What’s Toxic Wast Have to Do with You?

6a00e55255b4628834017d43214905970c-200wiIf you saw the movie The Incredible Shrinking Woman back in 1981, you’d have a comical view of how toxic chemicals might be affecting us. In the film, Lily Tomlin begins to shrink uncontrollably after being exposed to the wrong mix of chemicals in her home.

While this is an absurd and comical exaggeration, many chemicals do have mysterious and potentially toxic effects on the body. In fact, a large portion of the people who come to my holistic dermatology practice find their skin disease is somehow related to environmental toxins or allergens the body has come in contact with.

Toxins can be spread through the air and into the lungs, as side-stream smoke or factory pollution. They can come in the water, from plastic water bottles or leakage from factories into aquifers, or acid rain. They can come from the food we eat, in the form of pesticides, additive food colorings, flavorings, preservatives, or rancid oils. And they can come through the skin, from cosmetics, soaps, dish detergent, clothing dyes, etc. 

Please do not take this information as an argument that you should fear your environment. Humans are an adaptable race and will continue to live on regardless of toxins. But some of us will find our bodies have a harder time filtering out the increased toxins and allergens in our environment.

If an unexplained or un-treatable disease is affecting you, you can begin to arm yourself with detailed information about the chemicals you are exposed to in your daily life. Then, you have the opportunity to heal your condition. In the next blog, I’ll outline some alternatives to hazardous cleaning products.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD
Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.

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Photo credit:

Guy Gorek / Foter.com