You. Me. Your parents. Your siblings. Your kids. We all have toxins such as BPA, Phthalates, and PFOA inside our bodies, some more than others, it just all depends on how conscious we are of the products we use and the things we eat. But since they are in our bodies, how do we get them out?
Authors Bruce Lourie and Rick Smith, authors of Toxin Toxout: Getting Harmful Chemicals Out Of Our Bodies And Our World, the follow up to their popular the popular Slow Death by Rubber Duck (another great read!), show us the effect of toxins in our body through experiments done on themselves and volunteers. The experiments and their results are really thought-provoking and though the results may not be shocking to you, they will still make you stop to think even more about the things you bring into your home.
I was hooked to this book right from the introduction. This section in particular:
Here in Canada, Environmental Defence released a report in the summer of 2013 that involved testing the umbilical cord blood of three newborns for the presence of 310 different synthetic chemicals. In total, 137 different chemicals (including things like DDT, PCBs and flame retardants) were detected in the three newborns. The report was the first published Canadian data of this kind, and the startling results demonstrated that Canadian children are born pre-polluted.
"Canadian children are born pre-polluted."
That last sentence is an eye-opener. A little scary, but the book goes on to show us exactly how we are all being polluted and how we can reverse it. At the end of the book, there is an entire chapter dedicated to the 10 things we can all do to get rid of the toxins in our homes and our bodies and guess what? They are all easy and definitely doable.
The subject of toxins in the body is by no means a light subject, but Lourie and Smith use humour, interviews with experts, and experiments such as comparing the levels of toxins in the body while using conventional skin care products and then while using organic skin care products. In another experiment, they measure the increase of chemicals in their bodies after sitting in a car and inhaling "new car small" for an extended amount of time. The book is a quick, entertaining read and you will learn lots, I guarantee it.
Whether you are already doing a great job in eliminating products with toxins from your home, if you haven't started, but are thinking about it, or if you are a skeptic when it comes to organics and the effects of toxins on the body, Toxin Toxout is for all of you. No matter what stage you are in, you will pull a lot of helpful info from this book and it will definitely change the way you think about toxins and the shop.
Learn why you should make sure that triclosan is not in any of the products you buy and how you can make your own safe body lotion by using just one ingredient from your kitchen.
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