The US lags behind other advanced countries in regulating dangerous chemicals, making us more susceptible to COVID and a host of other diseases. Action Alert!
Thousands of pesticides, food additives, and cosmetic ingredients that are legal in the US are banned in the European Union, Brazil, and China—which may help explain in some part why Americans have lower life expectancy and higher COVID fatality rate than other comparable nations. The federal government’s deference to the chemical industry is completely unacceptable.
One of the most dramatic examples is PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals” that do not break down in the environment. We’ve written at length about the EPA’s failure to address the dangers of these chemicals, which contaminate drinking water and are used in Teflon, food packaging, and a host of other products. While the EPA stalls, it has been left to individual states to pass legislation to curb the use of PFAS.
Experts are warning that elevated PFAS levels can increase risk of serious COVID infection. They are also linked to a wide range of other health concerns such as cancer, thyroid disorders, kidney disease, autoimmune problems, liver disease, and more.
While the EPA seems to be twiddling their thumbs, European countries have been more active in setting limits on PFAS chemicals and in some cases even banning their use in food packaging.
But Americans are exposed to thousands of other chemicals that are banned elsewhere, increasing our toxic burden. Consider these facts:
- In 2016, US farmers used 322 million pounds of pesticides that are banned in the EU, 40 million pounds of pesticides banned or being phased out in China, and 26 million pounds of pesticides banned or being phased out in Brazil.
- The EU has banned or restricted 13,000 chemicals used in cosmetics; the US has banned or restricted just 11.
- A host of food additives are restricted or banned in the EU but not the US, including: potassium bromate, red dye no. 40, yellow dyes no. 5 and 6, chlorine-washed poultry, rGBH or rBST growth hormones used in cows, genetically modified fruits and vegetables, BPA, and others.
It’s hard to know the cumulative health impact of our exposure to these chemicals, but we do have some clues. For example, we reported early last year on research indicating that the epidemic of diabetes in this country is causedby exposure to chemicals. Many of these chemicals are endocrine disruptors, and thousands of scientific papers have been published over the last two decades linking endocrine disruptor exposure to the very comorbidities that increase the risk of dying from COVID-19, such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and reduced immunity.
These regulatory failures speak to the power of the chemical industry in influencing chemical regulation across many sectors of the US economy. This cronyism is undermining our health and, as we’ve shown elsewhere, reducing our ability to stay healthy with natural medicine. It has to stop.
Action Alert! Write to Congress, the EPA, and the FDA, telling them to ban PFAS. Please send your message immediately. By sending this message, you will also be supporting our petition to ungag doctors so that they can share with patients the benefits of supplements and natural treatments for COVID.
