Chemical Truth

Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.   -Mark Twain

The Truth About Toxins in Our Products

The Environmental Working Group Study:

“I did a study with the Environmental Working Group where we measured umbilical cord blood in babies. We found an average of 200 different industrial chemicals in their cord blood at birth. Of the total 287 chemicals we detected, 180 are known to cause cancer in humans and 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system. So I realized that what’s “out there” is in us — even in the most inner sanctum of the womb. Being green and getting pregnant and raising a baby are so intimately connected.” Dr. Greene, Grist Interview 07

In  speach for Healthy Child, Healthy Word, Dr. Green said the following:

In  the last 10 years, in the U.S.,  all childhood cancers have gone up steadily about 25%.  Brain cancers in kids have gone up 56%,  and leukemia has gone up 68%. Just in babies, brain tumors have gone up 60% and reproductive tumors, (cancers), in babies have gone up 124%.  It is not that their genes, their genetic make-up, has changed in the last 25 years.  It is the environment.

We have released into our environment, in our sofas, our computers, our carpets, our drapes and our lawns, a wide variety of chemicals. Eighty five thousand new synthetic chemicals were developed in the last sixty years.  Many of them we know are carcinogens, neurodevelopmental toxins, endocrine disruptor hormones. In kids we are seeing a rise in all the conditions related to those things. ADHD up 250% in just 10 years and linked to ADHD is not just lead and cigarette smoke, but also organophosphate pesticides exposure. Today, the average child has three times the EPA safe dose.

So, chronic diseases are increasing very rapidly. Children are more vulnerable to toxins. As Dr. Greene puts it, “the children have unwittingly become the canary in the mine.” They are letting us know that things need to change now. It can feel overwhelming but there are simple, actionable steps, proven general knowledge, telling us what plastics are OK, what foods, even what baby formula! We just have to know that there is a good reason to take those steps. Dr. Greene Opening Speech, Healthy Child, Healthy World

The following information is from Mt. Sinai’s Children’s Environmental Health Center www.cehcenter.org

• More than 80,000 new chemical compounds have been developed since World War II

• Of these, 3,000 are high-volume chemicals, with annual production exceeding one million pounds. These chemicals are used extensively in our homes, schools, communities, and they are widely dispersed in air, water, soil, and waste sites.

• Fewer than 20% of these high volume chemicals have been tested for their possible toxicity to children.

• Over 2.5 billion pounds of toxic chemicals are released to the environment in the US each year.

• Nearly 75% of the top 20 chemicals discharged to the environment are known or suspected to be toxic to the developing human brain. In addition, more than 4 billion pounds of pesticides – many of them neurotoxic – are applied in the US each year in agriculture, on lawns and gardens, and inside homes, schools, day-care centers and hospitals.

• National surveys conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show measurable levels of high-volume synthetic chemicals in the bodies of nearly all Americans, including newborns, infants and in the breast milk of nursing mothers.

References:

United States Environmental Protection Agency. Chemical Hazard Data Availability Study: What Do We Really Know About the Safety of High Production Volume Chemicals? Washington, DC: Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, 1998.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Program. Washington, DC, February 21, 2008.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. Atlanta (GA): CDC, 2005.

NOTE:

• The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has found more than 2500 chemicals in cosmetics that are toxic, cause tumors, reproductive complications, biological mutations and skin and eye irritations.  [Source: United States House of Representatives Report, 1989]

• The United States of America Federal Code of Regulations exempts manufacturers from full labeling of products if used for personal, family or household care. [SourceUSA FCR: Section 1910 1200C, Title 29, Sectionn1500.82 2Q1A]  (What?!)

• National Cancer Association released results of a 15 year study concluding that women who work in the home are at a 54% higher risk of developing cancer than women who work outside the home.  (Hmmm, no full labeling for home products, home products found to have serious toxins, 54% increase in cancer for women who work at home)

• There has been a 26% increase in breast cancer since 1982. Breast cancer is the Number ONE killer of women between the ages of 35 and 54. National Cancer Association (toxins in cosmetics are linked to breast cancer)

IN ADDITION

• The cancer causing and toxic chemicals formaldehyde, phenol, benzene, toluene, xylene can be found in common laundry detergents, household cleaners, cosmetics, beverages, fabrics, pesticides and cigarette smoke.  (The whole shopping experience just changed)

• Bleach is being linked to the rising rates of breast cancer in women, reproductive problems in men and learning and behavioral problems in children.  (Stay away from traditional Bleach!!!  See some good options in the cleaning section above. I love white whites too)

• Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, circulatory disorders, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, and hormonal problems are diseases commonly related to chemical exposure.

We are looking into the sources for the following statements:

• Government regulations require that only the most EXTREMELY toxic substances must contain a warning label. (It is best to stay far far away from products with warning labels especially if you are pregnant or with a baby)

• Pesticides only have to include active ingredients on the labels, even though the inert (inactive) ingredients may account for 99%, many of which are toxins and poisons. (Most pesticides are seriously toxic. Keep them away from your family, fetus, baby, children. There are safe options listed in the Cleaners section to the right above. )

• A product that kills 50% of lab animals through ingestion or inhalation can still be designated “non-toxic.” (Hmmm)

Now I’m a full believer in creativity and industry but…