Human accumulation of such compounds as DDT, PCP, PCB, and dioxin, reflect biologically persistent chemicals which are partitioned in the body from water into lipids. Eventually the metabolizing of xenobiotics (chemicals foreign to the biological system) leads to the accumulation of the chemicals and/or their products in lipid deposits throughout the body, particularly in adipose tissue. The simple chemistry involved in this process can be illustrated by the fact that some chemicals readily dissolve in water, while others dissolve only in oil bases. Oil soluble chemicals, therefore, have a tendency to accumulate in body fatty tissue or lipids, which are also insoluble in water. There is no such thing as a fat “cell”…[rather] almost every cell has a fat component. The brain has a high fat content as does virtually every organ.
Directly or indirectly, toxic residues find their way into our air, food and water supplies. The net effect of this ecological overload is to alter the body’s balance or “homeostasis”. This interference with our natural biological tendencies to restore internal balance results in “disease” in one form or another. According to Professor Edward J. Calabrese of the University of Massachusetts, and author of Pollutants and High Risk Groups, “It is this homeostatic process which neutralizes the pollutant’s effect and returns the system to equilibrium.”
