PESTICIDES IN TAP WATER
LINKED TO FOOD ALLERGIES
http://abcnews.go.com -
As food allergies become increasingly common, a new study offers the
first proof that they may be linked to pesticides found in tap water.
Researchers at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
used existing government data to see whether people with more
dichlorophenols in their urine were more likely to have food allergies.
Dichlorophenols
are a kind of chlorine in certain pesticides that are known to kill
bacteria, and in theory, they could be killing the naturally occurring
bacteria in humans’ digestive systems, causing food allergies.
“We
wanted to see if there was an association between certain pesticides and
food allergies, and we were specifically interested in dichlorophenols
because those were the ones that had this antibacterial effect,” said
lead researcher Dr. Elina Jerschow.
The
number of children and teens with food or digestive allergies in the
United States has increased 18 percent between 1997 and 2007, according
to a 2008 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That’s about 3 million people under 18 years old. Eggs, fish, milk,
peanuts, shellfish, soy, tree nuts, and wheat make up 90 percent of food
allergies, according to the CDC report. Symptoms can range from mouth
tingling to anaphylaxis, which is the swelling of the throat and tongue
and can lead to death. Researchers were surprised
to find that dichlorophenol levels in urine didn’t vary between urban
and rural areas, Jerschow said. They concluded that even those who opted
for bottled water instead of tap water could ingest the pesticide
chemical from eating fruit, fruit juices and foods with cocoa powder,
like chocolate. “The study findings fit in with a growing evidence that
pesticide exposure can damage the immune system, which could increase
allergies as well,” said Dr. Kenneth Spaeth, who directs the
Occupational and Environmental Medicine Center at North Shore University
Hospital.
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Chlorine
in tap water has been linked to the rising number of people developing
food allergies, a study has revealed. The chemical, which is used to
treat drinking water and is also present in commonly-available
pesticides and household items, may weaken food tolerance in some
individuals. A rising number of children are diagnosed with gut
allergies linked to common foods such as cow’s milk, wheat, soya, eggs,
celery, kiwi fruit and other fruit and vegetables. The research,
published in journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and
Immunology, concluded: "Excessive use of dichlorophenols may contribute
to the increasing incidence of food allergies in Westernised societies."
This is a consequence of the artificial style of Western life. The
water is purified but the process brings unintended consequences.
Society should adopt the principle of "simple living and high thinking"
in everyday life.
WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?
From
the very beginning, of ISKCON one of the objectives was to create
agricultural communities. Not only so that devotees could make
tremendous spiritual progress by developing this type of consciousness
of compassion and service to our mother and to all of her children, but
also as an example, an alternative to display to the world. In the west,
in the colleges among thoughtful students the number one concern is not
how to make money. Its how to deal with the problem of the ecology and
the environment, because they are thoughtful enough to understand that
no matter how much money we make, we are going to be diseased, miserable
and going to die unless mother earth provides for us. We have created a
society that is unsustainable, unnatural and offensive to human
spiritual values. Srila Prabhupada explained the principle of “simple
living, high thinking” for these communities. Actually, this is the
principle of Vrindavan.
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