[homemommichele]

Notes From Info Call Tuesday Feb 7 2006..Talk by Kay Heiser BSE founder of Healthy Choices, a consortium of doctors and nurses and other health professionals that studies and educates about the products on the market and their effects.She is nationally known and has been doing this for 25 years on TV and radio. I was privilaged to hear her call and take some notes to share.
Toxic chemicals found in common household products
Account for 2 million poisonings in children under age 6 per year per Poison Control Center
20,000 of those from a very common household chemical ~ Chlorine Bleach
Effects of Bleach short and long term per studies from physicians at Oregon Health Sciences Center:
Misscarriage, asthma, headaches, pulmonary edema, hardening of the arteries and many more.
Aggravates heart and respiratory conditions per MSDS sheets, required for all products in businesses, but not in home. Bleach used in factories and hospitals the person is advised to wear gloves, eye protection and face masks!! But we use it like water in the home!!
Toilet Bowl Cleaner ~ Fumes Corrosive to metal!! What does it do to lung tissue?
Lysol contains a pesticide!! That is a neurotoxin!!

Labeling laws? Do not apply to home use products! Only commercial use. There are NO government agencies in charge of chemicals used at home!! The EPA has done studies, but has no power to regulate privately used indoor chemicalls, only things in the outdoor environment!!
50% of all illnesses have been linked to poor indoor air quality!!!
She then referred to the studies of umbilical cord blood which I do have a copy of:

Subject: Unborn babies soaked in chemicals


Unborn babies soaked in chemicals, study finds
Average of 287 contaminants found in cord blood of U.S. infants

Reuters"<http://www.reuters.com/>
Updated: 11:32 a.m. ET July 14, 2005

WASHINGTON - Unborn U.S. babies are soaking in a stew of chemicals, including mercury, gasoline byproducts and pesticides, according to a report released Thursday.

Although the effects on the babies are not clear, the survey prompted several members of Congress to press for legislation that would strengthen controls on chemicals in the environment.

The report by the Environmental Working Group is based on tests of 10 samples of umbilical-cord blood taken by the American Red Cross. They found an average of 287 contaminants in the blood, including mercury, fire retardants, pesticides and the Teflon chemical PFOA.

"These 10 newborn babies ... were born polluted," said New York Rep. Louise Slaughter, who spoke a news conference about the findings Thursday.

"If ever we had proof that our nation’s pollution laws aren’t working, it’s reading the list of industrial chemicals in the bodies of babies who have not yet lived outside the womb," Slaughter, a Democrat, said.

Cord blood reflects what the mother passes to the baby through the placenta.

"Of the 287 chemicals we detected in umbilical-cord blood, we know that 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests," the report said.

Blood tests did not show how the chemicals got into the mothers’ bodies, or what their effects might be on the babies.

Mercury and pesticides
Among the chemicals found in the cord blood were methylmercury, produced by coal-fired power plants and certain industrial processes. People can breathe it in or eat it in seafood and it causes brain and nerve damage.

Also found were polyaromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, which are produced by burning gasoline and garbage and which may cause cancer; flame-retardant chemicals called polybrominated dibenzodioxins and furans; and pesticides including DDT and chlordane.

The same group analyzed the breast milk of mothers across the United States in 2003 and found varying levels of chemicals, including flame retardants known as PBDEs. This latest analysis also found PBDEs in cord blood.

Slaughter had similar tests done on her own blood.

"The stunning results show chemicals daily pumping through my vital organs that include PCBs that were banned decades ago as well as chemicals like Teflon that are currently under federal investigation," she said in remarks prepared for the news conference.

"I have auto exhaust fumes, flame retardant chemicals, and in all, some 271 harmful substances pulsing through my veins. That’s hardly the picture of health I had hoped for, but I’ve been living in an industrial society for over 70 years."

The Government Accountability Office issued a report Wednesday saying the Environmental Protection Agency does not have the powers it needs to fully regulate toxic chemicals.

The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, found that the EPA’s Toxic Substances Control Act gives only "limited assurance" that new chemicals entering the market are safe and said the EPA only rarely assesses chemicals already on the market.

"Today, chemicals are being used to make baby bottles, food packaging and other products that have never been fully evaluated for their health effects on children — and some of these chemicals are turning up in our blood," said New Jersey Democrat Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who plans to co-sponsor a bill to require chemical manufacturers to provide data to the EPA on the health affects of their products.

Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.


On to more chemical testing facts:
Out of 80,000 new household chemicals, only 1/4 are tested, and never together! As you know many chemicalls react differently when combined with others, and have been found to be 7,000 times more damaging when mixed then when alone, a fine example being ammonia and bleach.
Toxic household chemicals have been found responsible for 1/3 of cancer cases in the US, and that this can be cut by 1/2 a million by simply getting rid of the chemicals!! That's half a million people!!
Allergies:
Toxins build up in the tissues of the body and increase the histamine response to other stressors in the environment. Therefore lowering the toxin buildup in the body reduces allergic response to other triggers. I myself am allergic to pollens and always felt it at the change of seasons...no more. I found this interesting therfore as an explanation.
Chemical outgassing:
Use in ventilated area and keep the containers closed, ever notice how if you walk down the cleaning isle in the store you still smell them? This is outgassing, the vapors are constantly going into the air through the bottle. It is documented that children have even had severe asthma attacks in the cleaning isle of the store! I personally used to like to stand by laundry mats and smell the exhaust from fabric softener..now that I have learned it is a neurotoxin I don't do that anymore!!
Labels:
"Do not Induce Vomiting" This is the most toxic of chemicalls and can be aspirated into the lungs causing death immediately
"Corrosive, avoid skin contact and rinse immediately"
"Harmful or fatal if swallowed"
"Call physician immediately or seek immediate first aid"
These are products that can cause immediate death and should be replaced first if you are looking to rid the chemicals in your home.
Unfortunately things that cause long term effects such as cancer or are birth defect causing have NO requirements for labeling!!
More translations:
Caution - means there is an eye irritant. Almost any cleaning product should say this!
Warning- means one teaspoon can kill an adult!! Some consciensios companies will use this in place of caution for eye irritant as they don't have any thing stronger!! This translation applies to commercial products.
Danger- Means five drops can kill an adult!

Now I would like to close by directing you to my website that has a virtual "Healthy Home Tour" that goes over more household products and the effects both short and long term. If you would like more information about products and alternatives please reach me through the website or e-mail. Please though, I don't care if you use my alternative or not, I just have one that I use and has worked for me and in a budget friendly way that I love to share. Either way even if you go to whole foods and buy everything separately...just do it!! This is so important and it makes me so frustrated that the companies and drug companies (how many asthma medicines are bought each year?!) are getting rich and there is something that can be done to prevent it!! Please do your own research, check it out and take this seriously!

Michele Cook

http://healthyhomemom2boys.healthyhometour.com/

[shoshanna]

Sherry Holetzky posted a great blog last month about how to make your own safe household cleaning products. Click HERE to see her entry. She has some great tips.