Cancer, Disease & Our Toxic Chemical Burden

The average American has about 13.1 pounds of toxins enter their bodies per year. These toxins can enter the body by eating them, drinking them, breathing them or absorbing them through the skin.

More than 80,000 chemicals are put into American household products, food and food packaging each year, with several thousand new ones added each year. The majority of them do not occur in nature.

We have no real idea exactly how these chemicals react chemically with each other inside the human body. These chemicals are used essentially without any legitimate safety testing, generating more than $763 billion in profits for the chemical industry.

More than 10,000 of these chemical additives are with questionable safety. Most have never been tested in humans, but they are still allowed in food and food packaging.

Strong scientific evidence exists that exposure to these chemicals is contributing to cancer, reproductive abnormalities, early puberty and a host of other endocrine, neurological, and metabolic problems.

Many industrial chemicals have been found to accumulate in the environment and in the human body. This can have significant generational effects, as everything an expectant mother takes into her body can potentially get passed along to her developing child.

There is convincing research showing prenatal exposure to certain industrial chemicals can lead to abnormal fetal development, diminished intelligence, behavior problems, infertility, abnormal sexual maturation, metabolic dysfunction and cancers later in life.

What little safety testing is done is typically done on chemicals in isolation. Mounting research reveals this is a major mistake, as when many chemicals are used together, their toxicity can increase exponentially.

The 12 Worst Hormone Disrupting Chemicals:

Considering the tens of thousands of chemicals we’re exposed to in our everyday living, it’s simply not possible to review the potential effects of them all. Some do stand out above others in terms of what we already know.

For example, endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) alter the normal function of your hormones, which can have far-reaching health effects. A hormone’s job is to interact with the cells in your body, sending signals that instruct them to perform certain tasks, and EDCs interfere with this communication process.

These chemicals are widely used not only in household products such as plastics, but also in cosmetics and personal care products.

In 2013, the Environmental Working Group identified 12 of the worst:

1. Bisphenol-A (BPA)
2. Dioxin
3. Atrazine
4. Phthalates
5. Perchlorate
6. Fire retardants
7. Lead
8. Mercury
9. Arsenic
10. Perfluorinated chemicals(PFCs)
11. Organophosphate pesticides
12. Glycol ethers

Food Is a Primary Source of Exposure to Many Toxic Chemicals:

In addition to furnishings, building materials, personal care products, electronics and innumerable other household products, many hazardous chemicals make their way into your body through the food that you eat.

Researchers analyzing the diets of children in California to assess the health effects from food contaminants found that food may be the primary route of exposure to:

1. Heavy metals
2. Environmental pollutants such as DDT and dioxins
3. Pesticides

ALL of the 364 children tested had levels of arsenic, dieldrin (a banned pesticide), DDE (a metabolite of DDT) and dioxins exceeding benchmark levels for cancer.

According to the authors:

1. Chicken was the number one source of arsenic among preschoolers.

2. Dairy was the primary source of lead, banded pesticides and dioxins (it should be noted that this was most likely conventional, pasteurized dairy from cows raised in confined animal feeding operations or CAFOs).

3. Seafood was the number one source of mercury exposure.

Tips to Help You Avoid Toxic Chemicals:

It’s quite clear that the US government is falling short when it comes to protecting you from the onslaught of toxic chemicals that may have devastating your health and the health of your future generations. It is therefore up to you to keep you and your family safe. Although no one can successfully steer clear of ALL chemicals and pollutants, you can minimize your exposure by keeping a number of key principles in mind. The list below is a little overwhelming and can’t be easily done overnight. If you choose to follow this advice, the best thing to do is to try to accomplish just one at a time.

This list is from Dr. Joseph Mercola:

1. Eat a diet focused on locally grown, fresh and ideally organic whole foods. Processed and packaged foods are a common source of chemicals such as BPA and phthalates. Wash fresh produce well, especially if it’s not organically grown.

2. Choose grass-pastured, sustainably raised meats and dairy to reduce your exposure to hormones, pesticides, and fertilizers. Avoid milk and other dairy products that contain the genetically engineered recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST)

3. Rather than eating conventional or farm-raised fish, which are often heavily contaminated with PCBs and mercury, supplement with a high-quality krill oil, or eat fish that is wild-caught and lab tested for purity, such as wild caught Alaskan salmon

4. Buy products that come in glass bottles rather than plastic or cans, as chemicals can leach out of plastics (and plastic can linings), into the contents; be aware that even “BPA-free” plastics typically leach other endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are just as bad for you as BPA.

5. Store your food and beverages in glass, rather than plastic, and avoid using plastic wrap.

6. Use glass baby bottles.

7. Replace your non-stick pots and pans with ceramic or glass cookware.

8. Filter your tap water for both drinking AND bathing. If you can only afford to do one, filtering your bathing water may be more important, as your skin absorbs contaminants. To remove the endocrine disrupting herbicide Atrazine, make sure your filter is certified to remove it. According to the EWG, perchlorate can be filtered out using a reverse osmosis filter.

9. Look for products made by companies that are Earth-friendly, animal-friendly, sustainable, certified organic, and GMO-free. This applies to everything from food and personal care products to building materials, carpeting, paint, baby items, furniture, mattresses, and others.

10. Use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter to remove contaminated house dust. This is one of the major routes of exposure to flame retardant chemicals.

11. When buying new products such as furniture, mattresses, or carpet padding, consider buying flame retardant-free varieties, containing naturally less flammable materials, such as leather, wool, cotton, silk, and Kevlar.

12. Avoid stain- and water-resistant clothing, furniture, and carpets to avoid perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs).

13. Make sure your baby’s toys are BPA-free, such as pacifiers, teething rings and anything your child may be prone to suck or chew on—even books, which are often plasticized. It’s advisable to avoid all plastic, especially flexible varieties.

14. Use natural cleaning products or make your own. Avoid those containing 2-butoxyethanol (EGBE) and methoxydiglycol (DEGME)—two toxic glycol ethers that can compromise your fertility and cause fetal harm.

15. Replace your vinyl shower curtain with a fabric one.

16. Replace feminine hygiene products (tampons and sanitary pads) with safer alternatives.

17. Switch over to organic toiletries, including shampoo, toothpaste, antiperspirants, and cosmetics. EWG’s Skin Deep database can help you find personal care products that are free of phthalates and other potentially dangerous chemicals.

18. Look for fragrance-free products. One artificial fragrance can contain hundreds—even thousands—of potentially toxic chemicals. Avoid fabric softeners and dryer sheets, which contain a mishmash of synthetic chemicals and fragrances.

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