Our Toxic Environment

"Environmental pollution is one of the most serious problems facing humanity today," states Alan McGowan, president of the Scientists' Institute for Public Information. Similarly, in an article entitled Global Change, scientist George M. Woodwell reported that scientists around the world believe that human activities are threatening the biosphere, the thin layer on the surface of the earth where life occurs. The biosphere maintains an incredible richness and variety of life, including human life, yet in the final part of our century humans are destroying the natural systems upon which life depends.

After living for thousands and thousands of years in chemical balance, mankind, in the last 100 years, has literally changed the chemistry of our environment through the progressive poisoning of nature with the chemical by-products of modern agriculture, industry, power generation, and transportation. The chemical changes these poisons cause are not confined to areas of local release. Scientists have found evidence of pollution everywhere on Earth, from the largest cities to the remote and isolated South Pole.

To give you an example of the quantity of poison we are exposed to each year, consider the following amounts released into the environment in 1989 alone:

Over 550,000,000 pounds of industrial chemicals were dumped into public sewage storage.

1. More than 1,000,000,000 pounds of chemicals were released into the ground, threatening our natural ground water sources.
2. Over 188,000,000 pounds of chemicals were discharged into surface waters, i.e. lakes and rivers.
3. More than 2,400,000,000 pounds of air emissions were pumped into the atmosphere.
   The grand total of chemical pollutants released into the environment was 5,705,670,380 pounds. That is enough to fill a line of semi-trailers parked bumper to bumper, and having a cargo capacity of 45,000 pounds each, stretching from downtown Los Angeles to Des Moines, Iowa!

You can imagine what conditions are like now more than 20 years later.

Toxins in Our Food

In the United States, we allow over 10,000 food and chemical additives into our food supply. The average American eats about 14 pounds of additives a year. in addition to colorings, preservatives, flavorings, emulsifiers, humectants, and antimicrobials, we consume on average 120 pounds of sugar and eight pounds of salt.

Internal Pollution

With the number of bacteria in the colon being estimated at 10,000,000,000 per gram of fecal material, it is suggested that we have a greater number of bacteria than we have human cells. These bacteria release by-products; some of which have healthful effects, while others can be toxic.

Our Health May Be Adversely Affected!

Consider the example of Mr. Tomas Latimer, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. Hours after treating his lawn with a pesticide, he experienced dizziness, nausea and a pounding headache that intensified. Despite extensive medical care, he continued to get worse and now suffers from visual and concentration difficulties, speech impairment, nightmares, brain seizures and takes anti-epileptic medication. He no longer rides a bike and even has difficulty walking. The collective medical opinion was that an anti-ulcer medicine he was taking suppressed his liver's ability to detoxify the pesticide he was exposed to. With his natural defenses compromised, the poison carried out a potent and ongoing attack on his nervous system.

Mr. Latimer is not the only victim. Recent estimates suggest that each year there are 3,000,000 severe pesticide poisonings with 220,000 deaths worldwide. Pesticide-related illnesses in the United States are estimated to occur between 150,000 and 300,000 times a year. This situation begs an important question! What can we do to protect ourselves from the damaging effects caused by toxins in our environment, food, or even internal pollution?

Adequate Nutrition is Essential for Effective Detoxification

The body goes through a continuous cycle of activity in an effort to protect itself from the adverse effects of toxicity. This detoxification cycle is critically dependent on adequate nutrition.

An alarming trend has developed in the last two decades; people may not be adequately nourished by the average American diet. After analyzing over 15,000 people, one study reported that "84% of the subjects are consuming sub-optimal diets with regard to one or more of the 17 nutrients evaluated."

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McGowin, A., "Environmental Pollution," World Book Encyclopedia, 6, pp.330-340,1993.

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