Wednesday, October 27, 2010

October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I found this little blurb in which you may be interested. It speaks to breast cancer and mammary glands specifically but you could use the same idea to consider impacts on any body system/cells.

From the article, We Won't Identify Breast Cancer Risks from Chemicals Until We Test for Them, I've copied a few excerpts below.

Most of the 80,000 chemicals in circulation since World War II have not been tested for toxic impacts on humans. Yet even for the small portion that does get tested—including pharmaceuticals and pesticides—current protocols don’t call for examining what chemicals do to mammary glands.
Breast cancer is a hormone sensitive disease, so something has to be triggering the disruptions in our endocrine systems. Toxic chemicals are a possible culprit, but we won’t know until we test them specifically for their links to mammary tumors.
A review done by the organization Silent Spring looked at the chemicals that have been studied intensively by the national and international authorities. They identified 216 chemicals that cause mammary tumors in animals, but only three are regulated based on danger to mammary glands—a sign that risks to breast tissue is not a high priority.
 To learn more about your endocrine system and endocrine disruptors check here.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Heavy Metal Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner! Any plans for face painting? Maybe you're planning to be a cat or a Wizard of Oz munchkin? Halloween aside, aren't kids frequently getting their faces painted? Lots to think about!

I just found this article, Pretty Scary: Heavy Metals in Face Paints. Campaign for Safe Cosmetics did an independent study sampling 10 random children's face paints.
A new report by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, "Pretty Scary," reveals that some children’s face paints contain lead, a neurotoxin, as well as nickel, cobalt and chromium, which can cause lifelong skin sensitization and contact dermatitis.
Creepier yet, these metals were not listed on the products' ingredient labels. Some products even bore misleading claims (like "hypoallergenic" and “FDA compliant”), making it tough for parents to find safe face paints.
So, what can you do to avoid all this?
  • Choose costumes that don't require face paint or masks (which may also contain toxic chemicals and impair vision and breathing).
  • Make your own face paint with food-grade ingredients. 
  • If you do use face paint, keep it away from kids’ mouths and hands so they don't ingest it.
You can make non-toxic face paint from natural food coloring or just food itself. You can use ingredients like cocoa butter, strawberries, blackberries, beets, avocado, blueberries, spirulina, chocolate, squid ink and powdered sugar. The cool thing is, making up your own face paint would be fun for you and your child and could become a favorite Halloween tradition. And think how proud you'll be when you tell your friends you made your own face paint!

Be SAFE this Halloween!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Classroom Air Pollutants


Every wonder what chemicals are used to clean the classrooms where your children sit for at least 6 hours each day they are at school? How about teachers who spend 8-10 hours in their classroom each teaching day? Does your child suffer from asthma? How about the janitors who are exposing themselves to cleaning chemicals simply because it's part of their job?

I just found the following article and of course there are many things of interest in it.
Green School Cleaners Emit Fewer Air Pollutants 
I found this article through a link from another article called Cleaning at School may Dirty your Child's Classroom Air

What caught my eye though was the reference to Febreze (I guess I'm still not over my Febreze assault).

Febreze Air Effects, an air freshener that gave off 89 airborne contaminants including acetaldehyde, a chemical linked to cancer.  

Worst Cleaners: These products released the largest number of air pollutants
  • Comet Disinfectant Powder Cleanser
  • Simple Green Concentrated Cleaner/Degreaser/Deodorizer
  • Febreze Air Effects
Worst Product Types: These types released the largest number of air pollutants
  • Graffiti Removers
  • Air Fresheners
  • Floor Finishes
 
Anyone still using Comet in their house?
As it happens, it’s not just the cleaners used in schools. Some of the products we had tested are also under the sink in millions of American homes. One of them, Comet Disinfectant Powder Cleanser, released 143 contaminants into the air – including formaldehyde, benzene, chloroform and four others that California has formally identified as causers of cancer or reproductive problems. Yuck.
Making your own cleaning products is pretty simple and only takes a small amount of time. Probably as much time as it would take to research which products were safe to buy. Basic ingredients include: borax, baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, water. Pretty simple right? I've only bought a few cleaning products which serve many purposes. Bon Ami is a polishing cleanser similar to Comet but without all the airborne contaminants. CitraSolv is another multi-purpose cleaner I use. I bought it once in a spray bottle and subsequently bought in concentrate form and fill up my spray bottle.
 
I never use air fresheners but often burn bees wax candles.
Beeswax is a renewable resource which produces negative ions that actually clean your air of odors, pollens, smoke, dust, dust mites, viruses and other allergens and hazards.
I think it's important to not get discouraged when identifying contaminants in your life. It takes time to find them, weed them out and to replace them with safer products.  If you look under your sink and find it full of unsafe products, don't fret. Try changing out a product every few weeks or so. Don't let it overwhelm you, simply change things one step at a time!

Friday, October 15, 2010

The Story of Cosmetics

This is a great video! I thought it was pertinent to the whole Fragrance topic!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Fragrance - It's A Bad Word

Has it really been almost 5 months since my last post? I'm not entirely sure where the time goes but it is indeed October! I spent June on Smart's Mountain Farm taking care of the place for my parents. July found us road trippin' through Oregon. The 2nd week of August was spent at Emerald Earth Sanctuary learning about all things natural and building. I'll have to do some future posts about the benefits of building naturally! Then Eric was off to Wisconsin for 3 weeks to work on Rising Sun Farm. After that we met up in Seattle, Wa to resume our aborted Pacific Crest Trail hike from last year. Our quest for Canada was again cut short by weather so we headed to Central California Coast to soak us some much needed sun. You can view our still being updated 2010 PCT journal if you're interested.

Slip-straw and slip-and-chip walls being built at Emerald Earth. Cob wall started in foreground.

On our return from Washington on the Amtrak train, I had the most unfortunate experience of an Amtrak employee spraying my backpack with Febreze. I was outraged! How dare they spray toxic chemicals on my personal belongings? I feel as if I were profiled because I was traveling with a backpack. There were other bags there that absolutely reeked on cigarette smoke, but they were not sprayed. Ok, enough.....

This is a really big topic, and it got me thinking about the scents that we are subjected to that come from other people. Or maybe even scents that you put on yourself. What gives your scented products or perfume their fragrance? Unless your products are made from essential oils, it's likely that the manufacturing agency hasn't shared that little tid bit with you. I found a good article with general information called Breaking the Bottle: The Dangers of Perfume by Stef McDonald. She shared the following:

"One of the tougher lessons I've learned since becoming aware of the dangers of personal care products is that most perfumes contain chemical toxins I don't want on or anywhere near my body. Worst of all: you don't really know what those toxins are because of old laws protecting perfume makers from revealing their trade secrets. And this applies to all products, not only perfumes. When you see the word "fragrance" on a label, you're being hoodwinked. "Fragrance" can include numerous chemicals that are not good for you (or the environment)."

So check your products, do any of them have an ingredient called Fragrance? On the Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Database, Fragrance receives a score of 8 out of 10. Any product or ingredient in the 7-10 range receives the title high hazard. Also in the list of product ingredients, the word Parfum is sometimes used instead of Fragrance but they both mean the same thing! Fragrance receives such a high score because like the article states, it can contain any number of known toxins. And the companies making these products are not required to tell us consumers.
"How bad can a little perfume be, right? Wrong--unless you're okay with using chemicals classified as hormone disruptors that can increase your risk of cancer, or harm a developing fetus, or contribute to thyroid and other problems."
If you're about to shed a tear because you think you have to give up scented products completely do not fret. There is hope! There are safe alternatives for you and the environment that can give you your scent fix.
"There are pure and safe and stunningly beautiful perfumes being made that are far superior to the ones I had used. Now, I am a lover of perfumes made from pure essential oils--nothing artificial, nothing toxic. My dresser is now filled with small bottles of non-toxic oils and perfume blends I've found to satisfy my love of scent without sacrificing my well-being."

You can find a list of companies who are doing it right at Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the fore mentioned Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Database. Make a change for the positive!

So, my backpack still totally reeks of Febreze but I am grateful that I had everything inside it bagged in plastic garbage bags. Luckily my sleeping bag and all my hiking clothes don't also reek of Febreze. If they did, I would not be able to use them at all! I have filed a claim with Amtrak and will follow up with a letter. So beware if you are a future Amtrak traveler.......keep that backpack nearby or else!