Toxicology and Heavy Metals

Exposure to environmental toxins and is wide spread.  Every day we are exposed to thousands of chemicals both naturally occurring and man-made.  These chemicals are in the food we eat, the air we breath and the water we drink.  Small exposures daily can lead to high levels of stored chemicals over years accumulating in fat tissue.

As the toxic chemicals overwhelm our bodies they alter our biochemistry creating havoc and leading to chronic conditions like cancer, diabetes, immune dysfunction, hormonal dysfunction and neurological disorders.  Some people have known risk factors associated with their jobs or hobbies.  But, many with high toxicity have no known excessive exposure.  Also, the impact of the multiple toxic exposures over time may be synergistic which intensifies their effects.  As naturopathic doctors at the Nardella Clinic in Calgary, it is our goal to find the route cause of illness and factors that hinder the patient from achieving optimum wellness.  Identifying a bioaccumulation of a toxic element can lead us to determining an optimal treatment plan and ways to limit the additional exposures.  Using blood and urine tests we can assess patients for environmental toxicity.

The bioaccumulation of various heavy metals is measured using a urine collection after an administration of a chelating substance—EDTA, DMPS and DMSA. Hair analysis is a non-invasive way to provide recent and ongoing exposure to a toxic metal.  This method is particularly good for assessment of mercury and arsenic exposure.