Life Is Science Is Life: A Magnified Look at the Old Past Time: You are what you eat!

As time goes by, the number of vegans and vegetarians seems to be on the rise. More and more people are refusing to eat meats and fish; and in positive correlation, the number of people going organic seems to be on the rise as well. A chief concern all of these people share in common is that of bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Plants, animals, and fish alike have the possibility of undergoing the process of bioaccumulation and/or biomagnification. Harmful chemicals are causing these issues; so in return, more and more people are beginning to speak out against pesticides and pollution and abstain from the products affected by them. A growing emphasis is being placed on what toxins we put into our bodies, as more and more people draw attention to bioaccumulation and biomagnification, which support the time old saying “You are what you eat!”

Bioaccumulation occurs solely between the environment and the living organism. It is when the organism’s intake of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, surpasses the rate at which it can either metabolize or excrete the toxic substance; therefore, causing an accumulation of the substance in the tissue or fat of the living organism. Similarly, biomagnification is the accumulation of toxins in a living organism; however, this toxic accumulation progresses as the organism moves up in the various levels of the food chain. For example, a predator, like a shark per say, at the top of the food chain will have accumulated the most toxins because the fish it consumed had consumed toxins, and the fish they had consumed had consumed toxins, and so on and so forth. The cycle simply builds and builds; until those at the top of the food chain have accumulated so many toxins that they become in danger to the harmful effects the stored chemicals can have on their bodies!

Watch this VIDEO for clarification on Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification:

Qualities a Pollutant Must Possess In Order to Biomagnify:

The four necessary qualities include a substance that is: long-lived, soluble in fat, mobile, and biologically active (8). The substance must first be long-lived because short-lived substances, in contrast, break down; therefore, posing no danger. The substance must be mobile to increase the likelihood of the species to take it in, and also biologically active so that it has the potential to cause problems instead of being biologically dormant. Last, it must be soluble in fat. If a substance is not fat-soluble, it means that it is soluble in water and can be excreted out of the body through the cells and/or bodily functions; therefore, causing no harm. If it is soluble in fats; however, the substance cannot be released, so instead it will build up in the fat/tissue of an animal or plant allowing bioaccumulation or biomagnification to occur.

Common pollutants to biomagnify include: heavy metals such as mercury, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP’s), Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB’s), plastics, and radioisotopes.

PCBs

Not only can they accumulate in fish and animals, for example, but they can also be spread in the air of the environment. However, the consumption rather than airborn exposure of PCBs has posed much greater risks. An EPA article on the Health Effects of PCBs explained that PCBs could act as carcinogens, or cancer causing agents, in consumers of such toxins. Additionally, PCBs have been researched and found to affect the immune system, reproductive system, neurological health and nervous system, and endocrine system.

More about how each system is affected by PCBs in the article attached below:

http://www.epa.gov/waste/hazard/tsd/pcbs/pubs/effects.htm

Mercury

Mercury is transformed from its original elemental state into its most toxic form, called methylmercury, by bacteria, such as that living in the ocean. In return, mercury poisoning is most often caused from the consumption or overconsumption of certain types of fish. This then puts the consumer at risk of a number of serious health concerns. One example would be that “60,000 children [are] born annually suffering from neurodevelopmental problems due to in utero exposure to mercury” (2).

POPs

POPs, include the pollutants that can be airborne or transported by water around the world, and in accordance to their name, can persist for a long time. One common POP is DDT, which was used as an industrial chemical after WWII during the industrial boom. When these pollutants spread though they become a part of our food, which then becomes a part of us. This accumulation of POPs, like the other substances, can cause neurological defects, cancer, birth defects, immune defects, certain diseases, and even damage certain organs, all of which can lead to death.

Current Solutions and Research

Throughout the world, emphasis is being placed on humans minimizing their contribution to the pollution of the environment in order that they may subsequently improve their own health. Current research shows that countries continue to actively place bans on emissions discharged from factories, and on pesticides used on farms, which run off into waterways or are directly consumed by humans. David Chandler of ehow.com explains the effects pollutants and pesticides are having on coastal areas like Florida, saying “Florida's Department of Health, for example, has issued fish consumption advisories for many freshwater and marine fish within the state, including shark, largemouth bass, cobia, yellowfin tuna, snook and bluegill” (5). Consuming these fish in excess amounts or even appropriate amounts, can pose serious health concerns for the consumer because pollution and pesticides have caused toxins to biomagnify in these fish.

So…is it really worth that steak, that filet of tuna, or that pesticide doused apple?

Wrap Up

Tying this all back into nutrition, what do you think about the effects bioaccumulation and/or biomagnification can have on YOU? Would you consider becoming vegan, vegetarian, or even switching to only organic produce? Because after all, non-organic produce is at risk of bioaccumulating various toxins from constant bombardment of pesticides. Furthermore, when these pesticides run off into water, they can cause bioaccumulation or biomagnification, as toxins climb the marine trophic levels or food webs, causing poisonous, toxic seafood to reach OUR plates. Not only so, but when these chemicals mentioned above biomagnify on land when toxic pesticide plants are induced by cows, which are then induced by us; or as subsequent leveled species eat each other until we in the end eat them, a mess of toxic sewage enters our mouths.

YOU TRULY ARE WHAT YOU EAT!

Will you join in the effort to become organic and say NO to the use of pesticides that are becoming so overused and prevalent in our nation and nations around the world?

I have not been organic in the past, nor vegetarian or vegan; however, although I cannot give up meat, I am now more apt to consider choosing organic produce and products to better avoid toxic products that could be threatening to my health. For if you do decide to go organic, vegan, or even vegetarian, you could be better protecting yourself from a whirlwind of problems presented from an issue that starts off small but only magnifies; the issue of biomagnification!