Petrochemicals and Human Health

So much evidence is pointing to the fact that humans were not designed to breathe, absorb, ingest oil and petrochemicals.

Petrochemicals and their byproducts, such as dioxin, are known to cause an array of serious health problems, including cancers and endocrine disruption.

See the link here for some details:
(edited March 2014 to include a different website as old link no longer works)
What is a “body burden”
http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org/whatisbb.htm

Here is a chart of petrochemicals and where they are found

(in case you want to reduce your dependence on them)

petrochemical chart (PDF)

They are everywhere!!!

From the website that posted the chart:

” Petrochemicals, which are manufactured from crude oil and natural gas liquids, are used to produce thousands of products that make 21st century life possible. Everything not made from rocks, plants, other living things or metal is made from petrochemicals. This includes everything made of plastic.”

“American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers is the new name of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, an organization with a proud 110-year history of serving America. AFPM is the new NPRA. We adopted our new name in January 2012 to better describe who we are and what we do.

AFPM is a trade association representing high-tech American manufacturers of virtually the entire U.S. supply of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, other fuels and home heating oil, as well as the petrochemicals used as building blocks for thousands of vital products in daily life”

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Here’s a glimpse of why we’re still  petro-saturated. Chemicals aren’t tested for health effects before being put into use, and by the time it’s figured out that something is making people sick, there are a lot of people affected. Especially when the environmental warning signs are not acted upon. It’s also not easy getting the health research funded by independent researchers…

The study of harm from chemicals

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), has some useful info too:

“You come into contact with chemicals every day. This is called chemical exposure. Although some chemical exposures are safe, others are not. A certain amount of a harmful chemical must enter your body to make you sick.

Harmful chemicals can get into your body if you breathe, eat, or drink them or if they are absorbed through your skin.

This booklet explains some links between chemicals and other harmful substances and their possible health effects. People respond to chemical exposures in different ways. Some people may come into contact with a chemical and never be harmed. Others may be more sensitive and get sick. Sometimes illness happens only if you are exposed to a harmful substance for a long time….

Some diseases get worse when you come into contact with a harmful substance, and some diseases are caused by  exposure to chemicals. A few examples of diseases caused by an exposure include smog and asthma caused by exposure to smog, mesothelioma caused by exposure to asbestos, and learning disabilities caused by exposure to lead.”

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/emes/public/docs/Health%20Effects%20of%20Chemical%20Exposure%20FS.pdf

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So while not everyone is aware of how petrochemicals are messing with our health,  almost everyone does know someone with cancer, asthma, autism and other “environmentally” influenced conditions who could immediately benefit from a serious reduction in personal care and laundry product pollution, especially fragranced products.

Research these days tends to focus on finding a problem and then adding another petrochemical pharmaceutical as a “treatment” instead of then looking for the cause(s) of the problem to eliminate the cause(s), thereby creating even more complex problems that we’ll never be able to solve.

Let’s take better care of our environment, ourselves and each other. Let’s practice the precautionary principle. Let’s leave this planet inhabitable for future generations.

Petrochemical pollution IS a problem.

Let’s stop buying all the junk and toxic products and use safe, non-toxic products and materials that don’t pollute the environment and ourselves.

Added November 2014

CHE Toxicant and Disease Database
http://www.healthandenvironment.org/tddb/