Evidence of Toxins
In her book Toxic Overload, Paula Baillie-Hamilton states, “The creation
and widespread contamination by man-made, synthetic chemicals in
the late twentieth century has resulted in every region of the planet
being assaulted with a dangerous cocktail of known health-damaging
toxins. But how toxic are we?”
The Four Main Avenues of Toxins into Our Body
So where do these toxins come from? When you take all the information
that’s available on this topic and break it down to its simplest
form, there are really four main sources:
Air
The first portal through which the body receives toxins is the air
we breathe. Thanks to the waste that we produce and the chemical
byproducts of our modern lifestyle, this planet continues to become
more and more hostile to all life forms—especially us.
We dump thousands of tons of pollution into the sky and ground 365
days a year. Coal-fired power plants not only supply our power grid
with electricity, but they are also the biggest source of harmful air
pollution compared to all other sources of industrial pollution. In fact,
the American Lung Association estimates that more than 386,000
tons of 84 different pollutants are emitted into the air from more than
400 different power plants in 46 states.24
You are not safe from polluted air whether you are in your home or
vacationing in the Arctic Circle.
The air supply on this planet is under attack by pollution created by our gigantic manufacturing facilities and the cars we drive. Even secondhand cigarette smoke can be a
challenge to avoid, whether you smoke or not. Not all have to be doom
and gloom. There are ways to avoid or keep airborne toxins to more
manageable levels, but more on that later. A recent story appearing
from Beijing showed thousands of people early in the morning watching
these huge TV screens. The people were wearing masks and what
appeared on the TV screens was a virtual sunrise as the air pollution
was so bad it had blocked out the sun.25 Is this air pollution coming
to a city near you? Maybe not, but the pollution from China is being
carried by airborne currents and has crossed North America within a
couple of weeks.
Water
The second major source of toxic infiltration is our water supply.
Whether you’re drinking water or bathing in it, we are drowning ourselves
in this toxic soup.
Tap water is teeming with toxins! The Environmental Working Group
(www.ewg.org) did a study and discovered, on any given day, there
are more than 140 contaminants in common, in household tap water. In
addition, over the past few years, studies have shown that a number
of pharmaceuticals, both over-the-counter and prescription drugs are
showing up in our water tables. Some of the most common drugs
found in water include antibiotics, anti-depressants, birth control
pills, seizure medications, cancer treatments, prescription painkillers,
tranquilizers, and cholesterol-lowering compounds.
So here is something you were probably not expecting to read… Don’t
drink tap water. If possible, avoid most sources of tap water: at home,
in the office, in city parks and theme parks, restaurants, etcetera. The
bottom line is that our water sources are loaded with chemicals and
should be avoided at all costs. Tests have been developed to detect
more than 315 pollutants in the tap water accessible to the American
population. This was based on a study conducted by the Environmental
Working Group (EWG) and their analysis of almost 20 million records
obtained from state water officials.
We know it sounds daunting, but the good news is that we can fight
back. After all, one of the few things we still have control over in our
lives is what we choose to put in our bodies. If you must use tap
water, get a water purifier with a simple filter. Fortunately, accessing
clean water can be done fairly easily and is more cost-effective than
ever thanks to more and more people leading the charge away from
drinking unfiltered tap water.
You need to decide what makes the most sense in your life. We can’t
all eat organic, drink bottled water, and sterilize every eating utensil,
every meal, every day. You will have to find a way that fits your lifestyle
in order to keep your family safe. It is merely our job to show you
the problems and offer some solutions. How you choose to use this
information is ultimately your decision.
Food will Never be Enough Again… Period
So the air is polluted and the water is poisoned, but how does our food
supply hold up in this equation? Sadly, food is the biggest culprit in the
toxic arena. Our food supply has more toxins than you may realize.
Even organic foods can’t escape high levels of pesticides, chemicals, and other pollutants. One of the biggest offenders of toxic exposure is
processed foods. These foods are full of chemicals and additives
that can create symptoms ranging from increased hunger cravings and
weight gain to poor digestive health and allergies.
According to the book, The Hundred Year Lie: How to Protect Yourself
from the Chemicals That Are Killing You by Randall Fitzgerald, there
are thousands of chemicals used in the production of our foods each
day. Most have never been tested for what they might do to us. The
the food industry utilizes artificial colorings, fillers, additives, and untold
numbers of chemicals to improve everything from the look, taste and
consistency of our foods. It’s done to create a tastier, more appealing
“Product,” but it’s also done to increase sales with zero regards to the
possible health consequences.
Let’s remember that the financial bottom line is what really matters
most to the food industry. If we come back for a second or third helping—
enticed by the way these “foods” have been chemically altered,
tweaked, and engineered—then these food chemists have essentially
won. The bottom line, they increase profit margins with no regard to the
havoc that “special ingredients” may have on our health—as individuals,
as a nation, and as a species.
Beauty and Healthcare Products
Sadly, the beauty and personal care products we choose to put “on”
us can be as toxic as the foods we put “in” us. Everyday products
we used to look our best may actually be the biggest source of aging
and health challenges. That’s because of most deodorants, toothpaste,
lotions, soaps, hair products, fragrances, and cosmetics are full of toxic
chemicals.
The personal care and cosmetic products we use every day have more
than 10,000 chemicals included in their ingredient lists that have not
been tested by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). I repeat, these
have not been tested for the harm they might cause us. The FDA
treats these manufacturers as if they are on the honor system. If the
companies say the products are safe, the FDA gives their approval. It
all comes back full circle to profit. Imagine the cost of testing all these
chemicals. The time involved, the sales—and profits—all lost. Let’s face
it; safety just isn’t a lucrative business!
If you really want to know how toxic your cosmetics are, go to this
great website www.ewg.org and search for beauty secrets. This site will
reveal to you by brand name and type how toxic the cosmetics you
are putting on your skin really are.
First Studies on Humans and Toxins
Amazingly, we may never know. That’s because the first studies on
toxins and the human body were conducted less than ten years ago.
In 2005, Mt. Sinai Medical School in New York ran the initial testing
for detecting toxins in the body.
The results concluded that the average person had an average of 170
toxic chemicals in his or her blood and urine. Since then, alarming
new evidence has magnified this problem tenfold, revealing that the
problem may be far worse than projected.
Unborn children are not even safe from all the toxins in our environment,
despite what scientists once thought. It was a common belief that
the placenta kept babies safe from most environmental pollutants
and chemicals, but the Environmental Working Group conducted an
investigation and discovered that this isn’t the case.
Researchers from two labs tested umbilical cord blood from ten babies
born in hospitals in the U.S. in August and September 2004. They
found pesticides, coal waste, ingredients from consumer products,
gasoline, and even garbage in the cord blood. The study revealed
that newborns enter the world with an average of 200 chemicals in
their tiny bodies.
Included in the toxins researchers were able to identify were eight different
chemicals used in packaging for fast food, clothing, and textiles a human carcinogen, according to the EPA’s Science Advisory Board dozens of flame retardants and their byproducts; and a broad range of pesticides.
Of the 287 chemicals researchers identified in umbilical cord blood,
180 are known to cause cancer, 217 cause brain, and nervous system
toxicity, and 208 causes birth defects or abnormal development.
In other words, in addition to all the vital nutrients a developing baby
needs, the umbilical cord is also carrying a flood of toxins across the
placenta.
Unfortunately, we have only ourselves to blame. Mankind has created
this toxic world we live in. What’s more, we are partially to blame for
failing to see the warning signs that were “posted” in the form of us
failing health and declining air quality; the fact is, a lot of this has been
done without our permission or consent.
Britain’s Environmental Toxins Foundation recently stated that there
is “mounting evidence of structural and genetic damage, potentially
caused to the human morphology, through the huge influx of chemical agents found in the air, soil and water today.” What kind of damage?
Well, for example, high cholesterol and triglyceride levels are, in and
of themselves, non-lethal. However, over time, they can be a causative
factor in a lethal heart attack. It is time to apply the same thought
process to toxins and toxicants.
Toxins Could Become the Number
One Killer in the 21st Century
I believe that toxins are going to prove to be the big killers in the
twenty-first century. And I’m not alone. According to Dr. Rick Irvin, a
toxicologist at Texas A&M University, “Chemicals have replaced bacteria
and viruses as the main threat to human health.
The diseases we are beginning to see as the major cause of death in the latter part of
the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century are diseases
of chemical origins.”
Toxic chemicals are far and away the biggest threat to human health.
A recent article in USA Today stated that although we are living longer,
we are living sicker.27
A report by the Columbia University School of Public Health estimated
that 95% of cancer is caused by diet and environmental toxicity. The fact that toxins can be dangerous to our health has been known for
quite some time. However, our understanding of how even low-level
toxic exposure threatens our health and to what extent is only now
being revealed.
“It Couldn’t Happen to Me!”
You may be thinking: “I live in a safe, clean environment, don’t I? None
of this could ever happen to me, could it?” But it no longer matters
where you live. You may be exposed to harmful substances every day
because many of these chemicals are used in farming, food production
, and consumer goods manufacturing. You may not work in a mine or
live next to a nuclear plant but the food that gets shipped, handled, or
served to you every day is full of toxins we cannot see and certainly
can’t taste.
For example, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated
diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which are used widely as flame-retardant
additives in polyurethane foam for carpet padding, mattresses, chairs, sofas and other furniture, have been found in the food supply, including
fish and many animal fats. These fire retardants have also
been detected in humans and in human breast milk around the globe.
Contamination by flame-retardants is of concern because they are
endocrine-disrupting compounds with the potential to profoundly
affect sexual development.
Some of the chemicals that are all around us have the ability to interfere
with our endocrine systems, which regulate the hormones that
control our weight, biorhythms, and reproduction. Lab studies have
shown that low levels of endocrine-disrupting chemicals induce subtle
changes in the developing fetus that have profound health effects in
adulthood and even in subsequent generations.
The chemicals ingested daily by a pregnant woman may affect her
the unborn child since fetuses and newborns lack functional enzymes in
the liver and other organs that break down such chemicals. In the past
several decades, animal studies have shown that these chemicals can
disrupt hormones and brain development.
With this toxic “gift that keeps on giving,” we owe it to ourselves to be
informed about what these toxins are doing to us. We owe it to new
mothers everywhere, who want to give their babies the best possible
chance of growing into healthy adults; we owe it to our children, the
next generation. The majority of Americans now have between 300-
500 unique toxins stored within fat cells in the body. It is estimated
that there are roughly 80,000 chemicals in commercial use and only
700 have been tested for what they do to the human body. That’s
barely scratching the surface.
Source The TDOS Syndrome®.
The great news is there is a new scientific protocol that supports the body’s own natural detox mechanism that has been proven in 5 peer-reviewed clinical studies.
