There is no question that our environment is contaminated. On average we have 500 times the lead in our bones as pre-Columbian Native Americans. Our Public Health system in this country, including OSHA, attempts to protect us from unhealthy exposures but the shear magnitude of possible exposures makes this a nearly impossible task. Of the more than 70,000 commonly used industrial chemicals, only a few hundred have well understood human effects. Medical science continuously refines and redefines the negative effects of those substances we thought we understood. If we are to breath the air, drink the water and eat the food needed to survive, we cannot avoid exposure to substances physically detrimental to the human body.

Chemical response to toxins is only half of the environmental picture. The other side is allergies. This is an abnormal response of ones own immune system and is the basis for a great many disease processes.

The problem of environmental exposure must be dealt with in two ways: minimize exposure through exposure avoidance and removal of accumulated toxins, and treatment of the sequelae of exposure.

Since many toxic exposures are unavoidable, protection needs to start by making each individual as healthy as possible in terms of diet and exercise patterns see Lifestyle in order to optimize their natural defenses- the immune system and natural detoxification systems of the body. Next, an awareness of and, whenever possible, avoidance of toxic substances is needed if one is to avoid the negative effects of exposure. Identification of potential exposures through personal health, job and travel history starts this process. Where risk of exposure is identified, appropriate laboratory evaluation can be used to establish actual presence of toxins. The final step is treatment of identified problems using, among others, such therapies as chelation, acupuncture and homeopathy.