EFSA has opened an investigation into the dangers arising from contamination by PBDEs, a group of carcinogenic substances present in the food chain.
The human being, in this particular historical moment, is faced with numerous dangers to health. Not just viruses or new diseases but also pollutants that are literally contaminating everything.
We often hear about foods with traces of pesticides, Glyphosphate and other harmful substances that are used in crops. Today a new alarm comes from other substances, PBDEs, which can undermine the health of all humanity.
What are PBDEs?
Let’s immediately understand what these substances are, which are (unfortunately) found everywhere and which represent a real danger to animals and humans.
It’s about substances created by man to make an object/surface non-flammable. So we can imagine a myriad of things, electronic materials, everyday objects created with the addition of PBDEs.
The problem is that it is during production that it disposali PBDEs can be released and end up in the environmentand get into the air, water, soil, food and feed.
Another bad news is that it’s about bioaccumulative substances: that is, they persist for a long time and they tend to attach themselves to the fatty tissues of animal beings living.
So the animals that then end up on our tables as food they are already potentially contaminated, and this has even alarmed EFSA.
We can come into contact with PBDEs in several ways, and unfortunately also by breathing the air where they are dispersed. Contaminations can also occur outdoors and what is even more serious the substances are transmitted from mother to child via mother’s milk.
We therefore have invisible enemies around us that can seriously compromise our health.
What are the effects of PBDE contaminations?
Taking harmful substances, both through breathing and direct contact or feeding with foods derived from contaminated animals can have devastating effects.
I PBDE act at the endocrine level, undermining proper hormonal and growth functions; they can manifest liver, pancreas and thyroid damage; the chemicals also damage the neurological system, increasing the likelihood of dementias or behavioral problems; there is no shortage of adverse effects on fertility both male and female; finally, they can impair the effectiveness of the immune system.
All the evils of our worldincluding booms in cancer, brain dysfunction, trouble conceiving or carrying a pregnancy, and who knows what else, are probably also due to the presence of all these toxic substancesas well as the PFAS, which invade everything and build up in the body. “Other than diet and physical movement!“, one might think. The world is full of pollutants that we don’t see and that we don’t know how to get rid of.
How can we avoid PBDE Contamination
While the Competent Authorities think about how to protect citizens from contamination, people can try to do as much as possible to avoid accumulating too many harmful substances in the body.
We can avoid buying/using outdated products which may contain flame retardants; try to clean the house from dust often, using damp cloths or vacuum cleaner with filters; prefer organic or low-fat foods (PBDEs are mainly fixed in the fatty part of animals); finally, we can properly dispose of products that contain PBDEs so as not to spread harmful substances into the environment.