Our Toxic World

Our Toxic World and Your Family

When Matthew was first diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) my husband and I originally went along with the typical Autism program. Which I mean to say was we did Occupational Therapy (OT), Speech Therapy (ST) and in his case he also needed Physical Therapy (PT). Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapy is also highly recommended but we were not ready to do that at the time. But as Matthew got older and we learned more about another approach called biomedical interventions we decided to try that also. Biomedical interventions for Autism utilize several levels of care typically ranging from good nutrition and nutritional supplementation to detoxification and pharmaceutical medicines and preparations. As you can imagine each of these categories can be vast and extensive to discuss so I thought I might tell you a little about one category that impacts all of us – detoxification.

Detoxification in Autistics is very complicated and typically you would be reading about sulfation and methylation pathways in the body, how it is necessary to boost glutathione levels in Autistics and you may even read about chelation. But I am not going to speak about these today because I want to tell you about easy things that all of us can do to detoxify our home and our families. As the mom of an Autistic child I need to worry about all those other things I talked about, methylation, glutathione and chelation, which are necessary to rid his body of the toxins already present. But I also need to worry about his exposure to new toxins because his body cannot easily rid itself of the toxins it already has. And for this reason I do not want to add any additional toxins to his already overburdened body.

The really neat thing about all of this is that you can do a lot of detoxifying your home for your family too. Some of what I am about to tell you is intimidating and certainly it would be very cost prohibitive if you were to try to do all of it at once. But I say just pick one or two things to change now and once that becomes habit move on to the next change. So here goes.

One of the easiest ways to start to detoxify your home is to stop using Teflon coated pans and to start using Stainless Steel instead. Yes, you do need to modify the way you cook or food will stick but they are easier to use then you think. I actually love my new Stainless Steel pans, this is not a plug but I bought a set under the Emeril Lagasse brand name and they are wonderful, heavy, sturdy pans. I use them daily. I also learned that if you use coconut oil foods don’t seem to stick much at all. Make sure you steer clear of Aluminum pans as Aluminum will leach into your food and is another known toxin. The chemical in Teflon, Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is used to prevent food from sticking to the cooking surface and it is believed to be carcinogenic. Teflon can easily be nicked or scratched and the PFOA will leach into your food every time you use the pan. So instead of using Teflon pans use stainless steel, cast iron, and glass or stone bake ware. (Always verify that your stone bake ware does not contain lead, as some from foreign countries still use lead in their enamel coatings.)

That leads me to the second way you can lower the toxic level in your home and food. Stop using Aluminum products such as aluminum foil and soda pop cans. Aluminum is toxic to the human body and will leach out of foil and cans and into your food. It is also found in antiperspirants, so it would be wise to avoid them too. I know, I probably lost many of your right there. You can do away with your non-stick pots and pans but give up your antiperspirants? “No, way”, you say. But it can be done and it really is easy. You can buy organic deodorants or you can make your own. I personally like to make my own. It is cheaper and I know exactly what is in it. I use one part organic corn starch to one part baking soda, then I mix in a nice essential oil (make sure you check contra-indications on oils, some should not be used with certain health conditions) such as sweet orange or lavender and apply it with a puff. This keeps me smelling sweeter than any over the counter deodorant I have ever tried. But please note that it is not an antiperspirant, so you will sweat. But sweating is a good thing for your body, it helps to regulate your body temperature AND it detoxifies your system. Good stuff!

So here is another great segue into other easy ways to detoxify your family. Did you realize that your skin is your largest body organ? And you can absorb lots of toxins right through your skin. So this is a great place to start cleaning up the chemicals. In addition to changing your deodorant you can change your body wash, shampoo, conditioner, facial cleanser, hair care products, feminine hygiene products, shaving products, toothpaste, and even your makeup. So how do you do it? I started by changing Matthew’s body wash because the one he was using contained milk and my son is on a gluten and casein free diet which means he has no milk products in his diet at all. We found that he was still reacting to the milk that was in his body wash, but once we removed it he began to improve. We currently use two products, Weleda’s Calendula body wash and Dr. Bronner’s children’s soap. Both are organic. After that we moved to organic toothpaste for the boys, also by Weleda, and an organic toothpowder for me. I’m addicted to the cleaning power of my toothpowder and my dentist said my teeth and gums have never been healthier.

As I said above your skin is your largest organ and we absorb lots of toxins through the skin. This means that you might want to consider buying a whole house water filter. One of the best is called a reverse osmosis water filter, but they can be very expensive so you might want to start with filtering your tap water you plan to drink, then you could look into a whole home system later, or simply start using shower filters. These are great for adults and older children but not so great for younger kids that still take baths. Most city/county water is more strictly regulated than that found in bottled water so it may actually be cleaner than some of the costly supermarket versions. But you need to remember that most public water is highly chlorinated to kill off organisms and they cannot filter out everything the human body puts back into the sewers, including metabolized medicines and other drugs.

Having said all of that, I would still encourage you to filter your tap water and carry it in a reusable stainless steel bottle instead of using disposable bottle water. I know, you recycle those bottles, so how can they be bad. Well, to start, many people don’t recycle those bottles so they end up in landfills. But not only that, the amount of petroleum needed to produce those bottles spews toxic fumes into the air which we all need to breathe. If we all stopped using bottled water we would significantly reduce air pollution and conserve precious landfill space. Not to mention that most water bottles are made from plastic labeled recycle #1. This type of plastic (and plastics labeled recycle 2, 3, 4 and 5) contains phthalates which are used to soften plastics and to hold aromas in place. They are found in hundreds of products such as soft vinyl plastic toys, shampoos (to fix fragrance), hairspray (to decrease stiffness), nail polish (to prevent chipping), the candle-like wax around cheeses, perfumes and deodorants (to fix fragrance), new cars (like the new car smell) and pharmaceuticals. Phthalates are known hormone disrupters; they cause sperm and genital problems in males. And here is the real kicker, they were isolated in 75% of human urine tests and they were found in placentas and human breast milk. Phthalates have actually been banned in Europe but not here in the USA. Have I scared you yet? I don’t mean to, but this is scary stuff.

So what else can you do? Clean up your cleaning products. Use organic and biodegradable products whenever possible. Try old fashion remedies such as vinegar and water or lemon juice. Shop for organic foods, especially peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce and potatoes. Non-organic food is grown and processed with thousands of chemicals. Only a few of these have been adequately tested for toxic effects and essentially none of them have been tested in combinations. So that means each of the chemicals may be OK in small doses but taken together the results are unknown. Limit your exposure to pesticides, both though your food intake and your household exposure including indoor insecticidal sprays, pest strips, foggers, flea collars for your pets, etc. Look for dry cleaners that are organic, meaning they use a CO2 based cleaning technique instead of the more traditional Perchloroethylene (PERC). Molecular Psychiatry, November 10, 2005 said that a Consumer Reports study in 1996 concluded that 1/6700 people will get cancer simply from wearing PERC cleaned clothing once per week. What about the people that wear it daily, or those that actually clean the clothes and are surrounded by the chemicals throughout their work day?

What about heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and mercury? The USA releases about 4000 tons of lead into the atmosphere annually. The primary sources are airplane fuel, industrial metal melting, auto body finishing, cement manufacturing and incineration. So exposure to your child can come from the air, soil, old paint, plumbing and toys made with lead. Lead is absorbed through the skin, lungs and the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Blood levels as low as 2 ug/dL can impact learning. So what can you do? Clean up old paint and contaminated soil around your home (have it tested first). Run cold tap water until it runs very cold. Avoid purchasing toys from vending machines and toys with small metal or painted parts. Don’t use hot tap water for cooking use cold water instead. Hot water will help lead leach out into the water.

For years Arsenic has been added to the feed of young chickens to kill parasites and promote growth. It accumulates in the chickens and is passed in their excrement which is then used for farm fertilizer. This gets into the aquifers and back into the food supply. Arsenic now contaminates all water sources and the EPA sets 10 ppb as an acceptable ingestible amount. Because rice relies so heavily on water to be produced rice from all over the world is contaminated by arsenic.

Mercury is considered the most toxic non-radioactive element on earth. The USA releases 200 metric tons of mercury into the environment per year. 40 tons of which come from coal burning, another 40 tons from medical and dental waste and 2 to 4 tons from fluorescent bulbs. The EPA has never set a safe level of mercury, but it recommends ingestion of no more than 0.1 mcg/Kg body weight/day. Here is an example: a typical 150 lb (70 kd) adult should have no more than 7 mcg mercury in their daily diet to keep under the 0.1 mcg/kg/day. Most fish have 0.2 -0.3 mcg of mercury per gram of fish. Sharks, swordfish and tilefish have 1.0 mcg/gm. For a 150 lb (70 kg) person a 6 oz. (170 gm) flounder would yield 42.5 mcg mercury or 0.6 mcg/kg body weight. That is 6 days “worth” of mercury. This would be 2.43 mcg/kg if the same person ate 6 oz. of swordfish or 24 days “worth”. But dental amalgams may be worse. The average filling weighing 1 gram is 50% mercury by weight. Mercury can be released from a filling during normal chewing of food and may be worse if a person grinds their teeth. This mercury is absorbed into the body and exhaled into the environment daily. You may wish to have your amalgams replaced with “porcelain” fillings.

Lastly, let me leave you with this. There are a lot of things you can do to detoxify your home. I have only touched the surface here (I didn’t even get to using organic cloth diapers instead of disposables, the arsenic found is pressure treated lumber used to make decks and wooden play sets, using low-VOC paints, steering clear of artificial turf and flame retardants) but I want you to start looking at ways you can clean up your home and your body. You can find good alternative to your usual products and you may find you like the results even better. I found that once I reduced the amount of chemicals I use I actually do not like being around “normal” chemicals any longer. I no longer like the smell of perfume, it has become overbearing. I find places such as hair and nail salons difficult to be in as the chemical smells overwhelm me. I remember reading somewhere that if something is clean it should have no smell, so to me a good clean house has no smell at all.

For a resource guide for environmentally and biologically friendly products go to www.StocktonFP.com and you can download a list from their site.