Ross Walter Nutritionist and Naturopath health articles and blog

Heavy metals like copper, mercury, lead, and aluminium found to be linked to autism

13/10/2020

Autism and autism disorders are beyond an epidemic. But because they are not caused by an infection they cannot be classified as such. But autism disorders ARE at severe epidemic levels, and next to nothing is being done by the medical authorities to address this. Yet we are all suffering the effects of a questionable virus at the moment which only affects 0.3% of people, mostly the elderly with pre-existing chronic conditions.

In 2003, 30,400 Australians had autism.

In 2009, 64,600 Australians had autism.

In 2012, 115,400 Australians had autism.

In just 9 years, the incidence rate has almost quadrupled. Some official US statistics say autism disorders now affect 1 in 27 children (Australian Autism and ADHD Foundation, 2014), and some much worse than that. Some sources even claim about 1 in 10 boys are affected (AMA, 2016).

The sheer number of incidences or diagnoses of autism disorders is not possible to have been caused through genetic inheritance alone. Genetically inherited health issues are usually only found in 5-10% of cases in many health conditions. That means 90-95% of the causes are environmental - factors in your environment that have an interaction with or impact on your body (Australian Autism and ADHD Foundation, 2014). The same with autism disorders.

There are many factors known to cause autism, such as nutrient deficiencies in the mother during pregnancy or in childhood, a reduced ability to detoxify environmental toxins, maternal exposure to toxins when pregnant, infections during pregnancy, gut infections in childhood, dysbiosis, vaccinations, and more.

A new meta-analysis study (a published study which looks at the results of other studies as a whole) was published in September 2020 (Jafari Mohammadabadi, Rahmatian, Sayehmiri & Rafiei, 2020), found high levels of minerals and heavy metals in the blood, hair and nails of those with autism, especially of copper, lead, and mercury. Lead and mercury are particularly dangerous heavy metals as they are neurotoxic - they damage the nerves, nervous system and brain, to affect brain and body functions. The study found associations with copper and autism, and significant associations of lead and mercury in the development of autism.

In a major study published in 2017 (which I wrote about at the time), aluminium was also found in the brains of up to 67% of those with severe autism disorders. Aluminium is also a neurotoxin.

You have to wonder where all these heavy metals are coming from...

If your child has autism or shows symptoms of similar conditions, you can investigate whether these heavy metals are causing or contributing to their developmental issues, mood issues, or other symptoms with a simple and non-invasive hair test.

A Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis, or HTMA, test can give you a detailed report on the nutrients found in the body through the hair, as a picture of nutritional status, as well as the toxic heavy metals such as mercury, lead, arsenic, aluminium and others. If these are found on the HTMA test, a treatment plan can be started, to help slowly remove these toxic heavy metals, which will help to reduce symptoms.

If you would like to find out more, please contact me, and I have the HTMA test kits available to send to you.

References:
Australian Autism and ADHD Foundation. (2020). Why the increase in Autism (ASD), ADHD and Neurodevelopmental Disorders? Retrieved 12th October 2020 from https://aaaf.wildapricot.org/autism_prevalence/

Australian Medical Association (AMA). (2016). Autism Spectrum Disorder - 2016. Retrieved 12th October 2020 from https://ama.com.au/position-statement/autism-spectrum-disorder-2016

Jafari Mohammadabadi, H., Rahmatian, A., Sayehmiri, F., & Rafiei, M. (2020). The Relationship Between the Level of Copper, Lead, Mercury and Autism Disorders: A Meta-Analysis. Pediatric Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, 11, 369—378. DOI: 10.2147/PHMT.S210042

Mold, M., Umar, D., King, A., & Exley, C. (2017). Aluminium in brain tissue in autism. Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology, 46, 76-82. DOI: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2017.11.012

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Bayer settles glyphosate (RoundUp) damages for $10Billion

6/7/2020

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I have previously written several articles about the dangers and health effects of glyphosate, one of the active ingredients in the RoundUp herbicide. The use of RoundUp on many food crops is licensed and regulated, but how would you know whether your foods are exposed to this cancer-causing chemical? Well, you don't and won't know...

Despite the safety claims of the manufacturer, Monsanto, glyphosate or RoundUp greatly damages the environment (in the soil and waterways), affects animals and plants, and damages our health too, as shown in many published studies.

In some recent high profile court cases, Monsanto were ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for RoundUp causing cancer in several people. This brought many tens of thousands of similar lawsuits against Monsanto and its new owner, Bayer, who bought out Monsanto in 2018. The court cases showed beyond doubt that RoundUp was causing cancer, and that Monsanto had covered this up, paid for studies that faked the safety of their product to hide the truth, and used legal action against farmers who tried to speak out about the product.

One of the ways Monsanto were able to get away with selling this carcinogenic and environmentally damaging chemical for so long was that it managed to corrupt the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the USA. Instead of the EPA protecting the environment and the health of farmers, their families and the public in general, they turned a blind eye to the toxicity and damage that RoundUp was doing. A recent court case in the US (June 2020), found that the EPA broke the law in approving RoundUp and other glyphosate chemicals. The court case found that the original approval should not have been allowed, and it is now illegal for farmers to use these herbicides, as the EPA's approval of them has been cancelled!

Following recent discussions, Bayer have agreed to pay approximately US $10 BILLION (or $15.9 BILLION in Australian dollars) to settle about 95,000 lawsuits in the USA alone, related to health effects of RoundUp! This settlement will only cover about 75% of the current lawsuits against the company.

Despite the agreement to settle the large number of lawsuits against the company, Bayer is still defending the product and does not plan to add a cancer warning label to the product! In 2019 the German government (with Bayer being a German company) approved a ban on glyphosate, but not until 2023.

The huge settlement did very little to the company's stock price, which is disappointing. But we can all help by not buying or using RoundUp or any other similar herbicide containing glyphosate, for your health and that of the environment.

Let's hope the end is near for RoundUp and glyphosate, one of the most toxic and dangerous chemicals to the environment and your health.

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Stop fracking our food producing farms

1/4/2019

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Recently I attended the Brisbane screening of a new Australian-made documentary on the environmental damage and health effects of "fracking", or "unnatural gas extraction" methods used in Australia and also around the world. The documentary, called "Pipe Dreams, Fractured Lives", was very well made by a 5th generation beef and lamb farmer from South Australia, David Smith. This is my review of this documentary.

David lives in a very productive rural farming area of SA, much like many similar food crop areas around Australia. Unfortunately, under the rich farming soils are small deposits of methane gas, trapped in rock or shale layers, which mining companies want to get and sell. One mining company constructed an exploration well searching for unconventional (shale) gas about 25km from his family farm. Later, the SA Labor government offered farmers a 10% share of the royalties they received if farmers allowed gas production on their land. Being a very diligent man, David went investigating fracking in detail, and this documentary is the result of his research and travels.

David interviewed many farmers in Australia and USA to find out the impacts or benefits of fracking on their lands and communities. He also interviewed many scientists, engineering professors, biology professors, a former petroleum boss, food and health science professors, and more. What he found and what they said absolutely shocked him.

Firstly, mining companies and their representatives were using lies and intimidation tactics to try to get farmers to sign up to having a gas well on their land. In some cases, miners were installing wells, even before a contract was signed. The intimidation, bullying, and threats of legal action against the farmers to sign up became all too much for some farmers, with at least one committing suicide as a result.

The mining companies promised thousands of dollars, and even millions in royalties to some farmers, when the miners knew that this was not possible. Unfortunately, many miners believed the promises, only to see a fraction of their promised income, due to low extraction rates, dodgy contract clauses, and that gas wells lose capacity quickly, often within 3 years.

To get to the gas trapped in rock or shale, many shafts are drilling either horizontally or vertically deep into the rock. The main problems with fracking are:

1) A lot of chemicals, chemical waste, radioactive waste, and water are pumped into the shafts to push out the gas which is collected. Approximately 50,000 to 120,000 litres of toxic waste is pumped into each well, diluted by a similar amount of water, and there can be up to 20 wells per pad. That's a LOT of chemicals contaminating the environment and destroying natural waterways and aquifers

2) A LOT of water is needed to dilute the waste being pumped into the rock, and about half of that water used comes back up as waste water, which poisons dams, the ground, and animals which drink it. Many farming communities have not been able to use their groundwater for over 10 years after having gas wells on or near their properties

3) Farmers pay for water rights from the aquifers, but when the miners come in, the farmers must reduce their allocation of water, of which most goes to the miners, who do not pay for their water rights at all

4) Methane gas (and other toxic gases) leaks out of poor quality pipes into the aquifers (an underground layer of water-bearing rock) so that water taken from the aquifer for farming or into farmers' houses can smell and taste of methane gas. This is obviously toxic to anyone or anything that uses it

5) Aquifers, when contaminated, are gone forever. There is no backup water in many farming areas. No water means no crops, no income for farmers, less food to communities, prices go up, and imports go up - not great for the economy or the environment

6) Methane gas has a much larger greenhouse gas footprint than that given off from burning coal by over 100 times. With the concerns many have over "climate change" or "global warming", why are we even looking at this fossil fuel, when there are better renewable alternatives?!

7) Many farms and properties around gas wells are worthless, and families have had to walk away from farms in these areas. One couple tried to get a loan from a bank, but this was denied when the bank found they had 4 gas wells on the property

8) State and federal governments are using old and outdated advice and information regarding the safety of fracking. When fracking was approved in Australia, there were very few research studies on the risks and damage it causes. Now there's over 1400 published studies showing the environmental damage and health effects. Farmers and communities are not being told about these

9) Mining companies are planning to build thousands of more gas wells in Qld, through more state forests and prime agricultural land, but much closer to coastal towns, which will have a larger impact on the environment and people nearby

10) Even if a farmer decides against gas wells on their property, there can be a lot of chemical and gas drift and noise from neighbouring farms which can impact their farm and their health. Environmental contamination doesn't stop at property boundaries
11) After signing up to gas wells and getting very little money from them, but getting all the environmental damage, many farmers found out that it would have been more profitable just farming their crops anyway

12) Within 100 years, all wells would have failed and broken down, releasing even more toxic chemicals into the air, water and environment.

Then the health issues were investigated in the documentary. The health impacts of gas wells can include the following symptoms:

- Blood noses
- Asthma and other respiratory conditions
- Burning eyes and mouth, and eye diseases
- Neurological symptoms of the brain and nervous system, including nerve damage and pain
- Mental health effects - depression, anxiety and psychiatric disorders
- Various cancers
- Infertility (in animal stock and humans)
- Sudden deaths of many head of stock
- Spleen and liver conditions, including enlarged organs and burst spleens
- Miscarriages, low birth weights and birth defects
- Skin rashes and lesions
- And many more symptoms.

The environmental and health damage of fracking is huge. The cost to farmers, farming land, and natural waterways is incalculable and likely permanent.

Prime agricultural land should be used for its intended purpose, and this purpose only! Allowing gas mining which brings massive environmental damage and health effects to animals and people is INSANE. If the farming land is affected by environmental damage, the cities will be affected too, with toxic food and water, no tourism, and many more problems.

Local, state and federal governments MUST listen to the people on the ground and stop hiding behind government departments or mining companies and their profits. People, food and the environment come first, before profits! No money in the world is worth more than your health.

Stand up to the miners and say "no thanks". Talk to your local, state and federal politician to let them know this damage to the environment and people must be stopped. The politicians are hiding the true damage to Australian farming areas and farming communities. Consider that some of the major political parties who have allowed this to happen, and their actions in this (and inactions) should be taken into account in the forthcoming elections.

For more information on the "Pipe Dreams, Fractured Lives" documentary, please have a look at their website here - http://www.pipedreamsfracturedlives.com.au/. Have a look for screenings of the documentary in your area, or you can request or organise a screening with David Smith.

We have to look after the health of our environment and all Australians too! We all depend on it.

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Heavy metals like copper, mercury, lead, and aluminium found to be linked to autism

Bayer settles glyphosate (RoundUp) damages for $10Billion

Stop fracking our food producing farms

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