PBDE Endocrine Disruptors Quadruple the Risk of Dying From Cancer

[jimh111]

PBDEs are endocrine disrupting chemicals used in soft furnishings and electronics. They disrupt T3 binding to peripheral receptors (but not pituitary receptors) leading to hypothyroidism with normal hormone levels ibshypo.com/index.php/acqui... . They also reduce T4 to T3 conversion in the brain pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articl... .

This recent study also reveals an association between upper tertile PBDE levels and a 300% higher risk of cancer mortality:

Liu B, Lehmler H, Ye Z, et al. Exposure to Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers and Risk of All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(4):e243127. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.3127

doi.org/10.1001/jamanetwork...

[TSH110]

Thank you for posting, it’s shocking.

[Bearo]

thanks for this. Is there any way of identifying these products or avoiding the risk?

[jimh111 in reply to Bearo]

PBDEs were used in soft furnishings and electronics until 2004 but they hang around for many decades. They are lipophilic and accumulate in fat. Polyurethane foam (the lightweight yellow foam) contains up to 40% PBDE by weight.To reduce exposure get rid of furnishings made between the 1970s and 2004. Regular damp dust or HEPA vacuum and ventilate rooms occasionally. Trimming excess fat off neat will also help.

I have reduced my PBDE burden by using WindEze capsules or Enterosgel (only 1 teaspoon daily) as destin my ibshypo.com website.

[thyr01d in reply to jimh111]

Thank you, very helpful info. I also wonder if this is why some people who are overweight feel so awful when they are losing weight. Years ago I read a theory that some people's bodies deal with toxins by surrounding them in fat molecules (think that was it). I'm thinking of a dear friend who is overweight, people assume she overeats but she doesn't.

[jimh111 in reply to thyr01d]

Intermittant weight loss is one strategy for eliminating these toxins, their concentration increases when we lose weight and so they are eliminated more quickly. I don't think this is a good idea, it's OK for research but not healthy. I would stick to WindEze or Enterosgel, they are cheap and safe (do not take thyroid hormone around the same time).

[thyr01d in reply to jimh111]

Thank you Jim, I will mention this to my friend when she is feeling receptive because she has a diagnosis of ME and is TATT. She is though fed up of people suggesting she tries different things, I think it makes her feel blamed for not having got herself better. Would it be unsafe to take WindEze or Enterosgel with thyroid hormones? I can't stop mine.

[jimh111 in reply to thyr01d]

PBDEs are lipids that are excreted into the gut via the liver and reabsorbed. WindEze and Enterosgel bind lipids but cannot be absorbed into the gut so they are eliminated down the toilet. They remove a tiny bit of PBDEs each day.Thyroid hormones are also lipids so you mustn't take them around the same time. I leave a couple of hours or more and it works OK.

[thyr01d in reply to jimh111]

Thanks again, so interesting and helpful 😀

[arTistapple]

Thinking how individual everyone’s results can be and how ‘regulated’ our treatment is. How on Earth would we ever really know if this was the case. No-one is looking!

[Babette]

An interesting paper about the impact of flame retardants on health and the environment, and concerns about the toxic fumes emitted during a fire :

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

[jimh111 in reply to Babette]

Haven't seen this, will read it later. These flame retardants were somewhat counterproductive as they release dioxins in a fire so they haven't saved many lives.

[Bertiepuss]

Thanks for posting. I've known about this for at least 15 years but basically, most of these chemicals seem unavoidable due to regulations. I changed what I could - cookware, mattress, bedding. Also cosmetics and cleaning solutions although these are different chemicals but nonetheless worth eliminating what you can. Soft furnishings and electronics...impossible to get without the fire retardants on them as far as I can see. I'm just about to change my carpets, what an ordeal trying to find truly chemical free carpet. There are some 'better' options (seriously more expensive though) but even then, no guarantee that these chemicals are not used somewhere along the manufacturing chain even if they are not sprayed directly on the finished product.

[jimh111 in reply to Bertiepuss]

At least they should be free of PBDEs now. At one stage manufacturers were getting brownie points for recycling polyurethane foam, recycling toxins!