Environmental Toxicity and Body Detoxification
The necessity of body detoxification is now of utmost importance. Our bodies have become virtual dumping grounds for the hundreds of thousands of toxic compounds that invade our air, water, and even the soil that nurtures our food.
Environmental toxicity has never been more rampant than now with more than 77,000 chemicals are in active production in North America. More than 3,000 chemicals are added to our food supply; and more than 10,000 chemicals in the form of solvents, emulsifiers, and preservatives are used in food processing, packaging, wrapping, and storage.
Every day, all of us ingest tiny amounts of these chemicals. The EPA estimates there are more than 20,000 chemicals that our bodies cannot metabolize. Chemicals not metabolized are stored in the fat cells throughout our bodies where they continue to accumulate.
We must detox our bodies because as these chemicals build up, they alter our metabolism, cause enzyme dysfunction and nutritional deficiencies, create hormonal imbalances, damage brain chemistry, and cause cancer. Because the chemicals accumulate in different parts of the body and at different rates and in different combinations, there is a disturbingly large variety of different chronic illnesses that can result.
Common Sources of Toxins
We have been perpetually exposed to toxins every day since we were born. As the quantity that accumulates in the body reaches high enough levels, the effect on our health can vary from annoying chronic symptoms to death from heart disease or cancer.
Plastic wrap and plastic bottles outgas plasticizers (phthalates) which leach into our food. Phthalates chemically mimic hormones, damaging the endocrine system.
Pesticide residues are detectable in 50% - 95% of the food consumed in the U.S. Pesticides can be even more damaging to the endocrine and glandular systems. The U.S. uses 30x more synthetic pesticides today than in 1945.
"Silver" dental fillings contain mercury (a cause of Parkinson's disease and many other neurological disorders) that leaches out and is absorbed by the surrounding tissue and lungs.
The average carpet outgases more than 12 chemicals (such as benzene, a known cause of leukemia) all of which can cause disease.
Are You Toxic?
Studies show that most of us have between 400 and 800 chemical residues stored in our cells. EPA studies reveal that 100% of people tested have dioxins, PCBs, dichlorobenzene, and xylene in their fat cells, and carcinogenic benzene (89%) and percholoethlylene (93%) in their exhaled breath. These are just small examples of an epidemic problem.
Unable to be excreted from the body, chemicals find their way into our liver, and then migrate to fat cells in organs throughout the body where they are stored. When our bodies exceed the limit for toxins we can excrete, those too are stored. Chemicals and heavy metals make up our "total toxic burden". This bioaccumulation compromises our physiological and psychological health and leads to chronic disease. It is clear that body toxins exist and that they must be removed through detoxification.
Early warning signs of toxic overload include headaches, skin conditions, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, chronic fatigue, and more. For a list of conditions that indicate over-toxicity, take our Are You Toxic? Survey.
Did You Know?
- Columbia University School of Public Health reports that 95% of cancer is caused by diet and environmental toxicity.
- EPA studies of human fat biopsies found styrene residue in 100% of people.
- According to the EPA, our bodies accumulate 210mcg of just plasticizers (phthalates) everyday.
- Studies show that most of us have between 400 and 800 chemical residues stored in the fat cells of our bodies.
- A USA Today article indicates that the average city water contains more than 500 chemicals.
"Air pollution and water pollution are only a small part of the toxicity story. There are thousands of harmful environmental toxins, some of which we’re aware of -- such as pesticides, chemicals, household cleansers, fertilizers -- and others, which seem perfectly innocent, such as those ubiquitous plastic water bottles, styrene cups, dental fillings, and plastic wrap. These are just a few small examples of the alarming amount of harmful toxins our bodies are absorbing every day."
- Dr. Sherry Rogers, author of the best selling book Detoxify or Die