Our environmental toxic burden

Our environmental toxic burden

Our environmental toxic burden

By Gene Bruno, MS, MHS, RH(AHG) Huntington College of Health Sciences

Many naturopaths use detoxification protocols as part of their treatment plans for patient health and well-being. However, opponents of such protocols often argue that the human body is designed to process and eliminate environmental toxins, so there is no need for protocols to support and promote the detoxification process. While the body does have detoxification systems, the problem with this opposing view is that it fails to take into account that our bodies may not always be equipped to deal with the sheer volume of modern environmental pollutants and toxins. Consider the following.

The toxicant release inventory
While many toxic chemicals used to make products such as pharmaceuticals, computers, paints, clothing and automobiles are managed by industrial facilities to minimize chemical releases into the environment, releases still occur as part of their operations. It turns out that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a great source of information for determining our exposure to some of these environmental toxins. The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is a publicly available database maintained by EPA's TRI program that tracks the handling of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. According to TRI, approximately 27.24 billion pounds of toxic chemicals were generated in manufacturing waste at TRI facilities in 2015. Of this total, approximately 23.84 billion pounds were recycled, burned for energy recovery, or treated, and 3.36 billion pounds were discarded or otherwise released into the environment.

Chemicals of particular concern: 1) persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals; and 2) known or suspected human carcinogens. In addition to being toxic, the chemicals known as PBTs persist in the environment for long periods of time and tend to accumulate in the tissues of organisms throughout the food web. These organisms serve as a food source for other organisms that are sensitive to the toxicities caused by the chemicals. These include lead and lead compounds; mercury and mercury compounds; and dioxin and dioxin-like compounds.

Total releases of lead and lead compounds rose and fell between 2005 and 2015, with an overall increase of 20 percent. This represents more than 500 million pounds of lead released into the environment in 2015 alone. Metal mining accounts for 85 percent of the disposal of lead and lead compounds. Other sectors include hazardous waste disposal facilities and the release of lead and lead compounds into the air from automotive metal stamping plants.

Although releases of mercury into the air have decreased since 2005, more than 50,000 pounds of mercury and mercury compounds were still released into the air in 2015. Electric power plants, which include coal and oil-fired power plants, accounted for 48 percent of air emissions of mercury and mercury compounds reported to TRI.

Since 2005, the total amount of dioxins and dioxin-like compounds disposed of or otherwise released has risen and fallen. In 2015, the amount increased about 5 percent over 2005, totaling over 80,000 grams. Although they are the unintended byproducts of many forms of combustion and several industrial chemical processes, these chemicals are designated by EPA as probably carcinogenic to humans. The chemical processing industry accounted for 46 percent and the primary metal sector 49 percent of the total grams of dioxins released.

Diploma
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg. So if you are currently using detox protocols for your patients, rest assured that you have billions of good reasons to do so.

reference
United States Environmental Protection Agency. 2015 Toxics Release Inventory National Analysis. Washington, D.C. Updated January 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017 from

Professor Gene Bruno, MS, MHS, provost for Huntington College of Health Sciences, is a nutritionist, herbalist, author and educator. For more than 37 years, he has educated and trained natural products retailers and healthcare professionals, researched and formulated natural products for dozens of dietary supplement companies, and authored articles on nutrition, herbal medicine, nutraceuticals, and integrative health issues for trade and consumer magazines and peer-reviewed publications. He can be reached at gbruno@hchs.edu.

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Read original article in English.