Soot (and ‘by’products) from burning wood, diesel, coal or other fossil fuels are bad enough for the planet, but did you know that those particles attract harmful chemicals (secondary organic molecules) from the air so when we breathe them in, their adverse health effects can be multiplied?
Here’s a must see two and a half minute video from The Allegheny Front, a radio program covering environmental issues in Pennsylvania.
Posted in Air Quality, Chemicals, Environmental Health, Indoor Air Quality, Pollution
Tagged Allegheny Front, candles, diesel, health, lungs, respirators and masks, smoke, soot, video
Thanks Global and 16 x 9 for looking into this.
Current chemical regulations don’t come close to protecting our health, or the health of the people who have to work with them on a daily basis.
Life (and health) really needs to be prioritized over profits. There is no good reason to allow anyone to profit while polluting or causing others to suffer. Why not have industries making things that that contribute to health and well-being?
I agree with The Science and Environmental Health Network: “Regulating hazardous waste is always problematic. The basic premise is flawed: make products that are toxic and regulate the production, sales and disposal of those products. A far better approach is based on the precautionary principle: make products out of safe materials, require producer take-back of products. Search for the best alternatives to toxic chemicals and establish zero waste policies.”
Posted in Chemicals, Environmental Health
Tagged cancer, hazardous air pollutants, plastic, Pollution, toxic chemicals
“If you really look at what’s in your dust, particularly for some chemicals, it’s just as concentrated—or more—as what you’d find in sewage sludge,” says Heather Stapleton, associate professor of environmental chemistry.”
“The chemicals she’s talking about are flame retardants, which she has found in the dust of every one of the several hundred homes she’s tested. The chemicals come into our houses via treated furniture, electronics, and insulation. Over time they accumulate in our dust. And in our bodies. Virtually all Americans have flame retardants in their blood, and at much higher levels than people in other countries.”
So how can we minimize our exposure at home, until these toxic ingredients are removed from everyday products and materials?
Posted in Chemicals, Environmental Health, Healthy Environment
Tagged cleaning, dust, everyday products, flame retardants, toxic chemicals
I have done a lot of thinking (when brain fog isn’t an issue) about my life, where I’ve come from, where I am, and where I am going… Over the years I’ve also tried to understand how things end up the way they are, how policy decisions are made, and how our own decisions and actions (or lack there-of) affect our future and how future generations will live.
We live in some very challenging times, and it can get quite over-whelming and depressing when we see that our so called “leaders” are taking actions that will make things worse for everyone.
I don’t like feeling hopeless. For lack of a better word right now, it feels yucky! And having a chronic, environmentally linked condition means I already have more than enough yuck in my life.
I think we have more power and capabilities than we understand or give ourselves credit for, but it’s not easy discovering how to access them.
Posted in Environmental Health, Imagination, Inspiration, Meditation, Policy, Precaution
Greenpeace reveals more details about toxic chemicals in clothing:
A new investigation by Greenpeace has found a broad range of hazardous chemicals in children’s clothing and footwear across a number of major clothing brands, including fast fashion, sportswear and luxury brands.
The study follows on from several previous investigations published by Greenpeace as part of its Detox campaign, which identified that hazardous chemicals are present in textile and leather products as a result of their use during manufacture. It confirms that the use of hazardous chemicals is still widespread – even during the manufacture of clothes for children and infants.
Posted in Environmental Health, Fashion, Pollution
Tagged chemicals in clothing, GOTS, greenpeace, laundry, Research
Currently, there seems to be in place a legal “right” to pollute for profit, be it wireless radiation, toxic chemicals, or any other source of pollution. These harmful exposures cross property lines and enter our bodies, sometimes with devastating and deadly results. They also occur without our free, prior and informed consent.
This is not right!
Cindy Sage and Paavo Huttunen suggest a change:
In every society the basic rights of citizens must be safeguarded. Adoption of a Human Health Rights Declaration is necessary to protect all life and our living environment from harmful exposures that have run out of control and ahead of the scientific warnings. Some 100 years back, we learned the hard lessons of ionizing radiation and the need for strict health protections. Now it is the time to turn toward safer and healthier forms of non-ionizing radio waves and electromagnetic fields, if they exist.
Fundamental Human Health Rights
The right to homeostasis in our own bodies.
The right to normal central nervous system function.
The right to natural environmental cues that synchronize our circadian rhythms.
The right to sleep.
The right to heal.
The right to hear.
The right to reproduce.
The right to learn and retain memories.
The right to an intact genome.
Posted in Environmental Health, Human Rights, Wireless
Tagged EMF, exposures, radiofrequency radiation, reduce EMF/EMR exposure
Well, it never really ever was all in my head.
My arms, legs and the rest of my body have been affected too. But most of it was because things weren’t functioning as intended in my brain (which still IS in my head), and since brain functions control so many other things (like how our body functions, and how we communicate), when brain chemistry is altered (with or without choice or permission) then body functions will be altered too.
Think of what happens when you have a drink, then a few more, and then finish the bottle… Are you functioning the same way before drinking as after?
Personal Update Part One:
I am doing a lot better these days, in some ways even thousands of times better than I was doing by the time I left Bloor Street in May of 2010. I can now usually get through most of my days without everything requiring constant, exhausting effort, but it hasn’t turned into me being able to do or accomplish that much more in actual practical terms.
I still have brain issues and most of the other practical limitations that come from MCS/ES and a toxic brain injury, but recently, I have started feeling so much better!
I am trying to wrap my mind around that because it doesn’t make logical, rational sense to me. How is it that I can feel so much better without doing so much better?
Maybe it has just been so long since I’ve felt even halfway ok, and because some part of my brain chemistry is working differently and more normally…?
Whatever it is, it isn’t tangible, but it is a very welcome change!
Part Two: Insights
Posted in Brain, Disability, Environmental Health, Healthy Environment
Tagged brain chemistry, brain fog, brain injury, healing, MCS, MCS/ES, toxic brain injury
Warning: This post contains many photos of cats.
What follows is something I thought was a great response by Kristine Kruszelnicki to someone who trivialized her MCS and compared it to his cat allergy
(shared with her permission, and with many photos of cats added by me):
Posted in Accessibility, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Health, Human Rights
Tagged allergies, cat allergy, cats, IAQ, MCS, toxic chemicals
Enlightening (in a relative way)…
Before watching, it might be helpful to get really grounded and plan how you will deal with the emotions that come up.
These interviews and the roundtable discussion were filmed in Sante Fe, New Mexico in 1995. Parts of this piece are in the full documentary, Homesick: Living With Multiple Chemical Sensitivities.
Also check out MCS Under Siege by Ann McCampbell, MD
http://annmccampbell.com/publicationswritings/publication-1/
Learn more about the film Homesick at: http://www.homesick-video.com
Posted in Environmental Health, Human Rights, MCS/ES, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Pesticides
Tagged Chemical Injury, child health, GWS, MCS, MCS housing, New Mexico, Sante Fe, video
Another great post from O ECOTEXTILES!
Posted in Chemicals, Environmental Health, Precaution
Tagged creating change, furnishings, textiles
 | linda @ Seriously "S… on MCS/ES |
| linda @ Seriously "S… on The CDC and MCS |
 | Tabatha Schnorr on MCS/ES |
| Tabatha Schnorr on The CDC and MCS |
| linda @ Seriously "S… on MCS and Housing |
| linda @ Seriously "S… on Hospital Protocols for People… |
Seriously "Sensitive" to Pollution 