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Okay, Chelsea, it's been a while since we talked about plastics, I'm sure, having basically

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talked about them a lot.

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But, you know.

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This article came on January 8th of 2025, it's on The Guardian, written by Kerry Gillam.

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Article title, Health Experts Rally for Call to Arms to Protect Children from Toxic Chemicals.

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Children are suffering and dying from diseases that emerging scientific research has linked

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to chemical exposures.

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Children's that require urgent revamping of laws around the world, according to a new

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paper published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Authored by more than 20 leading public health researchers, including one from the U.S. Environmental

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Protection Agency and another from the United Nations, the paper lays out, quote, a large

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body of evidence, end quote, linking multiple childhood diseases to synthetic chemicals

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and recommended a series of aggressive actions of tribe to better protect children.

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The paper is a call to arms to forge an actual commitment to the health of our children,

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said Linda Bernbaum, former director of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health,

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Science and Co-author of the paper.

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In conjunction with the release of the paper, some of the study authors are helping launch

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an institute for preventative health to support the recommendations outlined in the paper

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to help fund implementation of reforms.

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A key player in launching the institute is Anne Robertson, vice president of Robertson

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Stevens Wealth Management and a member of the family that built RJ Reynolds Tobacco.

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Interesting.

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That is interesting.

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The paper points to data showing global inventories of roughly 350,000 synthetic chemical mixtures

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and plastics, most of which are derived from fossil fuels.

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Production has expanded 50 folds in 9050 and is currently increasing by about 3% a year,

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projected to triple by 2050, the paper states.

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Meanwhile, non-communicable diseases, including many that research shows can be caused by

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synthetic chemicals, are rising in children and have become the principal cause of death

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and illness for children.

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The author is right.

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Despite the connections, which the authors say, quote, continued to be discovered with

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distressing frequency, end quote, there are very few restrictions on such chemicals and

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no post-market surveillance for longer term adverse health effects.

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Quote, the evidence is so overwhelming and the effects of manufactured chemicals are

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so disruptive for children that inaction is no longer an option.

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End quote, said Danielle Mandrioli, a co-author of the paper and director of the César Maltoni

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Cancer Research Center at the Remazzini Institute in Italy, quote, our article highlights the

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necessity for a paradigm shift in chemical testing and regulations to safeguard children's

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health.

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End quote, such a shift would require changes in laws, restructuring of the chemical industry

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and redirection of financial investments similar to what has been undertaken with efforts to

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transition to clean energy, the paper states.

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Yeah, and that's going so well.

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The paper identifies several disturbing data points for trend lines over the last 50 years.

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They include the incidence of childhood cancers up 35%.

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Male reproductive birth defects have doubled in frequency and neurodevelopmental disorders

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are affecting one in six children.

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The spectrum disorder is diagnosed in one in 36 children.

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Pediatric asthma has tripled in prevalence and pediatric obesity prevalence has nearly

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quadrupled, driving a quote, sharp increase in type two diabetes among children and adolescents.

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End quote, quote, children's health has been slipping away as a priority focus.

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End quote, said Tracy Woodruff, a co-author of the paper and director of the University

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of California, San Francisco's program on reproductive health and the environment.

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Quote, we've slowly just been neglecting this, the clinical and public health community

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and the government has failed them.

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End quote, the author site research documenting how, quote, even brief low level exposures

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to toxic chemicals during early vulnerable periods.

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End quote, in a child's development can cause disease and disability.

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Prenatal exposure are particularly hazardous for paper states.

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Quote, diseases caused by toxic chemical exposures in childhood can lead to massive economic losses,

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including health care expenditures and productivity losses resulting from the reduced cognitive

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function, physical disabilities and premature death.

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The chemical industry largely externalizes these costs and poses them on the government's

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and taxpayers.

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End quote, the paper notes.

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The paper takes issue with the US Toxic Substances Control Act of 1977 and amendments arguing

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that even though the law was enacted to protect public health from, quote, unreasonable risk.

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End quote, posed by chemicals, it does not provide the environmental protection agency

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with the authorities needed to actually meet that commitment.

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Instead the manner in which the law is implemented assumes that all manufactured chemicals are

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harmless and beneficial and burdens government regulators with identifying and assessing the

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chemicals.

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Quote, hazards that have been recognized have typically been ignored or downplayed and the

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responsible chemicals allowed to remain in use with no or limited restrictions.

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In nearly 50 years since the TSCA's passage, only a handful of chemicals have been banned

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or restricted in US markets.

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End quote, the paper states.

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Chemical oversight is more rigorous in the European Union, the paper says, but still

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fails to provide adequate protection, relying heavily on testing data provided by the chemical

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industry and providing multiple exemptions, the paper argues.

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The authors of the paper prescribed a new global precautionary approach that would only

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allow chemical products on the market if they manufacturers could establish through independent

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testing that the chemicals are not toxic at anticipated exposure levels.

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Quote, the core of our recommendation is that chemicals should be tested before they come

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to market.

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They should not be presumed to be innocent only to be found to be harmful years and

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decades later.

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End quote, said Phil Landrigan, a co-author who directs the program for global public

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health and the common good at Boston College.

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Quote, each and every chemical should be tested before they come to market.

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End quote.

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Additionally, companies would be required to conduct post-marketing surveillance to look

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for long-term adverse effects for their products.

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That could include biomonitoring of the most prevalent chemical exposures to the general

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population, Mandrioli said.

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Disease registries would play another fundamental role, he said, but those approaches should

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be integrated with toxicological studies that can anticipate and rapidly predict effects

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that might have very long latencies in humans such as cancer.

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Clusters of populations with increased cancer incidences, particularly when they are children,

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should trigger immediate preventative actions, he said.

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Key to it all would be a legally binding global chemicals treaty that would fall under the

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auspices of the United Nations and would require a quote, permanent independent science policy

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body to provide expert guidance, end quote the paper suggests.

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Paper recommends chemical companies and consumer product companies be required to disclose

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information about the potential risks of the chemicals in use and report on inventory

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needs of chemicals of quote, high concern, end quote.

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Quote, pollution by synthetic chemicals in plastics is a major planetary challenge that

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is worsening rapidly.

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Continued unchecked increases in production of fossil carbon-based chemical endangers

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the world's children and threatens humanity's capacity for reproduction.

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Inaction on chemicals is no longer an option, end quote the paper states.

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Landrigan said he knew the effort faces an uphill battle and could be particularly challenging

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given the incoming Trump administration which is widely expected to favor deregulation

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policies.

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Quote, this is a tough subject, it's an elephant in the room, he said, but it's what needs

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to be done, end quote.

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Oh what a note to leave that on.

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Chelsea what do you think of that?

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That's exactly what I was thinking, what about the corporations?

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I know.

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What about them?

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How are they going to make their money?

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They're going to make their money.

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I always, as a society we generally, I'm sure we brought this up several times on the podcast,

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we privatized the profits and then we socialized the actual detriment of the product.

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We don't actually expect somebody who makes a lot of money off it to bear the brunt of

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fixing the problems.

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No, because that affects their bottom line, like we would never want to fuck with that.

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And importantly, line needs to go up, that's like the one rule of our entire system.

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Oh yeah, it has to.

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It must die.

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You're going to go up.

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I spoke too soon.

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We must not die.

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We need to still buy their products.

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But we need to be willing to die for it.

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Yeah, we do.

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I think that thumbs it up perfectly.

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It's unspoken, but it is definitely something to do.

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And I think we can say that that is corporatism, not corporatism.

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What's the word that I'm looking for?

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Oh, it's late stage capitalism.

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Yeah, yeah, that's that.

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That's that at its finest.

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We're willing to die for it.

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Yeah, and this is particularly well timed with the incoming Trump administration, which

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I believe will be an office once this episode comes out.

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Yeah, I mean, I don't think that we're going to be very far behind them with a conservative

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run with Paul.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I'm happy with that.

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But I did not know there was it looks like plastic and chemical guideline legislation

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in the works behind the scenes, at least at certain levels.

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That is great.

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I know we've seen it with plastic pollution.

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There's groups for that.

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That are pushing for regulation.

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Yeah, I mean, it would be nice.

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But I mean, the corporations are the ones that have all the money for all the lobbying

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and all of that to be able to it's not corporations that are pushing for regulation.

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Let's be honest.

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And there are all the powers, unfortunately.

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And you're right.

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That was a sad article and they put it in children.

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Yeah.

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Can you imagine, though, it's like it's such a fundamental, simple answer to the issue

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is you have to be able to come before you put your product out to market and say like,

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Hey, here's everything that's in it.

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None of these show detrimental long term impact on children.

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Like I feel like that's a pretty low bar to be able to bring something to market.

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And you know what?

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That's probably the more expensive option.

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Oh, it's way more expensive.

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Therefore, that's not the option that they're going with because who gives the fuck.

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Yeah.

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So yeah, sorry to be cynical this early in the year.

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Oh, yeah, you got me fired up here now.

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And especially with like RFK Jr. in the Trump administration being in charge of vaccines

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now basically, you don't need to look at vaccines for autism.

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Like we already know that the study that found autism was connected with vaccines is very

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widely panned.

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The guy got his medical license taken away because it was so badly done.

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I didn't know that.

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Oh, yeah.

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He basically it was people who.

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Yeah, it was basically Melda's.

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He consulted with her, but no.

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And he went out of romance novels.

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Yeah.

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Basically, he selected parents for the study who thought the vaccine caused autism in

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their children.

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What?

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Yeah.

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That's a stupid story.

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Yeah.

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And that's how he came to the conclusion the vaccines caused autism.

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Okay.

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That seems scientific.

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Yeah.

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Scientific enough to get your license taken away.

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Anyhow, like you can find a link in so many things, including plastic, which has escalated

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the amount that's in contact with us and all these chemicals.

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But he's for deregulation, which is the stupidest thing if you actually care about health.

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Yeah, Trump.

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Yeah.

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RFK Jr. Sorry, not Trump.

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They're both anti-regulation, but I was talking about RFK Jr. in that situation.

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Yeah.

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But I will always say and I will stand on this hill, regulation is generally good.

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You might find a few fringe things here or there, but like this is regulation to stop

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kids from dying of cancer.

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Regulation is, for the most part, pretty good when it comes to most things, I think.

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Well, and for the most part, the reason the regulation is there is because somebody died.

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Yeah.

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Well, you need, you need control of most situations or else you get people running rampant, taking

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advantage of something that's not showing outlines of how it needs to be done.

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And it's not just with plastic.

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Like even regulation when it comes to drugs and stuff like that, it is a good thing.

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The food that we eat every day.

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Yeah.

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Like whenever you hear there's a recall because there was a whole line or something, that

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is actually the regulation working and forcing these companies to recall their food because

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it could kill somebody.

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Fuck those guys.

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And just remember, if there's no regulation, then you're putting a company in place, a company

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whose first incentive is profit, to dictate whether or not something should be put to

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market.

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Yeah.

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And they will always choose the profitable option.

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Why would you?

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It's like us, during the fridge.

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Yes.

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What a way to start our Wednesday.

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In green, is that?

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And with that, you guys got 48 hours, send us money.

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It's the most profitable option for us at the moment.

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Anyhow, we'll tell you how much money we get in 48 hours.

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OK.