The Dangers of Toxins
Why Should You Worry About Toxic Chemicals?
The EPA has reported that toxic chemicals found in the home are, on the average, three times more likely to cause cancer than outdoor airborne pollutants.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission connects 150 chemicals commonly found in our homes to allergies, birth defects, cancer and psychological disorders.
The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health analyzed 2,983 chemicals used in personal care products and 884 were found to be toxic - some even caused mutagenic changes.
What Are Toxic Elements?
Toxic elements are present throughout the environment in varying concentrations in air, soil, water, plants, and animals.
The consequences of exposure to toxic elements can vary widely depending on the type of element, the amount, and the length of time as well as the health and nutritional status of the individual. With some exposures, even at low levels over a period of time, the effects on health may not be apparent for years. Many of the elements can be deadly in large amounts and several have demonstrated an ability to cause or stimulate cancer.
Accumulated toxic elements with excessive or continual exposure, or if your body's detoxifying defenses aren't up to par, may inhibit enzymes in your body, weaken cell membranes, or impair nutrient delivery, which can lead to illness.
Taken from: Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory, 2001
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What does "almost everyone" wear on their clothes and breath on their pillowcases? The same chemicals that destroy septic systems and leech into our lakes and streams. Think about it when you lay your face down on your pillowcase; especially in the winter when it is cold and your hot breath breaks down the following chemicals:
Phosphates (Phosphorus; a fertilizer that causes algae to grow and depletes oxygen out of the water)
Chlorine Bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite)
Lye (Sodium Hydroxide)
Ammonia
Phenols
Fillers
NTA's (An assortment of toxic chemicals with unpronounceable names like Nitrilotriacetic Acid (NTA)
The Merck Index refers to NTA as a substance we may reasonably anticipate to be a carcinogen (cancer causing substance). Amazingly, it is still allowed in our laundry compounds. When we consider the residue of caustic detergents, oily-film fabric softeners, and chemical perfumes and dyes, we need to ask ourselves if our clothes are really clean?
Phosphates - Why do they use them in laundry detergents? Because they soften the water and enhance performance. Phosphates are one of the contributors that resulted in the virtual death of Lake Erie in the 1970's. Phosphates also contributed to the ruining of the Cascade Reservoir in Idaho.
According to David Kullberg's publication, House Work May Be Hazardous to Your Health, many areas of the country are requiring laundry detergents to be low-phosphate. Now, manufactures replace phosphates with caustics. The misconception now is that low phosphates are safe. They may be safer for the environment, but they are 100 times more caustic than phosphate detergents. Caustics such as Lye (Sodium Hydroxide or Potassium Hypochlorite) clean by a chemical reaction that burns or eats away other substances. Caustics also wear out your clothes faster and dull the fabric's colors.
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Environmental Protection Agency studies have shown that indoor air pollutants are 3 to 70 times higher than outdoors.
The following information came from a conference call with Kay Heizer, Director of "Healthy Choices" (a non-profit organization comprised of doctors, nurses, environmental scientists and educators committed to teaching the public about the hazards of chemicals in our home and how we can avoid or minimize the risks):
• 50% of all illness is due to poor indoor air quality [Source: 1989 State of Massachusetts Study]
• Since 1950, at least 70,000 new chemical compounds have been invented and dispersed into our environment. Only a fraction of these have been tested for human toxicity. We are, by default, conducting a massive clinical toxicology trial, and our children and their children are the experimental animals. [Source: Herbert L. Needleman, M.D., Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., Raising Children Toxin Free]
• 150 chemicals found in the home are connected to allergies, birth defects, cancer and psychological disorders. [Source: Consumer Protection Agency (CPA)]
• The United States of America Federal Code of Regulations exempts manufacturers from full labeling of products if used for personal, family or household care. [Source USA FCR: Section 1910.1200C, Title 29, Section 1500.82 2Q1A]
• 3 groups of people are primarily affected by indoor chemical concentrations because they spend more time indoors and their immune systems are weaker. The 3 groups are: infants and toddlers, elderly people, and chronically ill people. [Source: 1988 EPA, 5-year study]
• In 1901, cancer was rare: 1 out of 8,000 people got cancer. Since the Industrial Revolution, the cancer rate today has risen to 1 in 3 and by the year 2002, it will be 1 in 2. [Source: The American Cancer Society]
• The top cancer-causing products in the average home include the following [Source: The National Cancer Prevention Coalition]:
· Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder w/Talc
· Crest Tartar Control Toothpaste
· VO5 Hair Conditioner
· Clairol Nice-n-Easy Hair Color
· Ajax Cleanser
· Lysol Disinfectant
• Liquid dish soap is the leading cause of poisonings in the home for children under the age of six (over 2.1 million accidental poisonings per year). Most brands of liquid dish soap contain formaldehyde and ammonia.
• Of the chemicals found in personal care products:
· 884 are toxic
· 146 cause tumors
· 218 cause reproductive complications
· 778 cause acute toxicity
· 314 cause biological mutations
· 376 cause skin and eye irritations
[Source: United States House of Representatives Report, 1989]
•The State of California recently passed legislation requiring a 45% reduction in the amount of toxins found in:
· Hairspray aerosols
· Furniture polish
· Window cleaners
· Air fresheners
· Shaving cream
· Laundry detergents
· Nail polish remover
· Insect repellant
· Hair styling gel and mousse
[Source: Healthy Homes in a Toxic World]
• Out of 2,435 pesticide poisonings in a one-year period, over 40% were due to exposure to disinfectants and similar cleaning products in the home. [Source: State of California Study]
• Just by reducing (not eliminating) environmental carcinogens alone, we would save at least 50,000 lives taken by cancer annually. [Source: Dr. Lee Davis, former advisor to the Secretary of Health]
• Most laundry detergent contains a form of NTA. NTA is a substance we may reasonably anticipate to be a carcinogen. [Source: The Merck Index]
• Household bleaches which claim to disinfect are classified as pesticides under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. Inadvertently mixing bleach with other cleaners that contain ammonia produces a toxic chloramines gas. These toxic gases can cause coughing, loss of voice, a feeling of burning or suffocation, and even death. [Source: Guide to Hazardous Products Around the Home, Household Hazardous Waste Project, 1989]
• Women who work in the home have a 54% higher death rate from cancer than women who work outside of the home. [Source: 17- year EPA study]
• 150 chemicals found in the home have been connected to allergies, birth defects, cancer and psychological disorders. [Source: The Consumer Protection Agency)
• As more toxic chemicals have been introduced to our everyday environment in greater amounts over the last 20 to 30 years, the level of toxins stored in adipose tissues (fat cells) of our bodies have risen. Bio-accumulation studies have shown that some toxins store in our bodies for life. Greater and greater amounts are being stored at younger ages. One study showed that in the fat of 100% of the people tested was 1,4-Dichlorobenzene, a chemical found in most household deodorizers and room fresheners.
• Diseases that used to occur later in life are now appearing at younger ages. Diseases that used to be rare are more frequent. For example:
·There has been a 28% increase in childhood cancer since the addition of pesticides into household products.
·Cancer is now the #2 killer of children - second only to accidental poisonings. Since 1977 the rate of cancer among American children has been steadily rising at a rate of nearly 1% each year. [Source: National Cancer Institute]
·There is an increased risk for leukemia in children where parents have used pesticides in the home or garden before the child's birth. [Source: Journal of the National Cancer Institute]
• Some products release contaminants into the air right away, others do so gradually over a period of time. Some stay in the air up to a year. These contaminants, found in many household and personal care products can cause dizziness, nausea, allergic reactions, eye/skin/respiratory tract irritations and some cause cancer. [American Lung Association]
• Asthma was once a very rare disease. Now the condition is extremely common - the asthma rate has tripled in the last 20 years with nearly 30 million Americans currently afflicted. [Source: Consumer Federation of America, 1997]
• In one decade, there has been a 42% increase in asthma (29% for men, 82% for women). The higher rate for women is believed to be due to women's longer exposure times to household chemicals. [Source: Center for Disease Control]
• Childhood asthma has increased by more than 40% since 1980. [Source: Environmental Health Perspectives, June 1997; 105 (6)]
• Asthma death in children and young people increased by a dramatic 118% between 1980 and 1993. [Source: Environmental Health Threats to Children, Environmental Protection Agency 175-F-96-001, September 1996]
• The average child visits the doctor 23 times in the 1st 4 years of life, with the most common complaint being respiratory ailment. [Source: National Center for Health Statistics, 1997]
• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) in adults and children is also rising - in 1993, 4.5 million children took the drug Ritalin so they could sit still long enough to learn. By 1998, 11.4 million children were being drugged with this powerful Class-2 narcotic. [Source: Your Children and Ritalin, The Detroit news (March 8. 1998)]
• Even small doses of neurotoxins, which would be harmless to an adult, can alter a child's nervous system development. [Source: Environmental Health Perspectives 106 Supplement 3:787-794 (June 1998)]
• Developing cells in children's bodies are more susceptible to damage than adult cells that have completed development, especially for the central nervous system. During the development of a child, from conception through adolescence, there are particular windows of vulnerability to environmental hazards. Most disturbing - until a child is approximately 13 months of age, they have virtually no ability to fight the biological and neurological effects of toxic chemicals. [Source: Herbert L. Needleman, M.D., Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., Raising Children Toxic Free]
• Today, children have chemical exposures from birth that their parents didn't have until they were adults. Because children are exposed to toxins at an earlier age than adults, they have more time to develop environmentally triggered diseases, with long latency periods, such as cancer. [Source: Environmental Policy and Children's Health, Future of Children, Summer/Fall 1995;5(2):34-52]
Formaldehyde is a highly toxic substance. It is a known cancer-causing agent. It damages the neurological connectors in the body. It is an irritant to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs and may cause:
· skin reactions
· ear infections
· headaches
· depression
· asthma
· joint pain
· dizziness
· mental confusion
· nausea
· disorientation
· phlebitis
· fatigue
· vomiting
· sleep disturbances
· laryngitis
• One in five people are sensitive to formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is commonly found in:
· drugs
· mouthwash
· hairspray
· cosmetics
· cleaning products
· perfumes
· waxes
· hair setting lotions
· shampoo
· air fresheners
· fungicides
· fingernail polish
· floor polishes
· dry cleaning solvents
· toothpaste
· laundry spray starch
· antiperspirants
· … just to name a few
DO YOU STILL WANT TO USE PRODUCTS IN YOUR HOME THAT CONTAIN FORMALDEHYDE?
• Due to the increase in toxic buildup in our bodies, including the toxic buildup of formaldehyde, dead bodies are not decomposing as fast as they used to.
· Bodies now start to decompose within 7 to 10 days after death.
· During the Vietnam War, Vietnamese bodies started to decompose within 24 to 48 hours.
However, Americans didn't start to decompose for 4 to 5 days.
· Twice as much formaldehyde was needed to embalm a person 20 years ago as compared
to today.
How many of these names would you have recognized as formaldehyde?
· Formalin
· Methanal
· Methyl Aldehyde
· Methylene Oxide
· Oxymethylene
· Bfv*
· Fannoform*
· Formol*
· Fyde*
· Karsan*
· Methaldehyde
· Formalith*
· Methylene Glycol
· Ivalon*
· Oxomethane
· Formalin 40
· Formalin
· Formic Aldehyde
· Hoch
· Paraform
· Lysoform*
· Morbocid
· Trioxane
· Polyoxmethylene
* denotes trade name
• The following products are just a few that are so toxic that they should be disposed of in a toxic waste dump [Source: Water Pollution Control Federation]:
· floor care products
· furniture polish
· window cleaners
· bug spray
· nail polish remover
• Warning labels on containers refer only to toxic hazards from ingestion. However, only 10% of health problems from chemicals are caused by ingestion; 90% are caused by the inhalation of vapors and absorption of particles.
• Government regulations require that only the most EXTREMELY toxic substances must contain a warning label. Labels that say the following should be removed from your house immediately:
· "Do not induce vomiting"
· "Corrosive - rinse from skin immediately"
· "Harmful or fatal if swallowed"
· "Call physician immediately"
· "Warning!" (may mean that as little as 1 teaspoon of product can harm or kill adult)
· "Danger!" (means that as little as 5 drops can harm or kill an adult)
Phenol is an extremely caustic chemical that burns the skin. Absorption of phenol through the lungs or skin can cause:
· central nervous system damage
· pneumonia
· respiratory tract infection
· heart-rate irregularities
· skin irritation
· kidney and liver damage
· numbness
· vomiting
· and can be fatal
• Phenol is a very common chemical and is regularly found in the following common products:
· air fresheners
· aftershave
· bronchial mists
· chloroseptic throat spray
· deodorants
· feminine powders & sprays
· hair spray
· decongestants
· mouthwash
· aspirin
· solvents
· acne medications
· antiseptics
· calamine lotions
· cleaning products
· detergents
· furniture polish
· hair setting lotions
· lice shampoo
· polishes
· cold capsules
· all-purpose cleaners
· aerosol disinfectants
· anti-itching lotions
· carnex
· cosmetics
· disinfectant cleaners
· hand lotions
· lip balms
· sunscreen and lotions
· insecticides
· cough syrups
· … just to name a few
DO YOU STILL WANT TO USE PRODUCTS IN YOUR HOME THAT CONTAIN PHENOL?
• Learn what the EPA says about chemicals around your house by visiting http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/kids/hometour/tour.htm