Avoidance of Toxic & Unhealthy Exposures – Holistic Med

Some air hazards can be difficult to identify. But one obvious hazard is cigarette smoking. Quitting smoking does not have to be the very first removal of unhealthy exposure, but it is good to consider it an eventual goal. When you feel ready to quit smoking, you can work closely with your Holistic Healthcare practitioner (e.g., Oriental Medicine practitioner) and/or use the Ideas presented on the Smokefree Home Page. The main area of the Smokefree Home Page contains tools for clearing up problems with second-hand smoke exposures at work, school, home, and restaurants.

Since exposure to low levels of toxic chemicals at work can contribute significantly to chronic illness, it is important to learn about what chemical hazards might exist for you at work and then eliminate or protect yourself from those hazards. The goal should be to breath fresh, clean air most of the day. Some of the things at work which can create air hazards include carpeting, copy machines and laser printer toner fumes, office furniture (especially particle board ) and upholstered chairs which can outgass formaldehyde, adhesives (glue, cement, etc.), chemicals used in making a product, chemicals produced and given off into the air from the process of making a product, exhaust fumes, etc. It is important to learn about what chemicals you may be exposed to. For example, if you work in a photography lab or make pottery, or work as an undertaker, or in a lab making circuit boards, or .... you may be exposing yourself to significant levels of toxic chemicals and are not aware of it.

"Sick schools" -- schools where students are exposed to hazardous or unehealthy air are becoming more common. In fact, several Massachusetts schools have recently closed because of asbestos hazards (information that was kept from parents, by the way). Asbestos is definately not the only hazard at schools. To learn more about air hazards at schools, please see the proceedings from the 1996 Allergy and Environmental Health Association of Canada (AEHA) Conference. Some school districts in the U.S. will be getting grants from the Federal government for building new schools, but they may end up building more "sick schools" unless they are closely supervised by Environmental Medicine specialists.

Indoor air pollution in homes is common. This can happen from building materials, carpeting, and furniture outgassing chemicals, poor ventilation, cleaning products, pesticides, biological pollutants (e.g., mold, bacteria), radon, smoking, and a numer of other situations. One of the best resources for building a healthy home or fixing current (and sometimes undetected) air quality problems in a home is the Healthy House Institute.

Sometimes working with the medical office or the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) office in your place of work or school can help identify potential hazards. Keep in mind that IAQ and medical offices may rely on government standards for hazardous chemicals. Such standards are often useless because industry lobbying changes the levels said to be "safe". But these offices can at least help you identify chemicals you (or your children in schools) are being exposed to.

Cleaning up air hazards can involve:

An excellent article on various chemical pregnancy hazards is entitled, Learning Disabilities Attention Deficit Disorder - A.D.D. and Hyperactivity on the Chem-tox.Com web page. Other pregnency hazards include physical trauma which may contribute to future health disorders including increased risk of suicide in men. However, it is ideal to take a relaxed approach to eliminating hazards during pregnancy. That means to avoid putting yourself through "guilt trips" about inadvertant exposures. Fortunately, most of the hazards are obvious and relatively easy to avoid.

Smoking, use of hard drugs such as cocaine, and excessive alcohol consumption are well known pregnancy hazards. One simply should avoid these hazards to the extent possible during pregnancy.

Common food substances that should be avoided include artificial sweeteners, MSG (including hydrolyzed proteins, autolyzed yeast, yeast extract), fake foods such as olestra/olean, foods with alot of additives or preservatives, and non-organic dairy foods. To the extent possible, shop for organic foods even if it costs a little bit more. Fluoridated water and fluoridated toothpaste should definately be avoided since low-level fluoride exposure has been shown to increase perinatal deaths and hyperactivity in young animals. It is best to stick with spring water for cooking and drinking.

Avoid getting work on mercury amalgam fillings or placement of composite fillings (or sealants) while pregnant. If a filling must be placed, use the composite filling, not the mercury filling. If work on a mercury filling must be done, it is crucial to use the IAOMT protocol to prevent significant exposure to mercury.

Read this article:
Avoidance of Toxic & Unhealthy Exposures - Holistic Med