The Whole View with Stacy Toth, Season 3, Episode 128: Protecting Ourselves from Hidden Chemical Toxins w/ David Steinman

Posted on August 30, 2024

Author and long-time activist David Steinman joins Stacy to educate us about the intersection of environment and health and help us discover the hidden toxins in our lives. Stacy and David tackle air and water quality concerns, to making the best choices we can, and why we must be the change and example for our children and generations to come.

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Key Takeaways

Introductions

David Steinman is an environmentalist, journalist, consumer health advocate, publisher and author of five books focusing largely on environmental, dietary, and consumer safety issues. He is the founder of the publishing company, Freedom Press, which publishes Healthy Living Magazine.
David earned his undergraduate degree from Columbia University before earning a Master’s degree in journalism from the University of Oregon.
In 1990, he published his first book, Diet for a Poisoned Planet, which discussed, among other things, how to avoid foods that may have been contaminated with pesticides and what pesticides could do to human bodies. He also co-authored The Safe Shopper’s Bible with Samuel Epstein in 1995. The book provided information on which foods, cosmetics, toiletries, and other household products did or did not have carcinogens or other toxins. In 2007, Steinman commissioned a study on shampoos and bath products that showed that some were contaminated with the carcinogenic compound, 1,4-dioxane. He commissioned a second study in 2008 that revealed that 47 out of 100 soaps, shampoos and other consumer products labeled “natural” or “organic” had detectable levels of the compound. By that time, Steinman had begun publishing Healthy Living Magazine via his publishing company, Freedom Press.

Protecting Ourselves from Hidden Chemical Toxins

You have hope in the future generations, but the future generations don’t have much hope in us. And that’s scary, because, really, things are moving so rapidly now in terms of health and environment where the two are emerging. And we, as adults, have to be the change and the example. – David Steinman

Stacy and David chat about David’s book, legislation that hasn’t caught up to technology, what David has seen in his work as an environmental journalist, and ways we can protect ourselves from hidden toxins in our home and the places we frequent.