1. Pesticides
A 2004 study published in Environmental Research (2) found that pesticides have lingering effects in the human body.
In fact, more than 60% of children studied (who were living near a long-defunct pesticide plant in Brazil) had high detectable levels of organochlorine pesticides.
You don’t have to live near a pesticide plant to experience these toxic effects. Pesticides can be found in anything from food, to water, clothing and even hygiene products.
Most widely available pesticides are also known endocrine disruptors. They can cause a decrease of T3 and T4 levels(3).
A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology: “found elevated odds of hypothyroid disease for all of the organochlorine insecticides assessed—aldrin, chlordane, DDT, heptachlor, and lindane—as well as the organochlorine fungicide chlorothalonil.”
You can limit your exposure to pesticides by buying organic produce (d) or cleaning (e) non-organic goods (f) properly.