Are you rich? You may be carrying around dangerous toxins in your body – but not the same kind as those with poorer incomes.
A new study has found that socioeconomic status determines the chemicals found in the body because of the difference in food consumed.
Done by researchers at the University of Exeter in Britain, the study saw that wealthier people who ate sushi or shellfish on a regular basis had heavy metals including mercury, arsenic, caesium and thallium in their bodies.
Those people who were not as well off had toxins associated with cigarette-smoking and a poor diet, including urinary lead, cadmium, antimony and bisphenol A in their systems.
Another surprising finding was that wealthier people had higher levels of benzophenone-3, which is the active ingredient in a lot of sunscreens that some say may actually encourage skin cancer.
The study surprised the researchers, who were expecting to confirm popular belief that a lower socioeconomic status would indicate higher levels of toxins in the body.
The researchers said the information gleaned shows that as people make more money, their lifestyle changes which alters the chemicals in their bodies. They eat less fast food but more sushi, for example.
Though small amounts of chemicals in the body are normal, build-ups could lead to any number of adverse health effects, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.