Category Archives: Public Health

You Are A Guinea Pig: Part 2

guinea pig

David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz who wrote the first article in Part One appear on Bill Moyers

Understanding what we are up against

Full Show: The Toxic Politics of Science

Full Transcript

And if you want to do something about it (and please do), here’s more:

Put Sensible Limits on Chemicals

Take Action

Full link: http://billmoyers.com/content/put-sensible-limits-on-chemicals/

Thank you Bill Moyers!

This was just posted to their website:

Blinding Us From Science

Science is under attack. With corporations manufacturing uncertainty to undermine studies that hurt their bottom lines and the sequester cutting billions in funding for scientific research, you’d think the American science community would be hunkered down in their labs avoiding outside interference at all costs.  … continued at:

Blinding Us From Science

Brain Diseases Affecting More People Earlier…

“Changing patterns of neurological mortality in the 10 major developed countries – 1979–2010”

“This has to be speculative but it cannot be genetic because the period is too short. Whilst there will be some influence of more elderly people, it does not account for the earlier onset; the differences between countries nor the fact that more women have been affected, as their lives have changed more than men’s over the period, all indicates multiple environmental factors.

Considering the changes over the last 30 years – the explosion in electronic devices, rises in background non-ionising radiation- PC’s, micro waves, TV’s, mobile phones; road and air transport up four-fold increasing background petro-chemical pollution; chemical additives to food etc.

There is no one factor rather the likely interaction between all these environmental triggers, reflecting changes in other conditions.

For example, whilst cancer deaths are down substantially, cancer incidence continues to rise; levels of asthma are un-precedented; the fall in male sperm counts – the rise of auto-immune diseases – all point to life-style and environmental influences.

These `statistics’ are about real people and families, and we need to recognise that there is an `epidemic’ that clearly is influenced by environmental and societal changes.”

~ Professor Colin Pritchard

Article: http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=131020&CultureCode=en

The only brain in my files...

Photo: While the article subject is serious, this is the only brain in my photo files, of a knitted beanie that made the rounds on fb…

Research Abstract: http://www.publichealthjrnl.com/article/S0033-3506%2812%2900467-2/abstract

Conclusions

“These results pose a major public health problem, as the epigenetic contribution to these changes, rather than longevity, have serious implications indicating earlier onset of neurological morbidity pressurizing families, health and social care services, with resource implications especially for Australia, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, the UK and the USA.”

Public Health Warning: Fragrance

Public Health Warning

Fragrance chemicals are linked to so many health problems now that they should be banned from indoor environments just like smoking.

Chemical Fragrance Public Health Warning

Resources

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Podcast: Kim Goldberg on Electrosensitivity

People First Radio Interview with Kim Goldberg about wi-fi and health effects… Apparently the high schools that have installed wi-fi see students with heart attacks, but instead of removing wi-fi, they buy defibrillators!!!???

Kim Goldberg's avatarRefugium

I was interviewed earlier today on People First Radio (CHLY, Nanaimo BC) about electrosensitivity, Wi-Fi sickness, smart meters, and more.

Here is a link to the podcast of my 15-minute segment of the show:  http://www.columbiancentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/473_may_09_2013_sm.mp3

People First Radio is produced by Columbian Centre Society in Nanaimo, BC, and airs every Thursday, from Noon-1:00 pm on Radio CHLY 101.7 FM.leaves

 

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Group of parents upset Peel schools may install Wi-Fi

Children’s health is being affected by WiFi  

“Frank Clegg, Citizens 4 Safe Technology and former president of Microsoft Canada, says Wi-Fi is an unproven technology and until it’s considered safe, we shouldn’t be using children as a science experiment.”

Harvard Medical School Associate Professor Speaks about MCS: Video

Dr. L. Christine Oliver is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Co-Director of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.

This is an excellent half hour presentation.

Dr Oliver packs so much about the issues faced by people with MCS into the first 16 minutes of this video. If you can’t watch the whole video, at least watch this much.  Alison Johnson finishes off by reading from her important book Amputated Lives.

Alison Johnson is the author/producer/director of books and documentaries on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Visit http://www.alisonjohnsonmcs.com to download a transcript or to purchase her books or DVDs.

amputated-lives-chemical-sensitivity

Need Protection?

To Breathe, That Is…

I was looking up masks and found these ads…
I am a bit (but not entirely) speechless…

Find a Mask to Filter Fragrance From Work HVAC Systems

“Companies across the globe are including fragrances in their heating and ventilation systems. It’s part of what emotional branding companies such as DMX call a multi-sensory experience. Retail stores may use scent in combination with audio and visual systems to enhance brand awareness. Smell associations, say DMX, are so strong they can even increase worker productivity. Whatever the reason, these scent systems can make it difficult for employees working in the affected areas who have fragrance sensitivities.”

While it won’t be possible for all workers in controlled scent environments to wear respirators, for those who can, we have a few suggestions:

http://blog.pksafety.com/a-respirator-mask-to-filter-out-fragrance-from-the-hvac/

I do know people who have to wear a mask just to go to work. It’s a horrible way to have to live when toxic chemicals are used everywhere everyday by almost everyone, and so much worse when pumped into the air deliberately. In fact, I don’t think anyone with MCS/ES or respiratory symptoms could work (or visit or shop) in an environment with deliberately pumped in fragrance chemicals, even wearing a mask.

That’s why we have human rights legislation to provide fragrance or scent free policies for working environments (see the sidebar or resources page at the top). These policies actually end up benefitting everyone’s health, not just those of us who are “sensitive”. Soon (but not soon enough) that will change to basic public health legislation, as it has for smoking.

Some multi-unit housing complexes have introduced smoke free rules, but so far there are very few housing options with fragrance free rules. We need them. Wearing a mask all day and night just isn’t feasible or possible, even if we tolerate the (mostly synthetic) materials they are made of, which many of us don’t.

Did you know there are masks for kids? These just make me really sad…

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2013… Friends, I Remember and Won’t Forget

skeleton 2

The world lost three amazing women and I lost three good friends in the first three months of this year. Linda left her poisoned body behind in January. Janine left her poisoned body behind in February. Connie left her poisoned body behind  in March.

I’m pretty sure MCS was not mentioned on any of their death certificates, but MCS  certainly had a far greater impact on each their lives, and their family lives than any listed cause of death did.

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“You Are a Guinea Pig”

We all are!

Three articles that crossed my path today illustrate the challenges we face (trying to stay healthy) while alive. Of course there are more issues, (like fracking, GMOs and processed food) but these three are more than enough to show us that “lifestyle choices” are not enough to keep us healthy.

This article  by David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz is a must read!

You Are a Guinea Pig

How Americans Became Exposed to Biohazards in the Greatest Uncontrolled Experiment Ever Launched

“The culprit behind this silent killer is lead.  And vinyl.  And formaldehyde.  And asbestos.  And Bisphenol A.  And polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).  And thousands more innovations brought to us by the industries that once promised “better living through chemistry,” but instead produced a toxic stew that has made every American a guinea pig and has turned the United States into one grand unnatural experiment.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-rosner/hazardous-chemicals_b_3175796.html

“The groups that produce these miracle substances — like the petrochemical, plastics, and rubber industries, including major companies like Exxon, Dow, and Monsanto — argue that, until we can definitively prove the chemical products slowly leaching into our bodies are dangerous, we have no “right,” and they have no obligation, to remove them from our homes and workplaces. The idea that they should prove their products safe before exposing the entire population to them seems to be a foreign concept.”

Please read the whole article, it’s worth it.

guinea pig

But wait, there’s more!!!

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Suffering, Kindness and Compassion

I’ve been seeing and feeling a lot of suffering recently. Why is there so much suffering in the world? Greed, intolerance, self-importance, judgements based on ignorance, and carelessness are a few things that come to my mind. These create poverty and all kinds of other forms of destruction, destruction of self and other.

The effects are far reaching and yet with just a little effort, so much suffering can be prevented and alleviated.

How do we prevent unnecessary suffering? How do we relieve suffering?

injustice

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