{"id":1607,"date":"2023-03-22T22:18:46","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T22:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stealthsyndromesstudy.com\/?p=1607"},"modified":"2024-02-14T21:37:45","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T21:37:45","slug":"reducing-non-food-exposures-in-dietary-intervention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stealthsyndromesstudy.com\/?p=1607","title":{"rendered":"Reducing Non-Food Exposures in Dietary Intervention"},"content":{"rendered":"

Attempts can be made to reduce non-food exposures (NFEs) in dietary intervention studies. However, it is impractical (and probably impossible) to eliminate them.<\/p>\n

Plastic micro- and nanoparticles, as well as the chemical compounds used to produce, are ubiquitous in the environment and present formidable confounding factors that make it impossible to establish causal relationships between a single chemical and measured human health outcomes.<\/p>\n

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That reality ranks among the top reasons that dormitory conditions offer the optimum solution<\/a> for study results that can be both reproducible and clinically significant.<\/p>\n

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Reducing non-food exposures (NFEs)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sathyanarayana et al.<\/em> (2013) posited that substantial non-food exposures such as those with personal care products could mask BPA and phthalate reductions from dietary intervention.[xxxvii]<\/a><\/p>\n

A quick picture of the complexity of NFEs can be illustrated by this diagram from Endocrine Disruptors and Asthma-Associated Chemicals in Consumer Products[xxxviii]<\/strong><\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

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An extensive discussion of NFE contamination sources may be accessed in Appendix 4.<\/p>\n

Triaging NFE elimination<\/strong><\/p>\n

Given the impossibility of avoiding BPA, phthalates, and other harmful chemicals in the environment, reproducibility of studies must focus on the practical reduction of known exposures reducing those exposures that are:<\/p>\n

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  1. Most easily identified and,<\/li>\n
  2. Practical to control,<\/li>\n
  3. Likely to produce maximum reduction via minimum study subject effort, and<\/li>\n
  4. Can be adequately documented and replicated.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    An ideal scenario would be to conduct trials in a well-defined residential\/dormitory setting where all study subjects experience near-identical environmental conditions for the entire term of the study.<\/p>\n

    However, expense and practicality dictate that many studies must engage subjects who will modify their diets while living in their own homes as well as engaged in multiple additional sites for work, school, shopping, and recreation.<\/p>\n

    Because of those practical limitations, investigators should — to the best of their ability — thoroughly document the environmental circumstances under which a dietary intervention is conducted. This should include questionnaires about known exposure sources for their:<\/p>\n

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    1. External environment (home, work, school, recreation including floor surfaces) and,<\/li>\n
    2. Personal environment (pharmaceuticals, personal care products, appliances, fabrics for clothing and bedding, presence of plastic dental and other implants and prosthetics, etc.).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Participants with excessive and\/or uncontrollable external environmental exposures should be excluded.<\/p>\n

      Study subjects should then be counseled on contamination sources and given a checklist of specific controllable sources to avoid during the trial.<\/p>\n

      Investigators should schedule frequent reminders and follow-ups with each participant to assess and assure the best possible compliance.<\/p>\n

      As a potential starting point for assessing personal environmental exposures, investigators should consider the EDC Footprint Calculator<\/a><\/u> developed by the Pennsylvania State University Extension Service. While this Excel version <\/a><\/u>was designed to offer an indication of contamination products found in municipal wastewater and is not all-inclusive, it could be modified and updated to better serve the purposes of this study or future efforts.<\/p>\n

      Personal environment controls<\/strong><\/p>\n

      As the above chart from “Endocrine Disruptors and Asthma-Associated Chemicals in Consumer Products” illustrates, most personal care products contain relevant chemical contaminants that can potentially confound this study’s chosen health effects markers.<\/p>\n

      Select three-day reduction actions for the personal environment:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      NOTE: To make these reductions possible and assure the greatest possibilities for reproducibility, study subjects must be healthy, non-smoking adults without recent dental work or invasive medical procedures. Subjects should not have body fat of more than 32% for women and 25% for men. Subjects should not be taking any medicines or dietary supplements other than low-dose or 325 mg aspirin.<\/p>\n

      Additional requirements should include:<\/p>\n