Understanding Toxins in Our Environment

We are a product of our how our genes express themselves based on diet, lifestyle choices, and our environment—past and present. Our health is dependent upon our body’s ability to adapt and respond to our diet, lifestyle choices, and environmental exposures. To make the best choices about where and how we live, work, and play to optimize our health and well-being, it is important to consider our exposures to toxins in our soil, water, air, food, and the other products we consume, use, and interact with at home and work.

Environmental toxins can take many forms, both natural and manmade. Not surprisingly, the amount of manmade toxins is overwhelming.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Chemical Substances Control Inventory lists more than 86,000 chemicals considered to be toxic. Only pesticides (e.g.. glyphosate) are manufactured and spread in the environment specifically to be toxic, with a tiny fraction of broadcast/sprayed chemicals reaching their targets. In addition, there are many other potentially harmful chemicals—including additives, cosmetics, drugs, pesticides, and tobacco—that are regulated by other agencies.

Not only is the list of toxic chemicals long, but the quantities produced are enormous—many in the millions and billions of pounds annually—and they are distributed widely throughout the United States. With such a large volume of chemicals in the environment, it is easy to see why toxin exposure is so prevalent.

But what are all of these chemicals doing to human health?

The table below, while not a comprehensive summary, illustrates the multiplicity and complexity of relationships between chemical exposures and health.

As the environmental toxin problem grows, the need to address this issue in the choices we make individually and as a society expands proportionately. The exposure to environmental toxins also may be the underlying cause of many chronic diseases. Persistent unresolved health issues may be a reason to seek the help of a practitioner trained to identify and eliminate toxins that have accumulated in your body (see Environmental Medicine and Detoxification).