Our Polluted Soil

In my last article I discussed the devastating effects upon our health as well as the health of our planet due to waterpollution.  In this article we will explore the personal and planetary consequences of soil pollution.

The Western mindset suffers under the delusion that all of Earth’s resources are here solely so that we can exploit them.  This perspective has resulted in untold riches for some, at the expense of severe degradation of our environment, particularly the soil.

Here locally, one of the fairly unique pollutants in our water table is ammonium perchlorate.  This substance made it into our water table due to the careless activities of Pepcon, the rocket fuel oxidizer plant that blew up several years ago in Henderson.  Some may think it was just the explosion that distributed this substance over the soil and into the water table; however, it was present in our water table long before the explosion.

What is particularly damaging about this substance is that is a potent toxin to the thyroid gland and causes many in our area to suffer from the effects of hypothyroidism, or a low functioning thyroid gland.  In the Las Vegas Valley, we tend to be not as concerned with the quality of our soil because there is very little agriculture here.  However, whatever gets into the soil eventually makes its way into the water table and then enters our public drinking water supply.

Another pollutant in our water supply that starts off as a soil pollutant originates from cemeteries.  Our current laws require that all bodies be embalmed prior to burial.  Although caskets are designed to last a long time, they are not designed to last forever.  Eventually the formaldehyde leaks through the casket and into the soil and eventually into the groundwater supply. 

One of the largest class of pollutants however is pesticides and herbicides distributed purposely over our farmland.  Many of these chemicals are in a class called “endocrine disruptors”.  This class of chemicals plays a very active role in creating abnormal function of our endocrine glands, which secrete sex hormones, adrenal hormones and thyroid hormones as well as many others. 

In a healthy individual the levels of these hormones is controlled in a very elegant, highly choreographed dance.  When this delicate balance is disrupted, the dance partners stumble and fall and occasionally crash into each other, which results in some very serious health consequences.

Another effect these chemicals in our soil and non-organic food have is disruption of one of the most important parts of our cells, the mitochondria.  The mitochondria are the energy production part of each cell.  If the mitochondria don’t work properly, they don’t make enough energy for the cell and the cell can’t do the things it is supposed to do.  As a result, our health suffers.  

This is a huge factor in degenerative neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and ALS as well as others.  One study even found that the incidence of Parkinson’s disease is 70% higher in households that use pesticides inside their home!

You need to remember that any time you choose to purchase and eat non-organic food,  you are choosing to eat food that was sprayed with bug spray!  Why would you ever want to do that?  So the next time you go to the grocery store, ask yourself: “Do I want to buy food raised with bug spray or without bug spray today?  Hopefully that will help motivate you to make healthier choices.  As more and more of us choose to eat healthier food, fewer and fewer farmers will use poisons in raising that food. As a result, our soil and our bodies will be healthier.

Dr. Mark Baxter is a local chiropractor who specializes in nutrition, healthy diet and lifestyle choices, detoxification, hormonal balance, bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, and neurotransmitter balance.