Op-ed: How to achieve ‘beauty justice’ for Black people
Communities of color, notably Black people, are disproportionately exposed to harmful chemicals via personal care items such as hair products, studies have found. Harvard Chan School doctoral student Marissa Chan thinks it’s important to change the societal factors…
Protecting against ‘forever chemicals’
The U.S. Environmental Protectional Agency has proposed strict new limits on six types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water. Public health experts are positive about the move but say that, ultimately, all types of these…
Questions raised about PFAS in period products
Reusable “period underwear” that people use in place of traditional, disposable menstrual products may contain toxic compounds linked with long-term health risks.
Exposure to hormone-disrupting chemical mixtures common among office workers
Office workers in the U.S., the U.K., China, and India were exposed to complex mixtures of chemicals that can disrupt hormonal functions, according to a study that analyzed chemical traces picked up by silicone wristbands worn by the…
When beauty causes harm
A new podcast called Beauty + Justice looks at the history and context surrounding beauty injustices, the potential impacts on health—from asthma to early menstruation to breast cancer—and the sometimes painful emotional toll of trying to attain a…
Toxic environment harming sperm counts
Sperm counts among men around the world are plummeting due to toxins in the environment, according to Harvard Chan School’s Carmen Messerlian.
Epidemiologist Tamarra James-Todd receives Alice Hamilton Award
Tamarra James-Todd, the Mark and Catherine Winkler Associate Professor of Environmental Reproductive Epidemiology, received the 2022 Alice Hamilton Award for her leadership in the area of environmental exposure and women’s health.
Better Off Podcast: Is cooking with natural gas unhealthy?
40 million American homes cook their meals with natural gas. But most people don’t think of the little blue flame on their gas range as the end of a very long natural gas pipeline. New research shows that…
Better Off: Home
What makes a healthy home? In 2022, that question feels more important than ever. What are the right foods to eat? The least-toxic shampoos and sunscreens? The best way to prevent loneliness while working from home? On Season…
How our environment impacts reproductive health
Carmen Messerlian, assistant professor of environmental reproductive, perinatal, and pediatric epidemiology, studies how the world around us—everything from chemical exposures to trauma to climate change—can affect reproductive health and development.
