4 Dec 2025
Episode 3 - The Mad Hatter of It All: Trace Elements in the World Around Us
Episode Summary:
It’s no secret that industrialization has taken a heavy toll on the planet and our bodies. But just how extensive and pervasive is chemical exposure? On this episode of Definitely not the Ivory Tower, Natalie Meisner sits down with chemists Nausheen Sadiq and Catharina Venter to discuss how we are exposed to toxic chemicals and metals on a daily basis, through water, food and cosmetics.
This episode takes a look at the history of chemical contamination in everyday products, what the situation is like today, how our bodies and the environment are affected and how it can impact us over a lifetime. The two researchers also give advice on how we can deal with this reality and what to watch out for as consumers.
Show notes:
The Berkeley Pit (https://pitwatch.org/), Butte, Montana
Mercury in hats (https://www.famsf.org/stories/poisons-part-i-the-mercurial-world-of-felt) – Mad Hatters
Radium girls (https://www.britannica.com/story/radium-girls-the-women-who-fought-for-their-lives-in-a-killer-workplace)
Bioaccumulation (https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/bioaccumulation)
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) (https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/chemicals-product-safety/per-polyfluoroalkyl-substances.html) – Forever Chemicals
Superfund sites (https://www.epa.gov/superfund/what-superfund)
Contaminated Sites Map (https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/fcsi-rscf/location-emplacement-eng.aspx?clear=1) – Canada
Canadian Indigenous Nations water quality crisis (https://ucalgary.ca/news/tip-iceberg-true-state-drinking-water-advisories-first-nations)
Superfood qualities of blueberries (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7442370/)
Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (https://www.agilent.com/en/product/atomic-spectroscopy/inductively-coupled-plasma-mass-spectrometry-icp-ms/what-is-icp-ms-icp-ms-faqs?srsltid=AfmBOoqa_QRnAJ-uIikr7ekHNKNMCWGGLzej-XFp_HLa4yIl0KU2n8U8) (ICP-MS)
Chitosan (https://www.mtroyal.ca/AboutMountRoyal/MediaRoom/Stories/2024/08/whats-going-into-the-bodys-largest-organ.htm)
Sadiq’s NSERC Discovery Grant (https://www.mtroyal.ca/AboutMountRoyal/MediaRoom/Stories/2025/10/tri-agency-grant-recipients-mount-royal-university-2025.htm)
Discussion segment timestamps:
1:44: Episode and guest intro
4:16: Real world applications of research
6:13: Being a changemaker
10:11: Lightbulb moments
12:57: History of toxic elements in food and cosmetics
17:02: How are food and cosmetics contaminated in the first place
19:57: What do toxic elements do to our bodies
22:37: How widespread is the issue of toxic elements in food and cosmetics
26:25: What elements are most concerning
28:14: Superfund sites
34:27: Testing food and cosmetics in the lab
42:20: Lab methods
46:15: Chitosan
51:48: Importance of student research
53:39: How being a chemist affects everyday life
59:55: Conclusion and episode outro
Nausheen Sadiq selected publications:
Multi-elemental bio-accessibility from long-grain rice for realistic risk assessment using on-line continuous leaching coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry: The non‐arsenic side of the story (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814625018886)
Sadiq, N. W., & Beauchemin, D. (2025). Multi-elemental bio-accessibility from long-grain rice for realistic risk assessment using on-line continuous leaching coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry: The non‑arsenic side of the story. Food Chemistry, 144637.
Realistic risk assessment of arsenic in rice (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030881461830431X)
Althobiti, R. A., Sadiq, N. W., & Beauchemin, D. (2018). Realistic risk assessment of arsenic in rice. Food chemistry, 257, 230-236.
Multi-elemental risk assessment of various baby rice cereals: some cause for concern? (https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full/10.1139/cjc-2020-0518)
Sadiq, N. W., & Beauchemin, D. (2021). Multi-elemental risk assessment of various baby rice cereals: some cause for concern?. Canadian Journal of Chemistry, 99(999), 742-750.
Characterization of the Phenolic Content Across Commercial Food Extracts Using Liquid Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4978097)
Sadiq, N. W., Karboune, S., & Bayen, S. Characterization of the Phenolic Content Across Commercial Food Extracts Using Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry. Available at SSRN 4978097.
Dissolution of Selected Trace Elements from Simulated Atmospheric Aerosol Aging and Human Exposure of Mineral Dust and Coal Fly Ash (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsestair.3c00006)
Sadiq, N. W., Venter, C., Mohammed, W., Khalaf, Y., & Al-Abadleh, H. A. (2023). Dissolution of selected trace elements from simulated atmospheric aerosol aging and human exposure of mineral dust and coal fly ash. ACS ES&T Air, 1(1), 5-15.
