Did you know that you may be ingesting 100 trillion nanoparticles every single day? Researchers warn that Nanoparticles in food, vitamins, cosmetics, pesticides, and pharmaceutical drugs could harm your health
According to researchers at Binghamton University and Cornell University, an average consumer could be ingesting 100 trillion nanoparticles every single day. The new study is published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology and the researchers warn that nanoparticles found in foods and nutritional supplements could be impacting your health and the long-term health consequences of these particles could be alarming.
Nanoparticles are tiny materials made from any combination of elements such as silver, iron, oxygen or carbon and over the last few years, they have been added to everything ranging from sunscreen, toothpastes, multivitamins, and food additives to pharmaceutical drugs or protein powder.
The research study was conducted by Michael Shuler, Samuel B. Eckert (Professor of Chemical Engineering) and the James and Marsha McCormick (Chair of Biomedical Engineering). The leading author of the study, Dr Michael Shuler explains that his team used both human gut cell as well as live chickens, because chickens absorb iron into their bodies similarly to humans and are similarly sensitive to micronutrient deficiencies.
Dr Michael Shuler and his research team found out that the short-term exposure to nanoparticles could initially block iron absorption and the long-term exposure could result in changes to intestinal cell structures causing the chickens to absorb 200 percent more iron. The researchers also found out that drastic physiological changes at the cell level could happen as a result of being exposed to nanoparticles.
Chronic exposure to nanoparticles may lead to higher absorption of other harmful chemicals:
The researchers used 50-nanometer polystyrene carboxylated particles that are commercially available and generally considered safe for human consumption. Although Dr Shuler and his research team found that the body can adapt to changes caused by nanoparticles, they discovered that the body could have other problems and complications such as over-absorption of harmful compounds and chemicals.
Human exposure to nanoparticles is only increasing, says Dr Shuler. "Nanoparticles are entering our environment in many different ways. We have some assurance from US regulatory agencies that at a gross level they are not harmful, but there may be more subtle effects that we need to worry about."
The US regulatory agencies like FDA have classified nanoparticles like Titanium Dioxide (also called zinc oxide) or Nanotitanium as GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe), so since FDA is doing nothing, is there a way to protect yourself from nanoparticles?
The real harms of nanoparticles are vastly undermined and FDA allows considerable amount of nanoparticles in sunscreens and food additives. While nanoparticles are so tiny that you couldn’t possibly see them, they could be in your favorite sunscreen or cosmetics and could get absorbed in more sensitive tissues inside your body such as your blood stream.
Many natural brands of products ranging from food, cleaning products or pharmaceutical drugs to cosmetics or personal care products have Titanium Dioxide (zinc oxide) in them. Nanoparticles are not properly labeled (the same as GE ingredients), so in order to avoid contact with them, you should buy organic produce and avoid conventionally grown foods or foods that have been genetically modified.
Avoid cosmetics and sunscreens since many of them might have Titanium Dioxide since the manufacture isn’t required to label nanoparticles accordingly. Make sure your supplement or multivitamin isn’t made from synthetic drugs and contains real nutrients that are well-balanced: http://seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-food/is-spending-money-on-multivitamins-mineral-supplements-a-waste-and-vitamin-D-deficiency-can-cause-brain-organ-damage.php
The table below reveals the presence of nanoparticles in US packaged foods (source: The table is from EMagazine with title of "Eating Nano" )
Toxic pesticides manufactured by giant chemical companies including Monsanto, DuPont, Dow, Syngenta, BASF, Bayer CropScience contain nanoparticles (that are untested for human’s safety)
In fact, a new study published by researchers the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources shows that anopesticides are widely present in our food supply. According to researchers, silver nanoparticles (nanosilver linked to environmental issues and bacterial resistance) are widely present in many of consumers' products. The leading author of the study and the associate professor at the University of Missouri (MU, Lin, Ph.D says that “More than 1,000 products on the market are nanotechnology-based products. This is a concern because we do not know the toxicity of the nanoparticles. Our goal is to detect, identify and quantify these nanoparticles in food and food products and study their toxicity as soon as possible.
You would expect the US regulatory agencies like FDA to protect the public from such harmful substances:
The role of governmental regulatory agencies must be to keep toxic foods, chemicals, substances, additives and preservatives away from the public and ban foods that pose a threat to public health. However, the reality cannot be further from the truth since new technologies including biotech and nano could be threading our health and well-being by contaminating our food supply and many consumers’ products. In fact, Monsanto’s best selling herbicide known as ‘Roundup’ has been linked to a wide range of diseases including infertility, cancer, organ failure and leukemia.
Apparently, FDA’s role is only to protect the interest of Food and Drug companies and even Harvard slams FDA by revealing the Institutional corruption of pharmaceuticals and how FDA cannot be trusted with public safety: http://seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-food/institutional-corruption-of-pharmaceuticals-how-FDA-cannot-be-trusted-with-public-safety.php
Sources:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216185408.htm
http://www.emagazine.com/magazine/eating-nano
http://ecowatch.com/2013/08/27/toxic-pesticide-nanoparticles-in-food/
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/why-food-industry-poisoning-us-trillions-nanoparticles
