On TWIST, This Week in Sustainability, we discuss the green pros and cons of the entire range of consumer products and everything in them, to help you choose the right stuff to buy and recycle. We’ll discuss: Appliances, Batteries, Buildings, Carpet, Cleaning Products, Clothing, Computers, Disinfectants, Food, Flame Retardants, Fuels, Medicine, Packaging, Paint, Pesticides, Plastic, Personal Care products, Phones, Photovoltaics, and maybe even tilt at Windmills. We’d love to have your suggestions for topics or guests: twist.sustainability@gmail.com! Hosted by Felicia Etzkorn, Professor of Chemistry at Virginia Tech (https://chem.vt.edu/people/faculty/teaching-and-research/fetzkorn.html) and author of Green Chemistry: Principles and Case Studies, with co-host Jamie Ferguson, Professor of Chemistry at Emory & Henry College (https://www.ehc.edu/live/profiles/341-jamie-ferguson). Music was created and performed by Wendy Godley.
In which Felicia explains the many sources, the chemistry, and the toxicity of sulfites and sulfates. Sulfites are widespread in food, both processed and natural. They have been strongly linked to inflammatory bowel diseases by gut bacteria that use sulfate as an energy source. Sulfates are found in many personal care and household cleaning products. Felicia offers many suggestions on how to avoid sulfites and sulfates. It’s good for you and for the environment.
Sources
- Deng, K., Wang, L., Nguyen, S. M., Shrubsole, M. J., Cai, Q., Lipworth, L., Gupta, D. K., Zheng, W., Shu, X.-O., and Yu, D. (2025) A dietary pattern promoting gut sulfur metabolism is associated with increased mortality and altered circulating metabolites in low-income American adults, eBioMedicine115.10.1016/j.ebiom.2025.105690: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2025.105690
- Dordevic, D., Capikova, J., Dordevic, S., Tremlová, B., Gajdács, M., and Kushkevych, I. (2023) Sulfur content in foods and beverages and its role in human and animal metabolism: A scoping review of recent studies, Heliyon9.10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15452: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15452
- Owczarek, D., Rodacki, T., Domagała-Rodacka, R., Cibor, D., and Mach, T. (2016) Diet and nutritional factors in inflammatory bowel diseases, World Journal of Gastroenterology22, 895-905.10.3748/wjg.v22.i3.895: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i3.895
- Pfau, A., López-Cayuqueo, K. I., Scherer, N., Wuttke, M., Wernstedt, A., González Fassrainer, D., Smith, D. E. C., van de Kamp, J. M., Ziegeler, K., Eckardt, K.-U., Luft, F. C., Aronson, P. S., Köttgen, A., Jentsch, T. J., and Knauf, F. (2023) SLC26A1 is a major determinant of sulfate homeostasis in humans, The Journal of Clinical Investigation133.10.1172/JCI161849: 10.1172/JCI161849