Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

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TopHatFox
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Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

Post by TopHatFox »

Watched a documentary titled The Human Experiment. It was on the ubiquitous toxic chemicals which permeate most of our consumer goods. This ranged from personal care products, to mattresses, to paint. The information was familiar and useful.

It ultimately got me wondering what steps we can take to limit our daily exposure to toxic chemicals. There are so many products which have toxic plastics it's difficult to count. Think of teflon, commercial shampoo, and lead to name a few.

Is the general theme to replace plastic products with non-plastic equivalents? For instance, replacing a plastic broom with a wooden one?

Or to replace all commercial products with home-made alternatives? Such as replacing shampoo with baking soda + vinegar?

There are limits to this approach, however. It is difficult to replace the paint on the walls, or to know if furniture is safe or not. What do we do about these limitations? Is toxic chemical exposure merely an inevitable risk of living in the 21st century? Are these limitations merely perceived? I mean, we could build an adobe house.

Smashter
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Re: Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

Post by Smashter »

I used to be very worried about this kind of stuff, too. Then I let go of most of it. I figure that for the time being, I am committed to living and working in a city where my exposure to toxic chemicals will be unavoidable.

I still like the idea of getting used furniture that has already off-gassed, and I don't heat plastics, and I don't use any weird soaps or shampoos. All that is fairly easy to control. But I would just warn against going too far down this rabbit hole, as all of a sudden you end up seriously considering wearing a surgical mask every time you go outside. But hopefully you have less of an "all in" personality than I do :)

BRUTE
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Re: Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

Post by BRUTE »

while brute doesn't in principal worry much about plastic or "chemicals", he finds the flame-retardant furniture gas situation almost conspiracy level strange. what is this, a plot to have humans purchase and ship toxic fumigators into their homes?

luckily, brute isn't much into furniture. building furniture might be a useful hobby after all.

Riggerjack
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Re: Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

Post by Riggerjack »

Solve your problems from most impactful (to you) to least.

If Dupont, secretly poisoning you with Teflon is your most impactful problem, you may have taken this process too far.

If that is the case, introducing more stressors to your life, may be useful.

Riggerjack
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Re: Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

Post by Riggerjack »

Failing that, look more carefully into Teflon toxicity, then evaluate the accuracy of the information that caused concern.

TopHatFox
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Re: Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

Post by TopHatFox »

Hm, not reducing our chances of toxicity where we can seems imprudent. It is important to take it seriously in order to avoid cancer and other life-altering diseases. I don't advocate for tin-foil hat wearing, but I do know that corporations do not have their customers health at the forefront. They are profit-driven, and health often takes a back seat to that.

Besides, replacing a teflon pan with a ceramic one, for example, isn't very hard. Neither is replacing a plastic bottle with a metal one. Why take the chance if alternatives already exist?

Riggerjack
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Re: Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

Post by Riggerjack »

Besides, replacing a teflon pan with a ceramic one, for example, isn't very hard. Neither is replacing a plastic bottle with a metal one. Why take the chance if alternatives already exist?
What is the chance? That somehow Teflon is poisoning you? And that somehow, the alternative, be it cast iron, ceramic, or what have you, won't poison you. Either way, you are taking a chance. So, I would recommend, that you do further research as I did. Then come to your own conclusions, as I did.

I could get you my conclusions, but then you would simply have 2 conflicting ideas, and no rational reason to choose either over the other.

If this is your biggest issue, you owe it to yourself to look into it yourself.

George the original one
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Re: Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

Post by George the original one »

Detoxifying means you need to learn how to recognize what the actual signs of poisoning are as the treatments are different depending on the toxin & treatments are often mutually exclusive. Talk to an industrial hygienist https://www.aiha.org/about-ih/Pages/default.aspx.

Banning all exposure is impossible. You will be exposed to something toxic regardless of the steps you take because even glass houses will break. So learn what level of exposures are risky.

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jennypenny
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Re: Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

Post by jennypenny »

@Olaz -- I have a book called The Healthy Living Space from when we bought our house and I was trying to strip out all of the hazardous stuff. It's ok (it was a gift). You can have it if you want, just PM me your address.

TopHatFox
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Re: Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

Post by TopHatFox »

Found another useful documentary on preventing major diseases, such as cancer. It's called The C Word.

It recommend a mostly WFPBNS diet, moderate exercise, stress management, community, and toxicity reduction as the strongest preventatives for cancer.

Naturally, capitalism has bread the perfect systems of marketing, isolated living, and overwork to encourage the exact opposite of these habits in the public.

I hope these healthful habits can be adopted by the masses over the coming decades.
Last edited by TopHatFox on Mon Jun 26, 2017 9:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.

BRUTE
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Re: Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

Post by BRUTE »

Olaz wrote:
Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:27 pm
Neither is replacing a plastic bottle with a metal one. Why take the chance if alternatives already exist?
brute knows humans that refuse to drink out of aluminum bottles because they say it leaches into their water. steel rusts. most other metals tarnish. maybe Olaz could look into gold or titanium drinking containers.

TopHatFox
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Re: Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

Post by TopHatFox »

I believe aluminum leaches, same in aluminum cook wear. For steel, I mean, if it's rusted over, you'll probably taste it and see it. That shouldn't be a problem?

TopHatFox
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Re: Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

Post by TopHatFox »

jennypenny wrote:
Mon Jun 26, 2017 3:08 pm
@Olaz -- I have a book called The Healthy Living Space from when we bought our house and I was trying to strip out all of the hazardous stuff. It's ok (it was a gift). You can have it if you want, just PM me your address.
Sounds useful. Do what we can within reason and all that! Will pm soon.

Dragline
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Re: Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

Post by Dragline »

BRUTE wrote:
Mon Jun 26, 2017 9:04 pm
Olaz wrote:
Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:27 pm
Neither is replacing a plastic bottle with a metal one. Why take the chance if alternatives already exist?
brute knows humans that refuse to drink out of aluminum bottles because they say it leaches into their water. steel rusts. most other metals tarnish. maybe Olaz could look into gold or titanium drinking containers.
Don't forget the platinum filter. And make sure you de-ionize the water first.

As others have pointed out, the problem here is always one of degree and a tendency to draw false equivalences to the point where "every substance that was ever suspected of ever causing any person in the whole world to have ever contracted some illness at some point in time" is equated with smoking 3 packs of cigarettes per day, working in an asbestos factory or drinking water every day from an old mine pit. At a certain point, the nominal benefit of obsessing over these things outweighs the harm caused by making you anxious/stressed out about the topic, causing you to waste a lot of time and money on it, and causing you to become obnoxious to the people around you. (In that regard, I admire people who do what they think is right and sensible by themselves, but don't feel a need to tell anyone about it who doesn't ask.)

There is also a false assumption that if you take all these steps it will somehow "immunize you" from getting cancer or something else. And if you get sick there is always some external, identifiable factor "to blame" and "could have been prevented". (If not your failure to give proper sacrifice to Molek.)

Some sense of proportionality is always advisable. It is usually lacking, though, in the kinds of presentations/documentaries identified in the OP, because saying something is probably undesirable or kills rats when you inject them with it, but we really don't know how bad it is, does not make for a dramatic or impactful narrative.

Scott 2
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Re: Steps to detoxify from toxic chemicals?

Post by Scott 2 »

Yep, you're gonna die. I suspect the biggest proponents of this stuff have not come to terms with that, and are letting their fear of death guide too many walking hours.

That or they're making money off it.

I try not to by things with ingredients I don't understand. Other than a couple extra bucks here and there, it's easy.

The biggest sacrifice I've made is opting out of deoderant for the most part, especially antiperspirant. Sometimes I stink. For special events, I'll use the antiperspirant.

I used parchment paper instead of foil when cooking, favor glass over plastic or metal for drinking. It's easy stuff, so why not.

I'm sensitive to fragrances, so that's probably my biggest incentive.

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