Our polluted bodies

• Contaminants in your body

• 700
• number of contaminants
• in your body, right now
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Your body is polluted by chemicals

We carry at least 700 chemicals in our body that were not part of the human body chemistry before the 20th century. Most of these chemicals have not been well studied, and we don't know much about how they affect us.

Chemicals are out of control

Tests on how synthetic chemicals affect our health are too simplistic and do not represent what is going on in the real world. One single chemical may have no effect on its own. Yet, it may have damaging effects when combined with others chemicals in a so-called ‘cocktail’…

An uncontrolled chemical experiment in your body

…Even the most complex tests on chemicals done today include no more than a few other chemicals at the same time. In a way, we are all part of a huge uncontrolled “cocktail experiment” involving hundreds of chemicals.

An emerging allergy epidemic

Before the 19th Century allergic diseases were almost unknown. Today they have reached epidemic proportions. Half of all Europeans may be suffering from some sort of allergy by 2015. Allergies are far more prevalent in Western countries (especially in cities) compared to rural China and Africa.

What to do?

We are exposed to chemicals everyday through the products we buy: cosmetics, shampoo, plastic food containers, paints, gasoline, electronics, and even food. Be aware of this next time you go shopping and try to find alternatives. Also, check out this video on cosmetics.

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2. What does it mean (1 of 5)

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• Sources

• Contaminants in your body

  Some of the chemicals residing in our bodies are pesticides, and some are used in or produced by other forms of industrial production. Many are found in a wide variety of consumer products. Some chemicals like dioxins and furans are created unintentionally by industrial processes using chlorine and from the manufacture and incineration of certain plastics. Scientists estimate that there are many other unintentionally created by-products which have not yet been “discovered” since no tests have yet been developed that would fully identify or describe these by-products. The original source is: Onstot J, Ayling R, Stanley J. Characterization of HRGC/MS Unidentified Peaks from the Analysis of Human Adipose Tissue. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Toxic Substances (560/6-87-002a), 1987 This study is pretty old but the number has probably not gone down. If you know of a more recent study please let us know.
  • The Chemical Body Burden: What is body burden?

• 1. Your body is polluted by chemicals

     • Our Stolen Future: Broad trends in scientific findings about endocrine disruption

  2. Chemicals are out of control

     • Our Stolen Future: The impacts of chemical mixtures

  3. An uncontrolled chemical experiment in your body

     • Our Stolen Future: The impacts of chemical mixtures
     • Environmental Health Perspectives: Synergistic Disruption of External Male Sex Organ Development 
by a Mixture of Four Antiandrogens

  4. An emerging allergy epidemic

     • Allergy Clinic: The allergy epidemic
     • The Guardian: The allergy epidemic: by 2015 half of us may be carrying one of these
     • Genes do not change easily or quickly so genetic changes cannot explain the abrupt rise in allergy in the last fifty years. The only valid explanation is that the increase in allergy is caused by environmental (including life style) changes.

  5. What to do?

     • Chemical Body Burden: what is body burden?

Content

• ALL FACTS
• Contaminants in your body
• Male semen quality
• Infertile men
• Chemicals tested for 'cocktail effects'
• Babies born
• Boys born with deformed genitals
• New cases of cancer
• Synthetic chemicals on the market

• OK, I get it. Bad things are going on
• Now what?