=46rom http://www.qfac.com/detox/dioxins.html
Dioxins And Toxins
Dioxins? You've heard of a Toxin, what the heck is a Dioxin? Dioxin is
a general term that describes a group of hundreds of chemicals that
are highly persistent in the environment which share certain chemical
structures and biological characteristics. It is the nastiest, most
toxic man-made organic chemical; its toxicity is second only to
radioactive waste. Dioxins have no uses. They are formed
unintentionally and released as byproducts of human activities such as
waste incineration, fuels combustion, chlorine bleaching of pulp and
paper, or pesticide manufacturing. You can run, but you can=92t hide.
Dioxins are everywhere! Unfortunately, there are no safe and effective
treatments to rid dioxins now in humans. Dioxins metabolize slowly
(over years), but reduction of exposure reduces dioxin levels over
time.
It is now known that dioxins exhibit serious health effects when it
reaches as little as a few parts per trillion in your body fat
(another good reason to lower body fat!). Dioxins are carcinogens and
highly toxic to the cells of our bodies. Dioxins are well-known for
it=92s ability to damage the immune system and interfere with hormonal
systems. Dioxin exposure has been linked to birth defects, inability
to maintain pregnancy, decreased fertility, reduced sperm counts,
endometriosis, diabetes, learning disabilities, immune system
suppression, lung problems, skin disorders, lowered testosterone
levels, chronic fatigue syndrome, and other nerve and blood disorders.
Dioxins literally change the functioning of your cells causing the
effects to be obvious or very subtle. It can interfere with child
development because it changes gene functions as well. There is no
"threshold" dose - the tiniest amount can cause damage, and our bodies
have no defense against it.
How does Dioxins corrupt our food? In the U.S. alone over the last 20
years or so, household, industrial trash and medical waste have been
burned in mass-burn incinerators. This had resulted in having
disposable vinyl plastic all around us, causing a dramatic increase in
dioxin contamination everywhere. Dioxin is formed during burning and
is carried for hundreds of miles on tiny specks of fly-ash from the
incinerators. It settles on crops which become eaten by cows, steers,
pigs, and chickens. It even contaminates lakes, streams, and the
ocean. Like the pesticides such as DDT, dioxin ac***ulates in the fat
cells of the animals, and re-appears in meat and milk. If your family
drinks milk, drink only skim milk, since dioxin is carried in the
butterfat. Avoid all full-fat dairy products, such as butter, cheese
and ice cream. Microwaving with plastic containers increases dioxin
danger.
Most of the population has low-level exposure to dioxins because of
all the manufactured plastic products, but although dioxin is an
environmental contaminant, most dioxin exposure occurs through the
diet, with over 95% coming through dietary intake of animal fats. At
(119 pg/day), beef ingestion was at 38.0, dairy 24.1, milk 17.6,
chicken 12.9, ****k 12.2., fish 7.8, egg 4.1 (info from EPA Dioxin
Re*****sment Summary 4/94 - Vol. 1, p. 37).
Alarmingly at the highest rate beating out beef consumption is breast
milk. Dioxins are passed from a woman's body to the infant through the
placenta and in breast milk as it contains more dioxins than any other
food (in relation to an infant=92s body weight) for women who consume
meat and milk. Mothers =96 NEVER heat up your baby=92s formula or milk
(especially if its in plastic) in the microwave! Also, if you do have
children to be sure to not purchase toys made of or packaged in
polyvinyl chloride - PVC - labeled V or #3 plastic. (For example,
Beanie Babies are filled with PVC beads, which often produce cancer-
causing vinyl chloride fumes and are often contaminated with dioxin.)
The best way to reduce your personal dioxins level (and your risk from
dioxins) is to reduce exposure and intake of dioxins by choosing lean
meats which are naturally lower in fat, and trimming all visible fat.
For fish and poultry you can reduce fat by removing the skin. Chicken
has the lowest dioxin content of all meats. Limit your intake of ocean
fish; do not eat any freshwater fish. Vegetarian meat substitutes such
as tofu, beans, and rice have essentially no contamination. Reducing
the amount of butter or lard used in the preparation of foods and
cooking methods that reduce fat (such as oven broiling) will also
lower the risk of exposure to dioxin. These strategies help lower the
intake of saturated fats as well as reduce the risk of exposure to
dioxin. Wash all fruits and vegetables carefully to remove
chlorophenol pesticide residue. Avoid grapes and raisins unless they
are clearly labeled as organic (grown without pesticides). Avoid all
products which have cottonseed oil as an ingredient (such as potato
chips), since cotton is often sprayed with chlorophenol insecticides.
In addition, avoid all organic chemicals that have "chloro" as part of
their names (such as the wood preservative pentachlorophenol, which is
probably the most dioxin-contaminated household chemical). Avoid
chlorine bleach (sodium hypochlorite) and products containing it. (Use
oxygen bleach instead). Use unbleached paper products. Do not use
soaps containing tallow (most soaps), as it is made from animal fat.
Avoid "deodorant" soaps and deodorants containing "triclosan," a
chlorophenol. Do not use weed killers or insecticides that contain
chlorine. Especially avoid the chlorophenol weed killers, such as 2,4-
D, found in most fertilizer/weed killers and used by commercial lawn
services. Avoid "Permethrin" flea sprays for pets.
Consequently, it is extremely im****tant not to heat food in the
microwave using plastic containers, especially food containing fat.
Some of you may recall when fast food restaurants steered away from
form containers to paper wrap =96 dioxins was the reason why! In a
microwave, the combination of fat, high heat and plastics releases
even more dioxins into the food and ultimately into the cells of the
body upon consumption. It is recommended never to use a microwave. If
you absolutely HAVE TO, use glass, Corning Ware, or ceramic containers
for heating food. TV dinners, instant soups, etc. should be all be
removed from the container and heated in something else. Never use
plastic as it primarily contains polyvinyl chloride (PVC). When these
chemicals and plastics are manufactured or burned, dioxin is produced
as an unwanted (but inevitable) by-product. So much for all that
advertising for those handy little microwavable plastic containers
=91from the freezer to the microwave, to your dinner table (aka quickly
to the demise of your health)=92. Even avoid using Saran Wrap and
similar "cling-type" plastic wraps (unless they are clearly identified
as non-chlorinated plastic). Instead, cover with a paper towel to
avoid splattering. If you do use bottled water, avoid purchasing the
one-gallon cloudy plastic (PVC) containers from your grocery store as
they transfer far too many chemicals into the water. The five-gallon
containers and the ones in the clear bottles (polyethylene) are a much
better plastic and will not give the water that awful plastic taste.
Even female hygiene products suchs as tampons contain two things that
are potentially harmful: Rayon (for absorbency), and dioxin (a
chemical used in bleaching).
SUMMARY:
* DO NOT MICROWAVE to heat or cook meat in or on plastic containers.
DO NOT USE MICROWAVE FOR ANY COOKING WHATSOEVER.
* Choose organic, or natural lean meat if you are to consume meat
products.
* If you can find a bubble to live in, be sure that it isn't made out
of plastic :)
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