Environmental
and dietary links have been made between hazardous chemicals, human
diets, and inter-individual biology that have clinical relation to
obesity and diabetes as well as an involved history with NonAlcoholic
Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and a host of other hepatic function. While
many of us have become informed of our favorite foods and restaurants
using many harmful chemicals and additives, via social media, much has
been done to address the harm that “everyday” chemicals pose towards
life and society. Despite the efforts made to remove and alter the
impact of everyday chemicals such as Nonylphenol (NP) and
Azodicarbonamide (ADA) by both government bodies such as the EPA (EPA,
2016) and by social activist bloggers, some myths and misunderstandings still persist
about this basic practice of modern western society. The aim of this
essay is to illuminate some of the dangers that plastics and polymers,
once posed and currently present to the human biological condition from
our most intimate and complex intestinal microbial health, to the health
of our waterways and aquatic lifeforms.
These everyday chemical
are interacted with by the average American numerous times a day from
pieces of paper that use chemical plastics for pulping to the laminate
finishes on our kitchen counters. Having these plastic
so involved with our lives it’s important to understand what dangers
they might present and under what conditions. Being informed about the
latest science behind the use and sanitation of everyday plastics is
important to the consumer so being aware of Fake News is also important
as good science (Schneider,2017) is needed to deal with potential harm
to the environment but also for supporting the productive uses of
plastics in society.
The
industrial level production of so called “everyday chemicals” fall
under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who
wrote, produced and published an Action Plan in 2010 to address any
needed attention to harmful environmental chemicals that could be
accidentally escaping into the environment. In; "Nonylphenol
(NP) and Nonylphenol Ethoxylates (NPEs)." the EPA studied the
production and lifespan of Nonylphenol (NP) and Nonylphenol Ethoxylates
(NPE’s) are examined and incongruencies
are noted and categorized. One of the few important discrepancies the
EPA was able to note right off the bat, was that some of the products
that used NP to produce NPE’s were misidentified in their bureaucratic
filings leading to use of NPE’s when alternative should have been used
for safety.
NP
and NPE’s are chemical used in mass production of many household and
industrial building and construction projects. NP’s resemble
Alkylphenols and are used in the production of soaps and detergents as
well as plastic food containers and beauty products and cosmetics. NPE’s
that are left to biodegrade often breakdown with a relatively short half life and since they are moderately bioaccumulative, especially in water, they form a significant portion of sewer sludge and sewage waste.
The
EPA had worked with the top industry leaders in the detergent field to
produce laundry detergent that didn’t break down to the environmentally
toxic NP and were able to significantly reduce the emission of NP in the
soil as well as significantly reduce the amount of bioaccumulation
found in fish and shellfish. As of 2010 the EPA was implementing their
Action Plan to reduce the use of NP in its everyday chemical uses as the
EPA found that despite the short half life of 10-15 minutes when exposed to sunlight, NPE’s that breakdown to the chemical NP tend to accumulate, and
are preserved by water. This create a greater risk of NP accumulation
in fish and shellfish (EPA, 2010) This accumulation may be one of the
reasons that pregnant women are to avoid shellfish, especially as NP has
been found in samples of human blood, urine, and breast milk (EPA,
2010).
There
is little argument that exposure of mammalian tissue to chemicals such
as NP and ADA have adverse effects on the microbial life of the GI tract
(Snedeker&Hay,
2011) and has been known to contribute to, and is a suspect in, the
etiology of some forms of acute asthma and chronic immunodeficiency and
has a direct correlation to NAFLD(Yun,Yang,Lun, 2017). It is this effect of the body’s microbiotica that led researchers (Snedeker&Hay,
2011) to investigate the effects of NP on the bodies’ abstract tissue,
the Microbial Organ (MO)(Hawrelak&Meyers,2004).
Researchers;
Snedeker and Hay, found in their analysis of the MO with everyday
chemicals such as NP. The researchers found that NP directly influences
the chemical metabolism via direct activation of chemicals, alteration
of biotransformation of enzymes, changes in enterohepatic circulation,
alteration of antioxidants from foods, and alteration of gut motility
and barrier function (Snedeker&Hay,
2011). These chemical alteration of the bodies flora and fauna can
wreak havoc on the systems of immunocompromised individuals as well as
children and the elderly. The researchers were also able to conclude
that the exposure of NP lead to obesogenic and diabetogenic conditions.
Since obesity and diabetes comorbid with Metabolic Syndrome (MetS)
many researchers feel that the consumption of everyday plastics should
be monitored and or avoided by individuals suffering from MetS.
Much
of the research into everyday plastics and the MO depends on new
research being conducted to better understand the interactions between
intestinal gut health and homeostasis in human health and wellness. Dr. Joneja
in the article; "'Dysbiosis', Gut Microflora, Probiotics and Their
Relevance in Histamine Intolerance", detailed the complex interactions
between the microbial organ and the other bodies systems. The microbial
organ supports a bacterium population ten times that of the cell count
in the human body. This give a wide variability to the type of cultures
and to their function. When this function is disrupted a condition known
as dysbiosis occurs.
Dr, Jonesja explains in the article, how some reportedly “bad” bacteria, is actually the
result of an imbalance in the microflora of the microbial organ due to
the use of certain medicines and foods like oral antibiotics and some
histamine producing foods and drinks. This imbalance might cause
toxicity and irritation to the bowl and destroy the function of many
healthy microbiota, thus the resulting dysbiosis. Chronic abuse of the
microbial organ has been shown to contribute to inflammation and illness
in other organs and systems, most notably in the role dysfunctioning intestinal colonial health plays in dysbiosis, Metabolic Syndrome and NAFLD.
It
is important to understand the current science regarding the use of
everyday chemical as they are an important cornerstone in what makes
modern society affordable to the everyday consumer(EPA,
2010). America’s surplus of foods and building materials rely on the
production of synthetic polymers. This surplus and commonality of goods
and products allows for American’s to better afford goods and services
that would cost significantly more if they were produced naturally. The
safe use of products containing everyday chemicals
Citation
"Nonylphenol (NP) and Nonylphenol Ethoxylates (NPEs)." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 24 Aug. 2016. Web. 31 July 2017.
Hawrelak JA, Myers SP. The causes of intestinal dysbiosis: a review. Altern Med Rev. 2004 Jun;9(2):180-97. Review. PubMed PMID: 15253677.
Snedeker,
Suzanne M., and Anthony G. Hay. “Do Interactions Between Gut Ecology
and Environmental Chemicals Contribute to Obesity and Diabetes?” Environmental Health Perspectives 120.3 (2012): 332–339. PMC. Web. 2 Aug. 2017.
Jonesja, Janice, Dr. "'Dysbiosis', Gut Microflora, Probiotics and Their Relevance in Histamine Intolerance." Blog post. Histimaine-sensitivity.com. Food Matters, Oct. 2015. Web. <http://onlihttp://www.histamine-sensitivity.com/dysbiosis-gut-microflora-and-histamine-02-16.html#answernelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.20737/epdf>.
Yu
J, Yang X, Luo Y, Yang X, Yang M, Yang J, et al. (2017) Adverse effects
of chronic exposure to nonylphenol on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
in male rats. PLoS ONE 12(7): e0180218. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0180218
Schneider, Leonid. "Fishy Peer Review at Science, by Citizen Scientist Ted Held." For Better Science. Le, 9 July 2017. Web. 1 Aug. 2017.
Abegunde, Ayokunle T et al. “Environmental Risk Factors for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: Evidence Based Literature Review.” World Journal of Gastroenterology 22.27 (2016): 6296–6317. PMC. Web. 2 Aug. 2017.
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