Forever Chemicals

By Dr. Georgianna Donadio
National Institute of Whole Health

Like many of us, you are probably reading about how cancers are showing up earlier and more virulent than 20 years ago in young people. Even those in their 30s and 40s are being diagnosed with colon cancer at an alarming rate, and all forms of head and neck cancers are making themselves known.

One of my colleague at Dana Farber Cancer Center in Boston,

a world renowned cancer treatment hospital, shared with me that in the 30 years she has been working there the numbers
and types of environmental related cancers seem to have
quadrupled and are now being seen and treated in much younger patients than in years before.

The reasons – Cell phone radiation and PFAS chemicals which are “forever chemicals”, resistant to water, oil and heat, which means they can stay in our bodies and last in the environment for thousands of years. They have carbon-fluorine chemical bonds that make them resistant to disintegration, hence they earned the name “forever chemicals”.

PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances that are resistant to being broken down by normal pathways and linger for decades in the body and the environment. This is why they are known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down in the environment or in the human body and stay with us “forever”. PFAS can lead to pathologies and chronic disease.

These man-made chemicals have been used in industry and consumer products worldwide since the 1940s. They are found in every home and in most products made today. Used in nonstick cookware, water-repellent clothing, stain resistant materials, cosmetics, firefighting foams, and products that resist substances that should clear or cleanse them.

There are many ways we are being inundated by chemicals.
Many are found in our food, the products we use, affected by microwaves destroying the nutrients and rearranging the DNA of many foods, chemicals in the processed foods we eat and all the preservatives in the packaging of those foods.

In addition to the chemicals in our food and in the air and water,
we have an abundance of various “wavelengths” we are dealing with on a daily basis. Research shows how cell phone radiation
and microwave radiation alone are disrupting our health.

I did an inventory of all the products I use starting the morning
with a shower and the usual morning grooming routine. We don’t realize just how many chemicals we introduce to our skin that are absorbed into our body.

It was pretty shocking, actually. My instinct was to immediately become more discerning about what I consume and products I use. We often don’t think about all the products we use daily and how they are absorbed through out skin. These products must be processed by our immune system and liver and can wreak havoc with our bodies.

This is why patient health advocates and whole health educators are now becoming so in demand. Taking a training and becoming a nationally board certified health advocate allows someone to work and practice in this emerging field and provide a much needed service to their patients.

Try an experiment – keep track of the products you use, eat and consume. Then note all the chemicals they contain. Check out the “forever chemicals” they contain and may-be make some changes for your health and longevity!