Everyday pollution and health

In the last few decades an increase in chemical substances in our environment has been observed : pesticides, heavy metals and others are part of our everyday life. We already know that most of them can have harmful effects on health, but what are their effects on our immune system ?

A majority of studies show that pesticides are « immunotoxic », meaning they cause damage to the immune system. This can take different forms : immunosuppression, sensitivity or auto-immunity.

     - Immunosuppression is a change in the immune system that leads to a decrease in the immune response and can trigger cancers.
     - Sensitivity is the exaggerated reaction of the immune system when in contact with a pathogen (which is normally tolerated by most people) It is what happens during allergic reactions.

     - Auto-imunity is an inappropriate reaction of the immune system which produces lymphocytes T.

Scientists conducted an experiment on 13 wine growers widely exposed to a pesticide called Mancozeb and compared them with 13 not exposed. The exposed wine growers presented a significant decrease of immunoglobulin E.

Air pollution(exhaust fumes and dust) is also a culprit, while pollution in clouds presents very strong concentrations of nitrogen oxide (NO2) ozone (03) and radical nitrate (N03). Immunological studies showed that nitrite proteins provoke strong reactions in the immune system, mainly allergies. It is rather worrying because we are in daily contact with clouds of polluted air especially in towns.

Finally, perfluorinated compound (PFC) is the last example of toxic products we come across in our daily life.They are found in food packaging, waterproof fabrics or anti-adhesive covering in frying pans for example.These PFCs decompose very slowly and remain in our body tissues for a long time. We suspect them of slowing down or damaging our power to combat deseases and viruses.

We should therefore question the use of such potentially dangerous material. It is very disturbing to know that we are in permanent contact with these immunotoxic substances that behave like a silent and everpresent poison.