and creams contain ingredients that are skin irritants, which really begs the question, why do we refer to them as ‘skin care’. Even worse, why are some of these marketed as ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ when the industry definition of these terms varies significantly to the public’s perception?
The list of diseases that may be caused or exacerbated by environmental exposures is extensive and growing. These include asthma and allergies like hay fever and eczema; learning and behavioural disorders like autism and attention deficit hyperactivity (ADHD) disorder in children; heart disease; neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimers; childhood leukaemia; cancer of the brain, thyroid, lung, breast, liver, testicles, prostate, and bladder; and environmental sensitivities like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity and Fibromyalgia.
Let’s take autism as an example. It is widely acknowledged that genetic factors only play a minor role with learning and behavioural disorders in children5,6 and considerable evidence is suggesting that aberrations in the gut microbiome, smoking, heavy metals (lead, mercury and aluminium), air pollution, plastics, flame retardants, pesticides, herbicides, malnutrition, vaccinations, electromagnetic fields, viruses and, drugs are playing a key role.6-18 The most conservative statistics using today’s diagnostic methods estimated that 1 in 265 children had autism in the 1970s19, now it is 1 in every 35 children in the 5 to 14 year old age group.20 In 2015, three quarters of autistic adults were on a (disability support) pension20, being funded by you, the tax payer. And this doesn’t account for the lost work productivity or health care costs needed to support children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder which affects between 5% and 10% of children.21-23 The pandemic (worldwide epidemic) in learning and behavioural disorders in children affects ALL of us NOW.
The rise in neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases like Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s disease and Lou Gehrig’s Syndrome have correlated with increased exposure to neurotoxic chemicals like pesticides.24,25 A Parkinson’s disease cluster was recently identified in farmers in northwest Victoria growing barley, chickpeas, faba beans, lentils, and vetches.26 Despite knowing that the mechanism by which insecticides and herbicides affect the nervous system of the pest is similar to that in humans, research into humans exposed to these toxic chemicals is chronically underfunded, because the focus of chemical risk assessment is on the chemicals potential to cause cancer.27
Furthermore, despite measuring widespread exposure to organophosphate and pyrethroid pesticides in Australian children28, the use of agricultural chemicals is largely self-regulated, as the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority does not keep records or monitor the use of pesticides and herbicides (e.g. glyphosate) beyond the point of sale or supply.29 Neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases have also been correlated with cell phone use.30,31 It’s an interesting coincidence that farmers who use pesticides have higher rates of Parkinson’s disease, and are frequently also exposed to higher levels of radiation from their cell phone, which is often used in a poor signal strength area. The radiation is known to enhance the permeability of the brain to chemicals like pesticides and herbicides.
Environmental factors are also believed to play a major role in cancer, which has now become the world’s leading cause of death.32,33 Between 2005 and 2015, cancer diagnoses increased by 33% worldwide with prostate and breast cancer dominating in men and women respectively.34Both of these cancers are hormone disrupting diseases.
In the past twenty years, childhood cancer increased by 13% worldwide.35 In the past 35 years, new cancer diagnoses in Australia alone almost tripled.