#1 Longevity Doctor: 7 Toxic Products Destroying Your Health

KEYPOINTS

• 01

  Topol adds the environment to the usual lifestyle factors

  Dr. Eric Topol, author of Super Agers, calls his approach 'lifestyle plus': on top of diet, exercise and sleep, you have to account for air pollution, microplastics and nanoplastics, and forever chemicals. He believes these have had far too little attention given how strong the evidence is becoming. He describes them as speeding up aging and inflammation in the body.

• 02

  Forever chemicals (PFAS) don't break down, and almost everyone already has them in their blood

  Topol says there are more than 10,000 PFAS chemicals. They share a fluorine–carbon bond that makes them non-degradable, which is why they're called 'forever' chemicals. He says 97% of people have detectable levels in their blood, and that some of these chemicals are used to make plastics. We take them in through food, air and water, and they build up in the body.

• 03

  Microplastics have been found in arteries and the brain, with inflammation around them

  Topol calls an Italian study of neck (carotid) artery plaque one of the most important plastics studies in years (details under Examples). Under the microscope, researchers saw plastics such as polyvinyl chloride surrounded by 'profound inflammation.' Separate studies of the brains of people who had died found plastics throughout, with marked inflammation wherever plastic sat. His conclusion: 'you can't say that this is innocuous.'

• 04

  He suspects a link to cancer in young people and falling fertility, but says it isn't proven

  Topol has seen people in their 20s and 30s with colon and breast cancer and no genetic risk. He also points to falling fertility in both men and women while these particles reach the testes and ovaries. He admits critics are right that cause and effect hasn't been proven. His case is that the chemicals inflame tissue and can cause mutations, and that the trend keeps getting worse. He calls it a 'flashing yellow light,' not settled science.

• 05

  How long food sits in plastic matters, and heat makes it much worse

  Topol's main kitchen rule is to cut 'dwell time' in plastic, or skip plastic altogether. Food sitting in plastic absorbs more of it. Microwaving in plastic is a 'double whammy' because heat releases far more nanoplastics into the food. His swap is glass instead of plastic containers.

• 06

  Non-stick pans and plastic utensils get into your food

  Topol says Teflon and other non-stick coatings shed microscopic amounts into food, more the longer you use the pan. Mel adds that heating a coated pan while stirring with a plastic utensil is the same problem as microwaving plastic containers, and he agrees that heat increases how much ends up in your body.

• 07

  Personal care products and scented items can carry forever chemicals

  Going through Mel's bathroom products, Topol's rule is to look for anything fluorinated, meaning ingredients that combine fluorine and carbon. A hairspray listing a hydrofluorocarbon was 'horrible,' because you're 'spraying forever chemicals on your head.' Products with no ingredient list at all worry him even more.

• 08

  Clean air is part of protecting your health

  The tiniest air pollution particles (PM2.5) are the most toxic and travel through the body causing inflammation. Topol recommends good filtration, such as HEPA filters, and plenty of fresh-air exchange, and points to MERV 11–13 filtration in workplaces. He notes the CDC announced a move toward 'healthy buildings' but says little has actually been done.

• 09

  Topol's three biggest steps: awareness, cutting your exposure, and pressure on industry

  Asked for the three things that matter most, Topol said: first, accept that air pollution, forever chemicals and micro/nanoplastics are very likely harming us. Second, cut exposure where you can as an individual and a family. Third, push industry and government to stop using these ingredients and to label them.

• 10

  Kids have been exposed their whole lives, which is why Topol thinks the timing matters

  Mel, 56, figures she had little microplastic exposure for her first 20–25 years, while her children (26, 24 and 20) have had it all their lives. Topol says how long you're exposed over a lifetime matters, and that waiting another 10 years for proof of cause and effect is 'much too long.'