Fat Loving Badness Everywhere?

A few posts ago the Bicycling article informed us that conventionally grown food leads to organochlorine (OC) toxicity in our bodies, and when we exercise the harmful chemicals affect our metabolism.

I was disappointed when reviewing their reference, but in that paper however I found the following:
Energy balance and pollution by organochlorines and polychlorinated biphenyls. C. Pelletier, P. Imbeault and A. Tremblay. International Journal of Obesity (2004) 28, 936–939.

This was much more helpful (and scientifically sound). A review:

OSs are proven to be associated with breast cancer, weakening the immune system, decreasing thyroid function and lowering mitochondrial fat metabolism.

OCs are lipophilic (fat loving) therefore are stored in fat. Obese individuals have a larger depot for OCs therefore they have higher total body storage. As the fat is converted to energy (during weight loss) the stored OCs are released into to bloodstream.

Their bottom line- because of this phenomenon, losing weight may not be as good for you as you think it is. Terrific.

Here at this point I need to backtrack and re-group.

Organochlorines are bad for me. But would I recognize an OC if I saw (or tasted it)? Where am I exposed to them? How much can I tolerate? What should I do to avoid them?

The EPA website (http://www.epa.gov/oppfead1/international/pops.htm) includes OCs in a list of the “Dirty Dozen” Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). This is news to me. Wasn’t the dirty dozen a movie or something? Anyway from the site a description of POPs

• Certain insecticides, such as DDT and chlordane, which were once commonly used to control pests in agriculture and in building materials, as well as to protect public health, are now considered POPs.
• PCBs, which were used in hundreds of commercial applications, such as in electrical, heat transfer, and hydraulic equipment, and as plasticizers in paints, plastics, and rubber products.
• Certain chemical byproducts, such as dioxins and furans, which are produced unintentionally from most forms of combustion, including municipal and medical waste incinerators, open burning of trash, and industrial processes.

AHA. My friend the architect was trying to convince me the hospital building materials were killing me! Maybe he was right. I certainly have heard of PCBs, and DDT is the insecticide that saves millions of lives from malaria in underdeveloped countries.

Is this stuff in our food (non-organically grown) too? The FDA regulates this, I plan to look into it.