Yale professor Paul Anastas says it isn't enough to know that environmental chemicals are making us fat and sick. Anastas directs a department that is working on redesigning chemicals in our food and many products we rely on so that they do not threaten our health.
Anastas heads the Yale Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering. It is his goal, working with other researchers and corporations, to create a label system indicating which foods and products we use have been re-engineered for health.
There is research to show that many products contain what are known as "obesogens," toxic chemicals that reportedly cause obesity in a variety of ways. This avenue of inquiry was part of what Anastas worked on when he took a leave at Yale in 2009 to serve as assistant administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington.
Listen this hour to learn how chemicals affect our health and weight control and what promising solutions are at hand. Joining Dr. Anastas, who holds the Teresa and John Heinz endowed chair at Yale, is Connecticut metabolic doctor and endocrinologist Reza Yavari.
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GUESTS:
- Paul Anastas – director, Yale's Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering
- Reza Yavari – endocrinologist
MUSIC:
- “Gne Gne,” Montefiori Cocktail
Lori Mack and Jonathan McNicol contributed to this show.
