ASEQ-EHAQ

L'Association pour la santé environnementale du Québec / Environmental Health Association of Québec

How The Environment Affects Your Health

It is no secret that our air is polluted, certain foods contain pesticides and that a large amount of plastics end up in the oceans and eventually inside of many marine animals.

We often hear about how waste and pollution harms nature, but how exactly does that affect you?

The Dangers of Indoor Air

We may think that our homes are sealed from the dangers of outside pollution, but in fact you could still be damaging your health by spending too much time indoors.

In fact, the air inside of our homes are filled with numerous toxic chemicals. More precisely, there are 3 chemicals that are particularly dangerous: flame retardants, phthalates and PFAs.

These three groups of chemicals are present all over our homes and have the potential of disrupting our hormone or endocrine systems.

Flame retardants have the potential of hindering children’s development, phthalates can damage fertility and PFAS can influence pregnancy.

The Effects of Pollution On Your Body

In some cases of antibiotic resistance, pollution could be the cause.

In the journal Microbial Biotechnology, a study published by a team of scientists conducted by Jesse C. Thomas IV stipulated that there shows to be evidence to propose that certain cases of antibiotic resistance are due to pollution.

Bacteria, in the majority of cases, develop tolerance to specific drugs when antibiotics are overused. A lot of people are likely to not respect doctors’ advice by taking antibiotics despite it not being the proper treatment.

Approximately a third or half of antibiotic use in humans is not appropriate, according to the CDC.

Plastics Inside You

There are plastics just about everywhere – but what about inside you?

Unfortunately, just like many marine animals, you are not protected when it comes to ingesting plastic. Can you avoid this? Not really.

Microplastics (pieces under 5 millimeters long) and nanoplastics (pieces under 0.001 millimeter) are the result of plastic breaking down and that is how it is transported in the air you breathe, infiltrates your tap water and goes into your food.

Every year, you are potentially absorbing tens of thousands of microplastic particles.

But how many of those particles are remaining lodged in our organs? And what health effects are they having on our bodies? These are questions that scientists are still working to find answers to.

What Can You Do About This?

It may seem scary reading this article. You may feel powerless.

But the truth is you’re not.

You have the power to learn how to protect yourself against these environmental factors.

Want To Learn How You Can Protect Yourself? Click Here.

Statistics show the number of people affected by multiple chemical sensitivity are increasing. Click here

Are you at risk? Click Here To Find Out.

Want To Learn More About Our Association? Click Here.

Support the cause! Help us help others! Click Here To Donate

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