Environmental Toxins
Who should order the Environmental Toxins test?
Individuals who have been affected by an excess of environmental toxins may experience symptoms and conditions, such as:
- Fatigue and weakness
- Chronic burning in the throat and nasal passages
- Coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath
- Loss of balance
- Depression and/or anxiety
- Dizziness
- Eye irritation
- Headache, light sensitivity
- Hearing loss
- Heightened sensitivity to chemicals and foods
- Irregular heartbeat
- Morning stiffness and/or joint pain
- Mood swings
- Muscle weakness
- Skin rashes
- Sleep problems
- Slower reaction time
- Vision changes
- Poor memory, difficulty finding words
- Difficulty concentrating
- Unusual skin sensations, tingling and numbness
- Increased urinary frequency or increased thirst
- Abdominal pain, diarrhea, and/or bloating
- Tearing, disorientation, metallic taste in mouth
- Static shocks
Facts About Environmental Toxins
Environmental toxins, technically called toxicants, are substances produced endogenously from the human body and which, when absorbed, inhaled, or ingested, can cause acute or chronic toxic overload, which may manifest in a variety of biological organ, tissue, and cellular-level systems. Environmental toxins are cancer-causing chemicals and endocrine disruptors, both human-made and naturally occurring. Susceptibility to toxic overload varies person-to-person, and can be affected by a variety of factors including:
- Genetics
- Environment
- Diet
- Liver and kidney health
- Microbiome composition and diversity
- Age
- Adiposity
- Gender
- Lifestyle
- Immune system capacity
Multiple chronic inflammatory symptoms and resistance to weight loss may be signs of excessive total toxic load. It is important to detect unknown chemical exposure to daily products, foods, and environment.
Clinical Connections
Vibrant Environmental Toxin Panel uses the most advanced mass spectrometry method to assess 39 different markers to assess environmental toxins in one urine specimen.
In order to assess the most comprehensive potential for total toxic load, consider running Environmental Toxins with a Vibrant Heavy Metals, Mycotoxins, or Food Zoomer panels.
Screening for Environmental Toxins can aid in uncovering true root causes of toxicity from common environmental sources and provide a clear roadmap to detoxification and healing.
The Vibrant Environmental Toxins panel is a urine-based assay.
Mycotoxins
Facts About Mold and Mycotoxins
Mycotoxin exposure can come from both dietary and environmental sources. Dietary sources include spoiled food and environmental sources include living or working in water-damaged buildings, airborne or physical contact with outdoor molds, and airborne dust in buildings containing mold spores
Mycotoxin symptoms are often general or vague, and difficult to associate with a diagnosis or disease state, and, therefore, may be overlooked during clinical assessments
Mold is resistant to heat, and, therefore, is usually not destroyed during the cooking process. Inspect all foods thoroughly for mold to avoid consuming contaminated sources
Individuals most at risk for mycotoxin exposure include those who live or work in older buildings, those who have known exposure to water-damaged buildings, and those with impaired immune responses or higher levels of oxidative stress
Which Clients Need the Vibrant Mycotoxins Test?
Conditions and symptoms associated with mycotoxin exposure include:
- Fatigue and weakness
- Chronic burning in the throat and nasal passages
- Coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath
- Loss of balance
- Depression and/or anxiety
- Skin rashes
- Eye irritation or tearing of the eyes
- Headache and/or light sensitivity
- Hearing loss
- Heightened sensitivity to chemicals and foods
- Irregular heartbeat
- Morning stiffness and/or joint pain
- Muscle weakness
- Sleep problems
- Poor memory, difficulty finding words
- Slower reaction time
- Vision changes
- Difficulty concentrating
- Abdominal pain, diarrhea, and/or bloating
- Unusual skin sensations, tingling, and numbness
- Increased urinary frequency or increased thirst
- Disorientation and/or dizziness
- Static shocks or metallic taste in the mouth
Mycotoxins complicate human health in a number of ways and their presence in the human body can lead to a number of serious health concerns, including autoimmune disease and cancer.
There may be higher incidence of autoimmune or neurological symptoms in your patients with mycotoxin toxicity. Consider screening for Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, connective tissue disorders, celiac disease, and neurological autoimmunity along with mycotoxin testing.
Treatment of mycotoxin exposure should include a holistic approach to eradicate the mold from the individual, thorough and professional removal of mold from environmental sources, and continued testing to monitor reductions in mycotoxin levels post-intervention.
Due to the common co-occurrence of Lyme and mycotoxin exposure from depressed immunity in affected individuals, as well as symptom overlap between tickborne diseases and mycotoxins, consider running the Vibrant Tickborne Diseases panel along with the Vibrant Mycotoxins test.
Vibrant uses mass spectrometry technology to measure levels of mycotoxins in urine. With a patent-pending proprietary technology, Vibrant is able to detect molecules as small as 5 pcg, which greatly expands the number of detectable mycotoxins.
What Does the Vibrant Mycotoxins Test Include?
Heavy Metals
- Facts About Heavy Metal Toxicity:
Heavy metal toxicity is thought to affect over 1 million individuals annually, including children
Populations at greater risk of heavy metal toxicity include developing fetuses, children, and the immunocompromised, as well as individuals with impaired liver function and reduced antioxidant activity - Heavy metals are present in all regions of the United States, and can accumulate in air, soil, and drinking or ground water sources in and around concentrated sources of heavy metals from industrial production or pollution
- Some professions and hobbies are at greater risk of heavy metal toxicity, including fuel, munitions, painting, rubber manufacturing, industrial smelting, mining, photographic processing, agriculture, semiconductors, welding, and waste or radioactive waste disposal sites
- The World Health Organization (WHO) considers 13 heavy metals of significance to human and environmental health: arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, mercury, manganese, nickel, lead, tin, and titanium, however, there are other metals and metalloids that may be significant causes of health problems in humans
Which Clients Need the Vibrant Heavy Metals Test?
Neurological Symptoms:
Cognitive decline, memory loss, ataxia, tremors, numbness, tingling, neuropathy, myopathy, Alzheimer’s Disease, multiple sclerosis, paralysis, Parkinson’s Disease, tinnitus, irritability
Respiratory Symptoms:
Lung disease, lung cancer, breathing problems, respiratory distress, pneumonia
Cardiovascular and hematological symptoms:
Anemia, RBC abnormalities, hypertension, low blood pressure, hypokalemia, edema, cancers of the blood
Gastrointestinal symptoms:
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, reduced absorption of nutrients (particularly minerals), dry mouth, metallic taste, pancreatic cancer
Skeletal and bone-related symptoms:
Osteoporosis, reduced bone mineral density
Dermatological symptoms:
Dermatitis, eczema, dry skin, sweating, skin lesions, hyperpigmentation, hair loss, allergic skin reactions
Renal and hepatic symptoms:
Renal failure, elevated liver enzymes, hepatic damage, hepatic failure, suppressed hepatic detoxification, elevated hepatic enzymes
Reproductive symptoms:
Infertility, difficulty conceiving, birth defects, miscarriage
Heavy metal toxicity is under–represented as a root cause of illness and disease in humans, and can affect virtually all biological systems within the human body.
Heavy metals may be the root cause of common neurological disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, autoimmune diseases, and disorders associated with increased oxidative stress and cellular dysfunction.
Due to the ability of many heavy metals to deplete critical nutrients such as antioxidants and minerals, the Vibrant Heavy Metals test should be run alongside a Vibrant Micronutrient panel, to assess both intra- and extracellular, as well as RBC, levels of commonly affected nutrients.
*Your test includes a 60-minute interpretation of your results with Michelle Ross, Director of Clinical Services. Please Note: The test interpretation consultation must take place within 3 months of placing the test order.
Orders accepted from United States only.
Vibrant Wellness tests are not available in New York State.
Vibrant Wellness Laboratories is not contracted with any insurance provider.
*Please read the following prior to placing your lab test order*
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