Clinical Chats: a Podcast for Sexual and Reproductive Health Professionals · Clinical Training Center for Sexual and Reproductive Health

The Intersection of Environmental Health and Reproductive Justice

March 28, 2023·26 min·1 clip

Climate change is described as the biggest environmental health issue in the United States and globally.

The episode starts with a direct question about environmental health. Dr. Huffling answers by defining the environment broadly as the places and conditions people live, work, play, and worship in, and she connects that view to reproductive justice instead of treating exposures as a separate issue. She also describes the pregnant person as the fetus's first environment. From there, the discussion turns to how environmental harms reach patients through air, water, soil, and everyday consumer products, which makes the topic clinically relevant in routine reproductive care. The conversation keeps coming back to practical care. It focuses on what providers can actually ask in a new patient, preconception, first pregnancy, or ongoing pregnancy visit, and why those visits are natural moments for exposure assessment and anticipatory guidance. The interview stays grounded in clinic workflow. Questions about toiletries, cosmetics, produce access, and whether a patient buys organic food are presented as concrete ways to raise the subject without making it feel abstract or separate from ordinary reproductive care. The episode also brings in pesticide residue as a real counseling issue. It references the Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 as a way to think about where organic choices may matter most when budget or access limits what people can buy. Water safety gets the same treatment. The conversation encourages clinicians to ask whether patients rely on municipal water or well water and to pay attention to local advisories, including concerns related to PFAS contamination. Throughout, the tone stays practical and patient-centered. Dr. Huffling makes the case that environmental questions should become part of routine reproductive health assessments, much like other social and medical histories, because that shift helps clinicians counsel people on concrete ways to reduce exposure. The episode also sits inside a broader series on reproductive justice. That context matters, because the interview keeps tying environmental policy, public health, and patient-centered care back to access, prevention, and respect for the realities patients bring into the exam room. The pacing is steady and interview-driven. It gives the guest room to explain definitions, then narrows to what a provider should say, ask, and document in practice, which makes the material especially usable for clinicians. The closing keeps the focus on education and practical application, showing how environmental health can move from a policy conversation into everyday reproductive care without losing nuance.

As heard by us

A clinical look at environmental exposures in reproductive care.

This episode treats environmental health as part of reproductive justice and routine reproductive care, not a side topic. It defines the environment in plain terms: where people live, work, play, and worship, then connects that frame to pregnancy and preconception visits as…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Environmental exposures belong in reproductive justice, and they belong in the clinic conversation.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Clinical Chats: a Podcast for Sexual and Reproductive Health Professionals