The Silent Threat of Modern Times

It is likely that in a hundred years or so, people will look back at the period from the end of the Second World War till the beginning of the 21st century and shake their collective heads in disbelief at the way we contaminated our environment and the food chain with an ever expanding list of chemicals.

They will further ponder how we allowed ourselves to be led down that path when there was evidence that the chemicals to which we were exposed were not harmless but could potentially increase our risk of disease.

They will question our naivety in not expecting any repercussions from the treatment of our drinking water with chemicals known to produce potentially carcinogenic substance, in adding other substances thought to have endocrine-disrupting properties to the materials used to package our food, in fertilising our crops with fertilisers known to contain substances with the potential to cause harm, in using pesticides with known harmful effects on brain function to spray our crops, and not fully appreciating that industrial chemicals released into the environment can and do enter the food chain.

There is no dispute that many chemical contaminants are present in our food. Our own government, through one of its regulatory bodies, ie Food Standards Australia and New Zealand, have reported on the presence of a great variety of insecticides and fungicides, and heavy metal contaminants eg, mercury, lead, and arsenic, in our food. They have even counselled pregnant women and women trying to become pregnant against eating large amounts of the bigger fish such as swordfish because of the mercury content.

There have been lots of reports in reputable scientific and/or medical journals of plasticisers used in food packaging, and industrial chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and flame-retardants ending up in our food.

Of course there is also a veritable treasure trove of other chemicals, the food additives, deliberately added to our food. Now, lest we think that just because these things are in our food does not mean that they are taken up in our bodies, there are as many other reports showing very clearly the presence of pollutants in different parts of our bodies including blood, body fat, and hair.

We do know that contamination of our food with greater than normal amounts of industrial waste products such as mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and the livestock growth promoter, clenbuterol, have caused disease in the past, that some food additives are harmful to some people, and that the trans fats formed by the processing of oils to make margarine may have also contributed to heart disease in some people. What we do not know is whether the tiny amounts of pesticides, plasticisers, water chlorination by products, and other food processing products have also increased our risk of disease but there are indications that this may be so.

There are suggestions that the effects of tiny amounts of individual substances can be amplified via synergism, where two or more substances work together much more effectively than they would do individually. We are also know that some people, because of their genetic make up, pre-existing disease, age, or lifestyle may be more susceptible but we currently cannot predict with any degree of certainty who they are.

The only thing we can do is to reduce our exposure to these contaminants wherever possible. We can also lobby governments to do something about "the silent threat" that confronts us all.

Professor Alfred Poulos is an affiliate professor at Adelaide University and is the Managing Director of Biolipids Pty Ltd. Professor Poulos' book, The Silent Threat, is available by contacting him by Email: alfredpoulos@esc.net.au or from Imprints Booksellers.