Regardless of where you live, chances are you’ve been exposed to an influx of airborne chemicals lately. Whether it’s from a train derailment, a factory explosion, an oil refinery fire, or some other disaster, the air is more toxic than ever before. And not just outside.

The chemicals, gases, VOCs, and particulates released during these types of events can make their way inside homes, schools, and businesses. They seep through windows, doors, and heating and cooling vents. They come in on clothing, shoes, and pets. They adhere to curtains and settle in the carpet.

Some of these contaminants you can see — they’re visible in smog or a plume. Some of them you can smell — in a strong and pungent odor. But many of the most dangerous airborne pollutants are completely invisible to the naked eye. And they’re odorless.

So, we can breathe in large amounts of these toxins without even knowing it.

A small chemical exposure can cause symptoms such as burning eyes, nose, throat, chest, and skin. It could cause headaches, sweating, blurred vision, stomach aches, or diarrhea. (1) Some chemicals are carcinogenic and can also increase your risk of cancer.

The question is: if you’ve been exposed to airborne toxins, how do you get them out of your body?

In this month-long blog series, we’ll talk about ten ways to detox from chemical exposure. (Please note this series is for educational purposes only. Please consult your doctor if you feel you’ve been exposed to harmful toxins or before taking any new supplements.)

Number One: Stop Further Exposure

In order to rid your body of chemicals, you first have to stop the exposure. What good is it to start pulling out toxins if you’re still regularly taking them in? But taking them in from where? Here are the top three ways we accumulate toxins.

1.) We Breathe Them In

As mentioned, one of the biggest ways we take in toxins is by inhalation. We breathe them in through the air. How much? On average, a person breathes 22,000 times a day and takes in more than 2,000 gallons of air each day (that’s enough to fill a swimming pool). And in addition to toxins from chemical disasters, we are also exposed to chemicals from off-gassing furniture, electronics, and building materials, as well as harsh cleaners, fragrances, even biotoxins like mold.

For this reason, it’s crucial to invest in an air purifier. And not just any air purifier but a quality, medical-grade air purifier capable of removing chemicals. (Not all of them are.)

To remove chemicals, the air purifier must have a substantial amount of activated carbon in addition to true, medical-grade HEPA. Unfortunately, many on the market use only a small amount of both. Austin Air, however, uses 60 square feet of true medical-grade HEPA and up to 15 lbs. of activated carbon. That’s more than anyone else in the industry. (You can shop our products here)

2.) We Eat & Drink Them

Another way we accumulate toxins in the body is through what we eat and drink. There are more than 10,000 chemicals that are allowed in the food that is made and sold in the U.S. (2) Not only that, soft drinks contain chemicals that have been linked to various systemic diseases. In fact, the FDA tested various soft drinks and other beverages in a CFSAN survey. Benzene above 5 ppb was found in a total of ten products. (3) Benzene is a well-documented carcinogen.

And before you vow to only drink water, there’s something you should know. A three-year investigation by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) of the country’s drinking water found that water flowing to about 85 percent of the population contains 316 contaminants – over 60 percent of these have no safety standards and are not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. (4)

So now maybe you’re thinking, “I’ll just drink bottled water then.”

Well, it’s not much better. In fact, scientists have discovered some bottled water contains 24,520 different chemicals. Many are endocrine (hormone) disruptors. The most hormonally active belonged to classes of chemicals called maleates and fumarates used to manufacture the form of plastic resins used in water bottles. (5)

Never has it been more important to eat clean and drink clean. To eat clean start reading nutrition labels on your food. If you can’t pronounce it, maybe it’s not worth eating. Better yet, try to do all your grocery shopping around the perimeter of the store in the produce, meat, and refrigerated sections.

To drink clean, consider getting a water purification system at home. (We’ll talk more about water later in the series.)

3.) We Touch Them

In addition to breathing, eating, and drinking chemicals, we also touch them. Plastics, furniture, and electronics contain chemicals. Our dishes and cookware contain chemicals. Even everyday things such as register receipts contain chemicals.

According to Dr. Anne Marie Fine, medical director at Environmental Medicine Education International, receipts contain a chemical called Bisphenol-A.  “The bisphenol a is not bonded to that piece of material and just touching it within seconds you’ve transferred the Bisphenol-A to your skin,” she explains. According to Fine, Bisphenol-A is not only a hormone disruptor but also one of the top obesogens causing weight gain in the U.S.

Additionally, we can “touch” chemicals by using toxic health and beauty products.

Dr. Fine explains, “All of these personal care products that we put on our skin – from our shampoo to our conditioner to our body soap to our body lotion, makeup, toothpaste, cologne and all the scented products – these things have the ability to penetrate the skin and then go into your bloodstream and then into your body. And they can cause a lot of problems.”

To reduce chemical exposure from things we touch, consider buying natural beauty products. Read labels just like you do when buying food and drinks. Also, consider getting an emailed receipt, instead of a printed one.

Stay tuned for part two of our blog series next week where we will provide more information on detoxification.

 

Sign up here and get notified when Part 2 of the detox series is available!

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References

Austin Team
Austin Team