How Limited Exposure to Toxins
 May Have a Big Impact

Hormonally dependent cancers are majorly influenced by endocrine disruptors in the environment. Although we like to think small exposure to chemicals and toxins isn’t a big deal, new science suggests that there is no such thing as a “low dose” regarding endocrinology. There is either exposure or not, impact or not. 

Today’s article explores non-monotonic dosing, which either blows the minds or triggers the living daylights out of scientists worldwide. This concept suggests that microdoses of endocrine disruptors can be as toxic as large doses. Like any “new” theory, many scientists reject it out of familiarity. Still, it is worth listening to because it has real implications regarding detoxification and health.

How “Safe Levels” of Toxin Exposure are Decided

Many people in the health industry preach that no amount of exposure to toxins is safe, but rarely do they see the full picture of why this is true. Toxicology is based on animal studies exploring when a certain substance starts adversely affecting the animal’s body.

Toxicologists come up with “safe levels” of toxin exposure through the study of what is called a “no-observed-adverse-effect level” (or NOAEL) as well as a “lowest-observed-adverse-effect-level” (or LOAEL). Both these studies explore a dose-response level to interpret what amount of exposure would allegedly be safe for humans. Unsurprisingly, the curve continues to rise after the LOAEL point. This means that after the lowest observed adverse effect dose, the number of people impacted by toxicity increases as the dose increases.^[1]

The Controversial New Discovery: Non-Monotonic Dosing

What is sending shockwaves through the health community is the “non-monotonic dose-response” (or NMDR), which is the curve that goes the opposite way below the NOAEL. On the other side of the LOAEL dose are smaller doses; after a certain point, there is a similar rise in impact from toxicity. In other words, as the amount becomes more of a microdose, it becomes just as harmful to hormones as the large doses.^[2]

How is this possible? Scientists believe that the body knows what to do with a “medium dose,” which is the point at which there are no observable impacts on the body (the NOAEL). However, health markers are negatively impacted when the body is exposed to a micro or macro dose.

Non-Monotonic Dosing in Application

Non-monotonic dosing can be confusing, so let’s use a real-life example. 

The body can handle a certain dose of hormone-disrupting chemicals like BPAs and filter them out; this is considered the NOAEL, where there is no observable adverse effect. The logical assumption, which is scientifically backed up, is that as soon as levels of BPAs start impacting the body’s hormones (known as an endocrine disruption), the more BPAs, the worse the response.^[3] As soon as the BPAs start to impact the body negatively, scientists call this the LOAEL (lowest observable adverse effect level). From that point onwards, the more exposure to BPAs, the more severe the negative impact.

The shocking (and less intuitive) reality is that this negative impact also exists when the dose is far below the “medium dose” the body can tolerate. Micro-doses far below the body can handle start becoming a problem the smaller the exposure. Scientists call this effect non-monotonic dosing (NMD) and suggest that because the body can’t properly recognize the dose enough to do anything about it, it can wreak as much havoc as a large exposure.^[4]

What Does This Mean for Toxicity?

The research into non-monotonic dosing is relatively new. This phenomenon was barely discussed ten years ago and, to this day, is often ignored because the general concept goes against many of the foundational principles on which toxicology was built.^[5] As a result, many scientists and toxicologists reject it because it goes against the paradigm they learned and have become familiar with.

Like many discoveries, it can take a long time to permeate the industry, but it does not make the impact any less real. As a consumer and human living in this modern toxic world, it is important for you that no dose is safe for endocrine disruptors. 

Endocrinology is the most common realm in which non-monotonic dosing is currently being studied. Common endocrine disruptors include bisphenol A (BPA), dioxins, phthalates, and triclosan. When absorbed in the body, an endocrine disruptor can decrease or increase normal hormone levels, mimic the body's natural hormones, and lead to health problems.^[6]

Non-monotonic dosing has also been linked to other toxins, including heavy metals. One study, for example, demonstrates the impact of an NMD of arsenic on glucose metabolism.^[7]

The Bottom Line: It’s Time to Detox

The Bottom line regarding non-monotonic dosing is that even a tiny amount of exposure isn't safer; it’s significantly less safe. Luckily, the solution resembles larger exposures to endocrine disruptors: detoxification. 

The body naturally detoxifies at this “medium dose” level. Still, even so, many of our detoxification pathways are so blocked up these days that essentially everyone can benefit from detox support. 

To help undo the impact of past exposure to even micro exposures to toxins, you can reach for CytoDetox®. CytoDetox is a potent liposomal zeolite clinoptilolite with fulvates that supports the removal of environmental toxins like heavy metals, chemicals, pesticides, and biotoxins at the cellular level, safely and 100% naturally.^[8]

When you’re unsure about the quality of things you ingest, or are making an exception to your regular mindful eating, TrueCarbonCleanse™ - Gut Detoxifier is a supplement you can use to buffer the impact of toxins. This binder contains activated carbon, powerful humates (humic and fulvic acids), Cleanoptilite™️ (clinoptilolite - zeolite crystals), and other gut detoxifiers that can attach to and eliminate toxins.^[9]

Summary

The world of toxicology, and subsequently of detox, typically preaches that there is such a thing as a safe small amount of exposure when it comes to endocrine disruptors. The latest science suggests, however, that there is no such thing. Non-monotonic dosing explores the bell curve that lives below what toxicologists have determined to be a “dose with no observable adverse effect”. It demonstrates that microdoses can be as harmful to health as large doses.

1. “Handbook of Toxicologic Pathology.” ScienceDirect, www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780123302151/handbook-of-toxicologic-pathology. 
2. “Non-Monotonic Dose Responses.” Endocrine Science Matters, 29 Mar. 2017, endocrinesciencematters.org/non-monotonic-dose-responses-2/non-monotonic-dose-responses-technical-overview/. 
3. Karmakar, Polash Chandra, et al. “Paternal Exposure to Bisphenol-A Transgenerationally Impairs Testis Morphology, Germ Cell Associations, and Stemness Properties of Mouse Spermatogonial Stem Cells.” International journal of molecular sciences vol. 21,15 5408. 29 Jul. 2020, doi:10.3390/ijms21155408
4. Vandenberg, Laura N. “Non-monotonic dose responses in studies of endocrine disrupting chemicals: bisphenol a as a case study.” Dose-response: a publication of International Hormesis Society vol. 12,2 259-76. 7 Oct. 2013, doi:10.2203/dose-response.13-020.Vandenberg
5. Lagarde, Fabien, et al. “Non-monotonic dose-response relationships and endocrine disruptors: a qualitative method of assessment.” Environmental health: a global access science source vol. 14 13. 11 Feb. 2015, doi:10.1186/1476-069X-14-13
6. “Endocrine Disruptors.” National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/endocrine/index.cfm. 
7. Gong, Yingyun, et al. “Non-monotonic dose-response effects of arsenic on glucose metabolism.” Toxicology and applied pharmacology vol. 377 (2019): 114605. doi:10.1016/j.taap.2019.114605
8. Mastinu, Andrea et al. “Zeolite Clinoptilolite: Therapeutic Virtues of an Ancient Mineral.” Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) vol. 24,8 1517. 17 Apr. 2019, doi:10.3390/molecules24081517
9. “Activated Charcoal.” Activated Charcoal, www.poison.org/articles/activated-charcoal.