Drycleaning in the water
A small town near a military base outside of Quebec City has found out recently that there has been a leak of a chemical into their water supply for the last few years. The chemical, TCE or trichloroethylene, is a probably carcinogen.
From the Globe and Mail:
QUEBEC — Marie-Paule Spieser lost her best friend to a rare form of liver cancer in September of 2000. As an experienced nurse in her mid-40s, Ms. Spieser knew something had to be wrong.
Her friend’s husband had also been diagnosed with cancer and it seemed nearly every household in the neighbourhood where she lived was stricken with some form of the disease.
Then a few weeks later, just before Christmas, Ms. Spieser along with the 4,000 other residents of Shannon, a small town located just outside the Valcartier military base near Quebec City, learned that their water supply had been contaminated for years with the chemical solvent trichloroethylene, or TCE, a probable carcinogen.
The link between the chemical and the cancer cluster in that town has not been proven, and there is now a class-action law suit involving 1300 people.
Trichloroethylene is used in drycleaning, and is one of the reasons to consider reducing the frequency of drycleaning. A simple carbon filter, such as Brita, can remove trichloroethylene and other chemicals from drinking water.
Health Canada has added 8 more chemicals to a “toxic” list
Of relevance to human health include looking on the ingredient list of cosmetics for thiourea, which European and US groups state should be investigated as a possible carcinogen. Pigment yellow 34 and red 104 contain chromium and lead, and are foudn in some plastics.
This is a similar list to where the plastic chemical BPA was added to. I wrote in one of my first posts, before the widespread news, on how BPA in plastics should be a concern,
The Environmental Working Group has an excellent site on chemical toxicity and exposure in everyday products. They have a page on tips for reducing BPA exposure. Simply, using inert materials for cooking and storing foods and liquids is most prudent, sticking with materials such as stainless steel and glass.
Keeping yourself clean
Exercise is one of the best methods of detoxification. Cardiovascular exercise for 20-30 minutes, enough to bring on marked sweating, can help to mobilize and excrete stored chemicals from fat. Sauna therapy works on the same principle, and can provide for more rapid detoxification.
Ginger and green tea are two natural compounds that increase fat excretion in the stool. The liver is responsible for clearing fat soluble toxins. Once it has been processed, the metabolites and toxin byproducts are excreted into the urine or the stool. The problem with excretion in the stool is that there is a high rate, greater than 95%, reabsorption of bile from the stool, back to the liver, bringing toxins back into the system. Increasing the amount of fat and bile that stays in the stool increases the amount of chemical excretion. Ginger and green tea can double the amount of excretion that stays in the stool.
A 3 week detoxification program, including a special diet and a medical food that promotes the detoxification process in the liver, can be done as well. This is a bland diet that reduces toxin intake to the liver, and is calorie reduced to help with mobilization of toxins from fat. The medical food has nutrients that help the liver process the toxins much more efficiently than normal. Usually a baseline blood panel is done, along with a few in office measurements in order to measure progress.
A few updates to the web page:
Chronic lyme disease is an overlooked area of treatment for some cases of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. It is a complex illness that requires intensive treatment to improve. Symptoms of unexplained neuropathy (nerve pain / symptoms), muscle pain, arthritis, and fatigue warrant investigation.
Multiple chemical sensitivity describes a syndrome in which patients react to many chemicals, even if present in very low amounts which do not bother most people. These patients symptoms of asthma, itchy eyes, rash, fatigue and headache from exposure to low doses of multiple chemicals.
Chronic fatigue syndrome treatment
This page describes an effective treatment protocol for those who meet the criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome.
