Let’s Talk Toxins: Why policy, not green juice, is the solution

Amongst millennials, progressive, and new age circles, a new buzzword has rooted itself: toxins. The market has taken hold of toxin phobia and has flooded with enticing solutions: walk into a natural foods store and hundreds of food and body products will shout at you from the shelves, promising that a wheat grass shot, turmeric elixir, face peel and superfood smoothie will cleanse and purify your body. California city streets are crowded with hot yoga and exercise studios, spinning messages that a cycling class or heated stretch will eradicate your body of pernicious chemicals.

It is clear that eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly is fundamental to human health. Yet this mindset, which asserts that products, diets and classes will ensure a pure, healthy body, is false and dangerous. First off, the focus on consumption of expensive products and classes tacitly suggests that only those who can afford this lifestyle can obtain health and longevity. Secondly, this detox consumerism conceals structural solutions for the rising toxicity of our environments.

In reality, toxins, or chemical compounds that damage bodily systems when absorbed in low concentrations, are unavoidable even for the most fastidious vegan yogis. Over eighty thousand synthetic chemicals exist in the United States environment. Over four thousand synthetic chemicals are produced in or imported into the United States every year, each in a quantity of one million pounds or more. These chemicals are integrated into our clothes, furniture, vehicles, homes, foods, soils and streets. In sum, these compounds are everywhere, and we unknowingly absorb them through our lungs, mouths, and skin. A 2019 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that, due to constant exposure to chemical containing furniture, products, foods, and water, several hundred of these four thousand chemicals exist in the average American body at all times. And this study only tested for several hundred of the eighty thousand compounds that enter this country.

Certain chemicals are more ubiquitous than others. Bisphenol A is one of the four thousand chemicals released into the United States in an excess of one million pounds per year. It is responsible for making plastics and resins hard, and is added to receipts, toilet paper, wine bottles, water bottles, and countless plastic products. Due to its omnipresence, BPA is in the majority of Americans: 93 percent of us, according to a 2005 study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unfortunately, this chemical is a potent toxin: many animal studies have shown that it acts on estrogen receptors and disrupts the normal functioning of the reproductive system. For this reason, scientists posit that our constant exposure to BPA could be partially responsible for the decreasing fertility trends, lowering sperm counts, and earlier onset of puberty and menarche occurring in the United States.

It is clear that yoga, veganism, and phthalate free shampoo will not save anyone from exposure to the thousands of chemicals present in our environment. In order to truly salvage the health of present day and future Americans, we must advocate for policy change in U.S industrial chemical regulation. This means amending the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976. Currently under the act, chemicals are presumed safe unless there is substantive data proving a threat to human health. This rule places the burden of proof onto consumers and communities to expose the noxious qualities of chemicals and leads to a dearth of data on the effect of these chemicals on human health. Out of the three thousand chemicals produced in annual quantities of one million pounds or greater, information on potential toxicity for humans is available for less than a third of the chemicals. In contrast to present day legislation, industries should be held responsible for proving to the public that their chemicals and products are safe. This is already the standard in EU countries.

In addition to new policy, citizens must vote into office politicians that expand the EPA’s budget so that industry can be further monitored on the types of chemicals it released into the US environment. Currently, the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention does not have the funds or staff to regulate the thousands of new chemicals produced annually by industry. With this advocacy, in a hopeful future Americans can put on a lotion without worrying if it contains endocrine disruptors, and blindly select a toothpaste from drugstore shelves and be assured it does not contain pesticides. Stockpiling kombucha won’t materialize this future, but effective policy just might.