Metabolic Detoxification [View All]

[HysteryDiagnosis]

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Outside of the diet, respiratory exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is a common risk which has been associated with several adverse health effects, including kidney damage, immunological problems, hormonal imbalances, blood disorders, and increased rates of asthma and bronchitis.4

One of the greatest sources of non-dietary toxicant exposure is the air in the home.5 Building materials (such as floor and wall coverings, particle board, adhesives, and paints) can “off-gas” releasing several toxicants that can be detected in humans.6 For example, a toxic benzene derivative commonly used in disinfectants and deodorizers was detected in 98% of adults in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “TEAM” study.7 In another EPA study, three additional toxic solvents were present in 100 percent of human tissue samples tested across the country.8

Newly built or remodeled buildings can have substantial amounts of chemical “off-gassing”, giving rise to what has been called “sick building syndrome.”9 Carpet is an especially big offender, potentially releasing several neurotoxins; in testing of over 400 carpet samples, neurotoxins were present in more than 90 percent of the samples, quantitatively sufficient in some samples to cause death in mice.10 Ironically, shortly after the TEAM report, seventy-one ill employees evacuated the new EPA headquarters in Washington DC complaining claiming health problems, which were eventually attributed to the 27,000 sq. feet of new carpet.11

Carpets also trap environmental toxins; the “Non-Occupational Pesticide Exposure Study” (NOPES) found an average of 12 pesticide residues per carpet sampled, and determined that this route of exposure likely provides infants and toddlers with nearly all of their non-dietary exposure to the notorious pesticides DDT, aldrin, atrazine, and carbaryl.12