Benzene

Aajonus identified benzene as present in a wide array of products and environments. In industrial and commercial contexts he listed gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, inks, oils, paints, plastics, rubber, detergents, explosives, pharmaceuticals, and dyes as sources. He also identified it as present in the exhaust of aircraft engines, noting from personal experience that benzene can be smelled when a plane backs out, that it enters the cabin through the engine intake, and that oil drippage from engines can create conditions of heavy benzene and carbon monoxide exposure inside aircraft cabins. He noted that this had been severe enough in some cases to permanently damage the nervous systems of flight attendants and pilots, forcing some to be grounded permanently, though he estimated this level of acute damage affected perhaps twenty flights per year out of hundreds of thousands.

He considered the threat meaningful enough for frequent flyers that he described wearing a mask while flying and called out the benzene exposure as something airline pilots unions had pushed back on. His solution for people who fly frequently and are thus regularly inhaling benzene was to shift diet heavily toward eggs, eating as many as twenty eggs a day, with cheese, for approximately three months following significant exposure.

In livestock, he pointed out that benzoate compounds used as liquid dewormers convert to benzene within the animals' systems. He stated explicitly that benzoate becomes benzene and is carcinogenic inside the body. He noted that this was the same underlying issue as in soft drinks and that sauerkraut companies were still allowed to use benzoate compounds as of the time he was speaking. He advised tracking down the sources of feed and inputs used by farmers who supply meat and dairy, saying he would call his own farmers directly to ask where they were sourcing corn, oats, barley, and other feed.

Irradiated food was also identified as a source that dramatically increases benzene and other toxic chemicals. He opposed food irradiation on these grounds among others, stating that there is no legitimate or moral way for government to endorse a food treatment that increases benzene levels in food.

Aajonus catalogued the damage benzene causes across multiple body systems and at different levels of exposure. For acute high-level inhalation, he listed dizziness, weakness, euphoria, headache, nausea, blurred vision, respiratory diseases, tremors, irregular heartbeat, liver and kidney damage, paralysis, and unconsciousness. In animal inhalation studies he cited cataract formation and diseases of the blood and lymphatic systems. For chronic low-level exposure, he described headaches, loss of appetite, drowsiness, nervousness, psychological disturbances, and diseases of the blood system including anemia and bone marrow diseases.

He identified benzene as carcinogenic, specifically listing it as a substance the FDA classifies as carcinogenic, and connected it to leukemia in humans. He cited evidence that benzene contributes to chromosomal aberrations and mutagenic changes in bacterial cells, as well as embryotoxicity and carcinogenicity. Repeated skin contact, he noted, causes dryness, inflammation, blistering, and dermatitis.

He also pointed to benzene's capacity to irritate skin and eyes on contact and cited its role in causing liver damage based on animal studies, connecting it to hepatocellular pathology in the same discussion where he covered trichloroethylene as a liver carcinogen.

Aajonus devoted substantial attention to what he saw as a corrupt and knowing relationship between the FDA and the beverage industry over benzene. His core charge was that both parties were aware of the benzene-forming reaction in soft drinks for fifteen years, that the FDA had knowingly allowed consumers to drink carcinogenic benzene throughout that period, and that neither party had mandated corrective action. He described the industry's reasoning frankly: benzene provides the zing and creates addiction in soft drink consumers, and the industry preferred to continue causing cancer in its customers rather than lose money and profits by reformulating.

He noted that an FDA chemist and a soft drink industry association offered the position that some firms might not know of the potential for sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid to form benzene. He dismissed this as implausible, stating that any belief that a multi-billion-dollar-yearly industry is not aware of everything about the chemistry of its products is naive.

He drew a parallel to the dewormer situation in livestock, where benzoate compounds are still permitted in certain products including sauerkraut and animal treatments, and noted that the same chemical dynamic applies. The FDA's failure to set a maximum benzene limit for soft drinks while maintaining limits for drinking water he treated as an illustration of a systemic harmful-to-the-public relationship between the agency and industry.

Although Aajonus discussed benzene primarily in the context of soft drinks, aircraft exhaust, and industrial chemical exposure, his broader discussion of solvents used in supplement manufacturing sits adjacent to this topic. He argued that hexane, a gasoline derivative, and kerosene are the two solvents used to extract ingredients in virtually all nutritional supplements, whether labeled natural or synthetic. He was clear that kerosene is a petroleum derivative in the same chemical family as the substances associated with benzene contamination, and that soaking food materials in kerosene for ten to twenty-two hours and then rinsing for two minutes does not remove the kerosene. He described kerosene as eating tissue away like a burn, contracting the adrenal glands, and poisoning the body even while producing a temporary adrenaline high that people mistake for a beneficial effect.

He also noted that the same broader class of chemical reactions that produce benzene from the combination of benzoic acid and citric acid are representative of a larger category of toxic byproducts formed when industrial chemistry is applied to food and biological substances.

Aajonus published specific guidance on removing benzene from the body for people who had consumed soft drinks or experienced other benzene exposure. The remedy he outlined was built around dark berries combined with lighter berries and pineapple. He described dark berries as slightly better than light berries for breaking down benzene and related compounds. A suggested proportion was approximately half a cup of mixed berries, with darker varieties preferred, combined with pineapple to break down the compounds.

He specified that pineapple should not be eaten alone and should be combined with coconut cream and dairy cream, starting with a small amount for people who have a bad reaction to pineapple. The coconut cream serves as a soothing and binding medium alongside the berry and pineapple combination. Two ounces of coconut cream was mentioned as a reference quantity alongside the half cup of berries mixture, though the passages are partially incomplete at the point of specific quantities for this protocol.

He also noted that plants in the home or office can reduce airborne benzene. The plants he identified as most efficient at removing benzene from chamber air in sealed Plexiglas experiments were gerbera daisy and chrysanthemum. He listed the following as among the top plants for removing benzene, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide from indoor air: Bamboo Palm (Chamaedorea Seifritzii), Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema Modestum), English Ivy (Hedera Helix), Gerbera Daisy (Gerbera Jamesonii), Janet Craig (Dracaena "Janet Craig"), Marginata (Dracaena Marginata), Mass Cane/Corn Plant (Dracaena Massangeana), Mother-in-Law's Tongue (Sansevieria Laurentii), Pot Mum (Chrysanthemum Morifolium), Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum "Mauna Loa"), and Warneckii (Dracaena "Warneckii"). He noted that research showed plant leaves, roots, and soil bacteria are all involved in removing trace levels of toxic vapors, not leaves alone.

For people who fly frequently and are exposed to benzene through aircraft engine exhaust circulating in cabin air, he recommended a sustained protocol of high egg consumption, approximately twenty eggs a day with significant cheese intake, maintained for about three months. He framed eggs and cheese as the primary foods for repairing nervous system damage from benzene and related exhaust compounds.