We live in an age where we have “better living through chemistry.” Indeed, we do have more convenient living through chemistry. Life is more comfortable. Plastics work better than they used to. Our technology makes our lives easier in many ways. We have to do a lot less physical work just to eat, have clothes, and have adequate physical shelter. We don’t want to undue all of the advances made by “better living through chemistry.” Our civilization has advanced in profound ways. But are we paying a price we don’t yet comprehend?
What if the type 2 diabetes epidemic isn’t caused by overeating and a sedentary lifestyle? What if the huge rise in diabetes is because of these toxins in our environment, the ones that we take into our bodies?
This question was posed in 2016 in an editorial by Dr. Joseph Pizzorno, ND, entitled “Is the diabetes epidemic primarily due to toxins?” published in the Integrative Medicine, a Clinician’s Journal. Dr. Pizzorno dug into the data and indicated that you could explain much of the increase in diabetes since the 1960s to the rise in the chemicals we’ve produced. Let’s take a closer look at what he found. After all, Dr. Pizzorno is no lightweight in the world of natural medicine. Along with Michael Murray, he wrote the Textbook of Natural Medicine, and he co-founded Bastyr University, the nation’s first accredited naturopathic medical institution.
The Diabetes Epidemic: From 3 In 1,000 To 1 In 5 In Adults Aged 45-64
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the incidence of diabetes in the U.S. has surged from 0.3% in 1936 to 0.9% in 1958, up to 7.2% in 2013. But the stats have gotten much worse since then.
These are the current stats (2021) on the prevalence of diabetes from the CDC:
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11.6% of the total U.S. population has diabetes.
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Adults aged 45-64: 18.9% (almost 1 in 5)
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Adults over age 65: 29% (almost 1 in 3).
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16-fold increase since 1960 and 50-fold increase since 1936.
No one can successfully argue that this is due to genetics because our genes have not changed that much in less than 100 years. This is entirely due to environmental factors, such as the food we eat, the lifestyles we lead (physical activity, sleep, and stress responses), and the chemical load we carry.
The Diabetes Epidemic: Beyond Sugar and Obesity
Dr. Pizzorno, in his editorial, pointed out that the increase in diabetes does not correlate strongly with the rise in sugar. They contribute, but they don’t explain the whole increase. Below is his graph on sugar. When I look at sugar consumption from the 1930s to the 1960s, there’s not much change; it’s almost flat. There was a slight temporary drop during World War II, while diabetes increased threefold. Sugar has not increased that much since then, while diabetes has increased 16-fold. So, sugar does not explain the whole diabetes epidemic.
Next, Dr. Pizzorno presented a graph showing the correlation between diabetes rates and the release of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) into the environment. These chemicals don’t go away, but accumulate in our bodies over time, and a heavy body load of POPs is strongly associated with metabolic syndrome and diabetes risk. Take a look at the following graph.
A lot of other things could be correlated with the rise in diabetes, as many things have changed, such as the increased use of seed oils. The correlation does not mean that these chemicals cause diabetes. They just increased at the same time. That’s all you can tell from this graph.
If you can remove those chemicals and the diabetes goes away, then you’re starting to make a better case. But we don’t have that data at this time.
Figure 2. The Diabetes Epidemic Correlates With Release of POPs Into the Environment.
Using epidemiological data, Dr. Pizzorno gave a very tentative estimate of the contribution of key chemicals to diabetes:
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Arsenic: 18%
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Bisphenol A (BPA): 14%
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Dioxins (non-PCB): 4%
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Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs): 3%
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Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs): 13%
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Phthalates: 22%
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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): 16%
The total of this estimate is 90%. These numbers are tentative, and each chemical is not necessarily independent of the others. So people who have a lot of one toxin often have a lot of other toxins at the same time. And damage from the different toxins may also overlap. But the main point of what Dr. Pizzorno is saying is that toxins entrapped in our bodies have a significant, undeniable contribution, perhaps the main contribution, to our increase in diabetes. Pizzorno noted that obese individuals with low POP levels don’t show elevated diabetes risk, indicating that toxins could be a triggering factor for diabetes.
How Toxins Create Havoc Inside of Us and Cause Diabetes
There are several ways that these toxins could decrease insulin sensitivity or harm insulin production in our bodies. Each chemical works by multiple mechanisms. Arsenic is known to destroy beta cells in the pancreas. Bisphenol A blocks insulin receptor sites. Impaired insulin sensitivity is a common mechanism for all of the POPs. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals can alter gene expression through epigenetic mechanisms.
It has been a slow process to gather data on people’s exposures to these chemicals. Many studies are of poor quality, and few follow people over extended periods. These chemicals also interact with one another, and some of the mechanisms by which they interact with us are not fully understood.
Nevertheless, there has been progress in understanding that these chemicals do contribute to type 2 diabetes. But not everyone is ready to say that they are the leading cause of diabetes at this point.
Confirmation by Other Sources: Toxins Increase Risk of Diabetes
Toxins may not be the leading cause of diabetes, bt many scientists have found strong links between environmental chemicals and diabetes. In a 2019 review by Bonini and Sargis, the authors focused on arsenic and its role in impairing beta-cell insulin secretion. They also discussed how selenium is vital for reversing oxidative damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS).
Arsenic isn’t the only toxic heavy metal linked to type 2 diabetes. In a 2022 review on environmental cadmium exposure and the risk of type 2 diabetes, the researchers found a 30% increased risk of diabetes when exposed to cadmium. Cadmium exposure mostly comes from produce grown in contaminated soil, tobacco smoke, or occupational exposure to batteries or hot metals giving off toxic fumes.
In a 2022 review paper titled “Exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Later Life,” the authors examined infants’ in utero exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals. These chemicals can interfere with hormone signaling in people for years after exposure.
A 2025 article from the Institute for Functional Medicine, titled “Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Type 2 Diabetes,” points out that endocrine-disrupting chemicals can alter gene expression for the worse and increase inflammation. These toxins, like bisphenol A (BPA) and its analogues, have been linked to increased risk of diabetes due to altered hormone signaling and increased inflammation.
A recent study from China also found that air pollution is associated with increased hospitalizations for diabetes, longer stays, and higher hospital costs. Carbon monoxide, 2.5-micron particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone were all significantly associated with an increased risk of diabetes hospitalization.
So, when you’re struggling to figure out why you have type 2 diabetes, this idea of toxins throws another monkey wrench into the works. Not only do you have to figure out how to eat right, how to move more, how to get better sleep, how to respond better to stress in your life, but you also need to figure out how to get rid of these toxins. And we’ll talk about that in our next article.
