Plastic bottles have been linked to cancer and other health
problems. But are all plastic containers the same and are
they all potential health hazards? Glass is rarely used for
most personal care, skin care or cosmetic products. On the
other hand, plastic is everywhere in products we use daily, including
food, cleaning products, even care of newborn babies.
In today’s market a symbol and number on the bottom identify
most plastic containers. This information is important and
tells you what type of plastic is used, if it’s recyclable, and if it
is safe or not.
Certain ingredients can affect the plastic they are contained in and some plastics can leach chemicals into the products they contain. If you have sensitive skin, it’s very important to know what ingredients are in your skin care, personal care and makeup products. Make it also a habit to check the tubes and bottles you buy that contain your food and sensitive skin care and personal care products. This article will help you learn the difference between those numbers under the plastic containers.
In the July issue (page 28) I reported on the dangers of synthetic
chemical fragrances, the number of people affected in one way
or another, symptoms manifested from fragrance exposure, and
current research on their toxicity.
This month I’m listing the most common chemicals so that you can use this as a guideline and, hopefully, begin to take seriously the “toxic soup” to which we have all become exposed. Don’t simply “buy into” the marketing campaigns instead of being informed about what you put on your body and the health consequences… remember…what goes on the skin goes in the body!
From Fatigued to Fantastic! and
medical director of the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Center
Formaldehyde 101
Formaldehyde is a colorless gas with a pungent, suffocating odor. It is often used in an aqueous solution (formalin). The primary uses for formaldehyde include:
- The production of urea-formaldehyde and phenol-formaldehyde resins;
- Plastics;
- The manufacture of rubber, photographic film, leather, cosmetics, embalming fluids, disinfectants, and fumigants;
- Formaldehyde resins are used as adhesives in the manufacture of particleboard, fiberboard, and plywood as well as for molding, paper treating and coating, textile treating, surface coating, and in insulation foams;
- It is commonly found in as many as 4,000 different building materials and for this reason is one of the most dangerous and common indoor air pollutants.
Cell Phone Radiation: We Know the Dangers, What are the Solutions?
Written by Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS
In 2005, Ann Louise Gittleman was diagnosed with a benign tumor of the parotid, one of the salivary glands located just below the earlobe. Itfs a very rare tumor most often caused by ionizing radiation from x-rays, which she hadnft been exposed to. But, she had been addicted to her cell phone, and on it constantly, for years.
In 2008, researchers in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that individuals who kept their cell phone against one side of their head for several hours a day were 50 percent more likely to develop parotid tumors.
The latest form of environmental pollution—and one that
industry, government and wireless consumers don’t like
to acknowledge—may be the most devastating threat to
health yet: electromagnetic fields (EMFs). A few years ago, I was
so concerned that I took a certification course in the detection
and harmful effects of EMFs. What it taught me, above all,
was how much the scientific community is learning daily, and
how little we in the medical profession knew. This area was
both frightening and daunting in its scope. I’m grateful that
following Devra Davis’ Disconnect: The Truth About Cell Phone
Radiation we now have Zapped to educate the public on this
serious issue.
Wicked Candles: Are You Unknowingly Poisoning Your Health and Environment?
Written by Gloria Gilbère, DAHom, PhDUse This Simple Test to Identify Toxic Metals
Test for Toxic Metals
The National Candle Association says there is an easy way to test whether a candle has a lead core wick: Take an ordinary piece of white paper and rub it on the tip of an un-burnt wick. If the wick leaves a light grey pencil-like mark, it has a lead core. No mark, however, and the candle is lead-free.
Do you have florescent light bulbs in your home or business? If so, congratulations, you are now a “hazardous waste handler.” The energy savings of fluorescent bulbs are definitely NOT worth the health risks that I’m sharing with you in this investigative piece.
Do you know if one breaks over carpet, you’d have to replace the entire carpet to remove mercury contained in the bulb? Some consumers have become so ill they’ve actually had to seal-off the contaminated room until it can be safely de-contaminated by environmental remediation specialists.
Chemical Residues in Genetically Modified (GM) Foods Cause Cell Damage
Written by Gloria Gilbère, DAHom, PhD
Among the most common herbicides
used worldwide is one
named Roundup. The authors
of a study on the subject of cell
damage and death reported their research
“…points to detrimental health effects from
Roundup®, which are currently masked or hidden
from scientific scrutiny.”
GM crops are engineered to be Roundup resistant—their residues rank among the major pollutants and are authorized residues contaminating GM foods and feed at the tested levels. The researchers studied toxicity mechanisms of four different Roundup formulations in human cells. The formulations were diluted at minimal doses (up to 100,000 times or more), but they still caused cell death within just a few hours. The researchers also noted damages to membranes and DNA, and found the formulations inhibit cell respiration (oxygen levels needed within the cell like our lungs require oxygen).
Green MEDICINE
Written by Nicholas Gonzalez, MD
What exactly is Green Medicine? I like to think of it in terms of stimulating the body’s own resources and extraordinary abilities to repair and rebuild itself. It helps reverse even serious illness, using diet, nutrients, detoxification procedures and rarely drugs, to move our bodies in a healing direction. It means living a clean life at home, avoiding exposures, as much as possible, to toxic, synthetic chemicals. It also means working to keep the larger world around us cleaner, greener, as it was originally meant to be.
This approach differs considerably from the more conventional medicine we know so well, the slash and burn treatment of illness that uses drugs, invariably with long lists of toxic side effects, to blast away at the illness—be it bacterial or cancer. Of course no one denies the benefits of technological, pharmaceutical based modern medicine but it has serious limitations, and often doesn’t work well—witness the recent reports revealing that antidepressants, long considered one of the great victories of modern medicine, may overall work no better than placebo. But, nice as it may sound, gentle as it might seem in theory, can green medicine really work against a terrible disease like cancer? My colleague Dr. Isaacs and I, certainly believe so, and our experience over the past 20 years in the trenches with at times the sickest of the sick has helped confirm that done properly and intensively our brand of medicine can work.
Environmental Health