This is the name of a book. Written by Theo Colborn and others, it was a watershed in the consciousness of many in the eco-movement. It detailed the scientific evidence of endocrine disruptors, the toxic chemicals that affect human hormone function.

I am thinking about chemicals because we are working on the design of our new facility. More on that later ... but we want it to be completely non-toxic, free of chemicals and as healthy an environment as possible. This will be the first time a medical facility has been built with this principle in mind, and it will be one of a handful of healthy clinics in North America.

We are committed to this vision, not just because it is a good idea. We have many patients who are very chemically sensitive, and they suffer in most buildings because of poor air quality. We also want to build a family of practitioners who are healthy and happy working at the Seekers Centre.

It was shocking to me to learn how much of a risk indoor air quality can be. My education as an integrative physician has included lots of training in healing modalities like acupuncture, mind-body medicine, herbal remedies, functional medicine and other principles. I am becoming more and more interested in environmental medicine because it helps answer one of the most basic questions I have about my patients: why are they sick in the first place?

In the design of our new facility, we are addressing issues like preventing the buildup of mold and dust. We are trying to avoid electromagnetic field (EMF) pollution and construction materials that will release toxic volatile organic chemicals (VOCs). Many issues are relevant to healthy construction ... a movement that began in Germany over 40 years ago, who called it Bau-Biologie.

I recently learned that our mattress is treated with a pesticide called Ultra Fresh. I was glad to hear that it was not treated with PBDE, a flame retardant that has been banned because it promotes cancer and thyroid disorders, yet is found at toxic levels in many women's breast milk. Still, I was wondering what Ultra Fresh was. Their website did not reveal its identity, but assured that it must be safe since it was approved by the EPA.

In fact, there are over 80,000 chemicals in use and practically none of them have ever been tested for safety. Unless a chemical is going to be added to food, no testing is required. Several highly publicized studies have shown that politicians in the US and Canada had over 200 hazardous chemicals in their body tissues.

The human race is getting sicker. Several cancers are on the rise. Immune system disorders are increasing exponentially. Autism is the most famous modern epidemic, but mental illness is also increasing rapidly. These finely tuned control systems - the nervous system, the immune system and the hormone system - are the ones that chemicals damage first.

This new project gives me hope, but there is much work to be done. Chemicals are a part of our everyday lives, so we cannot live without them. But they are making us sick. This is a complicated issue, and we need to find our way back to health. Hopefully our future has not been stolen forever.

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