your life is in terribledanger. “Toxic chemicals are all around us: in the air we breathe,
in the food we eat and the products
we use,” he says, with the
certainty of someone who has
spent a lifetime studying chemicals.
“They are used to produce
almost everything we use, from
paper and plastics to medicines
and food, to gasoline and steel
and electronic equipment.” The
70,000 plus chemicals used
across the globe are a mix of naturally
occurring and manmade
ones. If you use them judiciously
and dispose them of carefully,
you improve life. If you throw
them around carelessly and improperly,
you endanger humans,
plants and animals.
Toxic chemicals
He gives examples. Unfiltered
toxic chemicals are released into
the environment by industries
producing electricity (particularly
coal-based), manufacturing
chemicals, making materials like
steel and paper, and extracting
natural resources like oil and gas.
Toxic chemicals are also released
by farms using lab-made pesticides,
insecticides and herbicides,
which contaminate food, air,
water and soil, when they run off
from crops and enter the surroundings.
You don’t even have
to step out to collect toxins, he
says. “We’re exposed to harmful
chemicals in perfumes, shampoos,
air-fresheners, cleaning
agents, furniture, appliances,
frying pans, food-and-beverage
containers.” And then there is active/
passive smoking.
That’s enough for us to break
out in a sweat. But he adds: Heavy
metals that damage the ecosystem
are present in the waste water
that the metal-cleaning,
mining and electroplating, paper/
pulp and paint making, textiles,
tanneries and e-waste
recycling industries release.
Drinking polluted water, filling
dental cavities, breathing contaminated
air, and eating food
grown in contaminated soil are
all entry methods for heavy metals.
The toxins accumulate in the
body with time.
We expose ourselves to chemical
poisoning simply by stepping
on to our traffic-choked roads.
WHO’s International Agency for
Research on Cancer (IARC) says
there’s “sufficient evidence” that
exposure to outdoor air pollution
(diesel exhaust, solvents, metals,
dust) causes lung/bladder cancer,
heart diseases, coughing,
chronic bronchitis and premature
death in people with heart/
lung disease.
A study conducted by Dr Arbinder
Kumar Singal, paediatric
urologist, MGM Hospital, Navi
Mumbai, gave proof of the growing
incidence of genital abnormality
among boys, possibly
because of the exposure to endocrine
disruptor chemicals.
Known as phthalates and bisphenol-
A, these chemicals are used
in plastic bottles, food wraps,
cosmetics and toys.
We absorb toxins through
lungs (inhalation), skin (dermal
absorption), and/or mouth (ingestion).
They enter the bloodstream,
and get stored in tissues.
If you are lucky, they reach the
liver and get excreted. Or they
settle down in their new homes
to disrupt hormones (mimic/
block/interfere with estrogen,
androgen, thyroid), cause or aggravate
cancer, damage brain
cells, leading to developmental/
behavioural disabilities, particularly
in kids, and cause respiratory
illnesses like bronchitis,
pulmonary fibrosis, and
emphysema.
Chelation therapy
Is there any chance of putting
off these death warrants? One is
Chelation therapy, says Dr. Ravichandran.
It’s a process by
which a molecule encircles and
sticks to the metal and removes it
from the tissue. Cilantro helps in
removing heavy metals, restoring
the normal functions of body
cells. Green algae contains Chlorella,
whose three-layered cellwall
of cellulose microfibrils
helps in heavy metal detox. Garlic
has sulphur which oxidises
mercury, cadmium and lead and
makes them water-soluble. Malic
acid, found in unripe fruit, sour
candies, raw-apple cider, and
vinegar, helps to reduce the aluminium
toxicity of the brain, and
helps to avert Alzheimer’s disease.
Pectin in apple-peel, bananas,
grapes, okra, beetroot,
carrots and pith resist heavy
metal absorption. Make sure
they are organic. And why not reduce
vehicle-use?
iDr. S. Ravichandran,associate professor,Department of Chemistry,Veltech University,
iDr. S. Ravichandran,associate professor,Department of Chemistry,Veltech University,
