Posts tagged toxic
March 20, 2010 · Filed under Environmental Detox, Food and Drink, Home and Garden · Tagged acetaminophen, aspirin, cat food, chemicals, dog food, eating, food, products, shopping, toxic
Those of us who are pet owners love our pets a lot. In fact, most are like me and treat their pets like their kids, with great love, attention and care. And most of us are deeply involved in the feeding and care of our pets, from the flea meds we use on them to the food we feed them and the last thing we want is to poison or sicken our beloved critters. So this post is about just that, the foods you may be buying without thought or with just blind faith that may also be dangerous.
I am sure none of you have forgotten the pet food scare of two years ago where a lot of animals died from eating pet food made with a wheat gluten that had been treated with melamine. Melamine, a chemical used in fertilizers, is commonly added to food in China because it boosts the protein levels of the food and allows the manufacturer to charge more for it. They have no animal welfare laws in China and they still feed this stuff to their own pets, who have no protections and mostly live short lives, unfixed, hardly cared for, sick with any one of many common diseases. They have also had several recent scares with children being sick or dieing from melamine exposure in baby formulas. Here in America we may not be the most alert guard at the gate and our own regulatory laws are way too lax but we, at least, stop serving up poison once we recognize it as such.
My guess is you think the problem has stopped and there is nothing to fear in the foods you feed your pets. Well, I can admit that you probably won’t see any melamine any time soon, but there are plenty of other evil agents you must keep a wary eye open for. These are not all poisonous ingredients, some of them are just downright gross and unhealthy. Like dog or cat hair? Or bone from decomposing carcasses? How about human pain killers? Oh, yes. Be prepared to be surprised.
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March 15, 2010 · Filed under diy, Environmental Detox, Health Care, Personal Care · Tagged autoimmune disease, bug spray, chemicals, dangers, gardening, home, insecticides, pest control, products, sickness, toxic
You guys are gonna love this… just kidding. But it’s more testimony for the case of going natural and dumping all these chemicals! Especially bug sprays and other deadly poisons. It seems that research that was done in Philadelphia is suggesting a link between women’s exposure to household insecticides (including roach and mosquito killers) and the autoimmune disorders rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Do you realize how many women have these diseases? It’s unnatural. And that previous research hinted at a link between agricultural pesticides and a higher risk of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. I think it’s time to take this information seriously. Lupus and RA are nothing to take lightly; in general, autoimmune diseases are diseases where the immune system goes haywire and begins to attack the body. And to ice the cake, it was also shown that farmers are a high risk group for these diseases and the reason now seems to be bug killers. Ugh.
Women in the study who reported use of insecticides presented a higher risk of developing the two autoimmune disorders than women who reported no insecticide use, whether or not they had lived on a farm. Those who used the insecticide the most often and most frequently had double the risk! Are you using this stuff? Do you want to develop RA? I know people who have this and, take my word for it, you don’t! But I guess the powers that be just don’t care about any of this; after all, the people who make the bug spray make a lot of the OTC meds that are used to treat the pain. Bayer comes to mind. They make insecticides and herbacides and also make the aspirin you’re taking to treat your arthritis. So many drug companies today have merged with larger corporate interests so that many different product lines are mixed and this mix can cause conflicts of interest. So it’s up to you to investigate and find out who’s who in the zoo.
This involves reading the lables and taking precautions to limit your own exposure to dangerous chemicals. Epidemiologists are saying that this should include products you’ve taken in the past and even those you know are no longer available. Especially if that product has since been implicated in health issues or larger crises. Keep your ear to the ground about whatever chemicals you currently use or feel you cannot give up. If you hear anything at all about possible health risks, have yourself assessed as soon as possible. It is true that more research is needed to nail down the direct link between insecticides and autoimmune disease. In this case, the researchers examined data from a previous study of almost 77,000 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79. Even if you do not meet this criteria, care should be taken when deciding to use deadly poisons or toxic chemicals. In general, the insecticides implicated in the study include insect killers, such as those designed to eradicate ants, wasps, termites, mosquitoes and roaches. This is the stuff that will actually kill the bugs. The study didn’t include insect repellents or skin rubs for mosquitoes, flies or fleas.
Technorati Tags: autoimmune disease, lupus, RA, rheumatism, rheumatic arthritis, chemicals, bug sprays, insecticides, dangers toxic, toxins, products, sickness, disease, wellness, health
February 17, 2010 · Filed under Environmental Detox, Health Care, Home and Garden, Personal Care · Tagged antibacterial, antibacterial soaps, cleaning, cleanser, cosmetics, healing, health, Health Care, Personal Care, products, safe, shopping, toxic, washing
It seems like you can’t even buy a soap that isn’t “antibacterial” anymore and often that those soaps are cheaper than the others! Indeed, it seems like antibacterial soap is everywhere now, in everything from shampoo to bar soaps. The idea is that we are crawling with germs and this stuff will keep us from getting sick. However, being an old lady these days I remember a time before they invented this stuff and I don’t recall being sick all the time. So are they really an upgrade in our lifestyles or is this just overkill?
Well, according to doctors in hospitals all across the country there is growing concern over “antibiotic resistance” which is fast becoming more dangerous than the germs themselves. We have developed antibiotic resistant bacteria that are responsible for killer diseases like MRSA and flesh eating bacteria. The general consensus is that factory farming is to blame for this with the non stop treatment of farm animals to prevent infections. But there is also a concern over the use of antibacterial soaps and sprays. Our immune systems need to be exposed to germs in order to develop resistance to them.. and the current rage over antibacterial environments does not allow that to happen.
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February 5, 2010 · Filed under conservation, Environmental Detox, Health Care, Home and Garden · Tagged chemicals, dangers, epa, products, regulations, testing, toxic, USDA
In September of 2009, the Chemical Abstract Service, an agency that registers every new chemical as it is invented or discovered, assigned a registry number to the 50 millionth chemical. I think this is amazing considering the natural resources we have. Why do we have to make everything into a chemical? Do you realize that the Chemical Abstract Service began to register chemicals in 1956, and it took 33 years to register the first 10 million new chemicals while the last 10 million chemicals were registered in just 9 months at the rate of 25 per minute! We are accelerating in our use of chemicals.
The identification of 40% of these chemicals is done primarily by scouring research papers from worldwide projects while 60% were from major patent offices worldwide.. So 40% of these are chemicals developed in research projects, some for commercial use, some for other uses like laboratory, medical and industrial materials. The majority of these new chemicals are developed for public use; ie, foods, cosmetics, health products, housing materials.. all materials used by all of us every day.
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January 20, 2010 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged bisphenol A, chemicals, dangers, environmental toxins, health, home, pesticides, plastics, products, pthalates, toxic, weight gain
The answer to that question can be really surprising. Oh, I know it’s far more popular to write a post about a new diet fad, some pill or food or magic bullet I can talk you into taking that I promise will make you thin. Or to write a motivational piece about how you should get up and jog and run and climb monkey bars or whatever else is handy to get your butt shagging and this will make you thin, right? Oh, if the solution was only that simple. And those of you who have taken all the pills, foods and magic bullets and have climbed the monkey bars on your way to the daily jog and still jiggle when you walk, you know it’s not. But what are the real reasons you are fat? Could it be something around you that has nothing to do with what you actually eat or how often you exercise?
Now, I won’t be the one to tell people to eat what they like or to stop exercising. Our sedate society is making all of us lazy and unproductive to some degree. People were made for physical labor, to build their own huts, to hunt their own food, to run through the jungle, literally. Our current technology oriented sit on your butt and eat lifestyle can’t be good, no matter what. But what if it’s not the only factor in your weight problem? What if it is in the world around you? Among those things that you have made a part of your beloved lifestyle or among the expensive and much desired objects you surround yourself with? What if?
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September 15, 2009 · Filed under conservation, Environmental Detox, Health Care, Personal Care, recycling · Tagged chemicals, conservation, ecology, green, health, plastics, products, recycling, safe, shopping, toxic, waste
With all the grim news about plastics and plastic products, with much of this information already presented in my posts here on this blog, it brings to mind the question of whether there are safe plastics or not. Are all plastics poison? Or are there some that we can handle without fear? This question interested me so I thought I’d investigate.
Looking around on the web, I found quite a few articles about the dangerous chemicals in plastic and why plastic is dangerous to the human body. It took a little more digging and research to pull together a list of plastics and plastic products that are more benign. Here is what I discovered about both, in a handy, easy to reference, list:
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August 25, 2009 · Filed under Environmental Detox, Food and Drink, Health Care, Natural Cooking · Tagged cooking, eating, food, healing, health, natural, non toxic, products, safe, shopping, toxic
There is a big movement among Americans today to go more natural in their eating habits, such as switching to organic, buying local or eating more natural foods, foods that aren’t so processed. I thought it might be interesting to talk about processed foods and why they are so bad for you. Since my blog is about being natural, I thought I’d give you guys one more reason to do it.
I am sure that you are aware of the questions about the safety of many food additives, from food dyes to trans fats. A lot of information about additives has been in the news along with the many scares over food safety. A scare such as the ones we’ve had in recent years may linger in our minds long after researchers find that there’s actually no cause for alarm. It can take years, or even decades, to find out the truth, and sometimes the case is never really closed. So it’s always a good idea to do your research and play it safe when not really sure.
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July 7, 2009 · Filed under Environmental Detox, Health Care, herbs, Natural Remedies · Tagged addiction, cigarettes, habit, healing, health, how to, non toxic, products, remedies, smoking, toxic
In your efforts to quit smoking Tobacco, you are going to have to deal with your nerves. In fact, this is the one thing that disrupts the process the most. I quit smoking several different times in my life and went back years later, more than once, and the last time I quit the hardest part was being tense and wanting the soothing effects of Nicotine. Another factor people overlook is the comfort of habit. I was so used to picking a cig out of a pack, lighting it up, fingering it, tapping it, butting it… etc.. it was a routine and routines bring familiarity and comfort.
So while you are trying to stop destroying your body with smoke, you are also contending with nerves, habituation, discomfort and change in routine. There were times during the day and certain things I did that I had come to associate with smoking. And when I went to do those things I also went after a smoke. It was hard to keep doing those things without a cigarette. All of these reactions though are tied to our feelings of comfort and security, combined with the soothing effects of Nicotine, the hard part of quitting the smokes is mostly about our emotions and nerves.
There are nothing on earth that soothes nerves or settles anxieties better than herbs. Although it’s not a good idea to just replace Tobacco with herb cigarettes or to quit smoking cigarettes by smoking Marijuana, there are herbs you can use in different forms that will help quell the tensions that arise when you quit smoking. Here is a list of a few of them and how you should use them to get the best effect:
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June 15, 2009 · Filed under Environmental Detox, Home and Garden, Personal Care · Tagged chemicals, cleaning, eco, green, health, non toxic, products, safe, shopping, toxic, washing
I have done a lot of posts in the past that have covered the area of cleaning the home and doing it in an environmentally safe and non toxic fashion. But there is always more to discuss, as the concept of cleaning goes beyond just scrubbing the tub and scraping the stove. You also clean your clothes, your body and the outside area of your residence. In truth, all of this cleaning requires chemicals of various kinds and even the stuff you are sudsing up with in the shower can be toxic both to the planet and to you.
Consider first the washing of clothes. Did you know that only the toilet wastes more water than the washing machine in the average household? It’s that wasteful… and expensive! And as that water drains out, it takes with it the chemicals from your laundry detergent. This means they end up in the drinking water supply and how do they clean drinking water? With chlorine and other chemicals, all of which amplify the toxicity of the detergents you use. While popular, name brand detergents do a great job cleaning your clothes, they also do major damage in the environment. They also have an effect on you and your family, either on the front end where they contact your flesh through the wearing of the washed clothing… or on the other end where they end up in your glass.
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June 10, 2009 · Filed under diy, Environmental Detox, Natural Remedies, Uncategorized · Tagged chemicals, cleaning, cosmetics, health, how to, non toxic, products, safe, shopping, toxic
If I was going to eliminate only the worst toxic stuff from my world because, let’s say, it was too expensive, complicated or uncomfortable to work my way through ALL of it, then which ones would I choose? How would I know which ones were the worst and how would I find them in that pile of junk I have around me that I’ve become dependent upon and used to? Well, I know that this is a daunting task and it could take a novice years to get up to snuff, as well as taking many months to work the bad stuff out and to find new.
So knowing this and thinking about how people are, I thought it might be a good idea to give a list that people could write down, print out or record for future reference. A simple enough list to be added to the grocery and household shopping lists. So I came up with a “worst chemicals in the world” type of list with the names they go by on the labels you read so that you can snoop them out in your buying expeditions. I also give a short description of what they do and why there are bad for you so that you can understand that this is important. So get your pen, open your text document or start the voice recorder. Here they are:
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Harmony Green 