The “Out of sight, out of mind” saying is often true, but not when it comes to micro or nano plastics. Last month we looked at how microplastics can enter our body through contaminated air, water, coffee, and food. Some of those foods can be canned goods in which the can has been lined, foods heated in plastic-containing containers, and fish that have themselves been contaminated with plastic in sea water. But did you know that even many brands of chewing gum contain a form of vinyl that contains phthalates?
Where can we run? Where can we hide from these contaminants? Sadly, microplastics and their derivatives invade the body, have been found floating in our blood, our tissue, and yes—even in our brain!
Common chemicals derived from plastics that enter our bodies include BPA (and other BPs) and phthalates. Reducing exposure to these substances is an excellent initial step, and well worth the effort. But how would we go about this?
Steer clear of plastic water bottles. Make your own hot drinks and pour them into a mug, rather than a plastic-lined cup. Eat less processed food, and opt for plant-based chewing gums. But, as we saw last month, most of us are not avoiding plastics very well.
Removing plastic nanoparticles and plastic chemicals from our body is not as easy as it may sound. Though complicated, detoxification is something our body seeks to do daily, but it can become overwhelmed with the increasingly high demand to process not only our exposure to plastics, but multiple other offensive agents that find their way into us.
It is important to note that detoxification can be supported or suppressed by our lifestyles. Removal of toxicants occurs through stool, urine, and sweat.[1] All of these are water-based mediums, so therefore, we need to remind ourselves of just how crucial it is to drink adequate amounts of water every day. Sweating is a very powerful tool in supporting our body’s excretion of these toxicants. In fact, sweat is said to have the greatest potential at being the most effective exit route. For those who are intentionally sweating through sauna and exercise, it is the number one pathway, the biggest excretor.
How much do you intentionally sweat? We would do well to learn from Scandinavians’ obsession with sweating. But until more of us have access to saunas, I would like to challenge you to work towards noticeably perspiring in response to exercise on a consistent basis.
[1] Genuis S. J., Beesoon S., Birkholz D., Lobo R.A., “Human Excretion of Bisphenol A: Blood, Urine, and Sweat (BUS) Study,” Journal of Environmental and Public Health, accessed February 29, 2024, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22253637/.
