Category Archives: Environmental Health

If We’re Not Careful

Posted on March 13, 2014 | 24 comments

This could happen here too…

We share the air on this little planet. Out appetite for disposable stuff is spewing a lot of toxic waste into the air, and most of it is oil, gas, coal, and petrochemical based.

Beijing Picture: Austral Source: Supplied

Picture: Austral Source: Supplied

MOST brides are keen to look their best on their big day — but this lovestruck couple took their matrimonial garb to a new extreme in Beijing.

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Chinese scientists have warned the country’s toxic air pollution is now so bad that it’s slowing photosynthesis in plants — and potentially wreaking havoc on the country’s food supply.

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See the rest of the photos here:

Chinese couple pose for wedding photos wearing gas masks during Beijing’s big smog

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I don’t know about you, but I think it’s madness to allow corporations to continue polluting this planet and threatening our very existence just to have piles of stuff we end up dumping in the trash.

What can we do to sustain life instead?

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Posted in Air Quality, Environmental Health, Food, Pollution

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In the News: Toxic Troubles

Posted on February 16, 2014 | Leave a comment

 

toxic troubles in the news

The evidence (and casualties) are piling up

– Articles about the neurotoxic pandemic
– From Harvard… on Everyday Toxic Trespass
– Powerful article about perfumes  for children
– Pesticides in flea collars harm children too
– Important news about ALL pesticides
– Someday there will be less toxic clothing
– Driveway sealants are bad for Your health
– Doctors can’t be counted on to help treat oil related illnesses
– Illnesses linked to toxic chemicals increase health care costs
– Chemically injured woman has to sleep in a tent
– Some Things We Can Do

Why do we need much better laws and regulations to protect us and future generations?  Have a look at the following articles:

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Posted in Air Quality, Brain, Child Health, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Neurotoxicity, Pesticides, Toxic Trespass

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True Cost Accounting For Food

Posted on February 13, 2014 | 2 comments

I’m sharing a lot of videos about food lately, as what we put in our mouths, chew and swallow is something we have more control over than many other things in life. If a healthy life is the goal, then nourishing food is required, but not all food is created the same. Hopefully these videos inspire you to examine what you eat, where it comes from and how, and also help you choose foods that are the most nourishing for yourself, your family, and the earth that supports us.

Here is an excellent short video introducing true cost accounting for food

 

More from the THE LEXICON OF SUSTAINABILITY:

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Posted in Environment, Environmental Health, Food, Health

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Guide to Safer Salmon

Posted on February 9, 2014 | 13 comments

While we are on the subject of food…

If you are still eating fish, especially salmon, then you need to know this:

farmed salmon detailsWhat’s in farmed salmon?

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Diets of pregnant women contain harmful, hidden toxins

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Know the Difference:

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Posted in Child Health, Environmental Health, Food, Pregnancy

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What Does “Natural” Really Mean?

Posted on February 7, 2014 | 13 comments

There’s a great new series of videos about the marketing of “natural”.

Have a look:

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13 Comments

Posted in Education, Environmental Health, Food, GMO, Health

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Money, Masks and MCS

Posted on February 5, 2014 | 17 comments

Here is yet another way petro-chemical and wireless pollutants and policies create barriers to access, barriers that personal actions and responsibility alone cannot overcome…

Background: Michellina  wrote about her masked experiences on her blog The-Labyrynth, which inspired Colleen to write about her mask breakthrough on her blog Life in the City with a Future, which inspired me to share her link and post on the subject here, which then inspired Suki to chime in here adding her experiences, as well as a link to some really great resources from from The (US) National Center for Independent Living on environmental health barriers to access, which links back here to one of my  posts! And here’s an example of just how prevalent fragrance chemicals are.

And then… my friend Melody posted this photo, which brings up another issue:

How can we have access to our money when wearing disability related “accessories”?

What about the masks we wear to be able to breathe cleaner air?

What about the masks we wear  to breathe? Or the hats and scarves we wear to keep some of the fragrance chemicals off of our hair? Or the special fabric head-coverings to protect from wireless radiation? These are necessary “accessories” which prevent further disability, and allow some of us to lead somewhat more normal lives, kind of like what wheelchairs are for people who can’t walk.

Do they have these signs (and policies) everywhere now?

How do you manage?

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17 Comments

Posted in Accessibility, Disability, Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Human Rights

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Report: RECOGNITION, INCLUSION AND EQUITY – THE TIME IS NOW

Posted on February 3, 2014 | 8 comments

Many of us have been waiting for action for decades, let’s hope that this is the project that finally makes it happen. It has been a long time coming…

‘RECOGNITION, INCLUSION AND EQUITY – THE TIME IS NOW: PERSPECTIVES OF ONTARIANS LIVING WITH ES/MCS, ME/CFS AND FM’

Recognition Inclusion and Equity the Time is Now

From Varda Burstyn:

At long last, I am writing to let you know about four new groundbreaking reports – products of a 5-year initiative that I and colleagues began in 2008 – that present exciting new research on the three environmentally linked conditions of ES/MCS, ME/CFS and FM, and that develop a wonderful new model of care and support for those living with the conditions in Ontario.

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Posted in Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Health Care, Human Rights, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Policy, Public Health

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Can a New Normal Be a Good Thing?

Posted on January 31, 2014 | 6 comments

Over the years, when discussing life with MCS/ES, it is often mentioned that this is a life with a new normal. It’s a new normal that none of us asked for, and too often, it is not a very nice new normal at all.

Recently, I’ve been able to explore some of Charles Eisenstein’s work and ran across this quote:

ANewNormal

I’m pretty sure he wasn’t thinking about MCS/ES when he said that, as we aren’t the only ones on this planet who are experiencing radical changes, but those of us with MCS/ES have been learning important lessons that we can share as a part of this new way of being that is slowly emerging.

When we develop MCS/ES, everything (or almost everything) changes.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Environmental Health, Imagination, Interconnectedness

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Your Brain Breathes Too

Posted on January 30, 2014 | 15 comments

Pollution affects our brains!
Glad some neuroscientists are finally taking this more seriously!

knowingneurons's avatarKnowing Neurons

I live in Los Angeles and it’s unfortunate, but true, that the brown cloud of smog hanging over our city is as much an icon of LA as the Hollywood hills.  My morning bike commute is spent sucking on the tailpipes of my fellow Angelenos, and it turns out this doesn’t just make me cranky.  A recent article published in Neurotoxicology suggests that those of us who live in urban environments are much more likely to experience cognitive decline with age.  The culprit?  Air pollution.

Your Brain Breathes Too by Knowing Neurons

While air pollution is generally thought of as a modern problem, humans have evolved to handle polluted air from sources such as forest fires and volcanic eruptions.  Coughing removes large particles from the lung, while macrophages, a type of immune cell, are responsible for engulfing and degrading small particles.  However, some particles are so small that they can penetrate the lung wall, and gaseous…

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Posted in Brain, Environmental Health, Neurotoxicity, Pollution

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Wireless Safety Standards… Safe For Who?

Posted on January 29, 2014 | Leave a comment

We live in an increasingly wireless world. Manufacturers are even making wireless devices for babies now! Yet, current safety standards do not take into consideration all the effects of wireless radio frequencies on our bodies, especially those of children!!!

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Cell Phones, Radiation & Your Child’s Health

children and cellphones(Text added to original photo from Healthy Child Healthy World)

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Autism and EMF? Plausibility of a pathophysiological link

Part 1
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24095003   PMID: 24095003 [PubMed] or
http://www.pathophysiologyjournal.com/article/S0928-4680%2813%2900037-0/abstract

Part 2
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24113318  PMID: 24113318 [PubMed] or
http://www.pathophysiologyjournal.com/article/S0928-4680%2813%2900038-2/abstract

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Wireless products - protecting your children
Wireless products – protecting your children

Men, did you know you can damage your sperm if you keep your wireless device in your pant pocket? Putting it in your shirt pocket might not be any safer, as there are reports of adverse effects on the heart and of breast cancers when phones were there.

Save The Male

Mobile phones affect sperm quality

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We are in urgent need of updating safety standards, and Health Canada has appointed a committee to do something, but it isn’t clear exactly what.

At the following link, you can access the videos and written reports of many of the submissions prepared for The Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel Review public hearing day on Safety Code 6, Limits of Human Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Energy (wireless radiation safety)

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Posted in Brain, Child Health, Environmental Health, Health, Public Health, Wireless

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