Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) are found in our homes, offices, and air we breathe – and accumulating evidence shows they are negatively affecting our brains, bodies, and environment. In his book, Sicker, Fatter, Poorer: The Urgent Threat of Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals to Our Health and Future…and What We Can Do About It, Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a pediatrician, professor, and world-renowned researcher, exposes the chemicals that disrupt our hormonal systems and damage our health.

Trasande will present a talk and discussion, “What should we do about PFAS, BPA, and other endocrine disruptors?” on Thursday, April 18, from 6 to 7 p.m. in C217 CPHB. His presentation is free and open to the public. He will be available to sign books following his presentation.

The book shows us where these chemicals hide – in everyday household items, our schools, at work, in our food, and countless other places we can’t control – as well as the workings of policy that protects the continued use of these chemicals in our lives. Drawing on extensive research and expertise, Trasande outlines studies and emerging evidence about the rapid increases in neurodevelopmental, metabolic, reproductive, and immunological diseases directly related to the hundreds of thousands of chemicals that we are exposed to every day.

Through a blend of narrative, scientific detective work, and concrete information about the connections between chemicals and disease, Trasande shows us what we can do to protect ourselves and our families in the short-term and long-term, and how we can help bring the change we deserve.

 About Dr. Leonardo Trasande

Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, is an internationally renowned leader in children’s environmental health and a tenured professor in pediatrics, environmental medicine, and population health at New York University (NYU).

Trasande is Principal Investigator on numerous National Institutes of Health-funded projects. He leads the groundbreaking Children’s Health and Environment Study (CHES) at NYU Langone as a part of the NIH’s Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes program (ECHO). This study examines the helpful and harmful effects of environmental exposures on children’s health and development by studying chemicals such as phthalates, bisphenols, organophosphate pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and more on fetal and postnatal growth. By partnering with women before and after birth, these data help to identify the long-term health effects of early-life environmental exposures.

Trasande has served as a member of numerous scientific committees and expert panels, including: the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Executive Committee of the Council for Environmental Health; the Science and Technical Advisory Committee for the World Trade Center Health Program; the National Children’s Study Methodological Review Panel of the National Academy of Sciences; the United Nations Environment Programme Steering Committee on a Global Outlook for Chemicals; and the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Center for Environmental Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Trasande has appeared on Today, CNN, NPR, CBS News, and been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, National Geographic, USA Today, and dozens of other media outlets. He lives in New York City with his family.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the College of Public Health in advance at 319-384-15

Sponsored by the University of Iowa Environmental Health Sciences Research Center, Department of Epidemiology, and the UI College of Public Health