/oss/taxonomy/term/5485/all en /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition-environment/we-are-exposed-thousands-and-thousands-chemicals <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/the-right-chemistry-we-are-exposed-to-thousands-and-thousands-of-chemicals">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>“Three thousand six hundred food packaging chemicals detected in human bodies: How reheating food is killing us.”</p> Fri, 04 Oct 2024 20:53:47 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10102 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/macropanic-over-nanoplastics <p>I keep teasing my analytical chemist colleagues that they are responsible for the anxiety that so many people have about chemicals invading their lives. Hardly a day goes by without some report of phthalates, perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pesticides, dioxins, bisphenol A, or a host of other mischievous “toxins” being detected in our food and water. That detective work is carried out by analytical chemists who continue to devise better and better means to uncover smaller and smaller amounts of contaminants.</p> Thu, 11 Jan 2024 19:48:05 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9800 at /oss /oss/article/environment-did-you-know/dark-side-black-plastics <p>I’m sitting here looking around my office for anything made of black plastic. The casing of my computer is in that category, so is my coffee machine, my printer, my cell phone stand, my stapler, a bunch of pens that clutter my desk, my electronic car key, an electric heater, a flower pot, the carbon atoms in my molecular models, the armrest on my chair and a garbage can as well as the garbage bag inside it. Even some of the ducks that adorn my shelves are made of black plastic! No, I am not bored or mentally disturbed.</p> Thu, 17 Aug 2023 20:17:21 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9603 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition/they-are-abbreviated-pfas-are-they-destined-abbreviate-our-lives <p>“Not everything that can be counted, counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” That quote is commonly attributed to Einstein although there is no evidence he ever said it. Even if he did, he certainly didn’t have toxicology in mind. But the concept is very relevant to toxicology, especially these days when substances can be detected at the part per trillion level. How small is a part per trillion? That would be 1 cent in 10 million dollars or one second in 32,000 years, which is longer than human civilization.</p> Wed, 01 Mar 2023 21:22:38 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9418 at /oss /oss/article/general-science/forever-chemicals-seem-be-forever-spotlight <p>One of the questions I’ve been asked recently with increasing frequency is how to avoid exposure to those “forever chemicals” that we are being warned about in numerous newspaper articles, books, and social media sites. These are the “perfluoroalkyl substances,” commonly referred to by the acronym PFAS, pronounced as “peefas,” that constitute a family of some 9000 compounds. Many are used in a wide array of consumer items on account of their resistance to both water and fats as well as for their lubricant properties.</p> Tue, 17 May 2022 19:03:10 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9112 at /oss /oss/article/health/are-we-risk-wearing-clothing-detectable-amounts-pfass-or-phthalates <p>Much ink has recently been spilled about our environment, and potentially our bodies, being contaminated by some of the estimated 60,000 chemicals being industrially produced today. That ink itself contains the likes of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and phthalates, chemicals of concern because of their hormone disruptive properties, and in the case of PFAS, also because of their environmental persistence. That has earned the latter the nickname “forever chemicals.” Both these classes of substances are found in numerous consumer products.</p> Fri, 20 Aug 2021 20:00:29 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8811 at /oss /oss/article/health-you-asked/are-forever-chemicals-cosmetics-dangerous <p>Many cosmetics come with promises to make us look “forever young.” But there are some suggestions that many contain “forever” chemicals that may actually interfere with our efforts to prevent aging. In this case, “forever” refers to the environmental persistence of the polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) found in a number of cosmetics that come with some toxicological baggage.</p> Sat, 19 Jun 2021 00:03:49 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8765 at /oss