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Protect Yourself from Lead Contamination and Other Environmental Exposures

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safe drinking water

by BodyLogicMD

Millions of Americans rallied support when the water crisis in Flint, Michigan exposed more than 8,000 children under the age of 6 to unsafe levels of lead. However, the efforts to help Michigan bounce back were soon overshadowed by a harrowing discovery—scores of cities across the U.S. also faced a similar tragedy—they just didn’t know it. Officials in cities in Ohio, Washington D.C., North Carolina, South Carolina, and Mississippi failed to alert residents when lead levels in their water supply exceeded federal safety standards.

The federal government insists that most of the nation’s 53,000 community water systems are safe, but most is not all and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told the New York Times that water utilities serving as much as one-third of the U.S. population are not yet covered by clean water laws that limit the number of toxic pollutants. Not to mention that despite a ban on lead pipes by Congress more than 30 years ago, it is estimated that between 3.3 million and 10 million still remain in place, leaching lead into the water supply when pipes are jostled during construction or the chemistry in the water fluctuates.

It can be tricky to find out if your city’s water supply has been affected. The EPA is working on regulation that would further limit lead in drinking water by 2017 to prevent this particular crisis from spreading, but the battle will be hard-won since previously proposed bills supporting efforts for clean water have been denounced by many states under the guise that it would hurt business or give the federal government too much power.

This leaves many people with only one choice: take matters into their own hands.

How do You Protect Yourself and Your Family from Toxic Exposure?

Lead and other toxic pollutants can have a number of unwelcome effects on the human body. Children and pregnant women face the greatest risks, as even small, short-term exposures can do irreversible damage, including brain damage that affects learning and development.

Long-term exposure—even trace amounts—in adults and children can silently hack away at the function of the endocrine system. This can lead to hormonal imbalances which wreak havoc all over the body, increasing risk of disease and inducing symptoms that may compile slowly year after year, which is why few people notice. Symptoms can include everything from early puberty in children to a slowed metabolism that causes weight gain and low energy.

Because symptoms creep up so slowly, it is a good idea to monitor your hormones with advanced testing from a qualified practitioner. By monitoring your hormones, imbalances may be caught early and addressed before the issue becomes more serious.

If you suspect that you have already been affected by contaminated water, heavy metal testing is also available. This lab testing, generally achieved through collection of blood or urine samples, will determine if you have been exposed to any heavy metal toxins, such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. The results will allow a qualified practitioner to help you develop a detoxification plan as well as employ strategies and therapies to prevent further exposure and limit/reverse damage.

Monitor Your Health to Protect Your Health

Unfortunately, the water supply isn’t the only point of toxic exposure. Many people face environmental threats to their health from other equally ambiguous places, like shampoos, soaps, plastic food containers, household cleaners, and even poor air quality. Research has found that these exposures are causing harm to children and adults, leading to early puberty, birth defects, early menopause, and greater incidence of disease. The best way to combat these toxins is to monitor your health with advanced testing that assesses numerous markers of health, followed by treatment or prevention from a qualified practitioner to reduce risks with lifestyle changes, such as nutrition therapies and targeted supplements. In some cases, heavy metal detoxification and/or bioidentical hormone replacement therapy may also be necessary.

The post Protect Yourself from Lead Contamination and Other Environmental Exposures appeared first on Bioidentical Hormone Experts.


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