Fatigue, allergies, joint aches or mood swings got you down? Although concern over the effects of pollution on the environment has held our attention for decades, new research is detecting chemical toxins in most people.[1;2] While industry furiously challenges the evidence, scientists argue that low-level chemical exposures are linked with these subtle but all too common problems, not to mention diseases such as autism, ADHD, and cancer, to name a few. Long term, low level exposures to chemicals cause an accumulation in the body referred to as “body burden.”
As we gain increasing understanding about the adverse effects of body burden on health what remains less clear is when the time bomb may go off. The medical community is trained to look to yesterday’s exposure to explain today’s symptoms. Yet, body burden, accumulations of toxic chemicals, may have more subtle but important health effects that are not seen for years, or even lifetimes. Because of this time delay, it is not uncommon for a chemical to be banned for safety concerns after decades of use — a real world experiment.
Studies link ZIP codes near waste sites with low-birth-weight babies, thyroid disease in women and female reproductive disorders such as endometriosis — even in regions with higher per capita income, less smoking, better diet and more exercise.[3] The same researchers have data linking living near waste sites to elevated risks for stroke, ischemic heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer.
Our life support system: Better living through chemistry?
You don’t live near an industrial waste site? The truth is that even if you do, you probably get most of your toxins as pesticides and additives in your food or each time you apply various consumer cosmetic products. Your home, your cars and even the water you drink slowly leak chemicals into your life.
There has been a staggering proliferation of toxic chemicals produced without due regard for testing for long-term health effects of low level exposures. Thousands of new synthetic chemicals come into manufactured consumer products every year with little to no safety testing or public approval process. According to the World Health Organization, there are over 100,000 synthetic chemicals in use in consumer products today with 1,000 to 2,000 being added to the list each year.
We breathe these chemicals through our lungs, absorb them through our skin and ingest them in the food we eat and water we drink. We are soaking up chemicals that we’d be hard-pressed to spell or pronounce, if we could even find out what they were.
The body burden problem
Toxic chemicals know no boundaries. Chemicals contaminate not only wildlife and the environment, but people, breast milk and the unborn child yet most people are unaware that they carry chemical compounds in their bodies. Each of us has some load of industrial chemicals stored in or passing through our bodies. Human fat tissue sampled in the United States contained 700 contaminants that have not been chemically identified.[4]
According to Michael McCally, M.D. Ph.D., of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, “Current ‘normal’ body burdens of dioxin and several other well-studied organochlorides are at or near the range at which toxic effects occur in laboratory animals.” A recent Mt Sinai study found 167 chemicals in the blood and urine of volunteers; chemicals used in consumer products and found in industrial pollution.[2] Of the 167 chemicals discovered, 94 are toxic to the brain or nervous system, 76 are carcinogenic (cancer-causing) and 79 are linked to birth defects. None of the participants worked with chemicals or lived near an industrial facility. In other words, these toxins represent the average body burden of the ordinary American citizen.
This is not a uniquely American problem. A 2005 British study funded by the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Co-Operative Bank found chemicals including banned pesticides like DDT, flame retardants and the PFOA chemical found in Teflon and used on nonstick pans and stain repellents.
If the body burden of adults isn’t enough cause for alarm, it is shocking to learn the effects on future generations. In 2005, the US Environmental Working Group [5] reported that umbilical cord blood samples taken from newborn babies were all heavily contaminated. A total of 287 contaminants were detected. Many of these were known or suspected carcinogens, neurotoxins or linked with birth defects if present in high concentrations. Meanwhile, an exhaustive review of the evidence points to prenatal exposures as a source of postnatal mental deficits.[6]
Scientists have never assessed the effects of exposures to the endless combinations of chemicals found in people. One reason why measuring such effects is difficult is that these chemicals are persistent (meaning they do not break down) and bioaccumulative (meaning they tend to build up in living things, particularly areas of the body rich in fat such as fatty tissue, brain and other organs).
Our understanding of when a chemical is toxic is changing and concerned individuals are calling for laws to regulate these compounds more carefully. However, because of their widespread use, tendency to persist and accumulation in body tissues — especially fat — even regulatory changes will not remove them from our world very quickly.
While we wait for industry, government and science to reach agreement, the vast increase of chemicals in our environment, foods, cosmetics and medicines puts an enormous burden on our bodies’ natural abilities to break down and remove toxins. With the exception of certain minerals, these chemicals do not belong in the body. While minerals are needed at low levels for normal function, some are now found measured at high or even toxic concentrations.
Most people wait too long to do something about it
The good news is that something can be done about the toxins in our bodies. Our livers, lungs, kidneys are constantly working overtime to remove the onslaught of chemicals. To function properly, these systems require broad nutritional support. When we don’t give our body what it needs to help it eliminate these chemicals or when we expose it to more than it can handle, it just can’t keep up. Symptoms such as fatigue, aches, allergies, asthma, mood swings, foggy thinking, and more set in. Before this happens — and even afterwards — the correct detoxification program can make all the difference.
The Maulfair Medical Center uses the Hubbard method of detoxification, the most thorough and scientifically validated regimen available. This precise regimen combines exercise, sauna bathing, and vitamin and mineral supplementation to increase the elimination of chemicals while rebuilding and repairing your body. Its safety and effectiveness in treating a wide range of exposures have been established for more than two decades.[7;8]
Originally developed by Hubbard in 1979, this program has been successfully used to aid individuals exposed during large-scale environmental contaminations, including those resulting from the 2001 World Trade Center disaster [9] and the 1986 Chernobyl incident [10]. Thousands of people have enjoyed relief from symptoms caused by more gradual build-up of toxins.
Sauna detoxification at the Maulfair Medical Center
Dr. Maulfair gets you started on your sauna program with a thorough medical examination and a series of key tests plus a complete physical exam. Tests may include a pre and post assessment of toxic body burden and some tests may be repeated periodically, to monitor your status while on the regimen.
Dr. Maulfair has over thirty years experience utilizing detoxification regimens to treat chronic disease. Join those clients of the Maulfair Medical Center’s program who have gained back their quality of life, enjoy restored energy, clear thinking, motivation and an overall sense of well being. For more information see www.drmaulfair.com
Dr. Conrad Maulfair
Maulfair Medical Center, Topton, PA
Reference List
1. Calafat AM, Wong LY, Kuklenyik Z, Reidy JA, Needham LL: Polyfluoroalkyl chemicals in the U.S. population: data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2004 and comparisons with NHANES 1999-2000. Environ Health Perspect 2007; 115: 1596-602.
2. Environmental Working Group. Body Burden: The pollution in people [Web Page]. 2003; Accessed 2008 Feb 20. Available at: http://archive.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden1/
3. Baibergenova A, Kudyakov R, Zdeb M, Carpenter DO: Low birth weight and residential proximity to PCB-contaminated waste sites. Environ Health Perspect 2003; 111: 1352-7.
4. Onstot, J., Ayling, R., and Stanley, J. Characterization of HRCG/MS unidentified peaks from the analysis of human adipose tissue. Vol. 1: Technical Approach. 87. Washington DC, US Environmental Protection Agency Office of toxic Substances.
5. Environmental Working Group. Body Burden: The pollution in newborns [Web Page]. 2005; Accessed 2008 Feb 20. Available at: http://archive.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/execsumm.php.
6. Williams JH, Ross L: Consequences of prenatal toxin exposure for mental health in children and adolescents: a systematic review. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2007; 16: 243-53.
7. Schnare DW, Denk G, Shields M, Brunton S: Evaluation of a detoxification regimen for fat stored xenobiotics. Med Hypotheses 1982; 9: 265-82.
8. Schnare, D. W., Ben, M., and Shields, M. G. Body Burden Reduction of PCBs, PBBs and Chlorinated Pesticides in Human Subjects. Ambio 1984; 13(5-6): 378-380.
9. Cecchini MA, Root DA, Rachunow JR, Gelb PM: Chemical Exposures at the World Trade Center: Use of the Hubbard Sauna Detoxification Regimen to Improve the Health Status of New York City Rescue Workers Exposed to Toxicants. Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients 2006; 273: 58-65.
10. Tsyb, A. F., Parshkov, E. M., Barnes, J., Yarzutkin, V. V. , Vorontsov, N. V., and Dedov, V. I. Rehabilitation of a Chernobyl Affected Population Using a Detoxification Method. Proceedings of the 1998 International Radiological Postemergency Response Issues Conference. 1998. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.