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The undetected chemicals in daily life

Modern wellbeing requires more conscious attention to the presence of potentially harmful chemicals in daily life, not through fear or perfection, but through practical, manageable questions and choices that may reduce the body's long-term burden dealing with the effects of this inevitable environmental toxin exposure.

Unconscious living

Most of us do not experience modern life as something under the influence of chemicals. Mostly, we think of chemicals as something used or produced in a factory.

Thus, we do not think of chemicals when we look at a clean shirt with a familiar scent, buy a new sofa, drink from a plastic water bottle, take a shower using the usual washing products, doing the laundry using the usual washing powder, accepting a physical receipt in the convenience store, or enjoying central ventilation in our company downtown office. These things are not dramatic. They are part of daily life. That is exactly why they matter.

It is estimated that somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000 chemicals are used globally in commerce. Some of them have undeniably contributed to advancements that have improved and extended human life through medicine, sanitation, food preservation, and technology. Modern chemistry has shaped much of the infrastructure of contemporary society. But we have also introduced an enormous number of synthetic substances into human environments much faster than science has been able to assess potential long-term health impacts.

In a 2009 study by the Environmental Working Group, researchers tested umbilical cord blood from newborn babies. In a single umbilical cord, they identified up to 287 industrial pollutants, including carcinogens, neurotoxins, and reproductive toxins. The babies had been substantially exposed to environmental toxins even before taking their first breath. Findings like this call for re-calibration of our mindset.