Dr. Laurel Standley

Environmental chemist, author

Toxics in Food Book

I am currently writing a book called Toxic chemicals in your food: An environmental chemist’s guide to reducing your exposure. As I work on the book, I will be blogging and posting on social media (see links below), covering topics on where these toxic chemicals come from and how you can reduce your exposure to them.

Food is both essential for life and can anchor enjoyable experiences with friends and family. And what we choose to eat can range from super healthy to super not. But there’s another aspect to food that you may not be aware of. The food that we eat can be contaminated by hundreds of toxic chemicals. Figuring out how to avoid them can be overwhelming. While some of these chemicals are unavoidable without changes at the national and international level, there are many things you can do to reduce your exposure.

Where do toxic chemicals in our diet come from? Pretty much everywhere — they begin by contaminating our food at the seedling stage and don’t stop until it arrives on our plates. As shown in the figure to the right, toxic chemicals can be added intentionally, as with the spraying of pesticides, or unintentionally, such as contamination from environmental pollution. The way food is handled can also contribute to contamination. For example, toxic chemicals can be added during processing, packaging, and cooking.

This topic can be a little overwhelming and scary, but I’ll post on what you can do to reduce your exposure and why it matters for your health and the environment. I’ll also post links to resources where you can learn more and get helpful tips. In addition to the occasional recipe hack, I will offer budget-friendly and easy suggestions for reducing your exposure, since not everyone can afford expensive or time-consuming solutions.

Because it will take me a couple of years to write the book, you can find quick tips HERE and resources HERE that will help you reduce your exposure in the meantime.

Best wishes and I look forward to your questions as I work on this book.

Laurel J. Standley, Ph.D.

Note – if you suffer from orthorexia or disordered eating, this subject might be triggering for you and it would be best to skip it.