Ailments and Situations - Hyperactivity - Causes - Environmental Toxin Exposure

Environmental Toxin Exposure

Exposure to environmental toxins affects human development and general function in an incredible number of intricate complex ways. From the unborn fetus to the full-grown adult, toxic exposure can hinder physical, mental, and emotional development at any period. If interactions occur at key stages of development, such as those in the first trimester of pregnancy, resulting damage will be permanent.

The luxuries enjoyed by our modern lifestyle has brought with it an arsenal of chemical by-products released into the air, land, and water we interact with every day. These includes air, water, and food-borne pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides, cleaning products, car, school bus, and truck exhaust, and heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic that may be present in paint, plastics, food and soil.

Known carcinogens are nationally banned, exported, or regulated as their proof of their harm is objectively discovered. In industry, products are deemed innocent until proven guilty. And obtaining such "guilt" is an expensive, slow, primarily scientific process. Sadly, there is an additional class of toxins for which very little action has been taken on, due to their indirect, long-term, and subtle effects on biological organisms.

Hormone-mimicking chemicals are often byproducts of a variety of industrial processes or part of the fabrication process itself. When introduced to mammals, they "impersonate" naturally occurring hormones in the body. Estrogen is the most common hormone mimicked. Testosterone is less common. Both are essential to reproduction.

The two primary ways chemicals disrupt normal hormone interaction in the body is either through stimulation or prevention of a natural response. The "imposters" latch on to receptor sites in the body and send mixed messages. For example, an estrogen receptor responsible for triggering a key moment in fetal development may occur too early or too late. Alternative, hormone-mimics can prevent natural hormones from interacting with receptor sites, thereby blocking potential messages. The effects on the individual can range from no observed effect, to completely sabotaging the ability to conceive, develop a healthy child during key development phases of the first trimester, or bring a pregnancy to term.

Ingesting hormone-mimicking chemicals does not hurt. You cannot see, smell, or taste them per se. Their potential damage lies in their effects on subsequent generations -- our children.

The most current book on this matter is Our Stolen Future by Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers. It is an extremely thorough, accountable work covering thousands of scientific studies and uncovering the links and corresponding possibilities of potential impacts.

For viable methods of avoiding exposure, see Remedies/Lifestyle, below.

The most least understood and most potentially devastating of all forms of toxin exposure are those from hormone-mimicking chemicals. These chemicals confuse the body's ability to convey messages regarding normal function and growth. "Natural" messages, such as triggering a specific moment in sexual development, can be blocked or re-routed. "Mimicked" messages, such as the production or cessation of estrogen, can provoke or revoke a response by the body. In all, these chemicals possess an uncanny ability to threaten the evolution of the human species at the most fundamental levels: reproduction and fetal development.

For reasons beyond the scope of this description, it is extremely difficult to eliminate all sources of exposure to hormone-mimicking chemicals. However, viable steps can be taken to reduce the risk to yourself, your child, your family, friends, and others.