persistent organic pollutants | Health Topics | NutritionFacts.org

70 videos

Topic summary contributed by volunteer(s): Linda

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are chemical substances that persist in the environment and bio-accumulate through the food web. POPs may be linked to a range of health concerns, including endometriosis, gum disease, fibrosis, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular mortality. Those eating plant-based diets may be significantly less polluted with industrial toxins than omnivores.

Fish may be the biggest source of POPs for consumers along with milk. Farmed Atlantic salmon, the kind of salmon most commonly found in restaurants and supermarkets, may be the single largest food source of POPs. Perflurochemicals, which may enter the body mostly through meat and fish, may be linked to thyroid disease risk. It can take the body as long as 10 years to get rid of about one-half of certain ingested POPs such as dioxins and PCBs.

The information on this page has been compiled from the research presented in the videos listed. Sources for each video can be found by going to the video’s page and clicking on the Sources Cited tab.

All Videos for Persistent Organic Pollutants

a bowl filled with grains and beans

Animal Protein vs. Plant-Based Protein

I discuss a public health case for modernizing the definition of protein quality.

image of a brain floating off in pieces

Pesticides (DDT) and Alzheimer’s Disease

How can we avoid the breakdown product of pesticides that may increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease as much as if you carried APOE e4, the so-called Alzheimer’s gene?

Multigrain cereals with fresh berry

Ochratoxin in Breakfast Cereals

One of the few food contaminants found at higher levels in those eating plant-based diets are mycotoxins, fungal toxins in moldy food ingredients, such as oats.

The Human Health Effects of Cultivated Meat: Chemical Safety

The Human Health Effects of Cultivated Meat: Chemical Safety

More than 95 percent of human exposure to industrial pollutants like dioxins and PCBs comes from fish, other meat, and dairy.

The Best Diet for Weight Loss and Disease Prevention

The most effective diet for weight loss may also be the healthiest.

Vegetarians and Stroke Risk Factors—Omega 3s?

Vegetarians and Stroke Risk Factors—Omega 3s?

Does eating fish or taking fish oil supplements reduce stroke risk?

Stainless Steel or Cast Iron: Which Cookware Is Best? Is Teflon Safe?

Stainless Steel or Cast Iron: Which Cookware Is Best? Is Teflon Safe?

What’s the best type of pots and pans to use?

Avoiding Fish for 5 Years Before Pregnancy

Avoiding Fish for 5 Years Before Pregnancy

The problem with fish advisories that tell pregnant women to cut down on fish is that it may be too late for certain persistent pollutants.

How Much Microplastic Is Found in Fish Fillets?

How Much Microplastic Is Found in Fish Fillets?

How many plastic particles per serving have been found in the fish muscle itself?

Are Microplastics in Seafood a Cancer Risk?

Are Microplastics in Seafood a Cancer Risk?

Plastic particles may exacerbate the pollutant contamination of fish.

Microplastic Contamination and Seafood Safety

Microplastic Contamination and Seafood Safety

Can ingested plastic particles from fish get into our bloodstream?

Is Organic Meat Less Carcinogenic?

Is Organic Meat Less Carcinogenic?

Researchers tested 76 samples of different kinds of organic and conventional meats for 33 different carcinogens.

various grilled meats

Carcinogens in Meat

What are the eight preparation methods to reduce exposure to carcinogens in cooked meat?

Heavy Metal Urine Testing and Chelation for Autism

Heavy Metal Urine Testing and Chelation for Autism

Is testing for body burden of heavy metals like mercury with “urine mobilization tests,” “challenge tests,” and “provoked urine tests” just a scam?

The Best Diet for Fibroids

The Best Diet for Fibroids

The same diet that helps regulate hormones in women may also reduce exposure to endocrine-disrupting pollutants.

Which Brands and Sources of Rice Have the Least Arsenic?

Which Brands & Sources of Rice Have the Least Arsenic?

Arsenic levels were tested in 5,800 rice samples from 25 countries.

Cancer Risk from Arsenic in Rice and Seaweed

Cancer Risk from Arsenic in Rice & Seaweed

A daily half-cup of cooked rice may carry a hundred times the acceptable cancer risk of arsenic. What about seaweed from the coast of Maine?

Where Does the Arsenic in Chicken Come From?

Where Does the Arsenic in Chicken Come From?

What was the National Chicken Council’s response to public health authorities calling for the industry to stop feeding arsenic-based drugs to poultry?

How Our Gut Bacteria Can Use Eggs to Accelerate Cancer

How Our Gut Bacteria Can Use Eggs to Accelerate Cancer

The reason egg consumption is associated with elevated cancer risk may be the TMAO, considered the “smoking gun” of microbiome-disease interactions.

Best Food to Counter the Effects of Air Pollution

Best Food to Counter the Effects of Air Pollution

There is a food that offers the best of both worlds—significantly improving our ability to detox carcinogens like diesel fumes and decreasing inflammation in our airways—all while improving our respiratory defenses against infections.

Best Foods to Reduce Stroke Risk

Best Foods to Reduce Stroke Risk

What are the protective components of dietary patterns and foods associated with lower risk of cerebrovascular disease, or stroke?

meat being grilled

Animal Protein, Pregnancy, and Childhood Obesity

What pregnant women eat may affect even the health of their grandchildren.

bottles of milk in the factory

Could Lactose Explain the Milk and Parkinson’s Disease Link?

Neurotoxin contamination of the dairy supply doesn’t explain why the association between Parkinson’s and skim milk consumption is as strong as the disease’s association with whole milk.

pot of bone broth

Lead Contamination in Bone Broth

Organic chicken broth is popular with paleo diet advocates, but do tests indicate the presence of the toxic heavy metal lead?

Should Vegan Women Supplement with DHA During Pregnancy?

Should Vegan Women Supplement with DHA during Pregnancy?

I recommend all pregnant and breastfeeding women follow the consensus guidelines to get about 200mg of preformed DHA from a pollutant-free source.

Should Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women Take DHA?

Should Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women Take DHA?

Does maternal supplementation with the long-chain omega-3 fatty acid DHA improve psychomotor, mental, visual, or physical development of infants?

Should We Take EPA and DHA Omega-3 For Our Heart?

Should We Take EPA and DHA Omega-3 for Our Heart?

What’s the best way to fulfill the omega-3 essential fat requirements?

Omega 3s, Prostate Cancer, and Atrial Fibrillation

Omega 3s, Prostate Cancer, and Atrial Fibrillation

Fish and fish oil consumption do not appear to protect against heart disease, arrhythmias, or sudden death, but why would they increase cancer risk?

Food as Medicine

Food as Medicine: Preventing and Treating the Most Dreaded Diseases with Diet

Dr. Greger has scoured the world’s scholarly literature on clinical nutrition and developed this new presentation based on the latest in cutting edge research exploring the role diet may play in preventing, arresting, and even reversing some of our most feared causes of death and disability.

Fish Consumption and Suicide

The mercury content in fish may help explain links found between fish intake and mental disorders, depression, and suicide.

Flame Retardant Pollutants and Child Development

Flame-Retardant Pollutants and Child Development

PBDE fire-retardant chemicals in the food supply may contribute to attention and cognitive deficits in children.

Dietary Pollutants May Affect Testosterone Levels

Dietary Pollutants May Affect Testosterone Levels

Endocrine-disrupting industrial toxins in the aquatic food chain may affect genital development of boys and sexual function in men.

raw meats, eggs, and milk on a table

Estrogen in Meat, Dairy, and Eggs

The sex steroids found naturally in animal products likely exceed the hormonal impacts of endocrine-disrupting chemical pollutants.

illustration of a sperm on black background

Dairy Estrogen and Male Fertility

Sex steroid hormones in meat, eggs, and dairy may help explain the link between saturated fat intake and declining sperm counts.

PCBs in Children’s Fish Oil Supplements

PCBs in Children’s Fish Oil Supplements

A study of 13 over-the-counter children’s fish oil supplements found that all were contaminated with PCB pollutants.

Dioxins in U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish

Dioxins in U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish

Feed contaminated with toxic pollutants thought to originate from sewer sludge fed to chickens and fish results in human dioxin exposure through poultry, eggs, and catfish.

Pollutants in Salmon and Our Own Fat

Pollutants in Salmon and Our Own Fat

Farmed Atlantic salmon, the kind of salmon most commonly found in restaurants and supermarkets, may be the single largest source of toxic dietary pollutants.

Diabetes and Dioxins

Diabetes and Dioxins

Industrial pollutants that build up in our own body fat may help explain the link between obesity and diabetes.

Fish and Diabetes

Fish and Diabetes

The relationship between fish consumption and diabetes risk may be due to toxic pollutants that build up in the aquatic food chain.

inhaler and medications

Preventing Asthma with Fruits and Vegetables

A study involving more than a million kids suggests the striking worldwide variation in childhood rates of allergies, asthma, and eczema is related to diet.

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