Endocrine disruptors- PFAS
Since past 20 years there has been a rise in PCOS patients, early menarche, menstrual irregularities, impotency, hirsutism, infertility among both men and women, obesity, cancers, and micronutrient deficiency. We as a family were alarmed by the incidence of hirsutism in my generation compared to our mothers. The questions that arose were, genes are good but why this? Diet during pregnancy? Mutated genes? Poor nutrition? All women in my family prod upon multiple possible causations and we were bewildered.
Concomitant weight issues brought us to think about deliberate physical exercise that might improve our hormones, or low fat and high protein diet might just help us improve our endocrine system.
The paradigm shifted when around 10 years ago I went through a research telling about DDT exposure as the cause of early menarche in most countries where this insecticide was used. In India it took way too long for a trade-off between DDT for malaria and DDT for poor hormones. Now much safer malathion has been a boon in disguise. And the reason could be insecticidal resistance more than endocrine disruption.
DDT was one of the earliest to be considered as a candidate for endocrinal disruption. We have come a long way and the drive towards sustainable development goals begets advocacy for organic, natural products to be used. Going vegan also fulfills the drive. But there is one more thing, the products lack authenticity, and their costs surpass our immediate needs. Anything organic peaks costs. Paraben free shampoos are more expensive than the usual soap marketed under different brands.
We use a shampoo that straighten hair than the ones that simply wash off the dust. Whether organic shampoos help in just washing off chemicals or they are products which also have certain chemicals that have other adverse effects? I remember my mother going against shampoos and wash our hair with mustard oil and curd when we were in primary school. She also used gooseberry paste for us to clean our hair. The question was how much natural can we be when it comes to beauty (skin and hair health), more than just the cost concerns.
Living standards have developed. We need our house to smell well, the tiniest speck of a floor tile must be glistening and clean, there should be smooth surfaces requiring a foamy scrub. Toilets and kitchen must look state of the art. The teflon in our non-stick cookware eases the plight of the cooks. Things don’t stick and its easier to wash off. But then when the coating falls off, we are at a risk of cancers, obesity and more problems if we continue to consume from such kitchenware.
PFAS, or perfluoro alkyl substances are one such culprits that affect our hormones. They can cause obesity, cancers, diabetes, infertility, and so on. The organs that generate from ectoderm are usually affected first followed by the reproductive organs. The safe limit for exposure to PFAS is yet to be decided. The sources of PFAS could be cleaning and personal grooming products, non-stick cookware, stain resistant coatings on textiles like carpets, rain-coats and plastics. In 1990s safe water systems in Spain were practiced by keeping water filled plastic bottles on terrace under the sun that might kill bacteria and was thought good for consumption. But people were naïve about plastics and their side-effects and the chemicals that such drinking water might contain. PFAS also find their way into ground-water and soils that continues into the food chain like fish, fruits and vegetables as well as drinking water.
The best way is to avoid using these products. Go natural and create your own resources from kitchen. Other possible ways to mitigate harsh effects are to use earthen pots, conventional iron vessels, vacuum-clean the carpets, clean with chemicals once a week, stick to water and mop only mostly, try using natural products for skin and hair. We can prepare oatmeal scrub for the skin. Can use natural non perfumed soaps to apply on skin and so on. Try to get a chemical analysis done for the water we drink and inform the stakeholders to do something about it. Can get the municipal workers to check whether healthy drinking water is being supplied. Boil vegetables after washing thoroughly. Discard the water. It might compromise the nutrients but better than letting chemicals that are poisonous to us from entering the gut. Vitamins and minerals can be supplemented through nutraceuticals. I prefer fruit kissel and probiotics to help enhance micro-nutrients and gut health to prevent this deficiency.
Now that we have the knowledge, the readers might contemplate and indulge in products that are environmentally friendly and thereby prevent long term erosion of their own health and their environment. Be careful about your pills, some might kill plants so you can imagine what it would do to your gut. Choose carefully.
