1
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Am I the only one that is just,
like, so fixated on microplastics?

2
00:00:11,553 --> 00:00:14,139
-Microplastics are in everything now.
-[pensive music playing]

3
00:00:14,222 --> 00:00:15,724
-[man] Microplastics.
-Hello?

4
00:00:15,807 --> 00:00:18,184
We've all got microplastics in our body…

5
00:00:25,608 --> 00:00:28,069
-There's microplastics in your balls now.
-Right now?

6
00:00:28,153 --> 00:00:30,029
Well, you just ruined my day.

7
00:00:30,113 --> 00:00:32,449
[upbeat music playing]

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[man 1] There's plastic in everything,
and you're consuming it all the time.

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Literally, your toothbrush
is getting plastic into your mouth.

10
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Do you chew gum? That's made of plastic.

11
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These clothes? This is polyester.
That's made of plastic.

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[woman 1] We don't know
what these plastics are doing to us.

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[man 2] You and me and everyone you meet

14
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has enough plastic
in their ******* brain to make a spoon.

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[woman 2] We're finding them
all over the body, not just the brain.

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The blood, the lungs,
the heart, the arteries,

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the gut, the liver, the kidneys,

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breast milk.

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Okay, I'm full of microplastics.
Now what? What do you want me to do?

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Huh? Huh? Huh?
Tell me because I don't know.

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I saw a gastro doctor today,

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and she said
she never drinks bottled water

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because of the microplastics
and their correlation to colon cancer.

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[woman 2] Plastic also leaches out
a crap-ton of chemicals.

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[woman 3] I was pissed when I found out

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that the toxic chemicals
contained obesogens.

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Do you know what obesogens are?

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[music turns unsettling]

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[man 3] The more technology,
the more plastic,

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the more plastic in the bodies.

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It's causing people's penises to shrink,
balls to shrink,

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sperm counts are lowering,
and miscarriages to go up.

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[woman 4] This is so crazy and alarming.

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[man 3] What do we do
to try to keep the human race alive?

35
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[woman 5] So what are the solutions
to these problems?

36
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We can start by looking inside our homes.

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[dramatic music playing]

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[music fades]

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[man over PA]
And now, tonight's very special guest,

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the one and only Shanna fucking Swan.

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[audience cheering and applauding]

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Well, I have to say… [laughs]
I've never had an introduction like that.

43
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[laughs]

44
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In order to understand
the impacts of chemicals in plastic,

45
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you have to see
the effect on reproduction.

46
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[pensive music playing]

47
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Fertility worldwide is going down rapidly.

48
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Your book, Count Down,
says that the modern world

49
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is threatening sperm counts and imperiling
the future of the human race.

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That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

51
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And it is tightly linked to chemicals

52
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that are commonly used in plastic.

53
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[pensive music continues]

54
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I've been talking about these chemicals
for about a quarter of a century.

55
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More than ever, people are worried about

56
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how all the chemicals
we're exposed to are affecting our health.

57
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At the same time,
the use of testosterone has increased.

58
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My audience has always
been other scientists.

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I published in scientific journals
pretty much exclusively.

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And what I realized was that
that hasn't worked.

61
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-Are human penises getting smaller?
-Yeah.

62
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Shanna, why didn't you start with that?

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[both laugh]

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Now I am focused, I am honed in.

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This is something
that affects me directly, Shanna.

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[Swan] There's a lot of crises
in the world right now.

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I don't want to scare people,
but I want to tell them

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that this is also an important crisis.

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This is also something
we have to pay attention to.

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And actually,
in terms of our survival as a species,

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it may be

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one of the most important.

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[pensive music playing]

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One way to understand
the impacts of these chemicals

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that can affect our bodies

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is to look at couples who are having
a lot of problems getting pregnant.

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-Hi!
-[woman] Hi! How are you?

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-Are you Monique?
-Yeah, I'm Monique.

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-I'm Shanna.
-Nice to meet you, Shanna.

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[Swan] We recruited six couples
who are trying to conceive

81
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but have not been able to.

82
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And the question is, if we lower
people's exposure to chemicals

83
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that are in plastic,
can we change their fertility?

84
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[doorbell rings]

85
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-Hi. How are you?
-[Swan] Hi!

86
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Can you just tell me a little bit
about why you want to do this?

87
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-For a baby.
-Yeah.

88
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That's what we've been
working on for a long time now.

89
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We've been trying to conceive
for about 22 months this month.

90
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After about a year, we said,

91
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"It's kind of weird
that nothing's happened."

92
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We have been trying since we got married.

93
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So that was about two years ago.

94
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We have been trying to get pregnant
for over ten years now.

95
00:05:03,177 --> 00:05:06,514
Two and a half years, I guess? Yeah.

96
00:05:06,597 --> 00:05:11,060
Having to, like, have sex
all the time and, like, do these tests.

97
00:05:11,144 --> 00:05:12,603
And it just becomes…

98
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It's, like, it's no fun.

99
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Say what you always call yourself.

100
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Ah. I say, "You know, Julie,
I'm not a human dildo."

101
00:05:19,986 --> 00:05:22,613
[both laugh]

102
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And then we proceed to go ahead and do it,
and I'm happy to be a human dildo.

103
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But it is a dehumanizing thing.

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-[Julie] I'm really excited about answers.
-That's wonderful.

105
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-Wonderful, yes.
-[Julie and Eric] Yeah.

106
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Wouldn't it be great
if we can figure this out?

107
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So let's turn to products.

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-[both] Okay.
-[Swan] Okay?

109
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-There's plastic in here.
-[Eric] Mm.

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[Swan] This is a three-month intervention…

111
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Why don't you read that?

112
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…to look at the effect
of lowering your exposure

113
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to plastics and chemicals in plastic

114
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on your fertility.

115
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It's not a quote, unquote
"scientific study."

116
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We have no control group.

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It's very small.

118
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And all of these couples who are infertile
but have unexplained infertility.

119
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So nothing in their lifestyle
was obviously causing this,

120
00:06:09,535 --> 00:06:12,705
with the exception of chemicals
in their environment.

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[ominous music playing]

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These chemicals are ubiquitous.

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They're everywhere in our daily lives.

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In hard plastics.

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In soft plastics.

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They're in fabrics.

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The kitchen is home to obvious examples.

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From utensils and cutting boards

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to tea bags and coffee pods

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and any number of containers.

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Food packaging is often made of plastic.

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And when heated, these chemicals
go into the things that we eat.

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They're often in places you can't see,

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like the linings of tin and aluminum cans

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used for soup and beverages.

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But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

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They're in our closets.

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In the fabrics and dyes of our clothing.

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They're in our personal care products.

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From brushes to shampoos
to deodorants and lotions.

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They're in fragrances.

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And our children are absolutely inundated
with plastics in their toys.

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So we ingest them.
We absorb them through our skin.

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We inhale them.

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Every which way that they can
get into our bodies, they do.

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And as they pass through our bodies,

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they wreak all sorts of havoc.

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[pensive music playing]

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[Darby] We've done
a lot of research at home

150
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on chemicals in the environment.

151
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But learning more about plastics,

152
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it's opening my eyes
to how much bigger it is.

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-They're all plastics.
-[Darby] Oh, yeah.

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[Swan] It's a plastic kingdom, you know?

155
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These things we use a lot too.

156
00:08:01,272 --> 00:08:02,440
-I know.
-[sighs]

157
00:08:02,523 --> 00:08:04,317
[Monique] Now I cannot live without.

158
00:08:05,693 --> 00:08:08,404
[Swan] These do contain chemicals
that are concerning.

159
00:08:08,988 --> 00:08:11,282
And this is a problem. I use it every day.

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[both laugh]

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00:08:12,575 --> 00:08:14,577
I think we have a lot of products.

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[Tim] There have been more reports
of plastics and microplastics,

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but I never would have thought
that they're in my body as well.

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[Katie] One of the first things we did,
we threw away a cutting board.

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So that felt good. [laughs]

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[Swan] Thirty-five percent
of the microplastics in the ocean

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come from textiles.

168
00:08:35,139 --> 00:08:38,142
-Oh my gosh. Here's another.
-Oh!

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[Eric] So this room is like
a chemical warfare room.

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-[Swan] Yeah.
-[Eric] Is what you're saying.

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[Julie] It's just for smells.

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-[Eric] It's the Latino cleaning product.
-Oof! [laughs]

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[Eric] When you actually look at your life
and how much plastic is in your life,

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it's everywhere,
it's everywhere in my house.

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I'm looking at something like,
"I have to throw that away."

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[Swan] So beyond just removing
obvious plastics from all over the house,

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00:09:01,916 --> 00:09:04,544
I asked the couples to try these changes.

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00:09:05,378 --> 00:09:09,507
Try to avoid food and beverage products
that come in plastic packaging,

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00:09:09,590 --> 00:09:12,343
whether it's from the store or takeout.

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00:09:12,885 --> 00:09:17,014
Try to avoid
fragrance products and perfumes.

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00:09:17,098 --> 00:09:21,185
Try to use only natural
personal care products.

182
00:09:21,269 --> 00:09:24,355
Avoid synthetic textiles
and petrochemical dyes.

183
00:09:24,939 --> 00:09:27,400
And avoid handling receipts.

184
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Almost all receipts contain bisphenol A.

185
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[pensive music playing]

186
00:09:31,821 --> 00:09:33,406
Would you mind tossing that for us?

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00:09:33,489 --> 00:09:35,283
-[woman] You don't want the receipt?
-No.

188
00:09:35,366 --> 00:09:39,620
I feel like right now
we are in the movie The Matrix.

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00:09:39,704 --> 00:09:42,873
And they said, "Do you want
the blue pill or the red pill?"

190
00:09:42,957 --> 00:09:45,418
I guess I forgot
which one's the one that enters…

191
00:09:45,501 --> 00:09:47,420
The red pill is the one that he takes.

192
00:09:47,503 --> 00:09:50,131
-And I think I just took the red pill.
-[Eric] Yeah.

193
00:09:50,214 --> 00:09:51,215
[laughs]

194
00:09:51,299 --> 00:09:53,301
[playing "Sonate"]

195
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[Swan] What makes
something interesting to me

196
00:10:01,267 --> 00:10:05,229
is if it's a puzzle
that I think I can help solve.

197
00:10:06,105 --> 00:10:09,275
The question of,
was sperm count declining?

198
00:10:09,358 --> 00:10:11,402
And then if so, why?

199
00:10:11,485 --> 00:10:12,862
And how do you show that?

200
00:10:12,945 --> 00:10:19,493
That is a puzzle that I've been solving,
you know, for 25 years.

201
00:10:22,997 --> 00:10:24,040
[pensive music playing]

202
00:10:24,123 --> 00:10:28,336
How I got into this whole area
is because I was appointed to a committee

203
00:10:28,419 --> 00:10:30,046
of the National Academy of Sciences

204
00:10:30,129 --> 00:10:34,050
to look at these newly emerging chemicals,

205
00:10:34,133 --> 00:10:37,637
which they called "hormonally active
agents in the environment."

206
00:10:39,430 --> 00:10:43,934
The committee brought this paper to me,
which came out of Denmark in 1992.

207
00:10:44,018 --> 00:10:47,813
They reported 50% decline
in 50 years in sperm count.

208
00:10:47,897 --> 00:10:49,106
That's huge.

209
00:10:49,607 --> 00:10:51,317
When I first saw it, I was skeptical.

210
00:10:52,109 --> 00:10:55,738
I thought other factors
could explain that decline.

211
00:10:56,530 --> 00:10:57,990
We reanalyzed the data.

212
00:10:58,074 --> 00:11:02,119
And to my surprise, nothing had changed.

213
00:11:02,203 --> 00:11:05,873
The sperm count had declined
by more than 50%.

214
00:11:05,956 --> 00:11:08,334
That was a big wake-up call for me.

215
00:11:08,959 --> 00:11:11,212
In fact, in 2023,

216
00:11:11,295 --> 00:11:16,008
we found that the trend
was accelerating dramatically.

217
00:11:16,092 --> 00:11:21,347
The decline was more than twice as fast
as we had reported previously.

218
00:11:22,181 --> 00:11:23,849
What could cause this?

219
00:11:23,933 --> 00:11:26,685
This was too fast to be genetic.

220
00:11:26,769 --> 00:11:28,479
Then it's environment.

221
00:11:31,065 --> 00:11:32,983
-Can we talk about these tests?
-[Julie] Oh, yeah.

222
00:11:33,067 --> 00:11:34,902
-I'm super excited about that.
-Yeah.

223
00:11:34,985 --> 00:11:37,655
At the beginning of the study,
we get measures

224
00:11:37,738 --> 00:11:40,449
of their body burden
of environmental chemicals

225
00:11:40,533 --> 00:11:41,701
by looking in their urine.

226
00:11:41,784 --> 00:11:43,244
So we asked them for a urine sample.

227
00:11:43,327 --> 00:11:45,121
[Julie] How do you pronounce the…

228
00:11:45,204 --> 00:11:46,372
"Phlalatates"?

229
00:11:46,455 --> 00:11:48,958
-Phthalates?
-Phthalates.

230
00:11:49,041 --> 00:11:51,001
[Swan] Do you have a preference
where we start?

231
00:11:51,085 --> 00:11:52,044
Let's start with Jesse.

232
00:11:52,128 --> 00:11:53,754
-In case mine upset me.
-Here we go.

233
00:11:53,838 --> 00:11:54,672
And I cry.

234
00:11:54,755 --> 00:11:56,424
[all laugh]

235
00:11:57,007 --> 00:11:59,343
The first page says
that you have high phthalates.

236
00:11:59,427 --> 00:12:01,721
-High phthalates.
-That's gonna come up afterwards.

237
00:12:01,804 --> 00:12:04,056
-You have high phthalates?
-Wouldn't you know it?

238
00:12:04,140 --> 00:12:05,599
This is exciting.

239
00:12:06,183 --> 00:12:07,143
[Darby] I was shocked.

240
00:12:07,226 --> 00:12:12,231
It was really frightening to see
we had accumulated so many chemicals.

241
00:12:12,314 --> 00:12:14,900
[Jesse] It's clearly showing us
the things we're doing right now

242
00:12:14,984 --> 00:12:17,903
are absolutely contributing
to what I would say

243
00:12:17,987 --> 00:12:20,781
are pretty unacceptable
levels of these chemicals.

244
00:12:20,865 --> 00:12:22,742
I can share your frustration, I mean…

245
00:12:22,825 --> 00:12:28,122
And then we look at measures of semen
quality by asking for a sperm sample.

246
00:12:28,205 --> 00:12:29,957
We go to concentration.

247
00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:33,002
That's the number
that most people think about.

248
00:12:33,085 --> 00:12:36,046
-[Jesse] Okay. Mm-hm.
-Like, when I study sperm decline.

249
00:12:36,130 --> 00:12:39,091
So the calculated total motile count,

250
00:12:39,175 --> 00:12:41,594
23 is the value.

251
00:12:41,677 --> 00:12:44,597
Reference should be
greater than or equal to 40.

252
00:12:44,680 --> 00:12:45,890
Um, we're gonna go over…

253
00:12:45,973 --> 00:12:49,560
[Eric] When Shanna talked about
the results of my sperm test,

254
00:12:49,643 --> 00:12:52,897
it definitely was
a very, very weird feeling.

255
00:12:53,522 --> 00:12:57,776
I don't think most men are running around
getting sperm tests until it's…

256
00:12:58,986 --> 00:13:01,447
right up against the deadline
of when you need to know this,

257
00:13:01,530 --> 00:13:04,992
which is normally after you want to get
pregnant and something hasn't worked.

258
00:13:05,075 --> 00:13:07,536
[Swan] Below this point,
which is maybe 48…

259
00:13:07,620 --> 00:13:10,915
[Eric] It's the first time
I had really had explained to me

260
00:13:10,998 --> 00:13:13,709
why that count wasn't optimal,

261
00:13:13,793 --> 00:13:15,669
or really had anything explained to me.

262
00:13:15,753 --> 00:13:18,923
You are technically sub-fertile,

263
00:13:19,006 --> 00:13:20,466
infertile, depending on how you…

264
00:13:20,549 --> 00:13:23,135
-So that's kind of scary, right?
-Yes.

265
00:13:23,219 --> 00:13:26,138
It's like, well, are you less of a man
because of it or anything?

266
00:13:26,222 --> 00:13:27,431
Is something wrong with you?

267
00:13:27,515 --> 00:13:30,601
But I was thinking,
I have to stare at this and look at this

268
00:13:30,684 --> 00:13:33,854
and I have to deal with this
in order to try to make this baby.

269
00:13:35,731 --> 00:13:38,359
[Swan] When I talk about
their test results,

270
00:13:38,442 --> 00:13:42,780
I want to reassure them
that this does not mean

271
00:13:42,863 --> 00:13:44,949
that they cannot get pregnant.

272
00:13:45,032 --> 00:13:47,034
You are making sperm all the time.

273
00:13:47,117 --> 00:13:51,288
It takes 70 days to create a new sperm.

274
00:13:51,372 --> 00:13:54,667
And that's why we chose
this three-month window

275
00:13:54,750 --> 00:13:56,001
for your intervention.

276
00:13:56,085 --> 00:13:57,795
So I think the message is,

277
00:13:57,878 --> 00:13:59,588
"It doesn't look great right now."

278
00:13:59,672 --> 00:14:02,800
"It can change,
and you can help with the change."

279
00:14:03,300 --> 00:14:04,677
[dramatic music playing]

280
00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,930
We will also look at changes
in their body mass index

281
00:14:08,013 --> 00:14:12,059
because these chemicals
not only affect your fertility,

282
00:14:12,142 --> 00:14:14,895
they also have other health consequences,

283
00:14:14,979 --> 00:14:17,022
such as increased obesity.

284
00:14:17,106 --> 00:14:19,650
Here's a care package for you.

285
00:14:19,733 --> 00:14:22,862
Then we give them a packet of products

286
00:14:22,945 --> 00:14:25,990
that will help them lower their exposure.

287
00:14:27,533 --> 00:14:31,912
Because the good news is there are
fantastic alternatives out there.

288
00:14:33,205 --> 00:14:37,877
You can replace most of the plastic
in your kitchen with metal,

289
00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,921
glass, ceramics, or bamboo.

290
00:14:41,005 --> 00:14:44,258
You can use brushes
and floss made from bamboo

291
00:14:44,341 --> 00:14:48,178
and find personal care products
without scent.

292
00:14:48,262 --> 00:14:51,432
And then at the end
of the three-month period,

293
00:14:51,515 --> 00:14:54,101
we measure everything again and…

294
00:14:54,810 --> 00:14:59,481
we'll see if this lowers
their exposure and maybe even…

295
00:15:00,274 --> 00:15:01,692
they get pregnant.

296
00:15:02,568 --> 00:15:04,695
[Katie] I'm excited for the next 90 days.

297
00:15:04,778 --> 00:15:07,531
I am bound and determined
to get those numbers down

298
00:15:07,615 --> 00:15:10,284
for the plastics
or chemicals in our bodies.

299
00:15:10,367 --> 00:15:13,287
And I live by the motto,
"Happy wife, happy life."

300
00:15:13,370 --> 00:15:17,082
So I'll follow her suggestions
and do everything as well.

301
00:15:17,166 --> 00:15:18,959
I like the cardboard container there.

302
00:15:19,043 --> 00:15:20,544
-Yeah, looks great.
-Looks pretty good.

303
00:15:20,628 --> 00:15:22,463
[Darby] It's 100% plastic-free.

304
00:15:22,546 --> 00:15:24,465
I hope that we get pregnant.

305
00:15:24,548 --> 00:15:26,467
-That would be fantastic.
-Yeah.

306
00:15:26,550 --> 00:15:28,886
-A baby, yeah.
-A baby would be amazing.

307
00:15:28,969 --> 00:15:31,096
-They don't look spongy.
-So it's like loofah.

308
00:15:31,180 --> 00:15:34,016
Will we get pregnant because of it?
I have no idea.

309
00:15:34,975 --> 00:15:36,894
[Eric] I think with infertility,
at least for us,

310
00:15:36,977 --> 00:15:38,812
it's been like, what the hell do we do?

311
00:15:38,896 --> 00:15:40,064
And this is something to do.

312
00:15:40,147 --> 00:15:42,775
And so I'd like to see
those things down in three months.

313
00:15:42,858 --> 00:15:44,026
Hopefully, they are down.

314
00:15:44,109 --> 00:15:45,736
-Hopefully help you.
-Yeah.

315
00:15:45,819 --> 00:15:48,948
[Swan] I don't think anyone
has actually done this experiment

316
00:15:49,031 --> 00:15:52,534
to see the effect on conception

317
00:15:52,618 --> 00:15:54,828
and hopefully live birth.

318
00:15:55,621 --> 00:15:58,082
It's not straightforward. It's not easy.

319
00:15:58,707 --> 00:16:00,709
But it's super important.

320
00:16:00,793 --> 00:16:04,171
Plastics are a huge class
of man-made materials.

321
00:16:04,254 --> 00:16:08,801
But unfortunately, many of the chemicals
added to plastic are toxic.

322
00:16:08,884 --> 00:16:10,594
Including phthalates

323
00:16:10,678 --> 00:16:12,721
and bisphenols.

324
00:16:12,805 --> 00:16:13,764
[pensive music playing]

325
00:16:13,847 --> 00:16:16,392
Phthalates make plastic soft and flexible.

326
00:16:16,475 --> 00:16:20,646
On the other hand, the bisphenols,
like BPA, make plastic hard,

327
00:16:20,729 --> 00:16:23,357
like a baby bottle or a water bottle.

328
00:16:23,941 --> 00:16:28,737
These are chemicals that we call
endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

329
00:16:29,697 --> 00:16:32,449
When talking about endocrine,
we're referring to hormones.

330
00:16:32,533 --> 00:16:35,703
Hormones are our
natural signaling molecules.

331
00:16:35,786 --> 00:16:38,622
They're like text messages that we send

332
00:16:38,706 --> 00:16:42,751
from the brain to the heart or the kidney.

333
00:16:43,419 --> 00:16:48,924
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals
are known to hack these molecular signals.

334
00:16:49,633 --> 00:16:51,677
We have a robust body of evidence

335
00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:55,848
that these chemicals can contribute
to early heart attacks and stroke.

336
00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:00,019
You can have small shifts
in normal thyroid hormone function

337
00:17:00,102 --> 00:17:01,979
in the developing brains of young children

338
00:17:02,062 --> 00:17:03,939
that can produce autism,

339
00:17:04,022 --> 00:17:07,484
attention deficit disorder,
as well as cognitive deficits.

340
00:17:08,068 --> 00:17:11,697
At least 50 or so synthetic chemicals
are obesogens.

341
00:17:11,780 --> 00:17:14,533
Chemicals that literally make us fatter.

342
00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:18,120
Studies have shown that bisphenol A

343
00:17:18,203 --> 00:17:21,999
can actually reprogram the epigenome

344
00:17:22,082 --> 00:17:24,918
such that mice will get bigger.

345
00:17:25,002 --> 00:17:29,548
Those signals get passed
on four or even five generations

346
00:17:29,631 --> 00:17:31,717
down the family tree.

347
00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:35,262
[Landrigan] If a pregnant mother
is exposed to a toxic chemical,

348
00:17:35,345 --> 00:17:40,726
she is exposing the reproductive organs
of three generations.

349
00:17:41,310 --> 00:17:43,645
So the mother
is obviously exposing herself.

350
00:17:43,729 --> 00:17:46,774
Then the toxic chemical
goes through to her baby.

351
00:17:46,857 --> 00:17:48,567
That's two generations.

352
00:17:48,650 --> 00:17:50,611
And then in the female child,

353
00:17:50,694 --> 00:17:56,450
the eggs are already forming
in the infant's ovaries even before birth.

354
00:17:56,533 --> 00:18:00,454
And therefore, the reproductive cells
of the third generation

355
00:18:00,537 --> 00:18:02,331
are exposed to the toxic chemical.

356
00:18:02,998 --> 00:18:05,584
You could describe this as toxic trespass.

357
00:18:05,667 --> 00:18:07,836
[McDonald] The thing about
endocrine-disrupting chemicals

358
00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:09,630
is not just that they alter hormones,

359
00:18:09,713 --> 00:18:13,175
but they also have
carcinogenic principles.

360
00:18:13,884 --> 00:18:17,054
-They are promoting the cell to divide.
-[ominous music playing]

361
00:18:17,805 --> 00:18:20,516
The faster your cells are proliferating,

362
00:18:21,308 --> 00:18:24,478
the faster and the more precise and quick

363
00:18:24,561 --> 00:18:28,941
your DNA repair system needs to be
to correct that.

364
00:18:29,608 --> 00:18:31,318
Sometimes, things don't get fixed.

365
00:18:31,902 --> 00:18:34,154
Now you have a mutation

366
00:18:34,238 --> 00:18:39,326
that has created the ability
of that cell to be carcinogenic.

367
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:44,456
So now we're seeing
this rise in breast cancer,

368
00:18:44,540 --> 00:18:45,874
ovarian cancer,

369
00:18:45,958 --> 00:18:48,460
endometrial cancer, uterine cancer,

370
00:18:48,544 --> 00:18:51,046
and even prostate cancer.

371
00:18:51,129 --> 00:18:54,299
So it's important to understand

372
00:18:54,383 --> 00:18:58,220
you are disrupting your natural balance

373
00:18:58,303 --> 00:19:01,515
when you have these outside exposures

374
00:19:01,598 --> 00:19:04,810
that can "mimic" your own hormones.

375
00:19:04,893 --> 00:19:06,895
[music fades]

376
00:19:08,689 --> 00:19:13,277
[Swan] I feel very strongly
that it's a basic human right

377
00:19:13,360 --> 00:19:16,238
to have a child if you choose to.

378
00:19:17,573 --> 00:19:20,367
It's always been
extremely important to me.

379
00:19:20,450 --> 00:19:21,451
[tender music playing]

380
00:19:21,535 --> 00:19:25,539
I had my first child at 27,
then I had my son three years later.

381
00:19:26,165 --> 00:19:28,292
And then there was a gap.

382
00:19:29,626 --> 00:19:32,963
I began trying to conceive at an older age

383
00:19:33,046 --> 00:19:36,800
and had several miscarriages,
which were extremely painful.

384
00:19:36,884 --> 00:19:37,843
[Naomi babbling]

385
00:19:37,926 --> 00:19:41,305
[Swan] I was close to giving up,
but I kept on.

386
00:19:42,389 --> 00:19:45,767
And at 42, I gave birth again.

387
00:19:45,851 --> 00:19:49,438
So I have three wonderful children
and six grandchildren

388
00:19:49,521 --> 00:19:51,315
and one great-grandchild.

389
00:19:53,567 --> 00:19:56,028
Having the privilege to know her

390
00:19:56,111 --> 00:20:01,283
and see that continuity
and see our family in her

391
00:20:01,366 --> 00:20:03,994
and the joy that she brings
to all of us is just--

392
00:20:04,077 --> 00:20:05,954
I can't tell you. I'm almost in tears.

393
00:20:06,038 --> 00:20:08,457
It's so wonderful for me.

394
00:20:10,083 --> 00:20:14,630
And so it's important to me to help
people whose fertility is impaired.

395
00:20:15,672 --> 00:20:20,177
I think it is unethical, criminal,

396
00:20:20,260 --> 00:20:25,390
that chemicals in their environment
or other factors beyond their control

397
00:20:25,474 --> 00:20:26,934
can interfere with that right.

398
00:20:35,108 --> 00:20:37,444
[Darby] We've always known
that we want children.

399
00:20:37,527 --> 00:20:39,363
[hopeful music playing]

400
00:20:40,447 --> 00:20:43,575
[Jesse] Though we've created
a lot of problems here on this Earth,

401
00:20:43,659 --> 00:20:45,118
I do think kids are the future

402
00:20:45,202 --> 00:20:47,329
and they are kind of the answer
and the solution

403
00:20:47,412 --> 00:20:49,039
to a lot of these problems.

404
00:20:49,122 --> 00:20:51,083
[exhaling]

405
00:20:51,166 --> 00:20:53,835
I think there is a harmony
to be struck there.

406
00:20:58,882 --> 00:20:59,967
[Darby] My hope for them

407
00:21:00,050 --> 00:21:03,971
would be they would live
with minimal impact on the planet

408
00:21:04,763 --> 00:21:06,974
and caring for other people.

409
00:21:07,057 --> 00:21:09,184
[chickens clucking]

410
00:21:09,268 --> 00:21:11,270
[hopeful music continues]

411
00:21:13,981 --> 00:21:15,524
[dogs barking]

412
00:21:17,317 --> 00:21:21,071
[Monique] We are trying to get pregnant
for about two years now.

413
00:21:22,781 --> 00:21:27,828
When we met, it was hard
because I was getting divorced.

414
00:21:29,746 --> 00:21:30,831
[Bruno] This weekend?

415
00:21:31,498 --> 00:21:34,793
[Monique] I didn't want
Cecilia to grow up alone.

416
00:21:36,003 --> 00:21:39,214
And I think now
we are with the right time,

417
00:21:39,298 --> 00:21:40,716
with the right person.

418
00:21:42,134 --> 00:21:44,803
It's just like a dream for both of us.

419
00:21:46,096 --> 00:21:50,809
And then Cecilia started asking
all the time, brother or sister.

420
00:21:51,518 --> 00:21:53,437
And we got the first dog.

421
00:21:54,021 --> 00:21:57,024
It was not enough,
and she asked for the other dog.

422
00:21:57,107 --> 00:22:01,153
[laughs] And hopefully,
we have a baby before the third dog.

423
00:22:01,737 --> 00:22:02,946
[hopeful music continues]

424
00:22:03,030 --> 00:22:05,615
[Eric] Baptism proclaims
the faith of the Church.

425
00:22:05,699 --> 00:22:08,827
I baptize you in the name of the Father…

426
00:22:09,494 --> 00:22:11,288
-[laughs]
-And he doesn't like it.

427
00:22:11,371 --> 00:22:12,456
…of the Son,

428
00:22:13,498 --> 00:22:15,625
and of the Holy Spirit.

429
00:22:15,709 --> 00:22:16,960
Sorry.

430
00:22:17,669 --> 00:22:19,671
I've always wanted to have
a family of my own

431
00:22:19,755 --> 00:22:21,465
that's really peaceful and wonderful.

432
00:22:21,548 --> 00:22:24,426
I had amazing grandparents
and an amazing mother.

433
00:22:24,509 --> 00:22:27,346
Um, and there's a piece of that
that's kind of missing,

434
00:22:27,971 --> 00:22:30,849
and always was missing,
so I want it to be that for this child.

435
00:22:31,516 --> 00:22:34,644
And I think that's why
I'll be so disappointed

436
00:22:34,728 --> 00:22:36,480
if we never have a baby.

437
00:22:36,563 --> 00:22:38,982
Just-- I want to see
a little version of you.

438
00:22:39,066 --> 00:22:40,567
I think it'd be so cool.

439
00:22:40,650 --> 00:22:44,321
I think you'd be the best mom ever.
And I really want to see that for you.

440
00:22:44,821 --> 00:22:47,366
-Like, I really want to see that for you.
-Sorry.

441
00:22:47,449 --> 00:22:48,408
You know?

442
00:22:49,910 --> 00:22:51,828
Yeah. Okay, I'm good.

443
00:22:51,912 --> 00:22:53,038
Yeah, I'm good.

444
00:22:53,121 --> 00:22:55,123
[music fades]

445
00:22:57,709 --> 00:23:02,339
[Darby] My fertility routines
have really grown over the last two years.

446
00:23:03,381 --> 00:23:07,177
We want to get pregnant,
and I will do what I can do.

447
00:23:07,260 --> 00:23:09,388
So you take all of these every day?

448
00:23:10,305 --> 00:23:11,848
-Every morning.
-Every morning?

449
00:23:11,932 --> 00:23:12,933
Yeah, actually.

450
00:23:13,016 --> 00:23:17,646
We have unexplained infertility.
There's nothing "wrong with me."

451
00:23:17,729 --> 00:23:20,315
I check my pH every morning…

452
00:23:20,399 --> 00:23:22,901
I've been looking
at what's right for my body

453
00:23:22,984 --> 00:23:25,487
based on blood testing
and hormone testing.

454
00:23:25,570 --> 00:23:28,156
-[Swan] What is this?
-[Darby] To make sure my body's healthy.

455
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:30,784
So this is when I would have ovulated,
released the egg,

456
00:23:30,867 --> 00:23:33,203
and then they're looking
for my progesterone to rise

457
00:23:33,286 --> 00:23:34,538
four to five days after.

458
00:23:34,621 --> 00:23:37,874
It's a really nice way to be able
to track my hormones every day.

459
00:23:37,958 --> 00:23:39,960
Many of the specialists we've seen

460
00:23:40,043 --> 00:23:44,256
have had very narrow scopes of practice,
um, so they're not interested.

461
00:23:44,339 --> 00:23:48,718
And when I tell them, "Oh, I'm trying
to mitigate my endocrine disruption,"

462
00:23:48,802 --> 00:23:51,179
they say, "What does that mean?"

463
00:23:51,263 --> 00:23:53,140
"Here, take this time-release capsule."

464
00:23:53,223 --> 00:23:55,809
Right? And time-release capsules
have plastics in them.

465
00:23:55,892 --> 00:23:58,770
Do you use that to time your intercourse?

466
00:23:58,854 --> 00:24:01,565
Um, we just have sex all the time, Shanna.

467
00:24:01,648 --> 00:24:04,192
[laughing]

468
00:24:04,276 --> 00:24:08,363
To know that
there's these environmental factors

469
00:24:08,447 --> 00:24:11,283
that are in the world
that are harming my chances

470
00:24:11,366 --> 00:24:16,204
and taking away
my choice for parenthood is, um…

471
00:24:16,288 --> 00:24:19,082
-It's so overwhelming.
-Yeah, you don't really get a choice.

472
00:24:19,166 --> 00:24:20,500
I don't think anyone does anymore.

473
00:24:20,584 --> 00:24:22,127
-No.
-Because it's in the water.

474
00:24:22,210 --> 00:24:24,212
It's in the air. It's in the soil.

475
00:24:24,296 --> 00:24:26,882
I mean, is it daunting
and overwhelming? Absolutely.

476
00:24:26,965 --> 00:24:28,300
[lively pensive music playing]

477
00:24:28,383 --> 00:24:31,261
[Swan] So how did we get to this place

478
00:24:31,344 --> 00:24:35,182
where we're all surrounded
by toxic chemicals in our homes,

479
00:24:36,349 --> 00:24:37,559
in our stores,

480
00:24:38,935 --> 00:24:41,062
and all throughout the environment?

481
00:24:41,938 --> 00:24:44,024
How does that even happen?

482
00:24:44,107 --> 00:24:46,109
[music fades]

483
00:24:47,027 --> 00:24:50,530
120, 130 years ago,

484
00:24:50,614 --> 00:24:52,657
most plastics were plant-based.

485
00:24:53,325 --> 00:24:55,494
And then in the early 1900s,

486
00:24:55,577 --> 00:25:00,290
the petroleum industry discovered
polyethylene, polypropylene,

487
00:25:00,373 --> 00:25:03,126
polyethylene terephthalamide, polystyrene.

488
00:25:03,210 --> 00:25:05,795
[male narrator] Reactors
and fractionating columns

489
00:25:05,879 --> 00:25:08,673
crack and reform the oil's molecules,

490
00:25:08,757 --> 00:25:11,885
turning them into new liquids,
gases, granules.

491
00:25:11,968 --> 00:25:14,054
[Warner] When you pump the oil
out of the ground,

492
00:25:14,137 --> 00:25:17,015
they separate it into a whole bunch
of different components.

493
00:25:17,098 --> 00:25:20,393
One of those components
turns into what we now see

494
00:25:20,477 --> 00:25:22,103
as the petroleum-based plastics.

495
00:25:22,187 --> 00:25:23,313
[pensive music playing]

496
00:25:23,396 --> 00:25:28,401
These inexpensive,
lightweight materials were so ubiquitous

497
00:25:28,485 --> 00:25:32,781
that people just went crazy inventing
all different things to do with it.

498
00:25:32,864 --> 00:25:37,077
It's a remarkable
new polyester film called Mylar.

499
00:25:38,245 --> 00:25:39,621
Can you tear it?

500
00:25:39,704 --> 00:25:41,706
It's almost impossible.

501
00:25:41,790 --> 00:25:44,125
[Swan] Scientists could do no harm, right?

502
00:25:44,209 --> 00:25:47,087
-It was a love affair with plastic.
-[music fades]

503
00:25:47,170 --> 00:25:50,715
And it wasn't till quite a lot later

504
00:25:50,799 --> 00:25:53,802
that we realized there was a cost to this.

505
00:25:53,885 --> 00:25:55,887
[ominous music playing]

506
00:25:56,471 --> 00:25:58,932
[Landrigan] Global manufacturing
of chemicals and plastics

507
00:25:59,015 --> 00:26:01,142
is increasing very rapidly,

508
00:26:01,226 --> 00:26:03,603
about three
to three and a half percent per year,

509
00:26:03,687 --> 00:26:06,231
which means if we continue
on the present course,

510
00:26:06,314 --> 00:26:10,527
we will have twice as much plastic
in the world by 2040 or 2050

511
00:26:10,610 --> 00:26:12,237
as we have today.

512
00:26:13,238 --> 00:26:14,281
And at the same time,

513
00:26:14,364 --> 00:26:18,076
we live in a world that is awash
in manufactured chemicals.

514
00:26:19,035 --> 00:26:20,954
Since about 1950,

515
00:26:21,037 --> 00:26:26,585
at least 100,000 manufactured chemicals
have been developed.

516
00:26:26,668 --> 00:26:29,462
In many cases,
they've never been tested for toxicity,

517
00:26:29,546 --> 00:26:31,590
and so we don't know what they're doing.

518
00:26:33,925 --> 00:26:37,846
It means that we're conducting
a vast toxicological experiment

519
00:26:37,929 --> 00:26:40,557
in which our children
and our children's children

520
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:43,143
are the subjects without their consent.

521
00:26:44,519 --> 00:26:45,645
[Swan] It's really scary

522
00:26:45,729 --> 00:26:49,858
because we don't even know
the extent of this exposure.

523
00:26:50,650 --> 00:26:53,445
How does that get there?
And what is it doing?

524
00:26:53,528 --> 00:26:55,697
We're finding out,
and it doesn't look good.

525
00:26:55,780 --> 00:26:56,698
[music fades]

526
00:26:56,781 --> 00:27:00,076
Recently, the Environmental
Protection Agency, EPA,

527
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:02,704
put phthalates
on a list of chemicals that,

528
00:27:02,787 --> 00:27:06,875
"may present a risk
to the environment or human health."

529
00:27:07,459 --> 00:27:12,339
Congress came under pressure to act
because of a study by Dr. Shanna Swan.

530
00:27:12,422 --> 00:27:16,801
Dr. Swan compared the levels
of phthalates in a group of pregnant women

531
00:27:16,885 --> 00:27:20,221
with the health of the baby boys
they gave birth to.

532
00:27:20,305 --> 00:27:23,433
Did you find that the higher
the level of phthalates

533
00:27:23,516 --> 00:27:26,186
in the mother's urine during pregnancy,

534
00:27:26,269 --> 00:27:28,855
the greater the problems
in the young boys?

535
00:27:28,938 --> 00:27:31,191
-Yes.
-What did you find in the babies?

536
00:27:31,274 --> 00:27:34,319
We found that the baby boys were,

537
00:27:34,402 --> 00:27:38,156
in several subtle ways,
less completely masculine.

538
00:27:38,239 --> 00:27:39,741
[ominous music playing]

539
00:27:39,824 --> 00:27:45,580
The male genital tract requires
testosterone in this critical window

540
00:27:45,664 --> 00:27:47,499
at a certain amount

541
00:27:47,582 --> 00:27:51,044
to kick off what we call
the differentiation

542
00:27:51,127 --> 00:27:54,714
of the male and female reproductive tract.

543
00:27:55,298 --> 00:27:57,550
What would be the ovaries in the female

544
00:27:57,634 --> 00:27:59,969
becomes, for example,
the testes in the male.

545
00:28:00,678 --> 00:28:05,475
When phthalates come in there,
that testosterone is damped down,

546
00:28:05,558 --> 00:28:09,729
and that male fetus doesn't
get that signal at the right time.

547
00:28:09,813 --> 00:28:14,609
Consequently, he doesn't
develop the male typical genitals,

548
00:28:14,693 --> 00:28:16,111
or maybe not quite.

549
00:28:16,194 --> 00:28:19,948
That is what's known
as the phthalate syndrome.

550
00:28:20,031 --> 00:28:21,991
It's pretty special

551
00:28:22,075 --> 00:28:26,079
because there aren't other
syndromes named after chemicals.

552
00:28:27,706 --> 00:28:28,832
Okay.

553
00:28:28,915 --> 00:28:34,838
So anogenital distance is a distance
from the anus to the genitals.

554
00:28:35,630 --> 00:28:38,550
And we measure it with these calipers.

555
00:28:39,467 --> 00:28:42,887
Now, Willy is much more agreeable
than a lot of babies…

556
00:28:42,971 --> 00:28:45,557
[laughs] …so it's very easy.

557
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:49,102
Doing this with real babies
is more challenging.

558
00:28:49,185 --> 00:28:50,937
-[pensive music playing]
-[indistinct chatter]

559
00:28:51,020 --> 00:28:54,941
So what we do is we pull their knees back,

560
00:28:55,024 --> 00:28:58,611
which actually, um,
stretches the area a little bit.

561
00:28:59,863 --> 00:29:04,159
And what we do is we just find the anus.

562
00:29:04,242 --> 00:29:06,369
Right? We'll put one side…

563
00:29:06,453 --> 00:29:08,913
-[laughing]
-Oh my God. [laughs]

564
00:29:08,997 --> 00:29:10,749
[Shantal] That is so great.

565
00:29:10,832 --> 00:29:15,503
[Swan] This number in a female
would be 50 to 100 percent less.

566
00:29:15,587 --> 00:29:16,880
And why is that?

567
00:29:16,963 --> 00:29:18,840
Look at the stuff that has to go in here.

568
00:29:18,923 --> 00:29:20,091
[Erik] The equipment, yeah.

569
00:29:20,175 --> 00:29:22,260
[Swan] Yeah, all the equipment in there.
It is amaz--

570
00:29:22,343 --> 00:29:24,888
This measurement is the…

571
00:29:24,971 --> 00:29:27,140
what we call the anal scrotal.

572
00:29:27,223 --> 00:29:28,975
This is the scrotum.

573
00:29:29,058 --> 00:29:31,561
We're measuring gooches.
We're doing science.

574
00:29:32,228 --> 00:29:34,939
[Swan] Boys who had symptoms
of the phthalate syndrome

575
00:29:35,023 --> 00:29:37,567
had a shorter anogenital distance,

576
00:29:37,650 --> 00:29:40,445
which means the male
was somewhat less masculine

577
00:29:40,528 --> 00:29:42,071
or perhaps more feminized.

578
00:29:42,155 --> 00:29:47,452
So they have a somewhat smaller penis,
more likely to have undescended testicles.

579
00:29:47,535 --> 00:29:50,663
It was quite striking seeing the effect

580
00:29:50,747 --> 00:29:53,541
of powerful endocrine-disrupting chemicals

581
00:29:53,625 --> 00:29:55,585
on the development of male genitals.

582
00:29:55,668 --> 00:29:57,879
[pensive music playing]

583
00:29:57,962 --> 00:30:00,381
And then the question becomes,

584
00:30:00,465 --> 00:30:02,509
does it matter for his health?

585
00:30:02,592 --> 00:30:04,469
That's the key question here.

586
00:30:04,552 --> 00:30:09,432
And, by the way,
is it related to his later function?

587
00:30:09,516 --> 00:30:12,977
For example, his production of sperm
or his fertility?

588
00:30:13,978 --> 00:30:17,482
What we found
was a direct linear relationship.

589
00:30:17,565 --> 00:30:21,653
Longer anogenital distance,
higher sperm count. Very clear.

590
00:30:22,195 --> 00:30:24,822
This was really important
because it says those little changes

591
00:30:24,906 --> 00:30:28,827
that you hardly see at birth
actually play out during your lifespan

592
00:30:28,910 --> 00:30:31,454
in terms of your reproductive success.

593
00:30:34,707 --> 00:30:37,752
There's something
which is very key to my research,

594
00:30:37,836 --> 00:30:40,171
which is something you might know
by the name of the taint.

595
00:30:40,255 --> 00:30:42,048
That's not really a technical term, is it?

596
00:30:42,131 --> 00:30:44,008
Or the gooch or the grundle.

597
00:30:44,092 --> 00:30:46,302
-The gooch? I've never--
-[man] Also known as the gooch.

598
00:30:46,386 --> 00:30:47,887
-You know about the gooch?
-[man] Yeah.

599
00:30:47,971 --> 00:30:52,350
[Swan] Most scientific findings
are lost to the general public.

600
00:30:52,433 --> 00:30:55,311
There's a little bit of news about it,
and they're gone.

601
00:30:55,395 --> 00:30:57,856
It's got to be
pretty disturbing to be the--

602
00:30:57,939 --> 00:31:00,358
You're the Paul Revere
of tiny testicles and taints.

603
00:31:01,109 --> 00:31:04,737
[man] Penis sizes are shrinking,
which you might have seen from headlines…

604
00:31:04,821 --> 00:31:07,991
There's been a huge decline
in fertility rates among men.

605
00:31:08,074 --> 00:31:11,452
We may have a future where men
do not have enough sperm to reproduce.

606
00:31:11,536 --> 00:31:14,080
Did you know phthalates
found in fragrances…

607
00:31:14,163 --> 00:31:17,834
[Swan] What surprised me
was the reception of the media

608
00:31:17,917 --> 00:31:20,837
and the public
to the message I was putting out.

609
00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:23,673
It's so sad because
so many people don't know

610
00:31:23,756 --> 00:31:26,926
that these products
and toxins are harming them.

611
00:31:27,010 --> 00:31:29,721
[Swan] People were really
kind of hungry for this information.

612
00:31:29,804 --> 00:31:32,974
Babies are being exposed
to microplastics in utero.

613
00:31:33,057 --> 00:31:37,228
[Swan] I think in part
because phthalates are in everybody.

614
00:31:37,312 --> 00:31:39,814
This is not just an American problem.

615
00:31:39,898 --> 00:31:42,400
We're seeing these issues
all across the world.

616
00:31:43,860 --> 00:31:45,862
[lilting Italian folk music playing]

617
00:31:50,867 --> 00:31:53,077
[music turns pensive]

618
00:32:03,546 --> 00:32:09,510
[Ragusa] I chose to be an obstetrician
because everything begins at birth.

619
00:32:09,594 --> 00:32:11,346
[medical devices beeping]

620
00:32:12,472 --> 00:32:15,391
Every time a child is born,

621
00:32:15,475 --> 00:32:19,437
it's a new world
that opens up on the horizon.

622
00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:20,730
Ciao.

623
00:32:22,565 --> 00:32:24,275
[woman in Italian] Push hard.

624
00:32:24,359 --> 00:32:28,947
Very good, very good. Very good.

625
00:32:29,906 --> 00:32:33,368
[Ragusa in English] The moment
when you see your son or daughter

626
00:32:33,451 --> 00:32:34,911
for the first time,

627
00:32:34,994 --> 00:32:40,458
all the neurotransmitters
inside your head, inside your body,

628
00:32:40,541 --> 00:32:45,630
in fraction of a second,
when you see your child, they change.

629
00:32:46,631 --> 00:32:48,174
It's an explosion.

630
00:32:48,257 --> 00:32:50,259
[groaning]

631
00:32:53,513 --> 00:32:54,639
[woman in Italian] My God.

632
00:32:54,722 --> 00:32:56,307
Congrats, Vane.

633
00:32:58,101 --> 00:32:59,560
[baby crying]

634
00:32:59,644 --> 00:33:02,689
My love.

635
00:33:02,772 --> 00:33:04,315
He looks like his father, once again.

636
00:33:04,399 --> 00:33:06,359
[all laugh]

637
00:33:06,442 --> 00:33:09,612
[Ragusa in English]
Everything is concluded in a single word.

638
00:33:10,530 --> 00:33:12,073
Ciao. Hey.

639
00:33:12,156 --> 00:33:13,282
[Ragusa] Joy.

640
00:33:13,366 --> 00:33:14,200
[crying]

641
00:33:14,283 --> 00:33:16,369
[in Italian] Yes, love. Hello.

642
00:33:18,329 --> 00:33:20,331
[chattering in Italian]

643
00:33:22,166 --> 00:33:24,168
[tender music playing]

644
00:33:25,962 --> 00:33:30,800
[Ragusa in English] When I first
saw plastic inside the human placenta,

645
00:33:30,883 --> 00:33:32,510
I didn't feel joy.

646
00:33:33,052 --> 00:33:34,887
Quite the opposite.

647
00:33:34,971 --> 00:33:36,973
[ominous music playing]

648
00:33:37,974 --> 00:33:41,227
We asked mothers
to donate their placentas,

649
00:33:41,811 --> 00:33:46,107
being careful
not to corrupt them with plastic.

650
00:33:54,157 --> 00:33:56,159
[ominous music continues]

651
00:33:57,410 --> 00:33:59,328
-[in Italian] Can you show me?
-[woman] Of course.

652
00:33:59,412 --> 00:34:01,914
[man] Yes. We have some good results.

653
00:34:01,998 --> 00:34:04,959
In my opinion,
we found something interesting.

654
00:34:05,043 --> 00:34:06,961
We found this object.

655
00:34:07,044 --> 00:34:09,672
We see that it has multiple layers,

656
00:34:09,756 --> 00:34:14,010
like other microplastics described.

657
00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:16,888
[Ragusa in English]
We analyzed the samples

658
00:34:16,971 --> 00:34:20,683
and in some of them
we found microplastics.

659
00:34:20,767 --> 00:34:24,062
And we found various types of plastics.

660
00:34:24,145 --> 00:34:27,065
Polypropylene, polyethylene and so on.

661
00:34:27,148 --> 00:34:28,566
[in Italian] Have a seat.

662
00:34:30,568 --> 00:34:34,363
[Ragusa in English] We thought,
"If microplastics are in the placenta,

663
00:34:34,447 --> 00:34:38,493
perhaps they are in other places as well."

664
00:34:38,576 --> 00:34:42,497
[nurse in Italian]
The movement is this and this.

665
00:34:43,247 --> 00:34:46,083
[Ragusa in English]
We asked mothers to donate milk.

666
00:34:46,751 --> 00:34:48,002
[in Italian] Excellent.

667
00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:52,089
[Ragusa in English]
And we saw that in many of these samples,

668
00:34:52,965 --> 00:34:54,383
there are plastics.

669
00:34:55,092 --> 00:34:57,386
-[ominous music continues]
-[speaking indistinctly]

670
00:34:57,470 --> 00:35:00,056
[Swan] Plastics are in everybody.

671
00:35:01,516 --> 00:35:03,643
I mean, that's really scary.

672
00:35:04,685 --> 00:35:07,271
[ominous music playing]

673
00:35:15,113 --> 00:35:18,741
I would say the approach of industry
is to ignore the problem,

674
00:35:18,825 --> 00:35:20,743
to make more of these chemicals,

675
00:35:20,827 --> 00:35:24,330
to put more of them into plastic,
and increase production.

676
00:35:26,457 --> 00:35:30,920
No company is going to change
making a product willingly

677
00:35:31,003 --> 00:35:33,506
if it's going to affect their bottom line.

678
00:35:33,589 --> 00:35:34,966
That's the reality.

679
00:35:38,511 --> 00:35:43,516
So just as I won't stop
talking about the harms that I see,

680
00:35:43,599 --> 00:35:48,354
they are not going to stop
following what they feel is their duty,

681
00:35:48,437 --> 00:35:51,899
which is, I guess,
to protect the value of their stocks.

682
00:35:53,067 --> 00:35:54,402
We have different goals.

683
00:35:54,485 --> 00:35:56,779
[woman 1 on TV] After a decade
of planning and construction,

684
00:35:56,863 --> 00:36:00,449
Shell's cracker plant
in Beaver County is finally about to open.

685
00:36:00,533 --> 00:36:01,868
[woman 2] In the course of a year,

686
00:36:01,951 --> 00:36:05,913
the plant will produce
3.5 billion pounds of plastic pellets.

687
00:36:05,997 --> 00:36:07,915
[man 1] In its short span of operations,

688
00:36:07,999 --> 00:36:11,127
the multibillion-dollar
Shell cracker plant

689
00:36:11,210 --> 00:36:12,712
has been beset with problems.

690
00:36:12,795 --> 00:36:14,672
[man 2] According to Shell's own data,

691
00:36:14,755 --> 00:36:17,633
the malfunction resulted
in elevated levels of benzene,

692
00:36:17,717 --> 00:36:20,469
a colorless chemical
that can cause cancer.

693
00:36:20,553 --> 00:36:23,097
[Salter] The EPA knows
that toxic petrochemical facilities

694
00:36:23,181 --> 00:36:26,684
are some of the most toxic
polluting facilities in the world…

695
00:36:26,767 --> 00:36:28,060
I'm trying to give you the floor.

696
00:36:28,144 --> 00:36:30,104
…and are killing Black people
throughout Louisiana.

697
00:36:30,188 --> 00:36:32,106
Everything you have,

698
00:36:32,190 --> 00:36:34,859
your clothes, your glasses,
the car you got here on,

699
00:36:34,942 --> 00:36:38,905
your phone, everything you've got
is petrochemical products.

700
00:36:38,988 --> 00:36:40,448
What would you do with that?

701
00:36:40,531 --> 00:36:45,953
To know how people are making chemicals
with absolutely no regard

702
00:36:46,662 --> 00:36:48,247
to their impact on human health,

703
00:36:48,331 --> 00:36:50,041
it makes me extremely angry

704
00:36:50,124 --> 00:36:51,959
and want to fight,
and that's why I'm fighting.

705
00:36:55,421 --> 00:36:57,798
Tell me some of the changes you've made,

706
00:36:57,882 --> 00:37:01,302
both what you eat and how you handle food.

707
00:37:01,385 --> 00:37:04,180
-We do eat out a lot less than we were.
-Oh, yeah.

708
00:37:04,263 --> 00:37:06,432
The study can feel daunting.

709
00:37:06,515 --> 00:37:09,435
Plastics are so pervasive.
They're everywhere.

710
00:37:09,518 --> 00:37:11,729
And the question then becomes, "Well…

711
00:37:12,396 --> 00:37:16,108
boy, can I even make any changes
that are going to make a difference?"

712
00:37:16,192 --> 00:37:17,193
So, like…

713
00:37:17,276 --> 00:37:19,278
But I think having
Shanna here has been great

714
00:37:19,362 --> 00:37:23,282
because she's been able to guide as far as
what are some alternatives we can do?

715
00:37:23,366 --> 00:37:27,787
And maybe we can't get rid of everything,
but here are a few key areas that we can.

716
00:37:27,870 --> 00:37:30,456
At least reduce
and see if that'll make a difference.

717
00:37:30,539 --> 00:37:33,834
Of course, we'll always
be a little sad if nothing comes of it,

718
00:37:33,918 --> 00:37:35,503
but you don't know until you try.

719
00:37:35,586 --> 00:37:37,755
You've got to give it a shot,
see what happens.

720
00:37:37,838 --> 00:37:39,006
[pensive music playing]

721
00:37:39,090 --> 00:37:41,884
One way that I've tried
to reduce my plastics exposure

722
00:37:41,968 --> 00:37:45,304
is by wearing more sustainable clothing
with natural fibers.

723
00:37:45,388 --> 00:37:47,223
That's really hard to find.

724
00:37:47,306 --> 00:37:49,350
I saw the paper, and I was really excited.

725
00:37:49,433 --> 00:37:52,770
I thought they had plastic-free
shipping materials.

726
00:37:52,853 --> 00:37:54,730
But they don't.
These are all wrapped in plastic.

727
00:37:54,814 --> 00:37:59,026
"95% micromodal, 5% elastane."

728
00:37:59,527 --> 00:38:01,445
I have no idea what any of that means.

729
00:38:01,529 --> 00:38:06,617
"88% polyester recycled, 12% elastane."

730
00:38:06,701 --> 00:38:07,618
So, yeah.

731
00:38:07,702 --> 00:38:10,246
This is cotton, 100% organic cotton.

732
00:38:10,329 --> 00:38:13,457
So yay, um, one out of three.

733
00:38:13,541 --> 00:38:14,667
Yay, let's try it.

734
00:38:14,750 --> 00:38:16,877
[music fades]

735
00:38:24,593 --> 00:38:26,512
[Wendt] Your skin is your largest organ,

736
00:38:26,595 --> 00:38:30,558
and it can absorb over 60%
of the chemicals that are put on it.

737
00:38:31,642 --> 00:38:35,730
These toxins that are part
of our dye and our fabric

738
00:38:35,813 --> 00:38:38,107
are being absorbed into our skin,

739
00:38:38,190 --> 00:38:41,569
so it's going to shorten
our lives and our fertility.

740
00:38:41,652 --> 00:38:43,946
[hopeful music playing]

741
00:38:44,030 --> 00:38:46,198
I am a natural fashion designer,

742
00:38:46,282 --> 00:38:49,618
and I began in the fashion industry
as a fashion model.

743
00:38:50,494 --> 00:38:54,332
I did a lot of street wear,
body wear, beauty.

744
00:38:54,415 --> 00:38:56,584
It definitely taught me something.

745
00:38:56,667 --> 00:39:00,546
Everything is about the drape
of the fabric and the fit of the garment.

746
00:39:00,629 --> 00:39:04,633
So as a model, I actually knew
how a garment should fit

747
00:39:04,717 --> 00:39:07,970
before I ended up
working in the industry for designers.

748
00:39:09,346 --> 00:39:13,684
I worked with Calvin Klein
and Jones New York, Perry Ellis America.

749
00:39:13,768 --> 00:39:16,437
Then I moved into private label design.

750
00:39:16,937 --> 00:39:20,649
Those large department stores would love
the designs that we would create,

751
00:39:20,733 --> 00:39:22,818
but then they would say
it's way too expensive.

752
00:39:22,902 --> 00:39:25,821
A lot of companies
are skimping on quality.

753
00:39:25,905 --> 00:39:27,907
[Wendt] And so we would
have to pull pennies

754
00:39:27,990 --> 00:39:29,700
out of every step of the supply chain

755
00:39:29,784 --> 00:39:31,577
so that we could meet their prices.

756
00:39:31,660 --> 00:39:35,164
[man] At prices like these, it can be
more expensive to clean your clothes

757
00:39:35,247 --> 00:39:38,417
than it is to throw away
your dirty clothes and buy all new ones.

758
00:39:38,501 --> 00:39:43,422
[Wendt] We would substitute acrylic
for wool, polyester for cotton,

759
00:39:43,506 --> 00:39:47,051
nylon for silk, and spandex for rubber.

760
00:39:47,134 --> 00:39:50,971
And what I didn't realize then
was that all those substitute fibers

761
00:39:51,055 --> 00:39:53,391
are plastic and endocrine disruptors.

762
00:39:53,474 --> 00:39:58,521
By 2030, 70% of all fibers
and therefore fabrics

763
00:39:59,397 --> 00:40:02,733
are projected to be from plastic.

764
00:40:02,817 --> 00:40:04,276
[pensive music playing]

765
00:40:07,780 --> 00:40:08,948
[music fades]

766
00:40:09,031 --> 00:40:12,118
[Wendt] When I was raising my two kids

767
00:40:12,201 --> 00:40:16,247
and weaning my second
off of breastfeeding,

768
00:40:16,330 --> 00:40:20,417
I discovered a lump,
and it was breast cancer.

769
00:40:20,501 --> 00:40:21,961
[unsettling music playing]

770
00:40:22,044 --> 00:40:25,840
I was told it was a rapidly growing,
pretty aggressive cancer.

771
00:40:26,549 --> 00:40:32,012
It was very difficult for me to accept
taking chemotherapy, which is a toxin.

772
00:40:32,513 --> 00:40:33,722
But I did it.

773
00:40:34,598 --> 00:40:38,519
They then told me I had to do
a heavy round of radiation.

774
00:40:40,020 --> 00:40:43,899
So I asked if I could just do
a double mastectomy instead.

775
00:40:45,609 --> 00:40:46,485
So…

776
00:40:47,069 --> 00:40:51,198
um, yeah, the cancer
took my breasts and my fertility.

777
00:40:52,867 --> 00:40:56,829
A few years later, I founded this company
and did a photo shoot.

778
00:40:58,455 --> 00:41:00,124
There were nine women,

779
00:41:00,207 --> 00:41:04,086
and one had just done
a topless photo for us.

780
00:41:05,129 --> 00:41:08,549
Across her chest it said,
"Fuck breast cancer."

781
00:41:08,632 --> 00:41:10,342
I said, "Well, I had breast cancer."

782
00:41:11,552 --> 00:41:15,848
We realized that out of nine women,
three of us had breast cancer.

783
00:41:16,765 --> 00:41:19,685
That was a little bit
of a flame underneath me.

784
00:41:20,352 --> 00:41:22,730
I thought if we create healthy clothing,

785
00:41:22,813 --> 00:41:25,774
maybe we can heal,
in some way, the industry.

786
00:41:26,942 --> 00:41:30,779
Hello, and welcome back to my channel.
We're doing another "best of."

787
00:41:30,863 --> 00:41:33,240
I'm going to be sharing
my top ten hair care favorites.

788
00:41:33,324 --> 00:41:36,202
Because, yes, I have found the secret.

789
00:41:36,285 --> 00:41:39,121
[McDonald] We have routines as humans,

790
00:41:39,205 --> 00:41:44,627
and routines create routine exposures.

791
00:41:44,710 --> 00:41:47,588
Have you ever walked around
the personal care section of a store

792
00:41:47,671 --> 00:41:50,591
and looked at the ingredients
in the products you put on your skin

793
00:41:50,674 --> 00:41:51,842
and on your body every day?

794
00:41:52,426 --> 00:41:54,220
[McDonald] Personal care products

795
00:41:54,303 --> 00:41:58,557
and makeup contain
endocrine-disruptor chemicals.

796
00:41:58,641 --> 00:42:00,434
Formaldehyde, PFASs,

797
00:42:00,518 --> 00:42:02,895
which are also used in flame retardants,

798
00:42:02,978 --> 00:42:05,564
phthalates, xenoestrogens, sulfates,

799
00:42:05,648 --> 00:42:07,983
triclosan, EDTA, parabens…

800
00:42:08,067 --> 00:42:12,947
[McDonald] All of these chemicals
are added to enhance the product.

801
00:42:13,656 --> 00:42:16,534
You see phthalates added in hairspray

802
00:42:16,617 --> 00:42:20,162
because it helps
with the flexibility of the hair.

803
00:42:21,205 --> 00:42:24,917
It's also added because
it helps the product smell good.

804
00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:27,545
It's part of the ingredients for scent.

805
00:42:28,254 --> 00:42:32,341
But these chemicals
that are added to enhance the product,

806
00:42:33,175 --> 00:42:36,470
actually adversely affect our health.

807
00:42:36,554 --> 00:42:37,930
[pensive music playing]

808
00:42:38,013 --> 00:42:42,059
My research found that the earlier age

809
00:42:42,142 --> 00:42:45,020
that women started using hair products,

810
00:42:45,104 --> 00:42:48,732
the earlier the age they had their period.

811
00:42:48,816 --> 00:42:51,360
Girls in America
are reaching puberty earlier.

812
00:42:51,443 --> 00:42:54,947
The percentage of girls
getting their period before the age of 11

813
00:42:55,030 --> 00:42:58,534
almost doubled from about
eight and a half to fifteen and a half.

814
00:42:59,577 --> 00:43:02,413
[McDonald] Having your period early

815
00:43:02,496 --> 00:43:04,915
is a risk factor for breast cancer.

816
00:43:04,999 --> 00:43:07,710
Increased risk
of breast cancer, uterine cancer,

817
00:43:07,793 --> 00:43:11,547
again, because there's more time that
they're subjected to the hormone estrogen.

818
00:43:12,589 --> 00:43:16,176
[McDonald] The fact of the matter
is that certain populations

819
00:43:16,260 --> 00:43:20,264
are more exposed to environmental toxins.

820
00:43:20,347 --> 00:43:24,143
Research shows that Black girls are more
than twice as likely as white girls

821
00:43:24,226 --> 00:43:26,061
to start their puberty early.

822
00:43:26,145 --> 00:43:29,565
Black women have
the highest rate of breast cancer,

823
00:43:29,648 --> 00:43:31,859
fibroids, obesity.

824
00:43:31,942 --> 00:43:36,822
This correlation has been
linked to toxic ingredients

825
00:43:36,905 --> 00:43:39,325
in their beauty products that they use.

826
00:43:39,408 --> 00:43:42,202
Some groups are more exposed than others,

827
00:43:42,286 --> 00:43:44,663
but we're all exposed.

828
00:43:49,835 --> 00:43:52,171
[poignant music playing]

829
00:43:57,926 --> 00:44:02,890
Here in Louisiana, they let industry,
in particular the fossil fuel industry,

830
00:44:02,973 --> 00:44:06,101
just build there and build
and build and build and build.

831
00:44:07,561 --> 00:44:10,647
You have these communities
that are completely surrounded

832
00:44:10,731 --> 00:44:12,858
by the fossil fuel industry.

833
00:44:12,941 --> 00:44:14,693
[woman 1 on TV]
A stretch of land in Louisiana

834
00:44:14,777 --> 00:44:17,321
that used to be known
as plantation country,

835
00:44:17,404 --> 00:44:20,324
residents whose ancestors
have lived here for generations

836
00:44:20,407 --> 00:44:22,117
are now fighting for clean air.

837
00:44:22,701 --> 00:44:27,456
[woman 2] Community after community,
all surrounded by industrial plants.

838
00:44:29,750 --> 00:44:33,212
[Yearwood] Petrochemical industry
impacts people of color

839
00:44:33,295 --> 00:44:35,756
from a location standpoint.

840
00:44:36,465 --> 00:44:39,802
In this country, 68% of Black people

841
00:44:39,885 --> 00:44:42,721
live within 30 miles
of a coal-fired power plant.

842
00:44:42,805 --> 00:44:46,475
And then on top of that, within plastics
and petrochemicals here in Louisiana,

843
00:44:46,558 --> 00:44:49,019
they're living literally
within just miles.

844
00:44:49,978 --> 00:44:51,814
The term "fenceline community"

845
00:44:51,897 --> 00:44:56,819
literally means that there's a fence
between your backyard,

846
00:44:56,902 --> 00:45:00,864
your swing set,
and petrochemical facilities.

847
00:45:00,948 --> 00:45:02,950
[ominous music playing]

848
00:45:04,493 --> 00:45:07,162
There is a region within Louisiana

849
00:45:07,246 --> 00:45:10,499
from Baton Rouge to New Orleans,

850
00:45:10,582 --> 00:45:13,127
and that is "Cancer Alley."

851
00:45:13,627 --> 00:45:16,755
One of my co-workers,
she died with cancer.

852
00:45:17,464 --> 00:45:19,007
Right there in that house.

853
00:45:19,091 --> 00:45:22,636
When you go straight,
my uncle and his wife both have cancer.

854
00:45:22,720 --> 00:45:26,515
My neighbor on one side of me,
she had stage four cancer.

855
00:45:26,598 --> 00:45:28,851
Went in hospital,
I ain't never seen her no more. She died.

856
00:45:28,934 --> 00:45:31,854
After the plants came here,
start polluting, Oliver died.

857
00:45:31,937 --> 00:45:34,732
Oliver got sick and died.
And I know because I was dating him.

858
00:45:34,815 --> 00:45:36,817
And my friend Matt just died.

859
00:45:36,900 --> 00:45:38,652
Matt told me to fight.

860
00:45:38,736 --> 00:45:40,571
And I'm gonna fight for Matt.

861
00:45:40,654 --> 00:45:43,157
Miss Sharon, we done drove
just about a mile…

862
00:45:43,240 --> 00:45:44,074
[Lavigne] Mm-hm.

863
00:45:44,158 --> 00:45:46,535
…and you called about 40 people who died.

864
00:45:46,618 --> 00:45:47,453
[Lavigne] Yes.

865
00:45:48,245 --> 00:45:51,957
It hurts that I know all these people,
and they're dying.

866
00:45:52,666 --> 00:45:54,835
Everybody got cancer. What's wrong?

867
00:45:54,918 --> 00:45:56,545
[somber music playing]

868
00:45:58,756 --> 00:46:00,799
I mean, you ain't gotta go far.

869
00:46:00,883 --> 00:46:03,093
-No.
-You got the home right here.

870
00:46:03,177 --> 00:46:04,136
[Lavigne] Right there.

871
00:46:04,219 --> 00:46:06,221
[Yearwood] Got the
fossil fuel industry right there.

872
00:46:06,305 --> 00:46:07,222
[Lavigne] That's right.

873
00:46:07,306 --> 00:46:09,808
-[Yearwood] And the cemetery right here.
-[Lavigne] That's right.

874
00:46:09,892 --> 00:46:11,852
I mean, we all gonna die.

875
00:46:11,935 --> 00:46:14,313
We just want to…
We don't want to die too quick.

876
00:46:14,396 --> 00:46:17,316
-Too quick. That's right.
-And not for someone else's greed.

877
00:46:17,399 --> 00:46:18,442
That's right.

878
00:46:19,026 --> 00:46:20,277
It's heartbreaking.

879
00:46:21,487 --> 00:46:23,947
-But we gotta fight.
-Mm.

880
00:46:24,031 --> 00:46:26,033
[somber music continues]

881
00:46:30,537 --> 00:46:32,873
[Yearwood] Their business plan

882
00:46:33,540 --> 00:46:37,920
is a death sentence for our communities.

883
00:46:39,338 --> 00:46:44,343
I mean, they're making money
and profit off of the deaths of people,

884
00:46:44,426 --> 00:46:46,553
like, to make plastic?

885
00:46:46,637 --> 00:46:48,639
Like, to make plastic,

886
00:46:49,389 --> 00:46:50,599
they're killing us.

887
00:46:50,682 --> 00:46:52,684
[somber music continues]

888
00:47:06,615 --> 00:47:08,617
[music fades]

889
00:47:13,580 --> 00:47:14,498
[Jesse sighs]

890
00:47:15,791 --> 00:47:16,792
[hopeful music playing]

891
00:47:16,875 --> 00:47:18,252
All right. So update here.

892
00:47:18,335 --> 00:47:20,212
We're in, uh, January,

893
00:47:20,295 --> 00:47:23,841
about a month
into the plastic study thus far. Um…

894
00:47:23,924 --> 00:47:26,885
Last month, we did, uh, get pregnant,

895
00:47:26,969 --> 00:47:31,306
um, but it ended up being
an early miscarriage.

896
00:47:31,932 --> 00:47:34,601
It's a little bit hard
with family and everything

897
00:47:34,685 --> 00:47:38,730
and trying to stay positive
during the holidays

898
00:47:38,814 --> 00:47:41,400
and not being able to talk to anybody

899
00:47:42,526 --> 00:47:44,319
about it. [sighs] Um…

900
00:47:44,903 --> 00:47:45,904
So, yeah.

901
00:47:45,988 --> 00:47:50,951
Uh, seems it brought us some hope, though.

902
00:47:51,034 --> 00:47:53,745
It's definitely a good sign, I think. Um…

903
00:47:53,829 --> 00:47:56,957
It's a good sign that my body
can get pregnant.

904
00:47:57,040 --> 00:48:01,211
You know, we've been really careful
with our plastic consumption,

905
00:48:01,295 --> 00:48:03,714
really diligent about the study.

906
00:48:03,797 --> 00:48:08,719
Um, and we have seen the best results
as far as pregnancy goes so far.

907
00:48:08,802 --> 00:48:11,513
So hopefully, by the end of the study,

908
00:48:11,597 --> 00:48:14,600
we can check back in with better news.

909
00:48:15,517 --> 00:48:17,519
[music fades]

910
00:48:18,937 --> 00:48:22,983
[Warner] Plastic is only possible
because of chemistry.

911
00:48:24,026 --> 00:48:28,864
And chemists don't want
to poison and destroy the world.

912
00:48:29,531 --> 00:48:33,785
Companies know if you kill your customer,
that's going to be bad for sales.

913
00:48:33,869 --> 00:48:36,204
So it's not a revolution to say,

914
00:48:36,288 --> 00:48:38,790
"Gee whiz, we should have nontoxic,
safe things."

915
00:48:38,874 --> 00:48:39,750
[somber music playing]

916
00:48:39,833 --> 00:48:43,128
But if you look
at the education of chemists,

917
00:48:43,211 --> 00:48:47,424
you'll be shocked to find
there is no fundamental classes

918
00:48:47,507 --> 00:48:51,261
that teach people
how to anticipate the negative impacts

919
00:48:51,345 --> 00:48:53,513
on human health and the environment.

920
00:48:54,306 --> 00:48:57,225
They don't know
the mechanisms of toxicity.

921
00:48:57,309 --> 00:49:00,937
They don't know
the mechanisms of biodegradation.

922
00:49:01,855 --> 00:49:05,651
It seemed to me, shouldn't that be
the first thing a chemist learns,

923
00:49:05,734 --> 00:49:08,487
you know, is how not to hurt people?

924
00:49:08,570 --> 00:49:13,325
But the fact that it's absent
from the curriculum is shocking.

925
00:49:18,580 --> 00:49:22,626
I actually am not someone
who grew up wanting to be a chemist.

926
00:49:23,377 --> 00:49:26,588
Had anyone told me that I was gonna
end up being an industrial chemist,

927
00:49:26,672 --> 00:49:28,256
I would have laughed at them.

928
00:49:29,633 --> 00:49:32,177
But when I realized
that scientists created,

929
00:49:32,260 --> 00:49:35,639
scientists designed, scientists imagined,

930
00:49:35,722 --> 00:49:39,685
I saw chemistry as an artistic expression.

931
00:49:39,768 --> 00:49:40,894
[auspicious music playing]

932
00:49:40,978 --> 00:49:43,647
So I went,
and I became a medicinal chemist.

933
00:49:45,399 --> 00:49:49,236
I published five papers before I was 21,

934
00:49:49,319 --> 00:49:52,072
and I went to graduate school,
to Princeton.

935
00:49:52,155 --> 00:49:54,157
And by the time I was 25,

936
00:49:54,241 --> 00:49:57,369
I had 25 publications.

937
00:49:58,745 --> 00:50:02,708
I worked on an anti-cancer drug
that's now called Alimta.

938
00:50:04,292 --> 00:50:07,546
And I went to work
in industry for Polaroid.

939
00:50:07,629 --> 00:50:10,966
And before very long,
I had dozens of patents,

940
00:50:11,049 --> 00:50:15,011
inventions, products, awards, prizes.

941
00:50:15,095 --> 00:50:16,555
And then disaster hit.

942
00:50:16,638 --> 00:50:18,640
[music turns poignant]

943
00:50:20,767 --> 00:50:25,022
My son John was born
with a disease called biliary atresia.

944
00:50:25,105 --> 00:50:26,648
[music fades]

945
00:50:26,732 --> 00:50:30,861
It's a disease where his liver's
detached from his intestines,

946
00:50:30,944 --> 00:50:34,281
and he can't metabolize
water and soluble nutrients.

947
00:50:35,449 --> 00:50:38,368
He was given a surgery at birth,

948
00:50:38,452 --> 00:50:41,872
and at two years old, we lost him.

949
00:50:41,955 --> 00:50:43,498
[somber music playing]

950
00:50:43,582 --> 00:50:48,253
We never really acknowledged
he was terminally ill until the end.

951
00:50:48,336 --> 00:50:50,130
We always kind of had hope.

952
00:50:50,213 --> 00:50:52,299
But yeah, it's, uh… it's difficult.

953
00:50:54,259 --> 00:50:57,012
Lying in bed
the night of my son's funeral,

954
00:50:57,095 --> 00:51:00,307
staring at the ceiling, I asked myself,

955
00:51:00,390 --> 00:51:03,310
"I wonder if something I touched
in the chemistry lab

956
00:51:03,393 --> 00:51:05,979
caused my son's birth defect?"

957
00:51:08,482 --> 00:51:09,775
I'd say, "Why?"

958
00:51:09,858 --> 00:51:13,403
"Why would anybody
invent something hazardous?"

959
00:51:13,487 --> 00:51:14,988
"But wait a minute."

960
00:51:15,071 --> 00:51:19,785
"If it's not part of their education
to recognize and anticipate it,

961
00:51:19,868 --> 00:51:21,328
how could they not?"

962
00:51:26,458 --> 00:51:28,126
[Schuh] Good, okay.

963
00:51:28,210 --> 00:51:29,419
Is it?

964
00:51:30,128 --> 00:51:32,005
Oh, yeah. Wow, that has a lot more--

965
00:51:32,089 --> 00:51:34,966
You dissected that away
from the yolk of one?

966
00:51:35,050 --> 00:51:36,384
Yeah, from right here.

967
00:51:36,468 --> 00:51:39,721
[Schuh] Me and my students,
we look at various different chemicals,

968
00:51:39,805 --> 00:51:42,682
ranging from BPA compounds and phthalates,

969
00:51:43,350 --> 00:51:47,020
and we look at the effects
on developmental pathways

970
00:51:47,104 --> 00:51:49,773
going from very, very early in development

971
00:51:49,856 --> 00:51:54,611
that sort of mimic the time
that a human embryo in a womb

972
00:51:54,694 --> 00:51:56,655
would be exposed
to some of these chemicals.

973
00:51:57,864 --> 00:52:00,367
We use animal models
like the chick embryo.

974
00:52:01,076 --> 00:52:02,661
It's really easy to do.

975
00:52:02,744 --> 00:52:05,872
We micro-inject,
using little micropipettes,

976
00:52:05,956 --> 00:52:08,458
various doses of the compounds.

977
00:52:08,542 --> 00:52:13,338
We incubate them, and then on day 12,
we analyze them under the microscope.

978
00:52:13,421 --> 00:52:15,549
[pensive music playing]

979
00:52:18,343 --> 00:52:21,555
You don't have to be a scientist
to even figure it out.

980
00:52:21,638 --> 00:52:26,059
You can just look at the control embryos
versus the phthalate-treated embryos.

981
00:52:26,143 --> 00:52:28,687
And the differences are quite stark.

982
00:52:29,312 --> 00:52:31,731
All right, so this is classic
phthalate exposure.

983
00:52:31,815 --> 00:52:34,359
So all those characteristic things
that we've been seeing,

984
00:52:34,442 --> 00:52:37,946
we see decreased pigmentation
across the whole body,

985
00:52:38,029 --> 00:52:41,741
decreased pigmentation
in the eye and the retina and the iris.

986
00:52:41,825 --> 00:52:43,618
And then in this case, especially,

987
00:52:43,702 --> 00:52:46,288
we see an opening up
of the abdominal wall,

988
00:52:46,371 --> 00:52:48,957
some of the internal organs
actually coming out,

989
00:52:49,040 --> 00:52:50,876
protruding outside of the body wall.

990
00:52:50,959 --> 00:52:54,754
So a lot of these, uh,
deformities or malformations

991
00:52:54,838 --> 00:52:57,424
that are very characteristic
of phthalate exposure.

992
00:52:57,507 --> 00:53:02,095
We took some representative pictures
of all of the embryos

993
00:53:02,178 --> 00:53:05,015
that were treated with,
in this case, it was BPA,

994
00:53:05,098 --> 00:53:06,975
even at the low doses,

995
00:53:07,058 --> 00:53:09,436
and then going
to the intermediate-to-high doses.

996
00:53:09,519 --> 00:53:14,149
There are extreme embryonic defects,
cranial facial disruptions.

997
00:53:14,232 --> 00:53:16,192
The size of the body in this case

998
00:53:16,276 --> 00:53:18,904
is a third of that
of the control situation.

999
00:53:18,987 --> 00:53:22,240
Organs protruding outside of the body.

1000
00:53:22,324 --> 00:53:26,494
Some embryos that are just completely
malformed that they stop developing.

1001
00:53:26,578 --> 00:53:30,624
These are reminiscent
of many common human birth defects.

1002
00:53:30,707 --> 00:53:36,129
And we see that with these very low doses
of phthalates and BPA compounds.

1003
00:53:38,548 --> 00:53:39,799
[Trasande] Unfortunately,

1004
00:53:39,883 --> 00:53:43,678
many of us have been taught
that only the dose makes a thing a poison.

1005
00:53:43,762 --> 00:53:44,804
It's common sense.

1006
00:53:44,888 --> 00:53:47,682
Like, everything in moderation,
if you will.

1007
00:53:47,766 --> 00:53:51,853
But the reality is that even
the smallest levels of exposure

1008
00:53:51,937 --> 00:53:53,271
can have profound effects,

1009
00:53:53,355 --> 00:53:57,275
particularly when we're talking
about our hormones.

1010
00:53:57,359 --> 00:54:01,738
It takes only a tiny amount of a chemical
to alter the behavior of genes.

1011
00:54:01,821 --> 00:54:03,573
That's what endocrine disruption
is all about.

1012
00:54:03,657 --> 00:54:05,241
[tense, pensive music playing]

1013
00:54:05,325 --> 00:54:07,452
So that as a fetus is developing,

1014
00:54:07,535 --> 00:54:10,538
the wrong gene gets turned on
at the wrong time,

1015
00:54:10,622 --> 00:54:13,291
and development goes along the wrong path.

1016
00:54:13,375 --> 00:54:16,711
Now we know that parts per billion
can be harmful,

1017
00:54:16,795 --> 00:54:18,588
and that seems like
a really little amount.

1018
00:54:19,464 --> 00:54:21,841
But if you have a drop of water

1019
00:54:21,925 --> 00:54:25,053
in which there is one part per billion
of bisphenol A,

1020
00:54:25,136 --> 00:54:26,763
how many molecules of bisphenol A

1021
00:54:26,846 --> 00:54:29,057
do you think
are in that one drop of water?

1022
00:54:29,140 --> 00:54:32,060
2.65 trillion molecules.

1023
00:54:32,143 --> 00:54:34,270
And one of them can cause harm.

1024
00:54:34,854 --> 00:54:35,772
That's a problem.

1025
00:54:35,855 --> 00:54:39,276
And we're only now reaching the state
of science that we understand that.

1026
00:54:39,359 --> 00:54:41,361
[music fades]

1027
00:54:42,445 --> 00:54:44,364
[Swan] So, first of all,
it's good to see you.

1028
00:54:44,447 --> 00:54:46,157
Should we talk about your results?

1029
00:54:46,241 --> 00:54:47,117
-I think--
-Yeah.

1030
00:54:47,200 --> 00:54:52,247
Well, Darby, your BPA
at the beginning was really high.

1031
00:54:52,330 --> 00:54:55,917
-And in the follow-up, they dropped a lot.
-[hopeful music playing]

1032
00:54:56,793 --> 00:54:57,877
-That's amazing.
-Wow.

1033
00:54:57,961 --> 00:55:00,880
Jesse, you've really dropped in your BPA.

1034
00:55:00,964 --> 00:55:02,090
-[Jesse] Really?
-[Darby] Wow.

1035
00:55:02,173 --> 00:55:04,384
So all of those efforts have paid off.

1036
00:55:04,467 --> 00:55:05,593
-That's crazy.
-Wow.

1037
00:55:06,469 --> 00:55:10,140
[Swan] I was extremely happy
with the results of the intervention.

1038
00:55:10,223 --> 00:55:11,641
After six weeks,

1039
00:55:12,225 --> 00:55:17,230
almost everybody dropped
their bisphenol A to non-detectable.

1040
00:55:18,481 --> 00:55:21,109
They also dropped their phthalate levels.

1041
00:55:21,192 --> 00:55:22,444
And interestingly,

1042
00:55:22,527 --> 00:55:27,782
the man and the woman in the couple
had values which traveled in parallel,

1043
00:55:27,866 --> 00:55:32,370
which meant they reflected changes
in their shared environment.

1044
00:55:34,164 --> 00:55:35,165
[music fades]

1045
00:55:35,248 --> 00:55:39,836
I wouldn't say I was surprised that
our participants reduced their exposures.

1046
00:55:39,919 --> 00:55:43,631
What was less clear is how this would
affect their sperm counts.

1047
00:55:44,716 --> 00:55:46,718
And to be honest, after six weeks,

1048
00:55:46,801 --> 00:55:48,928
we didn't see much change.

1049
00:55:49,012 --> 00:55:51,222
I was really sad when I got those results.

1050
00:55:51,306 --> 00:55:54,350
I was like, "Dude, what is this?"
Like, I was so upset.

1051
00:55:54,434 --> 00:55:58,229
[Swan] This was, of course,
disappointing to the participants.

1052
00:55:58,313 --> 00:56:02,692
But we have to remember,
it takes 70 days to produce new sperm.

1053
00:56:02,776 --> 00:56:05,278
So it's likely
that we won't see improvement

1054
00:56:05,361 --> 00:56:07,697
until our final samples.

1055
00:56:07,781 --> 00:56:09,491
We're all trying to do a hard thing.

1056
00:56:09,574 --> 00:56:12,368
And, um, I think
we have to relax a little bit

1057
00:56:12,452 --> 00:56:15,747
and, if we can,
give it a little more time.

1058
00:56:15,830 --> 00:56:17,832
[audience laughing]

1059
00:56:20,502 --> 00:56:24,005
I come to you as a sperm
to ask for your help.

1060
00:56:25,215 --> 00:56:28,802
We sperm are becoming
an endangered species.

1061
00:56:28,885 --> 00:56:31,304
But this is a problem we can fix.

1062
00:56:31,388 --> 00:56:34,307
Please join me
in welcoming one of the people

1063
00:56:34,390 --> 00:56:37,352
who really is saving our sperm
and our future,

1064
00:56:37,435 --> 00:56:38,561
John Warner.

1065
00:56:38,645 --> 00:56:40,397
[audience applauding]

1066
00:56:40,480 --> 00:56:43,441
You may be thinking it's strange
to be introduced by a sperm.

1067
00:56:43,525 --> 00:56:44,442
[audience laughs]

1068
00:56:44,526 --> 00:56:46,653
[Warner] But if you really think about it,

1069
00:56:47,195 --> 00:56:48,530
you all were.

1070
00:56:48,613 --> 00:56:50,865
[audience laughing]

1071
00:56:53,034 --> 00:56:57,247
[Warner] After I lost my two-year-old son
to a birth defect,

1072
00:56:57,330 --> 00:57:01,376
I realized that there was
a missing element to my education.

1073
00:57:01,459 --> 00:57:05,213
And I realized that no university

1074
00:57:05,296 --> 00:57:10,677
teaches a chemist anything
about what makes a molecule toxic.

1075
00:57:10,760 --> 00:57:14,931
I realized that the world
didn't need a social movement.

1076
00:57:15,014 --> 00:57:17,350
The world didn't need a politic.

1077
00:57:17,433 --> 00:57:19,394
The world needed a new science.

1078
00:57:19,477 --> 00:57:24,399
A science that taught a chemist
how to anticipate these negative impacts.

1079
00:57:24,482 --> 00:57:27,444
And that is the birth
of the field of green chemistry.

1080
00:57:27,527 --> 00:57:28,903
[dramatic music playing]

1081
00:57:28,987 --> 00:57:35,034
Paul Anastas and I wrote the book
on green chemistry back in the 1990s.

1082
00:57:35,118 --> 00:57:38,663
You do any science,
any chemistry you normally would,

1083
00:57:38,746 --> 00:57:42,250
but you put a layer of interpreting,

1084
00:57:42,333 --> 00:57:44,586
"What if this actually succeeds?"

1085
00:57:44,669 --> 00:57:48,339
"What if instead of it just being
a publication in a journal,

1086
00:57:48,423 --> 00:57:50,383
some company actually starts making

1087
00:57:50,466 --> 00:57:54,095
thousands and thousands
of kilotons of it?"

1088
00:57:54,179 --> 00:57:56,431
"What impact are my decisions

1089
00:57:56,514 --> 00:58:01,436
on that first day of my invention
going to have in the future?"

1090
00:58:02,020 --> 00:58:03,646
That's green chemistry.

1091
00:58:03,730 --> 00:58:06,691
At last count,
I think I've been to over 65 countries

1092
00:58:06,774 --> 00:58:09,027
meeting presidents and prime ministers

1093
00:58:09,110 --> 00:58:13,823
and cutting ribbons and giving talks,
that it's starting to be a movement.

1094
00:58:14,449 --> 00:58:18,203
And almost 100 universities globally
have signed this commitment

1095
00:58:18,286 --> 00:58:23,082
saying we will bring green chemistry
into the required curriculum.

1096
00:58:24,125 --> 00:58:26,961
But everyone in society
needs to understand

1097
00:58:27,045 --> 00:58:29,172
things don't have to be toxic.

1098
00:58:29,255 --> 00:58:31,508
We can learn to do it other ways.

1099
00:58:31,591 --> 00:58:33,092
[dramatic music continues]

1100
00:58:33,718 --> 00:58:36,804
[Swan] Just everywhere you look,
you have plastic.

1101
00:58:37,513 --> 00:58:38,890
We are really dependent on it.

1102
00:58:38,973 --> 00:58:42,435
It'd be hard to think about
a plastic-free world.

1103
00:58:43,144 --> 00:58:47,690
But plastic in and of itself
is not the evil.

1104
00:58:47,774 --> 00:58:50,318
It is the chemicals in it

1105
00:58:50,401 --> 00:58:52,987
that have the ability
to alter our hormones.

1106
00:58:53,071 --> 00:58:55,073
[music fades]

1107
00:58:55,156 --> 00:58:57,158
[helicopter whirring]

1108
00:59:00,912 --> 00:59:03,414
Many people think
the government takes care of us.

1109
00:59:03,998 --> 00:59:07,418
They would not let us be exposed
to things that would harm us.

1110
00:59:08,002 --> 00:59:13,299
But we're not protected against
the chemicals in our everyday products.

1111
00:59:13,883 --> 00:59:17,053
In terms of regulating these chemicals
in the United States,

1112
00:59:17,136 --> 00:59:20,306
very few chemicals are actually banned.

1113
00:59:20,390 --> 00:59:22,934
And most chemicals
haven't even been tested.

1114
00:59:23,017 --> 00:59:24,769
[unsettling music playing]

1115
00:59:24,852 --> 00:59:25,895
[Landrigan] Time and again,

1116
00:59:25,979 --> 00:59:29,107
we have come to realize
that chemicals on the market for years

1117
00:59:29,190 --> 00:59:30,525
were causing toxicity.

1118
00:59:31,359 --> 00:59:32,735
With DDT.

1119
00:59:32,819 --> 00:59:36,406
[man 1 on TV] Pesticides may indeed
represent a grave threat to mankind.

1120
00:59:36,489 --> 00:59:37,740
[Landrigan] With asbestos.

1121
00:59:37,824 --> 00:59:41,244
[woman on TV] Today, the Environmental
Protection Agency finalized a ban

1122
00:59:41,327 --> 00:59:44,372
on the only type of asbestos
still used in the United States.

1123
00:59:44,455 --> 00:59:48,209
[Landrigan] Lead in the gasoline
was causing brain damage to children.

1124
00:59:48,293 --> 00:59:53,506
[man 2 on TV] Leaded gasoline caused half
of the population to develop a lower IQ.

1125
00:59:53,589 --> 00:59:55,383
[Landrigan] When we took lead
out of gasoline,

1126
00:59:55,466 --> 00:59:58,261
we reduced children's blood levels by 95%.

1127
00:59:58,344 --> 01:00:02,515
We raised the average IQ of a generation
of children by about five IQ points.

1128
01:00:02,598 --> 01:00:05,977
And those more intelligent,
more highly creative children

1129
01:00:06,060 --> 01:00:09,022
have put billions of dollars
back into the economy.

1130
01:00:10,815 --> 01:00:13,067
So it's a huge success story.

1131
01:00:13,151 --> 01:00:16,446
I think a big question right now is,
what are we gonna do about plastics?

1132
01:00:16,529 --> 01:00:17,780
[music fades]

1133
01:00:17,864 --> 01:00:21,075
The media has reported that the federal
government's reluctance to regulate

1134
01:00:21,159 --> 01:00:24,203
these chemicals is based
on the reliance of biased studies

1135
01:00:24,287 --> 01:00:26,039
from the chemical industry itself.

1136
01:00:26,122 --> 01:00:28,791
Senator, at FDA,

1137
01:00:29,417 --> 01:00:32,211
all of our products that we approve

1138
01:00:32,295 --> 01:00:38,384
are based on data that are prepared
and conducted in studies

1139
01:00:38,468 --> 01:00:40,803
by that particular manufacturer.

1140
01:00:40,887 --> 01:00:43,890
But doesn't that bother you?
That's my point.

1141
01:00:43,973 --> 01:00:46,184
You don't seem to see the connection here.

1142
01:00:46,267 --> 01:00:51,397
We got here because the scientific
understanding of endocrine disruption

1143
01:00:51,481 --> 01:00:54,275
did not exist when plastics
first came onto the market.

1144
01:00:54,359 --> 01:00:57,862
Our genes actually are being turned
on and off trillions of times a second

1145
01:00:57,945 --> 01:01:00,740
every day of our life,
every second of our life.

1146
01:01:00,823 --> 01:01:04,869
And things like phthalates
and bisphenol A affect

1147
01:01:05,578 --> 01:01:07,997
that process of turning genes on and off.

1148
01:01:08,081 --> 01:01:10,750
The FDA and EPA and the CDCs,

1149
01:01:10,833 --> 01:01:14,629
their science currently ignores
molecular genetics.

1150
01:01:14,712 --> 01:01:17,048
Over the last 30 years,

1151
01:01:17,131 --> 01:01:19,842
the science has gotten a lot stronger.

1152
01:01:19,926 --> 01:01:23,596
If anything, we underestimated
the scale of the problem.

1153
01:01:23,680 --> 01:01:24,889
[unsettling music playing]

1154
01:01:24,972 --> 01:01:28,059
The plastics industry
grew to be a behemoth,

1155
01:01:28,142 --> 01:01:31,979
and we let that get ahead of us
and out of control.

1156
01:01:32,063 --> 01:01:36,025
Many chemicals
leaching out of plastics are EDCs.

1157
01:01:36,609 --> 01:01:38,903
That links them to a wide array

1158
01:01:38,986 --> 01:01:42,573
of today's epidemics
of noncommunicable diseases,

1159
01:01:42,657 --> 01:01:44,951
like breast cancer, prostate cancer,

1160
01:01:45,034 --> 01:01:47,412
testicular cancer, infertility,

1161
01:01:47,495 --> 01:01:49,956
immune disorders, and brain impediments.

1162
01:01:50,039 --> 01:01:52,250
Unfortunately, in the United States,

1163
01:01:52,333 --> 01:01:54,043
regulatory toxicology,

1164
01:01:54,127 --> 01:01:58,297
it's stalled because the chemical industry
has too much influence on Congress.

1165
01:01:58,381 --> 01:01:59,340
Period.

1166
01:01:59,424 --> 01:02:02,510
Stable supply chains are imperative.

1167
01:02:02,593 --> 01:02:05,638
Producing plastic in America
is a good thing.

1168
01:02:05,721 --> 01:02:07,723
[tense, pensive music playing]

1169
01:02:12,145 --> 01:02:14,480
[Yearwood] We now are here
on a plantation site

1170
01:02:14,564 --> 01:02:18,734
where my ancestors
were extracted from Africa

1171
01:02:18,818 --> 01:02:21,904
and brought here to be enslaved people.

1172
01:02:23,030 --> 01:02:24,991
The memory of that is still real.

1173
01:02:26,659 --> 01:02:29,745
And now the fossil fuel industry
here in Louisiana,

1174
01:02:29,829 --> 01:02:33,916
they are literally looking to build plants

1175
01:02:34,000 --> 01:02:36,627
on former plantation sites,

1176
01:02:36,711 --> 01:02:40,089
knowing how painful

1177
01:02:40,173 --> 01:02:42,341
that history is for everyone.

1178
01:02:44,635 --> 01:02:49,056
It's heartbreaking
because they take the same mentality

1179
01:02:49,140 --> 01:02:51,100
that was used on plantations

1180
01:02:51,184 --> 01:02:54,312
to not only extract from Mother Earth,

1181
01:02:54,395 --> 01:02:56,772
but to then harm those same people.

1182
01:02:57,565 --> 01:03:01,486
This shows how they don't care
about humanity.

1183
01:03:01,569 --> 01:03:03,571
-[music fades]
-[indistinct chatter]

1184
01:03:04,489 --> 01:03:11,454
[Edwards] We're here to announce that
Formosa will be investing $9.4 billion.

1185
01:03:11,537 --> 01:03:14,540
So I'm delighted to announce
all this extraordinary capital investment,

1186
01:03:14,624 --> 01:03:17,335
job creation,
right here in St. James Parish,

1187
01:03:17,418 --> 01:03:20,588
just about two miles
from the foot of the Sunshine Bridge.

1188
01:03:20,671 --> 01:03:22,465
[ominous music playing]

1189
01:03:22,548 --> 01:03:26,010
[Yearwood] The Formosa plant
was a plant that they wanted to build

1190
01:03:26,093 --> 01:03:28,721
on a former plantation site.

1191
01:03:28,805 --> 01:03:30,181
And this isn't just any plant.

1192
01:03:30,264 --> 01:03:32,600
It's being called
the largest facility in the state.

1193
01:03:32,683 --> 01:03:35,061
[Yearwood] And people like Sharon Lavigne

1194
01:03:35,144 --> 01:03:40,191
who were pushing back
an international mega corporation,

1195
01:03:40,274 --> 01:03:42,151
literally off their kitchen table.

1196
01:03:42,235 --> 01:03:44,237
[woman on TV]
This is a David and Goliath story

1197
01:03:44,320 --> 01:03:45,321
if there ever was one.

1198
01:03:45,404 --> 01:03:47,281
A multibillion-dollar chemical company

1199
01:03:47,365 --> 01:03:50,201
was all set to build
a massive new plant there.

1200
01:03:50,284 --> 01:03:54,413
That is, until they encountered
Miss Sharon Lavigne and Rise St. James.

1201
01:03:55,706 --> 01:03:59,919
[Lavigne] Formosa Plastics was proposed
to be built two miles from my home.

1202
01:04:00,419 --> 01:04:04,924
And I said, "Dear Lord, this land
cannot be for Formosa. We live here."

1203
01:04:06,259 --> 01:04:09,345
I had no intentions
on becoming an activist.

1204
01:04:09,428 --> 01:04:12,932
All I know was Formosa Plastics
kept ringing in my ear.

1205
01:04:13,015 --> 01:04:15,309
-First of all, we went to God first.
-[Yearwood] Mm-hm.

1206
01:04:15,393 --> 01:04:17,228
-I know I went to God.
-[Yearwood] Come on.

1207
01:04:17,311 --> 01:04:19,438
And I sat on my porch, and I prayed.

1208
01:04:19,522 --> 01:04:22,108
And I asked God,
and if God would have told me to move,

1209
01:04:22,191 --> 01:04:23,776
I wouldn't be in this fight today.

1210
01:04:23,859 --> 01:04:25,361
But God told me to fight.

1211
01:04:25,444 --> 01:04:27,363
[tense music playing]

1212
01:04:27,446 --> 01:04:28,364
I was told that,

1213
01:04:28,447 --> 01:04:31,450
"The governor approved this plant,
and you can't stop it."

1214
01:04:31,534 --> 01:04:33,703
I said, "Tell the governor
to build it in his community."

1215
01:04:33,786 --> 01:04:35,830
He thinks the people
in St. James are stupid

1216
01:04:35,913 --> 01:04:38,791
and they're gonna just put another
industry on us, and we have 12?

1217
01:04:38,875 --> 01:04:40,251
No.

1218
01:04:40,334 --> 01:04:42,128
That dog is not gonna hunt.

1219
01:04:44,630 --> 01:04:45,840
We rallied.

1220
01:04:45,923 --> 01:04:48,092
We gave marches.

1221
01:04:48,175 --> 01:04:50,177
We went to the parish council meetings.

1222
01:04:50,261 --> 01:04:53,097
If Formosa come into St. James,

1223
01:04:53,180 --> 01:04:55,516
we will not be able to live.

1224
01:04:55,600 --> 01:04:58,728
We are Rise St. James, and we're gonna
stand up for St. James Parish.

1225
01:04:59,812 --> 01:05:02,273
Formosa has a fight on their hands.

1226
01:05:04,483 --> 01:05:05,484
[music fades]

1227
01:05:05,568 --> 01:05:08,446
[Swan] So let me talk to you
about what your last results are.

1228
01:05:09,030 --> 01:05:11,532
What's dramatic is, for me, Katie,

1229
01:05:11,616 --> 01:05:14,452
that your phthalates went up a lot.

1230
01:05:14,535 --> 01:05:18,497
And here you are at a time that you
were lowering all your exposures.

1231
01:05:18,581 --> 01:05:21,709
[Katie] There's something hidden then.
I'm like, "What's hidden that I'm…?"

1232
01:05:21,792 --> 01:05:24,670
Is it something at work?
You know, like, who knows?

1233
01:05:24,754 --> 01:05:28,674
Tim, your sperm numbers
are not great, right?

1234
01:05:28,758 --> 01:05:29,967
-[Tim] Right.
-Yeah.

1235
01:05:30,051 --> 01:05:32,845
Your concentration
actually went down a little bit.

1236
01:05:32,928 --> 01:05:33,763
Okay.

1237
01:05:33,846 --> 01:05:37,558
It doesn't look like there's been
a significant improvement,

1238
01:05:37,642 --> 01:05:39,143
I would have to say, honestly.

1239
01:05:39,226 --> 01:05:44,482
What's heartbreaking in these studies
is that not everyone is going to improve.

1240
01:05:44,565 --> 01:05:48,736
It's a difficult thing to remove
all the contaminants in your life.

1241
01:05:48,819 --> 01:05:51,489
Endocrine disruptors are so pervasive,

1242
01:05:51,572 --> 01:05:54,700
you're being exposed
even when you least expect it.

1243
01:05:55,284 --> 01:05:58,496
But that doesn't make it
easier to give bad news.

1244
01:05:58,579 --> 01:06:01,415
I mean, you guys have tried
for a long time, right?

1245
01:06:01,499 --> 01:06:02,333
[Tim] Mm-hm.

1246
01:06:02,416 --> 01:06:04,585
-Yeah. Over ten years.
-[Tim] Yeah.

1247
01:06:04,669 --> 01:06:07,004
I mean, I'm really glad
that the intervention

1248
01:06:07,088 --> 01:06:09,298
has been helpful to your life.

1249
01:06:09,382 --> 01:06:10,257
[Tim] Yeah.

1250
01:06:10,341 --> 01:06:13,719
But I don't see any signs here
that you're going to imminently,

1251
01:06:13,803 --> 01:06:15,221
you know, gonna get pregnant.

1252
01:06:15,304 --> 01:06:16,514
-[Katie] For sure.
-[Tim] Right.

1253
01:06:16,597 --> 01:06:18,474
-[Katie] And that's okay, like…
-[Tim] Yes.

1254
01:06:18,557 --> 01:06:19,767
[Katie] We, you know…

1255
01:06:19,850 --> 01:06:22,853
We know it's going to take a miracle, so…

1256
01:06:22,937 --> 01:06:24,647
[poignant music playing]

1257
01:06:24,730 --> 01:06:27,566
It's been really hard
not being able to conceive.

1258
01:06:28,317 --> 01:06:30,736
In all honesty,
there definitely have been moments

1259
01:06:30,820 --> 01:06:33,280
when I have felt pretty jaded about it.

1260
01:06:33,990 --> 01:06:37,493
Difficult part that has actually
gotten more difficult each year,

1261
01:06:37,576 --> 01:06:40,454
at least for me, is, um…

1262
01:06:41,080 --> 01:06:42,999
like Father's Day and Mother's Day.

1263
01:06:44,166 --> 01:06:46,919
Something that I always thought
I'd be celebrating.

1264
01:06:47,712 --> 01:06:49,672
But that's not who we are.

1265
01:06:50,673 --> 01:06:51,924
[Katie] It just makes you think,

1266
01:06:52,008 --> 01:06:55,761
"Wow, our lives are so much different
than what I expected them to be."

1267
01:06:56,554 --> 01:06:59,348
But I'm never going to let go
of this hope that I have

1268
01:06:59,432 --> 01:07:02,143
that we could still
possibly have kids one day.

1269
01:07:07,481 --> 01:07:10,234
[woman on TV] California's top cop
subpoenas ExxonMobil…

1270
01:07:10,317 --> 01:07:14,238
[man] Attorney General Rob Bonta says
fossil fuel and petrochemical companies

1271
01:07:14,321 --> 01:07:17,366
have been overstating the role
of recycling and curbing the problem.

1272
01:07:17,450 --> 01:07:20,703
The fossil fuel
and petrochemical industries

1273
01:07:20,786 --> 01:07:25,624
have engaged in a half-century
campaign of deception.

1274
01:07:25,708 --> 01:07:30,254
The work I do is official in conduct,
but it's also personal.

1275
01:07:30,337 --> 01:07:33,716
My oldest daughter has told me,
"Dad, I love my family."

1276
01:07:33,799 --> 01:07:35,801
"I want to have
a family of my own someday."

1277
01:07:35,885 --> 01:07:39,930
"But I don't think it's responsible
to bring a child onto this dying planet."

1278
01:07:40,431 --> 01:07:42,391
"So I'm not planning
on having a family right now."

1279
01:07:42,475 --> 01:07:43,392
That's wrong.

1280
01:07:43,476 --> 01:07:45,227
We shouldn't steal the dreams of our--

1281
01:07:45,311 --> 01:07:48,189
Of the next generation
because of our mistakes,

1282
01:07:48,272 --> 01:07:51,067
of our failure, uh, to be responsible.

1283
01:07:51,150 --> 01:07:53,319
In pursuit of what? Endless profit?

1284
01:07:55,237 --> 01:07:57,239
[dramatic music playing]

1285
01:07:59,784 --> 01:08:03,704
The entire plastics industry
is built on a lie.

1286
01:08:03,788 --> 01:08:08,584
The only reason
that plastics today are ubiquitous

1287
01:08:08,667 --> 01:08:13,005
is because people were told
that this product can be recycled.

1288
01:08:13,672 --> 01:08:15,758
[commercial narrator]
People start pollution.

1289
01:08:15,841 --> 01:08:17,468
People can stop it.

1290
01:08:19,553 --> 01:08:21,514
[Oliver] The organization
that produced that ad,

1291
01:08:21,597 --> 01:08:22,932
Keep America Beautiful,

1292
01:08:23,015 --> 01:08:25,726
was funded in part
by a plastics industry trade group

1293
01:08:25,810 --> 01:08:28,562
and composed of leading beverage
and packaging corporations,

1294
01:08:28,646 --> 01:08:33,067
which might seem odd until you realize
that the underlying message there is,

1295
01:08:33,150 --> 01:08:36,320
"It's up to you,
the consumer, to stop pollution."

1296
01:08:36,403 --> 01:08:38,405
[unsettling music playing]

1297
01:08:39,073 --> 01:08:41,617
[Bonta] People would not
have purchased plastics

1298
01:08:41,700 --> 01:08:43,869
and relied on plastics
and consumed plastics

1299
01:08:43,953 --> 01:08:47,164
knowing that it was
destroying the planet as we did so.

1300
01:08:47,873 --> 01:08:49,542
The California Department of Justice

1301
01:08:49,625 --> 01:08:53,212
launched an investigation into ExxonMobil.

1302
01:08:53,921 --> 01:08:58,175
We became aware of internal communications
that said things like

1303
01:08:58,259 --> 01:09:01,428
recyclability at scale
is not financially viable.

1304
01:09:02,221 --> 01:09:06,851
Yet they were continuing to sell the myth
of recyclability of plastics.

1305
01:09:08,060 --> 01:09:13,899
Making recycling work was a way
to keep their products in the marketplace.

1306
01:09:13,983 --> 01:09:16,694
-It was a way to sell plastic.
-[Liesemer] Yes.

1307
01:09:16,777 --> 01:09:18,988
It's a win-win situation.

1308
01:09:19,655 --> 01:09:22,867
[Bonta] Today, only 9%
of plastics are recycled.

1309
01:09:23,534 --> 01:09:24,618
It's shocking.

1310
01:09:25,202 --> 01:09:26,537
And the reason is because

1311
01:09:26,620 --> 01:09:29,039
the big plastic companies
won't profit from it.

1312
01:09:29,123 --> 01:09:30,958
It costs too much to recycle.

1313
01:09:31,041 --> 01:09:34,295
[Trasande] And we are
making so much plastic,

1314
01:09:34,378 --> 01:09:37,882
we're overwhelming
the capacity of the system

1315
01:09:37,965 --> 01:09:40,551
to even recycle itself in the first place.

1316
01:09:40,634 --> 01:09:42,678
[woman on TV] But after decades
as the dumping ground

1317
01:09:42,761 --> 01:09:44,346
for more than half of the world's trash,

1318
01:09:44,430 --> 01:09:48,017
China has banned most types
of low-grade recycling products.

1319
01:09:48,100 --> 01:09:51,729
What appears to be happening is that
China is tired of importing our trash.

1320
01:09:51,812 --> 01:09:54,148
If plastic products are not recyclable,

1321
01:09:54,231 --> 01:09:56,233
then it needs to be stated as such.

1322
01:09:56,317 --> 01:09:58,402
There needs to be a truth in advertising.

1323
01:09:58,485 --> 01:10:00,571
Oh, Tracy, look, she's going for the bin.

1324
01:10:00,654 --> 01:10:03,657
[Bonta] The fact that, you know,
this myth was allowed to occur

1325
01:10:03,741 --> 01:10:06,076
for decades and decades, it's shocking.

1326
01:10:06,160 --> 01:10:08,412
It's not unlike tobacco.

1327
01:10:08,495 --> 01:10:10,414
[ominous music playing]

1328
01:10:10,497 --> 01:10:11,749
[music fades]

1329
01:10:11,832 --> 01:10:14,919
When you have big corporations
that are lying to the public

1330
01:10:15,002 --> 01:10:18,923
and fueling a global plastics
pollution crisis, it needs to end.

1331
01:10:19,006 --> 01:10:22,885
And I'm not gonna wish or hope
it into existence, I'm gonna do it.

1332
01:10:23,594 --> 01:10:25,596
[whirring]

1333
01:10:33,437 --> 01:10:36,065
[Wendt] When I was diagnosed with cancer,

1334
01:10:36,148 --> 01:10:39,068
I had been teaching sustainable fashion,

1335
01:10:39,151 --> 01:10:42,738
and I realized that
it was no longer about sustainability.

1336
01:10:42,821 --> 01:10:46,283
It was about
eliminating all petrochemicals.

1337
01:10:47,534 --> 01:10:51,664
Textiles are the single largest source
of microplastics in the environment.

1338
01:10:51,747 --> 01:10:53,791
[hopeful music playing]

1339
01:10:53,874 --> 01:10:56,043
But at California Cloth Foundry,

1340
01:10:56,126 --> 01:11:01,090
the fibers are cotton, linen, hemp, flax,

1341
01:11:01,173 --> 01:11:03,300
viscose from trees.

1342
01:11:04,802 --> 01:11:09,098
The most toxic process
in the textile supply chain are the dyes,

1343
01:11:09,181 --> 01:11:11,433
and those are from petrochemicals.

1344
01:11:11,517 --> 01:11:14,353
So many of our ingredients
can be found in the kitchen,

1345
01:11:14,436 --> 01:11:16,230
like chestnuts and iron.

1346
01:11:16,313 --> 01:11:20,734
Those are the main ingredients
in our North Face and Levi's program.

1347
01:11:20,818 --> 01:11:22,987
Another would be elderberries,

1348
01:11:23,070 --> 01:11:26,323
one of the colorants we use
for Gisele's Gaia hoodie.

1349
01:11:27,241 --> 01:11:29,118
But it's expensive.

1350
01:11:30,327 --> 01:11:36,875
So to really change fashion
from a highly toxic, high-volume industry,

1351
01:11:38,252 --> 01:11:40,629
we have to scale green chemistry.

1352
01:11:42,089 --> 01:11:43,841
[ethereal music playing]

1353
01:11:43,924 --> 01:11:47,428
[Gutsch] Fashion is so unnecessary,

1354
01:11:47,511 --> 01:11:49,972
and still it plays a big role in society.

1355
01:11:51,181 --> 01:11:54,560
Most of my adult life,
I worked as a designer,

1356
01:11:54,643 --> 01:11:57,563
and it was mainly about
inventing new products.

1357
01:11:58,188 --> 01:12:01,817
And at some point,
I realized that I'm actually the one

1358
01:12:01,900 --> 01:12:04,403
that is creating all these
environmental issues we are facing.

1359
01:12:05,279 --> 01:12:10,117
As a designer, you convince people
to buy, to spend, to waste.

1360
01:12:11,452 --> 01:12:14,455
But ten years ago,
I realized that people like me

1361
01:12:14,538 --> 01:12:17,416
can decide if a company is harmful,

1362
01:12:17,499 --> 01:12:20,502
or establish
a totally new way of doing business.

1363
01:12:23,714 --> 01:12:28,177
So in 2015,
we tried to convince corporations

1364
01:12:28,260 --> 01:12:32,097
to use recycled materials
instead of making more of it.

1365
01:12:33,640 --> 01:12:36,810
We created sneakers out of fishing nets.

1366
01:12:38,520 --> 01:12:42,900
But plastic stays plastic,
even if you recycle it.

1367
01:12:43,400 --> 01:12:45,235
So plastic needs to go.

1368
01:12:45,319 --> 01:12:48,530
Next up, I would like
to invite Cyrill Gutsch.

1369
01:12:48,614 --> 01:12:51,408
Hey, hey. What's up, Paris?

1370
01:12:51,492 --> 01:12:56,330
Now is the time to invent new materials
that are made from nature.

1371
01:12:56,413 --> 01:12:59,750
This is the first jacket designed
by Dior, Kim Jones, to support us

1372
01:12:59,833 --> 01:13:03,670
in this process of making
Bananatex a new technology.

1373
01:13:04,254 --> 01:13:09,009
The concept of a plastic doesn't have
to come from a petroleum-based material.

1374
01:13:09,093 --> 01:13:13,597
There's no laws of physics
that say it has to be these materials.

1375
01:13:13,680 --> 01:13:16,475
They just happen to be
the ones we're using now.

1376
01:13:17,351 --> 01:13:19,728
Let's open our eyes, embrace nature,

1377
01:13:19,812 --> 01:13:23,232
and learn, "How does nature
make something transparent?"

1378
01:13:23,315 --> 01:13:26,193
"How does nature
make something strong but flexible?"

1379
01:13:26,276 --> 01:13:27,361
[hopeful music playing]

1380
01:13:27,444 --> 01:13:32,241
Everything that you could use to define
what a plastic or a polymer does,

1381
01:13:32,324 --> 01:13:33,158
nature does.

1382
01:13:33,242 --> 01:13:35,119
And if we can learn from nature,

1383
01:13:35,202 --> 01:13:39,790
we can make things that are less toxic
and more environmentally responsible.

1384
01:13:39,873 --> 01:13:44,878
At Sway, we use seaweed
to replace really pervasive plastics,

1385
01:13:44,962 --> 01:13:46,505
mainly thin films.

1386
01:13:46,588 --> 01:13:49,049
This shoe is 100% plastic-free,

1387
01:13:49,133 --> 01:13:52,594
so the whole product
can be put into the compost.

1388
01:13:52,678 --> 01:13:56,890
After seven to ten weeks,
there's nothing left but nutrients.

1389
01:13:56,974 --> 01:13:59,393
[woman] We make
the world's first performance pigment

1390
01:13:59,476 --> 01:14:01,437
that's 100% plant-based.

1391
01:14:01,520 --> 01:14:05,232
And we're looking to replace
all the traditional dyes, toxins.

1392
01:14:05,315 --> 01:14:09,486
We mimic the same principles
that give butterflies their natural color.

1393
01:14:09,570 --> 01:14:11,738
So we can make any color
on the visible spectrum.

1394
01:14:12,823 --> 01:14:15,742
[Gutsch] We are in the midst
of what we call a material revolution.

1395
01:14:15,826 --> 01:14:19,413
This is the biggest and the most exciting
challenge we humans ever had.

1396
01:14:19,496 --> 01:14:23,208
We fight for our own survival
by redesigning, by recreating,

1397
01:14:23,292 --> 01:14:27,212
by redefining the foundation
of our society,

1398
01:14:27,296 --> 01:14:28,714
how things are being made.

1399
01:14:28,797 --> 01:14:29,923
[hopeful music continues]

1400
01:14:30,007 --> 01:14:34,178
[Warner] Someday, imagine when we say,
"The world has now nontoxic,

1401
01:14:34,261 --> 01:14:37,639
safe polymers and plastics and materials."

1402
01:14:37,723 --> 01:14:40,976
Someday, we need to look people
in the eye and say, "We did it."

1403
01:14:41,059 --> 01:14:43,020
Not, "We want to do it," but, "We did it."

1404
01:14:43,103 --> 01:14:45,939
That's gonna take great risk,
trial and error and hard work.

1405
01:14:47,566 --> 01:14:48,567
[music fades]

1406
01:14:48,650 --> 01:14:52,863
[Swan] Even though the couples
reduced their exposures dramatically

1407
01:14:52,946 --> 01:14:54,823
at the midpoint of the study,

1408
01:14:54,907 --> 01:14:59,244
I was interested to see if they would
be able to maintain that vigilance.

1409
01:14:59,328 --> 01:15:01,371
Let's look at some of your graphs.

1410
01:15:01,455 --> 01:15:02,998
-Shall we?
-[Jesse] Yeah, let's do it.

1411
01:15:03,081 --> 01:15:05,709
[Swan] So this is Darby, and this is BPA.

1412
01:15:05,792 --> 01:15:06,668
-Okay.
-Mm-hm.

1413
01:15:06,752 --> 01:15:09,046
[Swan] You have this drop at midpoint.

1414
01:15:09,129 --> 01:15:11,924
These were your high
molecular weight phthalates.

1415
01:15:12,007 --> 01:15:14,676
You remember
those are the ones in soft tubing

1416
01:15:14,760 --> 01:15:16,553
and, you know, soft water bottles.

1417
01:15:16,637 --> 01:15:19,556
-Your values just plummeted.
-[poignant music playing]

1418
01:15:19,640 --> 01:15:22,226
-So I would say that's a success.
-[Darby] That's great.

1419
01:15:22,309 --> 01:15:26,396
So, Jesse, this is your BPA,
and this was in the beginning.

1420
01:15:26,480 --> 01:15:31,443
You did a miracle and you went down,
and you stayed down morning and evening.

1421
01:15:31,527 --> 01:15:33,612
-And that's just phenomenal.
-That's great.

1422
01:15:33,695 --> 01:15:37,449
[Swan] The high molecular weight,
you were also quite high when you started,

1423
01:15:37,532 --> 01:15:40,077
and then you brought it down,
and you stayed down.

1424
01:15:40,160 --> 01:15:41,828
-That's great.
-[Swan] So you're a star.

1425
01:15:41,912 --> 01:15:43,705
-How'd you do that?
-Well, uh…

1426
01:15:43,789 --> 01:15:44,998
[Darby and Jesse laugh]

1427
01:15:45,082 --> 01:15:48,585
[Swan] Our couples were able
to keep their bisphenols down,

1428
01:15:48,669 --> 01:15:52,256
many to undetectable levels,
which is amazing.

1429
01:15:52,339 --> 01:15:54,174
And while phthalates were more stubborn,

1430
01:15:54,258 --> 01:15:57,469
we did see a meaningful reduction
in the average.

1431
01:15:57,553 --> 01:16:01,139
And couples, first of all, stuck with it,

1432
01:16:01,223 --> 01:16:06,895
liked it, and want to continue
these changes going forward.

1433
01:16:06,979 --> 01:16:09,773
I think what we gave up mostly
was going out to eat.

1434
01:16:09,856 --> 01:16:14,111
We saved a lot of money,
and we spent more time together cooking.

1435
01:16:14,194 --> 01:16:15,821
So it's been a positive for you.

1436
01:16:15,904 --> 01:16:17,114
-Yes, definitely.
-Absolutely.

1437
01:16:17,197 --> 01:16:18,907
And once you know,
you kind of can't go back.

1438
01:16:18,991 --> 01:16:22,369
So that's the only downside
to learning more about plastics.

1439
01:16:22,452 --> 01:16:23,453
Do you feel that?

1440
01:16:23,537 --> 01:16:25,205
-You feel you can't go back?
-[Darby] Yeah.

1441
01:16:25,289 --> 01:16:29,585
It was not that hard, uh, as we thought

1442
01:16:29,668 --> 01:16:32,296
because it was just like one week,

1443
01:16:32,379 --> 01:16:35,424
let's do this,
and another week, let's do that.

1444
01:16:35,507 --> 01:16:38,385
I think what's stuck
has been those habits you develop.

1445
01:16:38,468 --> 01:16:42,639
You know, you get in the pattern
of not using, or using the replacement.

1446
01:16:42,723 --> 01:16:45,809
Like changing how we prepare food
and how we store food.

1447
01:16:45,892 --> 01:16:48,520
The biggest thing is fragrances.

1448
01:16:48,603 --> 01:16:51,023
You know, laundry detergent, for example.

1449
01:16:51,106 --> 01:16:53,525
We would smell it
literally 24/7 and it'd be like,

1450
01:16:53,608 --> 01:16:55,485
"Oh my gosh, I can't stop smelling this."

1451
01:16:55,569 --> 01:16:58,238
If we're gonna buy a blanket or something,

1452
01:16:58,322 --> 01:16:59,865
we try to buy 100% cotton.

1453
01:16:59,948 --> 01:17:01,950
-Yeah.
-Like, we're now more aware.

1454
01:17:02,034 --> 01:17:04,202
I've since become an evangelist of this,
by the way.

1455
01:17:04,286 --> 01:17:05,996
I think people start to care

1456
01:17:06,079 --> 01:17:08,624
once they start to realize
that it's affecting them.

1457
01:17:08,707 --> 01:17:10,709
[music fades]

1458
01:17:12,586 --> 01:17:15,422
[Yearwood] People fight against all odds.

1459
01:17:16,506 --> 01:17:18,925
Truly, David versus Goliath.

1460
01:17:20,510 --> 01:17:25,641
But they got a strong faith
and a strong spirit that is unbelievable.

1461
01:17:25,724 --> 01:17:27,643
On this land in St. James,

1462
01:17:27,726 --> 01:17:30,604
as it's the proposed site
for the $9.4 billion

1463
01:17:30,687 --> 01:17:32,856
Formosa petrochemical plant.

1464
01:17:32,939 --> 01:17:35,275
And the land that the plant is built on

1465
01:17:35,359 --> 01:17:40,405
is causing an uproar after the discovery
of unmarked graves of enslaved people.

1466
01:17:41,198 --> 01:17:44,493
[Yearwood] The legislation
that we have now in Louisiana

1467
01:17:44,576 --> 01:17:46,828
says you can't build on graveyards.

1468
01:17:46,912 --> 01:17:48,372
[poignant music playing]

1469
01:17:48,455 --> 01:17:52,084
What's crazy about that is that that's
actually how people are now winning.

1470
01:17:53,502 --> 01:17:58,173
The ancestors who are buried
in many unmarked graves

1471
01:17:58,256 --> 01:18:02,052
is now stopping the fossil fuel plants.

1472
01:18:02,636 --> 01:18:07,265
It's almost like those ancestors
are reaching back

1473
01:18:07,349 --> 01:18:09,142
and saying, "Enough."

1474
01:18:09,226 --> 01:18:11,228
-[Lavigne] We're gonna stand together.
-[man] Right.

1475
01:18:11,311 --> 01:18:12,979
-[Lavigne] And fight Formosa.
-[man] Right.

1476
01:18:13,063 --> 01:18:16,733
We will not allow them
to take our ancestors out of this ground

1477
01:18:16,817 --> 01:18:18,276
and put them somewhere else.

1478
01:18:19,236 --> 01:18:22,114
Judge Trudy White ruled in our favor

1479
01:18:22,197 --> 01:18:25,409
and told Formosa to vacate the property.

1480
01:18:25,492 --> 01:18:28,245
Because we have the right
to breathe clean air.

1481
01:18:28,328 --> 01:18:30,997
Sharon Lavigne is a true force of nature.

1482
01:18:32,374 --> 01:18:34,376
She is to be reckoned with.

1483
01:18:36,294 --> 01:18:39,506
[Yearwood] I know
that if we come together,

1484
01:18:39,589 --> 01:18:40,632
we win.

1485
01:18:40,715 --> 01:18:46,847
I've said it, organized people
beats organized money every single time.

1486
01:18:46,930 --> 01:18:48,724
[music fades]

1487
01:18:48,807 --> 01:18:52,018
[Landrigan] The impediments
to controlling exposures

1488
01:18:52,102 --> 01:18:55,147
to toxic chemicals are not,
for the most part, scientific.

1489
01:18:56,481 --> 01:18:59,443
And what's required
to deal with the problem is courage,

1490
01:18:59,526 --> 01:19:01,236
vision, political will.

1491
01:19:01,319 --> 01:19:03,321
[hopeful music playing]

1492
01:19:04,781 --> 01:19:10,328
No country is doing a perfect job
in regulating toxic chemicals and plastic.

1493
01:19:10,412 --> 01:19:11,246
[music fades]

1494
01:19:11,329 --> 01:19:13,832
But the European Union
is the world leader.

1495
01:19:14,750 --> 01:19:17,085
They have chemical legislation
called REACH,

1496
01:19:17,669 --> 01:19:20,630
which actually requires
that chemicals be tested

1497
01:19:20,714 --> 01:19:23,967
for safety and toxicity
before they come to market.

1498
01:19:24,551 --> 01:19:27,262
[Swan] There are nine chemicals
that are banned

1499
01:19:27,345 --> 01:19:30,474
from personal care products
in the United States.

1500
01:19:30,557 --> 01:19:35,353
And over 1,100 that are banned in the EU.

1501
01:19:35,437 --> 01:19:37,981
You can see
that's two orders of magnitude.

1502
01:19:38,064 --> 01:19:40,442
[man on TV] New EU rules
proposed by the European Commission

1503
01:19:40,525 --> 01:19:43,445
will target ten
single-use plastic products.

1504
01:19:43,528 --> 01:19:45,530
These products won't disappear.

1505
01:19:45,614 --> 01:19:48,158
They will just be made
with different materials.

1506
01:19:48,241 --> 01:19:49,493
We have an opportunity.

1507
01:19:49,576 --> 01:19:52,204
There's an international
global plastics treaty

1508
01:19:52,287 --> 01:19:54,331
being negotiated by the UN.

1509
01:19:54,414 --> 01:19:57,334
[Valdivieso] This conference
is about far more

1510
01:19:57,417 --> 01:19:59,544
than drafting an international treaty.

1511
01:19:59,628 --> 01:20:04,508
It is about humanity rising
to meet an existential challenge.

1512
01:20:05,634 --> 01:20:10,096
[Swan] We're finally seeing some traction
on banning bisphenol A, or BPA,

1513
01:20:10,180 --> 01:20:14,267
and other lookalike bisphenols,
which cause the same harms.

1514
01:20:14,351 --> 01:20:18,813
These chemicals disrupt hormones,
including increasing estrogen.

1515
01:20:19,731 --> 01:20:22,859
In fact, BPA was studied in the 1930s

1516
01:20:22,943 --> 01:20:25,862
for its potential use
in hormone regulation,

1517
01:20:25,946 --> 01:20:27,948
including birth control.

1518
01:20:28,031 --> 01:20:32,911
In 2025, the EU said enough is enough.

1519
01:20:32,994 --> 01:20:36,581
[woman on TV] As of Monday,
the European Union has prohibited the use

1520
01:20:36,665 --> 01:20:40,418
of this endocrine disruptor
in food containers.

1521
01:20:40,502 --> 01:20:43,839
[Trasande] If we really
incorporate a health mindset,

1522
01:20:43,922 --> 01:20:48,760
we will get past a model that focuses
on what we see on our beaches,

1523
01:20:48,844 --> 01:20:49,761
in our oceans.

1524
01:20:49,844 --> 01:20:53,348
We need to think about what's getting
into human bodies, ultimately.

1525
01:20:53,431 --> 01:20:55,267
[music fades]

1526
01:20:55,350 --> 01:20:56,852
[FaceTime call ringing]

1527
01:20:59,020 --> 01:21:03,358
Did you change anything
in your work environment

1528
01:21:03,441 --> 01:21:05,861
that might have decreased your exposure?

1529
01:21:05,944 --> 01:21:08,572
I changed a lot. For me, I changed a lot.

1530
01:21:09,155 --> 01:21:10,866
[Swan] After I met Bruno,

1531
01:21:10,949 --> 01:21:14,369
I was worried that he would not be able

1532
01:21:14,452 --> 01:21:17,706
to lower his exposures
or improve his sperm count.

1533
01:21:18,206 --> 01:21:20,041
He is a construction worker,

1534
01:21:20,125 --> 01:21:23,336
had a lot of exposures
from construction materials.

1535
01:21:24,004 --> 01:21:25,005
I was wrong.

1536
01:21:25,672 --> 01:21:28,049
You have four semen analyses, right?

1537
01:21:28,133 --> 01:21:31,344
Three of them are really good,
and the last one is really good.

1538
01:21:32,304 --> 01:21:35,807
The pattern overall
is that you have gotten greatly improved.

1539
01:21:35,891 --> 01:21:37,017
[Monique] Yeah.

1540
01:21:37,517 --> 01:21:39,311
We were not expecting at all.

1541
01:21:39,394 --> 01:21:41,021
We thought, "What?"

1542
01:21:41,104 --> 01:21:44,816
If we look at your concentration,

1543
01:21:44,900 --> 01:21:46,526
it was 44.

1544
01:21:47,110 --> 01:21:50,196
And then it was 60.

1545
01:21:50,989 --> 01:21:54,993
I did see some sperm results from you,
and they got a lot better.

1546
01:21:55,076 --> 01:21:55,952
Ooh, good.

1547
01:21:56,536 --> 01:21:59,748
[Swan] Your total
motile count increased 50%.

1548
01:21:59,831 --> 01:22:00,832
-[Katie] Gosh.
-[Tim] Yeah.

1549
01:22:00,916 --> 01:22:02,834
-So that's huge.
-[Katie] That's awesome.

1550
01:22:02,918 --> 01:22:04,628
-Whoo-hoo! [laughs]
-Yeah. [laughs]

1551
01:22:04,711 --> 01:22:07,380
The numbers were…
We were talking about that… quite high.

1552
01:22:08,340 --> 01:22:11,176
-Concentration is way up.
-[Kate] I know!

1553
01:22:11,259 --> 01:22:12,510
[Swan] It's just incredible.

1554
01:22:12,594 --> 01:22:14,220
You've turned into Superman.

1555
01:22:14,304 --> 01:22:16,014
[all laugh]

1556
01:22:16,097 --> 01:22:18,058
I have results here.

1557
01:22:18,141 --> 01:22:22,646
I think the most exciting to me,
and probably to you,

1558
01:22:22,729 --> 01:22:26,983
is that your total sperm count
is way high.

1559
01:22:27,067 --> 01:22:30,070
The cutoff for fertile is about 40.

1560
01:22:30,153 --> 01:22:33,573
You were originally below that,
and now you're at 77,

1561
01:22:34,491 --> 01:22:36,242
which is awesome!

1562
01:22:36,326 --> 01:22:38,244
-Thank you.
-[all laughing]

1563
01:22:38,328 --> 01:22:41,956
[Swan] I was really pleased
with the results of the sperm analysis.

1564
01:22:42,040 --> 01:22:44,584
Of the six men in the study,

1565
01:22:44,668 --> 01:22:50,090
five improved their semen quality
on multiple parameters.

1566
01:22:50,173 --> 01:22:51,967
-So, how do you feel about that?
-I feel great.

1567
01:22:52,050 --> 01:22:53,134
-Yeah?
-Um, yeah.

1568
01:22:53,218 --> 01:22:55,553
It feels really good
that the intervention actually worked.

1569
01:22:55,637 --> 01:23:00,517
And I went from being sub
or not fertile to normal.

1570
01:23:00,600 --> 01:23:04,187
[Swan] Another really positive takeaway
from this intervention

1571
01:23:04,270 --> 01:23:10,235
is that it seemed to improve their lives
in many ways that we had not expected.

1572
01:23:10,318 --> 01:23:12,570
When we cut everything out, I went from,

1573
01:23:12,654 --> 01:23:15,782
I think I was like at 212
when we did the measurement,

1574
01:23:15,865 --> 01:23:17,784
down to like 198.

1575
01:23:17,867 --> 01:23:19,244
And now I'm back around 202.

1576
01:23:19,327 --> 01:23:21,204
So ten pounds you lost.

1577
01:23:21,287 --> 01:23:24,666
I wake up way less at night,
and I sleep, like, deeper.

1578
01:23:24,749 --> 01:23:25,834
[hopeful music playing]

1579
01:23:25,917 --> 01:23:30,171
[Swan] A third of the participants
lowered their body mass index.

1580
01:23:30,255 --> 01:23:34,050
Over 60% reported increased energy levels,

1581
01:23:34,134 --> 01:23:37,804
80% reported increased sleep quality,

1582
01:23:37,887 --> 01:23:43,226
and 86% reported they plan
to keep these lifestyle changes.

1583
01:23:43,309 --> 01:23:45,729
[Eric] I feel like
I'm able to focus for longer.

1584
01:23:45,812 --> 01:23:48,231
There's not the fog that used to be there.

1585
01:23:48,314 --> 01:23:49,941
I just feel better, and I enjoy life more.

1586
01:23:50,025 --> 01:23:51,901
So why the hell
would I not continue to do this?

1587
01:23:51,985 --> 01:23:55,238
[Swan] It's true that
to understand patterns of disease,

1588
01:23:55,321 --> 01:23:58,408
you need a large population.

1589
01:23:59,117 --> 01:24:01,745
So these results will be used

1590
01:24:01,828 --> 01:24:04,748
to support an application
for a larger study

1591
01:24:04,831 --> 01:24:06,750
with government funding.

1592
01:24:06,833 --> 01:24:09,044
So I think we're pioneers.

1593
01:24:09,127 --> 01:24:09,961
[music fades]

1594
01:24:13,381 --> 01:24:17,427
[in Portuguese] Well, today I decided
to take a pregnancy test, another one,

1595
01:24:17,510 --> 01:24:19,846
and I'm going to share with you.

1596
01:24:20,722 --> 01:24:21,973
We never know, right?

1597
01:24:25,059 --> 01:24:25,894
One.

1598
01:24:26,561 --> 01:24:27,395
Two.

1599
01:24:28,021 --> 01:24:28,897
Three.

1600
01:24:29,606 --> 01:24:30,440
Four.

1601
01:24:31,024 --> 01:24:33,026
[hopeful music playing]

1602
01:24:33,485 --> 01:24:34,819
What does it mean?

1603
01:24:38,615 --> 01:24:40,033
It's not a joke, is it?

1604
01:24:41,743 --> 01:24:44,996
It's not a joke, right? This can't be.

1605
01:24:45,080 --> 01:24:46,206
[Bruno] There are two.

1606
01:24:49,584 --> 01:24:52,504
[laughing]

1607
01:24:52,587 --> 01:24:54,214
I'm not trusting this test.

1608
01:24:54,297 --> 01:24:57,634
Okay, hold it here.
I'll use another one now.

1609
01:24:58,218 --> 01:24:59,761
Oh, my love.

1610
01:25:04,182 --> 01:25:05,099
Oh!

1611
01:25:05,183 --> 01:25:07,060
[Bruno] Oh, my love.

1612
01:25:07,143 --> 01:25:09,145
[sobbing]

1613
01:25:12,649 --> 01:25:13,858
[in English] I love you.

1614
01:25:19,864 --> 01:25:23,076
So since we last spoke, uh,
life has changed quite a bit.

1615
01:25:25,203 --> 01:25:28,373
[Julie] Right now, I'm 15 weeks pregnant.

1616
01:25:28,915 --> 01:25:31,084
And we already know it's a boy,

1617
01:25:31,167 --> 01:25:33,837
so we can't name the baby Shanna, really.

1618
01:25:33,920 --> 01:25:35,839
Yeah, I know. We were planning on Shanna.

1619
01:25:35,922 --> 01:25:38,216
[Darby] Okay, this is Bobby.
Those are feet.

1620
01:25:38,299 --> 01:25:41,469
After the study,
we found out we were expecting.

1621
01:25:41,553 --> 01:25:43,805
Yeah! We're… [laughs]

1622
01:25:43,888 --> 01:25:44,973
Yeah, we're pregnant.

1623
01:25:45,056 --> 01:25:46,015
-Yeah.
-It's amazing.

1624
01:25:46,099 --> 01:25:49,644
-Mostly I'm pregnant, but we are pregnant.
-Well, it's the way they say it, right?

1625
01:25:49,727 --> 01:25:52,021
[hopeful music continues]

1626
01:25:54,524 --> 01:25:59,279
[Swan] Initially, my introduction
to all the participants was on paper.

1627
01:26:01,656 --> 01:26:06,703
But I was continually surprised
what a pleasure it was to meet them,

1628
01:26:06,786 --> 01:26:09,289
to interact with them,
to get to know them.

1629
01:26:09,372 --> 01:26:10,373
[doctor] It looks great.

1630
01:26:10,456 --> 01:26:12,250
-[Monique] Oh!
-[doctor] Did you see it moving?

1631
01:26:12,333 --> 01:26:14,127
[in Portuguese] Oh, it's moving, honey.

1632
01:26:14,210 --> 01:26:15,795
[laughing]

1633
01:26:16,880 --> 01:26:18,882
[Swan in English]
I feel connected with each of them.

1634
01:26:18,965 --> 01:26:22,635
And it's very surprising
because it's unusual for a study

1635
01:26:22,719 --> 01:26:24,345
that you would have that.

1636
01:26:24,429 --> 01:26:26,431
[hopeful music playing]

1637
01:26:27,891 --> 01:26:29,225
Knock, knock.

1638
01:26:29,309 --> 01:26:31,102
-[Monique] Hi!
-[Swan] Hi!

1639
01:26:31,186 --> 01:26:32,729
[Swan laughs]

1640
01:26:32,812 --> 01:26:34,814
[baby crying]

1641
01:26:35,648 --> 01:26:36,858
[Swan] Look what you did.

1642
01:26:36,941 --> 01:26:38,943
[laughing]

1643
01:26:40,278 --> 01:26:41,905
-[Monique] We did.
-We did.

1644
01:26:41,988 --> 01:26:43,990
[hopeful music playing]

1645
01:26:51,497 --> 01:26:54,500
[Swan] If you want to have a child,

1646
01:26:54,584 --> 01:26:58,922
I believe it is a fundamental human right
to be able to do so.

1647
01:27:03,218 --> 01:27:10,058
I think I'm now more optimistic
about solving the fertility problem.

1648
01:27:11,351 --> 01:27:12,477
But it's going to be a fight,

1649
01:27:12,560 --> 01:27:15,355
and that's why I'm fighting,
and that's why I'm talking to you.

1650
01:27:15,438 --> 01:27:16,856
[laughs]

1651
01:27:18,608 --> 01:27:19,859
[baby coos]

1652
01:27:19,943 --> 01:27:22,153
-[Swan] You are perfect.
-[Monique] Yeah.

1653
01:27:22,237 --> 01:27:23,988
[baby coos]

1654
01:27:24,072 --> 01:27:26,074
[hopeful music continues]

1655
01:27:41,589 --> 01:27:43,466
[music intensifies]

1656
01:27:55,728 --> 01:27:59,023
[hopeful music continues]

1657
01:29:53,304 --> 01:29:54,305
[music fades]
continues]