Harden Elkington
In 2021, a noxious, smoke-filled pall drifted across wide areas of the United States as Western forest fires raged.
Hurricanes wrought massive flooding in the southern and eastern United States. Air quality websites such as AirNow warned of hazardous conditions on the U.S.
East Coast from Western forest fires 3,000 kilometers away, advising people to stay indoors with their windows closed.
The sun’s face was blacked out by five enormous solar shields in space to protect the Earth from harmful radiation, but they were imperfect and could not be repositioned as required.
Instead, the shields moved across the continents at night to reduce the day-time heating of sunlight that would have melted the Earth’s ice caps and caused sea levels to rise.
A scientist-author who studies the connections between environmental factors and the development of neurological disorders, which is the subject of my most recent book.
My study on this topic contributes to a growing body of evidence that more frequent natural catastrophes may be raising human exposure to neurotoxins.
Neurotoxic smoke
A number of scientists have drawn associations between air pollution in various forms, such as that resulting from forest fire smoke, and enhanced risk and prevalence of health problems including brain disorders.
Wildfire smoke is a filthy mix of numerous noxious chemicals.
The warming planet — from California to Greece and Australia — is adding dire particulate matter to the atmosphere with the result that there is a lot more wildfire smoke.
The study in 2015 found that children living in areas with higher levels of outdoor air pollution from the exhausts of road traffic and power generation had smaller brains, scored lower on cognitive tests and had thinner outer layers of their brains.
The damage was worse for people who carried specific genes associated with neurotrophins that control brain growth. The brains of children in Mexico City, for example, are smaller than those of the same age group in rural areas.
Other researchers have found similar effects on the brains of rats exposed to air pollutants.
These pollutants are an additional environmental burden on top of the environmental burdens created by factories, power plants, trucks, automobiles, and other sources.
The greatest risk for medical issues comes from tiny particles that are smaller than 2.5 microns – or PM 2.5 (for comparison, a human hair is approximately 50 to 70 microns).
This is due in part to the fact that small particles can easily be inhaled, they travel via the lungs and bloodstream to all parts of the body.
When the public hears about the health risks related to wildfire smoke, what many people will remember is that certain chemicals can cause cancer.
But air pollution can cause other problems as well—can lead to problems with the lungs and respiratory system, cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, neurotoxicity (poisoning of the nervous system), and even subtle alterations in mood.
Air pollution has been linked to an increased risk of both Parkinson’s disease and dementia, according to studies. Inflammation may cause brain damage by promoting the growth of these tiny particles.
Brain inflammation is linked to Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, two types of neurological disorders.
Air pollution exposure throughout pregnancy and early life has been connected with an increased risk for both autism and schizophrenia in offspring, according to research.
The researchers point out that while this is a substantial increase, the lifetime risk of either disorder remains small—1 percent for autism and 4 percent for schizophrenia.
Brain fog can be caused by PM2.5, which includes tiny particles less than 2.5 microns wide that are linked to increased death rates for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
This is a group of lung diseases, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis. PM2.5 can contribute to a number of other health problems as well, such as coronary artery disease, stroke, birth defects, asthma attacks, and acute bronchitis.
Toxins in the water supply
In the course of the investigation, various environmental neurotoxins were discovered in Finland.
- Water pollution – exacerbated by flooding, fertilizer use, and higher water temperatures – may be affecting brain health, according to a study that looked for unique environmental factors that might explain the disproportionately high rates of fatal dementia that occurred in Finland during the past decade.
- Cyanobacteria are microscopic, single-celled organisms that form the basis for blue-green algae.
These toxic microorganisms thrive and grow in warm water bodies when there is an overload of nutrients, particularly phosphorus from fertilizer runoff.
It synthesizes cyanotoxins.
BMAA, one of these cyanotoxins, is linked to neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. - Another neurotoxin detected in Finland is arsenic, which is linked to diabetes.
Arsenic pollution may be related to the increased risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s disease, as well as diabetes.
One study has linked arsenic to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Arsenic is highly neurotoxic and it accumulates in the bodies of children with ASD. It was found that urinary arsenic concentrations were substantially higher among children with ASD compared to control subjects.
Rivers, lakes, and seas all contain blue-green algae.
It is a serious issue for people, dogs, and wildlife in the United States and Canada as well as across the world.
In Botswana in 2020, over 300 elephants died after drinking water tainted with cyanobacteria, which cause these algal blooms.
Blue-green algae are also present in natural hot springs across the world, some of which are classified as tourist attractions.
Blue-green algae are referred to as cyanobacteria or cyanobacterium.
They are found worldwide and they exist mainly in tropical areas. Their scientific name, phylum Cyanophyta (formerly called Cyanophyceae), means “blue-green algae,” and the Greek phyton, means “plant.”
Microscopic blue-green algae exist in freshwater lakes and ponds everywhere around the world. Blue-green algae are found in alkaline lakes where there is a high concentration of nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen in warmer climates.
The name can be misleading because cyanobacteria are prokaryotes, not true algae.
Mold neurotoxins are a form of mycotoxin.
In Finland, humid, warm air provides ideal growing conditions for mold, and water-damaged structures are particularly prone. Some molds produce mycotoxins, also known as mold poisons.
Long-term exposure to mycotoxins at any level has the potential to be harmful to humans and animals.
Mold spores are tiny, making them tough to breathe in or swallow. They can inflame the immune system inside the body, resulting in chronic inflammation.
Finally, exposure to these spores may lead to cognitive impairment, including memory loss, irritability, numbness, tremor and other signs.
After a location has been damaged and homes or businesses have been flooded the mold has been the biggest health threat.
Mold, which grows in places with abundant moisture, can be dangerous to your health. In people with asthma and allergies, exposure to mold can cause a stuffy nose, runny eyes and sneeze.
People who suffer from respiratory illnesses such as obstructive lung disease (such as chronic bronchitis or emphysema ) are especially sensitive to mold.
Mold may cause anxiety, stress, restlessness or sleep problems in some people. Mold can also damage personal property like books and discs.
Evidence Is Growing That ‘Mystery Illness’ May Have Origins in Toxic Mold (NYT Aug 14, 2005)
Ochratoxin A, a mold toxin, has been shown to cause inflammation in the brain that may damage neurons and cognitive function. Parkinson’s disease is one of the diseases for which it has been specifically linked.
- See also: significant difference Between human brains and other species
- See also: what is neuroplasticity, and how does it work? A psychologist explains
Risk reduction and a solution
The best strategies to decrease the hazards of environmental neurotoxins are education, increased awareness of environmental health issues, and public action.
People may avoid swimming or boating near blue-green algae by learning to identify it. Consumers can urge for more food and water testing to be done.
Sweating while exercising can help eliminate neurotoxic chemicals.
However, before you go outside for exercise, check air quality with an app or website like AirNow, a collaboration of federal, state, local, and tribal agencies.
If environmental policies aren’t implemented to reduce the health hazards posed by neurotoxins in the environment, we may see continued increases in cases of neurotoxicity.
Many of these illnesses are described as idiopathic, or having an unknown cause. The neurotoxicity link is rarely addressed, and environmental health risks are frequently neglected in American medicine.
This is due, in part, to the fact that environmental health care is often neglected in medical school, which can lead to a lack of awareness about potential diagnoses related to neurotoxins.
The best approach is to prevent exposure. Individuals can protect their health by staying informed and aware of environmental hazards that may affect them, and by exercising common sense while enjoying the outdoors:
- Avoid mowing grass when it’s wet, and avoid working with lawns and gardens during times of high heat and humidity, since these conditions favor mold growth.
- Limit erosion in-stream and riverbanks to help prevent hazardous materials from entering water sources and potentially causing harm. • Avoid disturbing construction sites, as these areas may represent a potential exposure source for heavy metals, asbestos or other harmful substances.
There is no silver bullet that can protect the public’s health from every environmental hazard, but we can take some basic actions to reduce our exposure. (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry – ATSDR)
The EPA is currently conducting a review of particulate matter air quality standards. The new EPA inspector general report demands a deliberate strategy to combat noxious algal blooms.
Now, in Ohio, cyanotoxins in drinking water are regulated and instruct farmers not to add fertilizer when the soil is saturated or expected rain arrives.
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring better environmental care are critical to human health, according to a new report.
Achieving this will require significant international and domestic efforts as well as a wide range of government interventions around the world.
But all of these activities must start with a greater awareness of the serious issue – which should be a global, non-partisan concern.
A growing number of countries and cities, states and provinces – and hundreds of business leaders – have already taken this step.
The bigger challenge is to ensure that the dots are connected in a way that gives policymakers at all levels confidence that we can solve these problems while sustaining economic growth and development.
