Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/800850
Abby's Magazine - Volume 5 Issue 2 | Page 27 exposure to even low levels of the herbicide atrazine can turn male frogs into females that produce completely viable eggs. Atrazine is widely used on the majority of corn crops in the United States, and consequently it's a pervasive drinking water contaminant. Atrazine has been linked to breast tumors, delayed puberty and prostate inflamma on in animals, and some research has linked it to prostate cancer in people. How to avoid it? Buy organic produce and get a drinking water filter cer fied to remove atrazine. Phthalates Did you know that a specific signal programs cells in our bodies to die? It's totally normal and healthy for 50 billion cells in your body to die every day! But studies have shown that chemicals called phthalates can trigger what's known as "death- inducing signaling" in tes cular cells, making them die earlier than they should. Yep, that's cell death – in your man parts. If that's not enough, studies have linked phthalates to hormone changes, lower sperm count, less mobile sperm, birth defects in the male reproduc ve system, obesity, diabetes and thyroid irregulari es. How to avoid it? A good place to start is to avoid plas c food containers, children's toys (some phthalates are already banned in kid's products), and plas c wrap made from PVC, which has the recycling label #3. Some personal care products also contain phthalates, so read the labels and avoid products that simply list added "fragrance," since this catch-all term some mes means hidden phthalates. Perchlorate Who needs food tainted with rocket fuel?! That's right, perchlorate, a component in rocket fuel, contaminates much of our produce and milk, according to EWG and government test data. When perchlorate gets into your body it competes with the nutrient iodine, which the thyroid gland needs to make thyroid hormones. Basically, this means that if you ingest too much of it you can end up altering your thyroid hormone balance. This is important because it's these hormones that regulate metabolism in adults and are cri cal for proper brain and organ development in infants and young children. How to avoid it? You can reduce perchlorate in your drinking water by installing a reverse osmosis filter. As for food, it's pre y much impossible to avoid perchlorate, but you can reduce its poten al effects on you by making sure you are ge ng enough iodine in your diet or taking a supplement. Fire Retardants What do breast milk and polar bears have in common? In 1999, some Swedish scien sts studying women's breast milk discovered something totally unexpected: The milk contained an endocrine-disrup ng chemical found in fire retardants, and the levels had been doubling every five years since 1972! These incredibly persistent chemicals, known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs, have since been found to contaminate the bodies of people and wildlife