Environmental Toxicity & Health
Our Toxic World
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.
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.
Everyday, 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.
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.
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.
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