals about their individual work and its broader public health impacts. Featuring the voices of prominent scientists in the field and having them talk about their work was something that we knew was a priority for us as we were creating the structure of the podcast.
In one of the first episodes, Dr. Bruce Lanphear discusses a myth that has duped people around the world: the myth that fluoride is good for us and should be in drinking water. In reality, the fluoride added to our water supply was a byproduct of the phosphate mining industry that needed a place to go – and drinking water was the solution. This episode includes other misconceptions about the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals, especially how they can have different effects at low doses. As Dr. Lanphear’s work continues to show, little things matter.
Another shocker comes when Dr. Leonardo Trasande describes the actual monetary cost that can be attributed to endocrine disruptors – and it’s a lot. The effects of these chemicals burden us globally, but many populations that have faced discrimination and have limited financial resources bear the greatest costs. One of our episodes examines the issue of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals through an environmental justice lens.
In the last episode of A Daily Dose, “Practice of Prevention,” many scientists’ voices are strung together to inform listeners about little things they can do to help limit their daily exposures to harmful environmental chemicals. We want people to know how they can be cautious about endocrine disruptors, but to also push for regulatory change to promote public health.
This podcast is the product of a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and is a part of the Science Communication to Promote Environmental Health Sciences (SCoPE) program. Although the content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, NIEHS does offer resources about endocrine disrupting chemicals.
All episodes of A Daily Dose will be available to listen to on podcast streaming platforms (eg. Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.) starting Friday, July 1st. You can find them at this link: https://linktr.ee/adailydosepodcast.
