The Top Environmental Contaminants in Your Food (& What You Can do to Avoid Them)
by www.SixWise.com
The food you eat is the only source of fuel your body receives
to function optimally. Unfortunately, contaminants in what
would be otherwise healthy foods are showing up with increasing
fervor all over the country.
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Apples are one of the most highly pesticide-contaminated
fruits. Whenever possible, choose organic apples.
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Recently, a bill was introduced that would pre-empt all state
food safety regulations that are more stringent than federal
standards. This bill's goal claims to be to ensure uniform
food standards for all of the country. As it stands, certain
states have stricter standards when it comes to food warnings
than others -- such as a New York law that limits the levels
of certain contaminants in food packages and an Alaska law
that requires farm-raised salmon to be labeled as such.
The National Uniformity for Food Coalition, which is made
up of trade associations, supermarket chains and food manufacturers,
supports the bill and stated on their Web site, "Food
cannot be safe in one state and unsafe in another."
However, the bill, rather than ensuring safe standards in
all states, would essentially remove some safer standards
and replace them with nothing, as federal standards do not
exist. Critics include state departments of agriculture and
food officials, the National Conference of State Legislatures,
the California attorney general and many consumer advocacy
groups.
Said Erik D. Olson, senior attorney for the Natural Resources
Defense Council, "What the bill would do is assure the
lowest common denominator of protection. Cheaper food that
has poisonous chemicals in it is no bargain."
Top Contaminants in Food
The following toxins are the ones you're most likely to come
across in your diet.
Pesticides
In a study that analyzed pesticide residues on over 94,000
food samples:
Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established
upper tolerance levels for the amount of pesticide residues
allowed on foods, these tolerances do not take into account
multiple residues on one food. Pesticides are known to cause
many health problems including:
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Cancer
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Infertility
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Birth defects,
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Neurologic problems
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Respiratory ailments
Mercury
The primary way humans are exposed to methylmercury, an organic
form of mercury, is by eating fish. One of the primary health
concerns is for pregnant and nursing women, or women who may
become pregnant, as mercury can harm a developing child. One
study, for instance, found neuropsychological deficiencies
in children who had higher levels of mercury in their cord
blood sample, including deficiencies in:
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Language
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Memory
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Attention
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Motor function
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Visual-spatial functions
Recent studies have also found a connection between increased
mercury levels and heart disease. Further, while the omega-3
fatty acids in fish are known to be protective of the heart,
research suggests that mercury may counteract these effects.
In this case, your best choice would be to take a high-quality
fish oil, which would be purified of mercury and still provide
you with omega-3.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the EPA have
issued the following fish-consumption guidelines for women
of childbearing age, pregnant women, nursing mothers and young
children:
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Do not eat Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, or
Tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury.
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Eat up to 12 ounces (2 average meals) a week of
a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury.
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Five of the most commonly eaten fish that are low
in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon,
pollock, and catfish.
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Another commonly eaten fish, albacore ("white")
tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna. So,
when choosing your two meals of fish and shellfish,
you may eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) of albacore
tuna per week.
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Check local advisories about the safety of fish
caught by family and friends in your local lakes, rivers,
and coastal areas. If no advice is available, eat up to
6 ounces (one average meal) per week of fish you catch
from local waters, but don't consume any other fish during
that week.
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS)
POPs include dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and
pentachlorophenol (PCP). Although some of these chemicals
have been banned, they still exist in the environment and
accumulate in the human body over time. The primary route
of exposure is through eating animal products such as meat,
high-fat dairy products and fish, as POPs accumulate in fatty
tissues.
Similar to mercury, animals become contaminated with POPs
by eating plants or animal products that contain them. These
compounds are particularly dangerous to fetuses and young
children, and have been associated with:
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Low birth weight
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Negative effects on the immune system
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Negative effects on neurodevelopment
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Decreased motor development
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Lower verbal IQ scores
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Poorer verbal comprehension
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Decreased attention spans
Because these chemicals accumulate over time, women must
have low body levels of POPs prior to pregnancy to protect
their children. Experts recommend eating low-fat meats and
dairy products and following the above fish consumption recommendations
to do so.
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Evidence suggests that mercury in fish may cancel out
the heart-healthy benefits of their omega-3 fats.
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Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDE)
PBDEs are widely used as flame retardants in construction
materials, textiles and home goods, and environmental concentrations
have been doubling every four to six years. Animal studies
have found that they affect:
Studies that have examined PBDEs in breast milk suggest that
levels in humans are increasing. One study of breast milk
samples from over 40,000 women found that their concentrations
of PBDEs increased from 0.07 ng to 4.02 ng per gram of lipids
over 25 years.
Like mercury and POPs, eating a diet low in animal fats and
large fish can help to reduce your exposure to PBDEs.
Lowering Contaminants in Your Diet
As it stands, the best way to ensure that the food you eat
is as safe as possible is to educate yourself about potential
contaminants -- and avoid those foods. Eating organic produce,
meats and other foods will also go a long way toward reducing
your exposure to these toxins. If you don't have access to
organic foods, you can reduce your exposure to pesticides
by avoiding the most-contaminated produce below and focusing
instead on the least contaminated.
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Top 12 Pesticide-Contaminated
Fruits and Vegetables
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Apples
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Bell peppers
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Celery
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Cherries
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Imported grapes
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Nectarines
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Peaches
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Pears
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Potatoes
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Red raspberries
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Spinach
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Strawberries
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Top 12 Least Contaminated
Fruits and Vegetables
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Asparagus
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Avocadoes
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Bananas
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Broccoli
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Cauliflower
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Corn (sweet)
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Kiwi
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Mangoes
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Onions
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Papaya
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Pineapples
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Peas (sweet)
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Recommended Reading
Pharmaceutical
Pollution: What it is, and How Pharmaceutical Pollution Threatens
Your Health
What
Exactly Does it Mean When Foods are "Hydrogenated,"
and What Risks Can it Pose?
Sources
Bill
Could Pre-Empt States' Food Safety Rules
The
Effects of Environmental Contaminants in Food on Women's Health