Microplastics, Forever-Chemicals, Air-Pollution, Food-Additives, Processed Food etc. and all even before you're born. Take your pick or better yet, have them all!
this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2025
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As a very toxin-paranoid person trained in biochemistry, PFAS always stood out to me. Sneaking into your DNA replication system, your body unable to differentiate them from their similar, natural chemicals. Big dipoles fucking shit up in replication and metagenetics
Horifying
As I visit the city today (bus), I'm not sure how people tolerate the toxic transport pollution stench :(
There must be some desensitising to it from a young age e.g. getting a car, getting used to the smell of petrol every time you fill the tank and so on. Not to mention a lot of folk probably work in similar or more caustic environments so there would be some rationalising going on too.
Where we used to live in Sydney was a busy strip of cafes, restaurants, bars, pubs, many of which had outdoor seating and dining by the main road which was usually two to four lanes of busy traffic at most times of the day. You look at the shopfronts and signs, the footpaths and building facades and it's all covered in soot. Sure it's not building up that quickly but you only have to see it once and say to yourself, this is not a healthy environment, maybe all these people oriented places shouldn't be a on what's basically a highway. But nope, I never heard a word or complaint.
I never got the sitting outdoors on a road.
Also, exercising (walking, running, cycling) where roads are, would surely be even worse for you?
Cycling is somewhat understandable, but I completely agree with running and walking. It always baffles me when I see these people around my area going for walks or runs along a main road, breathing in all the traffic fumes, when they could do it on quiet suburban streets, around a lake or along the beach.
Annoyingly sometimes a main road or highway is the only way to find relatively flat terrain. Where I live the moment you are off the main road you're into endless hills, makes it difficult if you're trying to keep your heart rate in a certain range!
Though completely agree about using suburban streets for running. Much nicer than major roads!
One of the reasons people do use roads is that they are often flatter and in better condition, and you're not competing for space with children and dogs. But better that than cars with all the risks that come with them (collisions and noise/air pollution).
However, the health benefits of regular exercise tend to outweigh the risk of air pollution (although perhaps not in severely polluted cities like in parts of India). So it's probably still worth if that's the most convenient place to exercise, if you can minimise the safety risk at least.
We consumed alllll the BPA when we were young and it was unregulated. Same with PFAs in non-stick pans and microwave popcorn bags. Probably dozens of other toxic things that are now regulated but when we were young were heavily used and consumed as we grew.
Aussies also eat a lot of sausages, pies and processed meats, which is now known to be a cancer causer - including bowel cancer. Now we're getting to the age where damage from all the above starts to manifest as cancers.
The question is did we do all of those things at just a slightly higher rate which led to the higher rates the cancer scientists are seeing now and worrying about - because it's not like they can go back in time and measure our environmental factors and inputs, they largely have to estimate.
Diet might not be the only factor. We are also more sedentary at home and in the work place, and sitting for long periods of time is very bad for our health.
Obesity is also a causal factor for developing cancer (and bowel cancer specifically which is one the diseases increasing in incidence).
What in the $&=>! Going on
Canada's IBS is making similar headlines https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/article/canada-could-face-sharp-rise-in-inflammatory-bowel-disease-by-2045-global-study-warns/
My pea brained understanding is that IBS increases the chances for cancer in the bowels, colon, etc
We're terraforming the planet to make it less habitable for humans, but think we can colonise Mars.