Hacking Forever Chemicals for Highly Sensitives: 8 Easy Detox Habits

Over the past few years, we’ve been hearing more about toxic forever chemicals, but what do we, as Highly Sensitives, really need to know about them?

We’re going to take a look at this puzzle and put the pieces together.

For Highly Sensitive individuals who feel deeply connected to the natural world, we need to prepare ourselves mentally for this, so take a deep breath, step back emotionally, and put your objective hat on.

We’re going to examine the facts.

We’re also going to keep this simple, starting at the beginning, and then move on to the easy detox habits we can implement. Lastly, we’ll conclude with some good news!

 

History of Forever Chemicals

The first form of forever chemicals was called PFAS, short for polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE), and was discovered in 1934 by a couple of chemists.

Not long after, the earliest known PFAS compound in the U.S., polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), was synthesized in 1938 by a chemist working at DuPont.

Then, in the 1950s, DuPont used PFAS chemicals, particularly PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), for different industrial purposes, including as a processing aid in the production of fluoropolymers like Teflon. These fluoropolymers, known for their non-stick properties, were used in cookware and other applications.

The use of PFOA by DuPont in the 1950s and beyond led to widespread contamination of water sources and soil in areas surrounding DuPont’s manufacturing facilities. This contamination has been linked to various health problems in the surrounding communities.

Ok, that’s the first puzzle piece.

Since then, we’ve seen a steep increase in forever chemicals in our world due to products that contain forever chemicals like;

• waterproof jackets and pants,
• clothing (polyester, spandex, athletic mesh activewear, and rayon),
• children’s toys, games and cosmetics,
• various plastic household products (like coffee makers, kettles, spatulas, storage containers, plastic baggies)
• non-stick cookware
• bedding
• women’s cosmetics and sanitary products
• personal care products for both men and women
• paints, carpets
• cleaning products
• lubricants, stains, varnishes
• shampoo
• yoga mats
• fast food containers
• food packaging
• firefighting foam
• microwave popcorn
• Smart Watch wristbands
• pesticides
• and ammunition (bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines, bullets and warheads), to name a few.

This means we’ve introduced forever chemicals, in massive quantities, into our natural environment – the soil, the water, and the air.

Take a breath. The human body takes around 7 years to pass forever chemicals (through urine) from the body, as long as detox steps are taken.

 

How Is This Affecting Us?

The next puzzle piece?

To understand how this affects us, as Highly Sensitive individuals, remember that a healthy environment benefits us more than others, but an unhealthy environment also affects us more negatively than others.

We need to be aware of how it’s affecting us so we can help ourselves accordingly.

Here’s how it’s affecting people in general (HSP and non-HSP alike, although personally, I believe HSPs make up large numbers in these areas):

Women – Increase: heart disease, breast cancer, ovarian and cervical cancer, gynecological health, pregnancy issues, autoimmune diseases, depression and anxiety.

Men – Increase: colorectal cancer, depression, erectile dysfunction, heart attack, low testosterone, osteoporosis, prostate cancer, testicular cancer, type 2 diabetes.

Do you see a pattern here? HSPs recognize patterns naturally, so flex that muscle.

Here’s the patterns I see, I see 5 diseases related to hormones/sexual reproduction for women, and I see 4 diseases related to hormones/sexual reproduction for men.

But why? Because PFAS chemicals act as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) due to their ability to interfere with hormone systems. So, they cause hormonal imbalances.

Now, hormones are a big deal – they travel through the bloodstream to target cells and organs, influencing various bodily functions like growth, development, metabolism, reproduction, and mood (mental health).

One of the vital hormones affected by forever chemicals is dopamine, which can lead to a decrease in levels throughout the entire brain.

Dopamine is a hormone that plays a crucial role in various bodily functions, including movement, reward, motivation, and learning. It’s called the “feel-good” hormone due to its role in the brain’s reward system and its association with the sensation of pleasure. Dopamine also helps regulate mood, attention, and emotional responses.

Ok, that helps explain the rise in anxiety and depression for both men and women.

I also notice a pattern of weakening in the human immune system, which is our ability to fight diseases. To me, anxiety and depression count as diseases.

My beautiful HSP’s, can you see what you’ve been dealing with? It’s a lot. I hope this gives you reason to be more forgiving and patient towards yourself and know you are more loved than you know.

Alright, take another deep breath; we’re almost done.

Let’s examine how these toxic forever chemicals are impacting the rest of our natural world.

• 75% of North America’s bird species are in decline
• Honeybees are disappearing
• Butterflies are disappearing
• Wildlife is also being negatively impacted; the effects of PFAS on our wildlife include toxicity to the immune and nervous systems, as well as general effects on growth, reproduction, and development.

Ok, so it’s negatively affecting wildlife.

What’s the next puzzle piece?

Well, a big one is natural disasters (floods, fires, landslides, and severe storms), which are increasing.

Everyone is calling this “climate change”. It isn’t.

It’s cause and effect. We’ve disrupted the natural world with these forever chemicals.

But, “I didn’t know,“ you say? Right? I know, me too!

In our defence, we didn’t understand or process the extent to which we were polluting our brains, bodies and the natural environment under the guise of convenience and modernization.

We do now.

 

So Now What?

Okay now that we’ve put the puzzle pieces together what do we do?

We utilize this information to our advantage, enabling us to enhance the quality and quantity of our lives.

Next, we’re going to look at 8 simple detox habits we can use to improve our own environments (lives) on the daily, and just by doing this we’re going to help the overall environment. Isn’t that cool?!

 

What We Can Do

1. Avoid drinking or cooking using tap water, even in countries considered to be “safe.” It’s not.* Boiling water doesn’t eliminate forever chemicals.** Drink only filtered water (bottled water isn’t filtered). I’m trying a new Brita filter that claims it removes PFAS from tap water, and it tastes good.
2. Replace your plastic toothbrush with a bamboo toothbrush, replace your toothbrush with charcoal-woven toothfloss, and replace your toothpaste with a fluoride-free, remineralizing toothpaste powder. I’ve been using the charcoal floss and remineralizing toothpaste powder for the past 3 months, and I’m noticing a positive result.
3. Replace your non-stick cookware with a cast-iron pan and/or high-quality steel cookware. Cast iron pans bring out the flavours in food more, and I love my food! Remember to season your cast-iron pan when you first buy it and periodically thereafter.
4. Use parchment paper (it’s reusable), glass and/or stainless steel containers to store your food in the fridge. Avoid plastic containers, plastic wrap and plastic baggies.  You can easily wrap a sandwich in parchment paper. I’ve been wrapping everything in it, from a half-eaten onion to a bunch of parsley and a pot of soup (I used an elastic band to help seal the parchment paper on top of a pot of homemade soup); get creative with your folding skills.
5. Ditch perfume and aftershave; instead, opt for an essential oil (and check into which essential oils are free of PFAS). You can water it down and apply. Your new signature fragrance! As for makeup, less is more anyway, and it’s best to avoid “long-lasting“ and “waterproof“ products. As for deodorant, soap, and hand and body lotions, I’ve decided to stop looking at the consumer options, so I’m going to experiment and make my own. It seems easy enough.
6. Choose natural fibres for clothing and footwear whenever possible; look for materials like cotton, canvas, leather, and wool. Stay away from waterproof anything, polyester, rayon, and ‘breathable‘ mesh fabrics used in activewear. This includes yoga pants and athletic wear. I’m going to experiment with applying paraffin wax on a cotton coat to make it waterproof.
7. If your bed and/or furniture (or your carpet, for that matter) have stain-resistant or water-resistant treatments, it’s got to go. You spend at least 1/3 of your life sleeping. Choose a wood-based bed and opt for natural fabrics for a restful sleep. I’ve been looking at trying a Japanese Tatami Mattress.
8. Increase your probiotic intake by eating more beans, lentils, chickpeas (yum, hummus!) and pickles.

*I placed water at number 1 because we’re made of between 60-70% water, and we need to drink it daily, in one form or another.

Now I’m a curious person so I reached out to the Water Department of a large Canadian city and asked about the PFAS levels.

I used this info as my marker: There is a potential for adverse effects, especially in sensitive populations, between 2 and 20 ng/mL. There is an increased risk of adverse impacts above 20 ng/mL.

I was told, according to the data they collected in 2024, the PFAS level in that city’s tap water was 12.2 ng/mL.  That’s over halfway to the 20 ng/mL mark!

What are “sensitive populations”?

Chiefly. they are people with the HSP Trait (or Sensory Processing Sensitivity who make up 20-30% of the total population), pregnant and lactating women, children, firefighters, and workers in industries that produce or handle PFAS, and people living near industrial, manufacturing, fracking sites or contaminated water sources, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Children are particularly vulnerable.

That’s a pretty significant ‘sensitive‘ population.

I politely requested that they work towards lowering the PFAS level.

**It’s essential to recognize that there are still 44 First Nations communities in Canada that have been under boil-water advisories for years. Never mind testing the boiled water for forever chemicals.

Thank you, Rose LeMay, for writing “Ally Is A Verb: A Guide to Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.”

 

What’s the Good News?

Many amazing people have been working on this challenge.

Mounting regulatory action on the state level in the United States, combined with lawsuits, has prompted 3M to announce in December 2022 that the corporation will cease manufacturing PFAS by the end of 2025. 3M is named as a defendant in over 3,500 PFAS-related lawsuits, exposing it to 31 potential liabilities of up to $30 billion, according to Bloomberg Law. Personally, I don’t think a number can’t be placed on the amount of suffering and disease caused by their actions.

More recently, an important climate lawsuit is heading to trial in Germany, which will determine the level of accountability companies face for polluting the environment.

And Ziploc was hit with a class-action lawsuit for allegedly misleading claims: ‘Leading consumers to believe they are … without risk’.

Plus, creative people (I’ll bet they’re HSPs) are finding solutions!

Like, Soaking burnt wood chips in an iron chloride solution captures and destroys forever chemicals. Can we please start rolling out this solution en masse?

Alright, now that we’ve worked through this and can see the whole picture, we can make the decisions necessary to support our spiritual, mental, and physical well-being.

Listen, none of us are perfect; we all have our challenges; I’m a cigarette smoker and have been known to visit the 420 club a little too often at times, but for me, this isn’t an excuse not to make these changes, it means it’s more important I keep myself accountable and continue making these beneficial changes for myself (and this natural world I love so much).

Do you have any forever chemical detox habits not mentioned here? Please leave a comment.