Dr Shane Bergin

speaker

581 appearances 6 recordings 2 series first heard May 2026 last heard 10 Sep

Dr Shane Bergin’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 6 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 2.

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Today with David McCullagh · A Beginner’s Guide to Chemicals · 10 Sep 2026 podcast

So you have to be careful with these things.

Yeah, like if you think about it, things that keep us alive, water and oxygen, in the wrong with the wrong amounts and in the wrong conditions, instant death, right?

Um so if you take uh water, which we all need to survive, and you immerse yourself in it and you're not able to get out, that's called drowning and you're you're a goner.

Ditto oxygen that we need to to to to do all of the the basic biological functions, it's set at twenty one uh

percent in the atmosphere, you can expose people to to higher percentages of oxygen if they're in a distressed state.

Doctors do this in medical conditions, but to do so for a long time can cause damage to the lungs.

So it's all about the amount, it's about the way in which you're exposed to it.

Another classic would be hydrogen peroxide.

A small amount you can bleach your hair.

A large amount you're going to be calling nine one one.

are, absolutely.

You know, I'm not one of those scientists that says, just trust us, we know what we're doing, right?

Science has had we've we've invented uh wonderful things like drugs and foods that keep us all healthy and happy.

However, we have a long ex um history of also getting it wrong, like putting lead in things, no most notably paint and petrol.

Um and it was done purposefully, um or asbestos in buildings uh because it was cheap.

Deep, fireproof, strong, etc.

We learned subsequently that these things could cause great harm, and there are so-called forever chemicals that we we think of now.

Some of them are everyday, like the Teflon on your frying pan.

Um that's a so-called forever chemical because it'll environmentally persist.

Same with with uh the old pesticides like DDT, as Joni Mitchell said, I don't care about my s about spots on my apples.

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