Environmental chemicals linked to obesity
January 28, 2012 by Jonathan
Filed under Healthcare, Natural Healing
(NaturalHealth365) Environmental chemicals get into your body and are assimilated. Researchers at the Children’s Environmental Health Center at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York found an association between phthalates and obesity in young children-including increased body mass (BMI) and waist circumference.
Phthalates
Phthalates are called plasticizers, because they make plastics more flexible and resilient. Phthalates are in many modern day products such as: toys, food packaging, hoses, raincoats, shower curtains, vinyl flooring, lubricants, adhesives, wall coverings, detergents, nail polish, hair spray and shampoo. This plasticizer has been found to
disrupt the endocrine system, reduce sperm counts, and cause testicular atrophy and abnormalities to the reproductive system in male lab animals.
According to the National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals there is also a link between phthalates and liver cancer. The Environmental Working Group reported that dibutyl phthalate was present in the bodies of every person tested for industrial pollutants.
Chronic exposures to these have to have an effect. Everything put on the skin, or inhale accumulates. We don’t live in a chemical free world, and everything we take in doesn’t automatically get flushed out. This is the one case where an ounce of prevention is better than looking for a cure.
Childhood Obesity
This was the first study to examine the relationship between phthalate and obesity in children. There has been a growing body or research, which suggests that a number of environmental chemicals which includes phthalates may play a role in the climbing childhood obesity rates.
This project was funded by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, the National Cancer Institute, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The team found an association between concentrations of these phthalates with BMI and waist circumference among overweight children. For example, BMI in overweight girls with the highest exposure to mono-n-butyl phthalate (MEP) was 10 percent higher than those with the lowest MEP exposure.
“Research has shown that exposure to these everyday chemicals may impair childhood neurodevelopment, but this is the first evidence demonstrating that they may contribute to childhood obesity,” said the study’s lead author Susan Teitelbaum, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. “This study also further emphasizes the importance of reducing exposure to these chemicals where possible.”
Exposure
The best you can do is avoid exposure. This is not particularly easy to do. When looking at labels you probably will not find it listed. There are a few companies that have phthalate-free products and post that information on the product.
There are some tips that help people identify products with phthalates. The chemical names and abbreviations may be the only way to limit your exposure to these chemicals. By significantly reducing contact with these compounds you lessen the attacks on your body.
DBP (di-n-butyl phthalate) and DEP (diethyl phthalate) are found in personal care products such as: nail polishes, deodorants, perfumes, cologne, aftershave, lotions, shampoos, hair gels, and hand lotions.
BzBP (benzylbutyl phthalate) is use sometimes in flooring and personal care products.
DMP (dimethyl phthalate) is used in insect repellent and in some plastics.
When you see the term “fragrance” on a label it is a combination of compounds, which may include phthalates. Plastic containers with the recycling code 3 and 7 may contain bishenol A or phthalates.
The ultimate weapon for real people to get real results is to eliminate using items and products with these ingredients. That is the only way the companies who use toxic ingredients will hear us.
About the author Blanche has been a student of natural healing modalities for the last 25 years. She had the privilege of working with some of the greatest minds in Natural Healing including Naturopaths, Scientist, and Energy Healers. Having seen people miraculously heal from all kinds of dis-ease through non-invasive methods, her passion now is to help people become aware of what it takes to be healthy.
Pompei Redelosa, M.D. on Fri, 3rd Feb 2012 11:39 am
Well, its good to know and there are many out there. Very common factors are the ExcitoTOXINS added in todays food like MSG,chemical sugar and etc. It stimulates the brain to eat more.
Alaska on Sun, 25th Mar 2012 4:56 am
I think it is a bit of both.When I was at school, a minmium of 2 hours PE was incorporated into the curriculum, even if you are doing your GCSEs, and PE was not a subject you picked as an option, you had to do 2 x 1.5 hour sessions a week. When my younger cousin was doing her GCSEs 2 years ago, it was an optional thing, and she spent that time sitting on her bum at home. It doesn\’t help either when the school cooks do not cook as much anymore, merely reheat stuff.My mother raised my brother and myself on her own and on a meagre income, she often took either one of us with her, on Saturday, to Walthamstow Market (it was a half hour walk from my crummy council estate). We took an interest in the fruit and veg the guys were putting into the paper bags, and when it came to the supermarket, my bro and I had a friendly competition to find the cheapest but healthiest *item which was going to be for dinner that night* I think that was half the reason she allowed us to tag along ;o) but, she did not allow my brother or me to dictate our dinners (when we had them), we only had one choice and it was either on our plate, or we go hungry. She cannot understand why one of my aunts would cook a different meal for each of her children, and then something else for herself she is the mother, she should decide on dinner not the kids (who would be more than happy to live off of burger and chips, or pizza 365 days a year). The problem at home, is that most parents dare not leave their kiddies out of their sight to go outside in the (somewhat) fresh air and play, as they are told that a paedophile is on every corner and will snatch them away, and that is only when play areas or dirt tracks are not being sold on for redevelopment (it was heartbreaking going through my old council estate to see that the play area I spent a lot of my school holidays as a child has been turned into a . car park!)We are living in a time when doctors are seeing children with Rickets again, this is a disease which has hardly been seen in the UK for nearly 80 years! Both have a part to play, people must be very naive (or extremely stupid) not to make a link between an increasing sedentary childhood, increasing consumption in what I can only call crap , and lack of focus on physical education as a child, and their expanding waistlines!