(Highlights) DR. LINDA BIRNBAUM

“Is this true that we test for fewer than 100 chemicals in water, but in fact, there are thousands that go untested?”“There are thousands just like there are in air, just like there are in food. We sometimes compartmentalize too much. We forget, but what is food? Food is made up of chemicals. And I think we need to be broader in our understanding because, for example, we all have on us and within us our Microbiomes and we think about the GI bacteria and we now know that if people are obese they have very different microbial content in their gut compared to people who are not obese. And we know that a baby born by C-section section has a different position than a baby born vaginally. And we know that these things have impacts. We know that many of the bacteria have the ability for example to metabolize the contaminants as well as things in our food. And we know that you can have a different response depending upon what people are eating.”Dr. Linda Birnbaum is a scientist emeritus and former director of the National institute of Environmental Health Sciences and of the National Toxicology Program. She is also a Scholar in Residence at the Nicholas School of the Environment of Duke University, and an adjunct full professor at Duke, University of North Carolina, and Yale University School of Public Health. She is the author of more than 1000 peer reviewed articles, book chapters, and reports. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, has multiple honorary doctorates and awards.  Best of all, now that she is retired after 40 years of government. · sph.unc.edu/adv_profile/linda-birnbaum-phd/ · www.niehs.nih.gov· www.oneplanetpodcast.org · www.creativeprocess.info