Comment by vimota | Hacker News Reader

Comment by vimota | Hacker News Reader

Two years ago I became really interested in optimizing testosterone levels naturally and one of the things that kept coming up in research was the impact of EDCs (Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals) on fertility, cancer, hormone health and testosterone and just how prevalent they are in all our products (clothes use PFAS as water repellent / stain resistance, soaps and creams use parabens as preservatives, anything that has a scent typically uses pthalates for the smell to last longer, etc) .

My girlfriend, who has a background in environmental science and skincare, also got interested in this and ended up starting a personal care brand focused on being 100% free of Endocrine Disruptors / forever chemicals: https://olivercare.co/.

I truly believe as more studies continue to come out strengthening the connection between these chemicals and the long term health and fertility risks, consumers and brands are going to shift to safer alternatives. In fact, there's a chance that "forever chemical" lawsuits end up being bigger than the famous Big Tobacco settlement: https://time.com/6292482/legal-liability-pfas-chemicals-laws... .

Coincidentally: my father, who's been in the hair business for a few decades, has been working hard in this direction for the past few years. He's had a reasonably-natural haircare line since the 90s, but he's put a lot of work into changing suppliers and reformulating to push further in that direction since being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder (and wondering what role touching hair product several hours a day 6 days a week for decades may have played).

It feels like the time has come.

I've been a crunchy granola conspiracy nerd for over 20 years now, eating organic foods and avoiding plastic anything, including clothing polymers and food containers for a long while, having taken a lot of heat for being a tin-foil hat wearing nutjob over the years. My sperm is on fire though - my wife and I have to be extremely careful to avoid pregnancy, having multiple kids and making a couple other unplanned mistakes already. I have many friends around me that have difficulty conceiving, and perhaps not coincidentally some of them are ones who criticized me for my "paranoid beliefs".

Cuteness - does it run in your family?

My wife and I also found it terribly easy to conceive, to the point that after having three (all planned) kids altogether too easily, I got a vasectomy at age 30 so it would stop there.

And I don't do anything to unduly avoid modernity and her sins, so here's an anecdote to run counter to yours.

Great submarine!

all social media ultimately exists to make someone money. they're just more slick about it these days.

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