Tolerating Toxins: Should We or Shouldn’t We?
In our modern world, we are exposed to an array of toxic chemicals and carcinogens on a daily basis – in the water, in the air, in our food and in our food containers, to name only a few sources.
Government agencies such as the FDA and the EPA make it their business to assure us that the various chemicals that swarm around us are kept at ‘safe levels.’ However, are any levels of toxins truly safe, especially when we are being bombarded with so many of them at once?
A notable flaw in the establishment of a ‘safe’ level of any chemical is that it is usually tested in isolation, without taking into account the other toxins that may interact with it and alter its effects.
A new study performed at Texas Tech University and published in the online peer-reviewed journal, The Prostate, tested the cumulative effects of arsenic and estrogen – at so-called ‘safe’ doses, on prostate cells. In low enough doses, both arsenic and estrogen on their own are considered to do little to no harm to human health.
The results of the Texas Tech University study were troubling. Researchers Kamaleshwar Singh and his doctoral student, Justin Treas, found that when the chemicals were combined, they were nearly twice as likely to cause cancer in prostate cells.
The experiment performed by Singh and Treas consisted of treating human prostate cells with a combination of arsenic and estrogen once a week for six months. In many of the tests, the levels that were used were those that were considered ‘safe’ by the EPA.
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Source: http://www.riseearth.com/2013/07/tolerating-toxins-should-we-or-shouldnt.html
