Ditch the Non-Stick!

A newly released study has found a clear link between elevated blood levels of toxic chemicals and an increased risk for coeliac disease in young people.

The chemicals are found in non-stick cookware, pesticides and fire retardants.

Reporting in the journal Environmental Research online May 12, the NYU Grossman School of Medicine researchers found that children and adolescents with high blood levels of pesticides were twice as likely to be newly diagnosed with Coeliac disease as those without high levels.

Females make up the majority of coeliac cases, increased pesticide exposure meant they were at least eight times more likely to become gluten intolerant. Young females with elevated levels of chemicals, known as PFAs which are found in non-stick cookware (ie Teflon), were 5-9 times more likely to have coeliac disease.

Young males, on the other hand, were twice as likely to be diagnosed with the disease if they had elevated blood levels of fire-retardant chemicals known as PBDEs.

All of these chemicals are known to disrupt animal and human hormone levels, which are key to controlling both sexual development and immune defences.

Previous research has suggested that celiac disease was largely genetic and passed down from parents to offspring. Environmental exposure to toxins and the genetic risk for a particular immune disorder has now been established, although as usual the recommendations are for further study in this area.