Where PFAs are hiding.

I’m always talking about decreasing toxin exposures as a key step to support our health…

Which means I have to address a very tricky topic (tricky, annoying, horrible, tedious… let’s not split hairs): PFAS.

PFAS, also known as polyfluoroalkyl or perfluoroalkyl substances, can cause a lot of health damage.

What makes it worse: PFAS are forever chemicals.

That name is appropriate because PFAS will stick around, wreaking health havoc.

Their degradation process just makes them shorter, it doesn’t make them go away or lessen the problems they cause (in short chain form they’re called TFA).

So here is a list of health problems linked to PFAS:

  • Hormone issues
  • Fertility problems
  • Contributes to cancer (testicle and
    thyroid keeps coming up especially)
  • Metabolic diseases like
    obesity and diabetes
  • Lowers sperm count
  • Increases cholesterol levels
  • Kidney issues
  • Disrupts thyroid function
  • Altered body weight regulation
  • Interferes with growth and development of young kids
  • Immunosuppression
  • Oxidative stress
  • Asthma
  • Lowered learning / behavior in infants and older children
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Allergies
  • Low birth weight
  • Increases chances of miscarriage

Honestly, the list goes on, and you get the point?

Clearly we want to not expose ourselves to PFAS…

And this is where it gets tricky.

PFAS are found in:

  • Bandaids
  • Artificial turf
  • Firefighting equipment
  • Plastic food containers
  • Period underwear (the brand THINX is a big problem with here)
  • Parchment paper
  • Facial tissues
  • Diapers (disposable and cloth)
  • Sandwich bags
  • Yoga pants
  • Waterproof mascara (and other cosmetics)
  • Conventional “nonstick” items
  • Drinking water (in part because manufacturing giants like 3M dump them into rivers)
  • On food (the EPA allows for PFAS
    to be sprayed on crops,
    while they also advise for you
    to find out if there are any
    in your drinking water and to filter them out)
  • Dental floss
  • Coffee
  • Deodorant
  • Furniture
  • Tampons
  • Etc…

I know it is very easy to feel discouraged with this and to want to just give up.

But please keep in mind these two things:

A. Each exposure / exposure item you eliminate will decrease the burden on your body
and improve healing ability.
B. Knowing about PFAS may help you understand why you haven’t been healing
when you’ve been trying to make healthy changes
(and yes, there are other toxic chemicals we’ll be looking at in future).

And it’s NOT all brands that have these issues, it’s certain ones.

Annoyingly, going with “organic” won’t always protect us in this case.

I recommend going to mamavation.com and find some good options.

They send products out for 3rd party lab testing to find out what is really in the products we buy.

I’m trying out two parchment paper options now based on mamavations recommendations.

We can’t overhaul everything immediately, but pick something you have the most exposure to, or something that simply seems like a doable step for you right now.

And just keep taking those baby steps.

 

Kickstart your journey towards optimal well-being!