What is environmental medicine

The question isn’t whether we are toxic or not, but how toxic are we – and what does our genetics have to do with it?

80, 000 toxic chemicals have been introduced to North America for commercial purposes and 20,000 chemicals in Canada, which we are being exposed to on a daily basis in our air, food, water and household and consumer products

Our bodies are accumulating toxic chemicals faster than we can get rid of them making us very sick. Common environmental related health problems include:

• Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)
• Fibromyalgia & Neuropathies
• Auto Immune Conditions
• Hormone Imbalance & Disruptors
• Allergies, Asthma, Eczema & Sinusitis
• Chronic Fatigue
  
• Brain Fog , ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder
  

One of the most important things about environmental medicine is looking at a person’s genomic makeup.   Everyone has SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms), subtle variations in genetic & enzyme structure that can result huge changes of how fast one person can breakdown toxins compared to another.  These can result in an increase or decrease of toxin clearance of up to 5-10x or more.

Environmental medicine involves thorough investigations of each person’s history (job, home, hobbies, etc.) and their genetics – along with any necessary blood & urine tests to measure direct levels of toxicants.  Some of the most common exposures we look at are:

• Mold / Mycotoxins
• Plastics (BPA) and Phthalates
• Organic Phosphate Pesticides
• Chlorinated Pesticides (e.g. DDT, Dieldrin, HCB, Chlordane)
• Glyphosate
• Solvents & Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
• Heavy metals (e.g. mercury, lead, aluminum, thallium)
• Polychlorinated Biphenyls PCBs
• Triclosan