Growing up on the farm many people comment and hypothesize that I must have a high toxic load due to all the pesticides used by farmers. I guess I always knew how careful my father had been with the farms’ pesticide use over the years. They tried to maintain a healthy farm with other options when available. I also grew up knowing the smell of certain chemicals and what those smell like on a fruit and vegetables. It has kind of ruined me on the organic farmers market since there are times, I can actually smell pesticide residue on fruits and vegetable that are labeled organic. I also knew that living in an urban area that a good deal of the chemicals were sprayed to contain the insect population (there are even a few studies that suggest that a city per acre of land has more pesticides than farm land - or more!).
But somehow, I never doubted that I had been exposed. So, after a recent Organic Acid Conference I was tested for environmental toxins and I am including my test for all to see. One of the laboratories that I use in my practice is Great Plains Laboratories and to my surprise the organophosphate section of my test showed low results to almost no results. I hadn’t been exposed to the large amount of pesticides that were so commonly believed to happen to farmers and rural populations, for me this was a myth!
What I had been exposed to was lots of other chemical compounds found in; dry cleaning, solvents, carpet glue, food packing material, fumes from a car, rocket fuel, fireworks, bleach, rubber plastics, personal care products, metal cleaning products, foam glues, resin from textiles and construction industry and processing petroleum.
Most of the chemical compounds listed on my testing happen to all of us on a daily basis whether you live in the city or on the farm. The question always remains- what are the possible side-effects of these toxic levels and what is the treatment?
Side-effects include: impede blood coagulation, lower testosterone levels, cancer, neuro-toxity, impede kidney and liver function, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, depression, reduced concentration, muscle weakness, fatigue, chest pain, reproductive and developmental problems, liver damage, spleen enlargement, sensory and motor deficit, hormone disruptor and death at high enough levels.
Treatment:
Reduce or Eliminate the exposure.
Glutathione – orally or intravenously
N-Acetyl-Cyestine (NAC)
Niacin supplementation
CoQ10 to help with mitochondria function
Osmosis water filtration system to remove it from your water source.
This makes me realize how important it is to reduce stress on our body and make sure you are taking things like Glutathione and NAC to help with the toxic load that is everywhere in our environment.