HoldsUp

Aly Cohen

Aly Cohen is a physician and researcher whose work addresses environmental health, toxicology, and clinical medicine. Her published research includes analyses of regulatory safety limits for chemical exposures such as Bisphenol A (BPA), as well as case studies on systemic lupus erythematosus and localized hypersensitivity reactions.

27 claims checked on air: 7 context 3 contradicted 2 overstated 12 supported 3 unverified

What they said on air - supported

0:18:35supportedmoderateUnseen Toxins: What’s Harming Us in Air, Water, and Everyday

Phthalates affect hormones and the immune system and make plastic flexible, whereas BPA often makes plastic harder.

"phthalates, which have effects on hormones, but also the immune system—they are making plastic flexible, whereas BPA often makes it harder." (said at 0:18:35)

The speaker accurately describes both the material roles and biological impacts of phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA). In plastics manufacturing, phthalates are primarily used as plasticizers to increase the flexibility and durability of plastics (such as polyvinyl chloride, PVC), whereas BPA is predominantly used as a building block for rigid, hard polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Biologically, both animal and epidemiological studies demonstrate that phthalates act as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (interfering with hormone signaling, including androgen and estrogen pathways) and can alter immune system development and function (such as airway inflammation, immune cell response, and allergic sensitization).

0:24:00supportedmoderateUnseen Toxins: What’s Harming Us in Air, Water, and Everyday

Sleep enables the glymphatic system to wash out and clear chemicals and waste products to which the body is exposed.

"great quality sleep to help wash out from our glymphatic system chemicals that we get exposed to directly or indirectly throughout our lives and our daily life" (said at 0:24:00)

The claim is supported by neurobiological research. The glymphatic system is a macroscopic waste clearance pathway in the central nervous system that utilizes perivascular channels to facilitate the convective exchange of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and interstitial fluid (ISF), clearing metabolic waste products, soluble proteins (such as amyloid-beta), and neurotoxic solutes. Landmark experimental and neuroimaging evidence demonstrates that glymphatic clearance is markedly upregulated during natural sleep—facilitated by an expansion of the interstitial space—and relatively quiescent during wakefulness.

0:27:40supportedhighUnseen Toxins: What’s Harming Us in Air, Water, and Everyday

In the European Union, the scientific bodies that assess food safety risk are separated from the regulatory bodies that manage it, whereas in the United States both roles reside within the same agency.

"In Europe, they have a much more rigorous process by which the EU does go through all of their compounds. They also separate, especially for the food system, the people who create the science behind risk are separated from the people who manage management, you know, in terms of regulation. In the United States, those two bodies are actually together." (said at 0:27:40)

The speaker's claim accurately reflects the core institutional design of food safety governance in the European Union compared to the United States. Under European Union General Food Law (Regulation EC 178/2002), scientific risk assessment is institutionally separated and assigned to an independent scientific body—the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)—while regulatory risk management and decision-making remain the responsibility of the European Commission, member states, and the European Parliament. In contrast, in the United States, both scientific risk evaluation and regulatory risk management for foods reside within the same regulatory agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

0:33:40supportedmoderateUnseen Toxins: What’s Harming Us in Air, Water, and Everyday

Environmental chemical exposures can cause genetic changes that are inherited by successive generations.

"where we know these exposures can play a role in successive generation genetic changes." (said at 0:33:40)

Evidence from animal studies and systematic reviews demonstrates that parental exposure to environmental chemicals and toxicants can alter the germline, causing both genetic mutations (such as elevated germline mutation rates and genomic instability) and epigenetic changes that are passed down to successive generations.

0:38:50supportedmoderateUnseen Toxins: What’s Harming Us in Air, Water, and Everyday

Inhaled PM2.5 particulate matter and associated chemicals pass directly across the lungs into the bloodstream.

"And they get into the human body, just like if you breathe in, you're going to get oxygen, but you're going to take with it whatever's in that air with it. And we know oxygen goes right into the bloodstream, so so does so do these chemicals." (said at 0:38:50)

Experimental studies in humans, animal models, and in vitro alveolar barrier models demonstrate that inhaled fine and ultrafine particles (a component of PM2.5) and their soluble chemical constituents translocate across the alveolar-capillary barrier directly into the bloodstream. In human inhalation trials, inhaled nanoparticles were detected in systemic circulation (blood and urine) within 15 minutes to 24 hours of exposure and accumulated in vascular tissue, with smaller particles (<10 nm) translocating at substantially higher rates.

0:42:14supportedhighUnseen Toxins: What’s Harming Us in Air, Water, and Everyday

The recommended clean air delivery rate (CADR) for an indoor air purifier is 300 CADR for every 500 square feet of room space.

"that CADR is really you're looking for a 300 CADR for every 500 square feet. Um, and that's really sort of the going, you know, you want a filter that's going to be able to handle the space of the room. And so that's kind of the going number, is 300 for every 500 square ft um of of room." (said at 0:42:14)

The statement accurately reflects standard sizing guidelines for portable air cleaners. Under the standard ANSI/AHAM AC-1 protocol developed by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) and recognized by the EPA, the recommended '2/3 rule' specifies that an air cleaner's clean air delivery rate (CADR, in cubic feet per minute for smoke/particulate matter) should be at least two-thirds (approx. 60–67%) of the room's floor area in square feet (assuming standard 8-foot ceiling heights to achieve at least 4 to 5 air changes per hour). For a 500 sq ft room, two-thirds equals approximately 333 CADR, making a 300–330 CADR rating the standard recommendation for 500 square feet.

0:45:28supportedhighUnseen Toxins: What’s Harming Us in Air, Water, and Everyday

N95 respirator masks do not filter or manage volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

"they do much better in terms of the VOCs, which actually are not actually um uh managed with the N95." (said at 0:45:28)

Standard N95 filtering facepiece respirators are designed and certified specifically to filter airborne particulate matter (capturing at least 95% of non-oil particulate aerosols) and do not capture or filter gaseous contaminants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Filtering gaseous VOCs requires chemical sorbents (such as activated carbon), which standard particulate N95 respirators lack.

0:48:58supportedhighUnseen Toxins: What’s Harming Us in Air, Water, and Everyday

Cruciferous vegetables contain compounds that upregulate stage II liver detoxification conjugation.

"getting them to eat those cruciferous vegetables that upregulate stage II conjugation, that break down, you know, from all of their, you know, the compounds that are magical." (said at 0:48:58)

Cruciferous vegetables (such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and radishes) contain bioactive compounds, particularly glucosinolates that are hydrolyzed into isothiocyanates (such as sulforaphane). These compounds activate the Nrf2-Keap1 signaling pathway, leading to the upregulation of phase II detoxification and conjugation enzymes, including glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and UDP-glucuronosyltransferases. A 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis of human dietary intervention trials demonstrated that consumption of cruciferous vegetables significantly increased the activity of the phase II conjugation enzyme glutathione S-transferase-alpha (GST-α) by 15% to 35%.

0:51:12supportedmoderateUnseen Toxins: What’s Harming Us in Air, Water, and Everyday

Chemical ingredients under the labels 'perfume' or 'fragrance' in personal care and cleaning products are not legally required to be tested for safety or toxicity before being sold.

"the word perfume or fragrance. Okay. In any products, you know, personal care or cleaning products. These are, again, not regulated. None of those chemicals are not not even tested, I should say, not so much regulated, but they're not even required to be tested for safety or toxicity uh before they make it into the the product and make it onto the shelf." (said at 0:51:12)

Under United States law (such as the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act), cosmetic ingredients—with the exception of color additives—are not subject to mandatory premarket safety approval or government toxicity testing before being sold to the public. Proprietary fragrance formulations can legally be listed under generic terms like 'fragrance' or 'perfume' without disclosing individual chemical constituents. While industry self-regulatory bodies (such as the International Fragrance Association and the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials) perform voluntary safety evaluations, federal regulations do not mandate premarket toxicity testing or premarket approval for these ingredient mixtures before they enter the market.

0:52:43supportedmoderateUnseen Toxins: What’s Harming Us in Air, Water, and Everyday

Non-nanoparticle zinc oxide sunscreen stays on the skin surface and is not absorbed into the bloodstream.

"and just doing zinc oxide, you know, the kind that we think of with the nose and the, you know, the uh lifeguards, those stay on the surface of skin. They don't get absorbed into the bloodstream." (said at 0:52:43)

The speaker's statement that traditional non-nanoparticle ("lifeguard-style") zinc oxide sunscreens remain on the surface of the skin and do not penetrate into the viable epidermis or get absorbed as particulate zinc oxide is well supported by dermatological and toxicological literature. Studies consistently demonstrate that particulate zinc oxide (both pigment-grade and nano-scale) remains confined to the outermost stratum corneum and follicular openings without permeating the viable dermal layers. Some minor surface hydrolysis can produce soluble zinc ions that may minimally cross into the skin and enter the physiological pool of systemic zinc, but the intact zinc oxide particles themselves do not absorb into the bloodstream.

0:54:26supportedmoderateUnseen Toxins: What’s Harming Us in Air, Water, and Everyday

Using hand sanitizer accelerates the dermal absorption of BPA from thermal paper receipts into the body.

"the idea that BPA as a um can get into the skin even with hand sanitizers more effectively than without hand sanitizer. So, not only can BPA get into the skin—we know this from studies on uh people who work with receipts, checkout people, especially pregnant checkout people, can have some of the highest levels, believe it or not. Um, and so those are human studies, but he was able to also show that even when you put on another chemical like a hand sanitizer, a typical, you know, found everywhere, it actually accelerates the movement of BPA into the skin, which can be then tested in the urine." (said at 0:54:26)

Published experimental research confirms that applying hand sanitizer before holding thermal receipt paper substantially increases the transfer and absorption of bisphenol A (BPA). In an experimental human study by Hormann et al. (2014), hand sanitizers containing dermal penetration-enhancing chemicals were shown to facilitate rapid dermal and systemic absorption of free BPA from thermal paper, resulting in significant spikes in bioactive serum BPA and urinary total BPA concentrations within 90 minutes.

1:02:42supportedhighUnseen Toxins: What’s Harming Us in Air, Water, and Everyday

USDA organic standards were initiated in the 1990s and became fully implemented in the United States by 2002.

"And it started in the 1990s. It took 10 years to put into the market. By 2002, it was like up and running." (said at 1:02:42)

The claim accurately describes the historical timeline of federal organic regulation in the United States. Congress passed the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) as part of the 1990 Farm Bill to establish uniform national standards for organic agricultural products. Following a lengthy period of rule development and implementation, the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) standards were fully implemented and went into effect in October 2002.

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