Obesogens

• Utilizing the first article, discuss what is locally grown and what is currently in season in your area.  
• I could not find this article, but I found a lot of foods that are locally grown and seasonal in my area(Palo Alto). These are the followings :
• Vegetables - artichokes, asparagus, avocados, beets, boo toy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots,cauliflower, garlic, kale, lettuce, mushrooms, olives, onions, potatoes, scallions, spinach, squash.
• Fruits : apples, asian pears, dates, grapefruit, guavas, kiwi, lemons, limes, oranges, strawberries.  
• Discuss your thoughts on seasonal/local foods and hospital menus.
• As I learned from this assignments, it helps our environment if we eat more seasonal and local foods.  This is because it is natural way to grow the foods.  In order to eat non seasonal foods, the farmers have to use toxic chemicals and it breaks the natural system of farming.  Regarding of eating local foods, we can get fresh and healthier foods near by our place instead of importing from far away.  Additionally, it will help the small and organic farms near by your place, which would produce more healthier foods eventually.  I think hospital should use these seasonal and local foods as well.  This would help development of local and small farms.  Also, the patients who would eat healthy foods would be healthier too. 
• Find a Harvest Calendar for your state (or a state you are interested in) utilizing the link in the first article (found underneath the example Harvest Calendar for New York State). 
• I found the harvest calendar for Northern California.  I go to the farmer's market every Sunday near by my place and I know what to buy now.  In particular, it is good to know that California harvest majority of strawberries in the U.S as a strawberries killer.  
• What are your thoughts on the second article? Have you heard of obesogens before?
• No, I have not heard of obeseness before, so it was interesting article to read.  In public health, the obesity is the one of the provocative issues to study.  In particular, it has been increasing in the U.S including other developing countries.  People usually related the obesity to the diet.  However, I heard some people just get fatter even though they eat normal amount of foods.  This article might explain for them relating to obesogens-"dietary, pharmaceutical, and industrial compounds that may alter metabolic processes and predispose some people to gain weight".  I also have been dieting for many years and have been frustrating from not loosing weight even after strict diet and enough exercise.  However, I did not know about this new fact about the diet.  The obesogenic effects "may pass on to later generations through epigenetic changes, heritable modifications to DNA and histone proteins that affect when and how genes are expressed in cells, without altering the actual genetic code".  There are many ways to get this chemicals into our bodies.  Now I will add to avoid the products that might cause the obesogenic effects in my diets, so I can prevent the obesity of my future generation as well.   
• Pick one of the potential obesogens discussed in the article and using your resources from earlier modules (such as toxnet), do some research on this potential obesogen. Share what you found! 
• The potential obeseness I chose is Phthalates. Is is "a group of chemicals used to make plastics more flexible and harder to break".  We can find them in hundreds of product such as  "vinyl flooring, adhesive, detergents, lubricating oils, automotive plastics, plastic clothes, and personal-care products(soaps, shampoos, hair sprays, and nail polishes)".  People can be easily exposed to Phthalate "by eating and drinking foods that have been in contact with containers and products containing Phthalates".  Additionally, we can breath them through air that "contains phthalate vapors or dust contaminated with phthalate particles".  It is more vulnerable for young children than adults due to "hand-to-mouth behaviors".  Although it is unknown that how this affects on human's health, "some types of phthalate have affected the reproductive system of laboratory animals".  CDC conducted the research to find out "the amount of phthalates that have entered people's bodies", analyzing urine.  The followings are what they have found : 
• CDC researchers found measurable levels of many phthalate metabolites in the general population. This finding indicates that phthalate exposure is widespread in the U.S. population.
• Research has found that adult women have higher levels of urinary metabolites than men for those phthalates that are used in soaps, body washes, shampoos, cosmetics, and similar personal care products.
• Although, higher level of phthalates does not mean that they will have more adverse health effect, it needs to have more research the health effects from phthalate.  
• https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/phthalates_factsheet.html