War's Toxic Legacy - Ian Mudway

Video Description

00:00 // Welcome & lecture overview: War’s Toxic Legacy 00:44 // Gaza ceasefire footage (Jan 25, 2025) & what we’re missing 01:17 // The overlooked impact on civilians & the myth of neat war timelines 02:20 // Urban destruction as a sea of toxins: air, soil, water 03:18 // Lessons from Iraq, Syria & Kuwait oil fires 04:12 // Public health lens: the exposome in war zones 05:42 // Global conflicts 1989–2024: why “wars” are rising 06:11 // Counting deaths since 1989 & post-9/11 indirect mortality 07:21 // Deadliest theaters: Syria, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Ukraine—plus ignored wars 08:48 // The arms industry & the military carbon footprint 09:39 // Studying extreme exposures in the most vulnerable (children) 12:02 // Direct vs indirect harms: trauma, SGBV, displacement, disease 13:42 // Broken systems: sanitation, immunization, and medical care collapse 14:11 // Child malnutrition in conflict: wasting & stunting (Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Syria) 16:02 // Lifelong health trajectories set early: vulnerability that lasts 17:57 // Gaza environmental assessment (Apr–May 2024): scale of rubble 18:59 // Dust, heavy metals & POPs: exposures from pulverized buildings 20:50 // Fires & smoke plumes: an unrecognized air-quality crisis 22:30 // Destroyed infrastructure: solar park, greenhouses, and tree cover loss 24:25 // Beyond body counts: the true long-term public health cost 25:27 // Law & norms: protecting the environment in war (UN 2022 principles) 27:46 // Aftermath obligations: assess, quantify, remediate (who pays?) 29:16 // Why dust matters: Hiroshima/Nagasaki’s long-lag health effects 32:24 // Iraq & Syria case studies: bombardment, depleted uranium & burn pits 35:01 // Birth defects evidence & biomarkers (lead, mercury, uranium) 37:51 // Pediatric cancer spikes & infant mortality signals 40:29 // DOHaD: developmental origins of disease in conflict settings 42:16 // Three-generation exposure: epigenetics made simple 47:21 // Trauma as an exposure: October 7 survivors & mental health data 53:30 // Biology of stress: HPA axis, FKBP5, and intergenerational effects 56:47 // Takeaways: war’s multigenerational health legacy 58:20 // Closing reflections & Jimmy Carter’s warning Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/3LrIEG26m78 War's environmental legacies disproportionately burden the civilian populations left behind. While research focuses on combatant exposures, civilians face chronic contamination from heavy metals, chemical residues, unexploded ordnance, and asbestos, often exacerbated by disrupted infrastructure and psychological trauma. Framed through the exposome, this lecture highlights the need for greater research and policy focus on these long-term, low-level exposures and their impact on civilian health, advocating for remediation, care, and environmental justice. This lecture was recorded by Dr Ian Mudway on 14th October 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London Ian is Visiting Professor of Environmental Health. He is a senior lecturer in the School of Public Health at Imperial, a member of the MRC Centre for Environment and Health; MRC & Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma and the NIHR-PHE Health Protection Research Units in Environmental Exposures and Health and Chemical and Radiation Threats and Hazards. The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/toxic-war Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/ Website: https://gresham.ac.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/greshamcollege Facebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollege Instagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollege The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/ Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/ Website: https://gresham.ac.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/greshamcollege Facebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollege Instagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollege