Newsletter Autumn 2010
Protect yourself from Environmental Contaminants

What are environmental contaminants?

Environmental contaminants are chemicals present in the environment that have a known or potential impact on human health. They may be present in food and water supplies. Luckily nutrients and phytochemicals in food offer some protection against their toxicity.

Why are they dangerous?

If we are exposed to contaminangts in our food and water this can greatly contributes to illness and possibly death. Of particular concern are pregnant women, young children, and the elderly. 

What are the key contaminants?

The key contaminants include lead, mercury, pesticides, phthalates, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that include dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl.

Where are the key contaminants found?

Lead can be found in some herbal remedies from Mexico, some candy imported from Mexico, leaded glassware, water from pipes, faucets and paint produced before 1978. The good news is that if you have good nutritional status can prevent you from absorbing lead.

Mercury

Mecury is found in fish such as shark, swordfish and Mackerel.  You may also have mercury in your mascara.   In addition to the fish above, try to minimize your consumption of albacore tuna and tuna steak consumption to 6 0z per week,

Pesticides: These are found in fruit, vegetables, cereal ad meats and dairy products. Try mad eat organic produce to reduce your exposure.

Beauty products: Did you now that the nail polish you use can be highly toxic?

Beauty products: Did you knoe that the nail polish you use can be highly toxic?

The good news is that some nail polish manufacturers have reformulated their products to remove the "toxic trio" of ingredients: dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde and toluene.

Phthalates:

Phthalates

These are a group of chemicals used to soften plastics.  These can cause cancer. Upon contact with food they can migrate into foods especially those with high-fat content such as meats, fish, oils. The solution is to use glass containers.