Tag Archives: phthalates

Return to Vendor

Get something stinky
as a gift?
Don’t toss it
on the street
or in the trash.
Don’t regift it
to a friend
or enemy.
Don’t donate it
to a charity.
Do send a message
loud and clear!

Now’s the time Continue reading

Health Canada and Chemicals in Fragranced Products

This report from the Auditor General of Canada came out in 2016. Nothing has changed as far as I have seen, and I keep my eyes open for these kinds of things.

“The Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) conducts independent audits and studies that provide objective information, advice, and assurance to Parliament, territorial legislatures, boards of crown corporations, government, and Canadians.”

Here’s a short video, followed by the transcript,  more from the report, and some relevant bits from a follow up by Health Canada:

Chemicals in Consumer Products and Cosmetics

 

Video Transcript

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Laundry Products Harm Humans!

 

We often hear from people who think they aren’t wearing any fragrance while their fume trail is noticeable (and headache inducing or worse) from 100 feet away.  Not only that, but the scent residues are left everywhere these people have touched anything, including pretty much permanently in the furniture they’ve used.

How can this be?

Laundry products!

 

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60 MiNueTs: Short Video Series on Environmental Health

 It’s hard to get anyone to take the time to read (let alone  understand) scientific research, but it’s so important that we educate ourselves when the opportunity arises. People have short attention spans these days, probably from all the neurotoxins and wireless radiation we’re all being exposed to on a daily basis, so it’s great when we find information that is short and to the point.

Here is a great short video series from

the UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment.

Please watch and share!

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When We HAVE to Wear A Mask to Breathe and Function

When breathing the air hurts…

When we have to filter and “purify” the air just to breathe…

What options do we have?

2016 MCS-ES Awareness Month Compilation

The Courageous Canaries of MCS/ES (and mask) Awareness Month 2016

Having an invisible disability is difficult, especially when many of the adverse effects are delayed and we have to deal with them in isolation.  Some people feel  self conscious about wearing a mask, especially if we can’t find a “pretty” one that we are able to use, despite how they can reduce adverse effects. If there’s any good that comes from wearing one (in addition to protecting our health a bit) wearing a mask when we have an invisible disability helps make us visible.

The type of mask we benefit most from will depend on our “sensitivities” and circumstances. Masks will filter the air we breathe in various degrees, but unless we have a full face respirator and wear a hazmat suit, our eyes and skin will still absorb chemicals that can have an adverse effect on our health and well-being. For this reason, they should not be thought of as complete protection from pollution, and are therefore best used only when absolutely necessary.

Information and resources about masks that filter out some of the different types of daily pollutants we are subjected to, and what kinds of filter materials are needed to purify what kinds of pollutants follows.

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A Seriously Inappropriate Ad Shown Here!

I was informed by someone that they saw this seriously inappropriate ad from KOHL’s, selling perfume for Valentine’s Day, on one of the posts they read on this blog!!!

resist ads and toxic chemicalsScreenshot of (modified) toxic fragrance ad

I have no control over what ads get shown here, I don’t even see them!

If anyone ever sees an ad like that here again, please let WordPress know that it is seriously inappropriate for them to place ads for things made of toxic chemicals on this site (if you are new here, look around, and you’ll see why)!

Here’s what to do if you see something advertised here that is harmful for human and environmental health: Continue reading

Fragrance, Flying, and “Sensitivities”

Progress is being made!

Even if you can’t actually get a fragrance-free flight, you can now get to the plane along a fragrance-free route if you are in Vancouver, BC!

from Vancouver Airport's twitter account

Maybe it needs some work to make the English language portion clear?

Right now, it could be taken to mean that they have a free route to fragrance!

So, once they get the English fixed for those who don’t understand French (where it’s clear they mean without perfume, but then again, how many people actually read their box or bottle of laundry detergent to see that there’s parfum in there? and in their deodorant? and in their shampoo?)  we can (maybe) get to the plane without being assaulted by fragrance chemicals (but, oh, it’s only “free” from the duty free shops with fragrance).  Still, I guess it IS progress… kind of…   Right?

Assuming we can actually get there without a life threatening (or merely disabling) reaction,  what happens once we are in the actual plane?

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The Fragrance Industry’s Toxic Secrets

If you want to learn more about why so many people are suffering adverse health effects and making a stink about fragrance use, then the recent report from Women’s Voices for the Earth is a great place to get informed

Unpacking the Fragrance Industry: Policy Failures, the Trade Secret Myth and Public Health.

It’s must read material if you are at all unfamiliar with the issues surrounding fragrance.

Like this:

And that’s only the ones that have been tested. Many have not been tested for human health effects. Scientists also recently discovered that chemical cocktails can become carcinogenic even when individual chemicals themselves weren’t carcinogenic, but chemicals are tested individually (if at all), and not in the cocktails we get exposed to.

Please read the research and articles from WVE, and then take action.

Not surprisingly, the fragrance industry took issue with the report and shared some standard industry generated marketing responses. You can read about that here:

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An Open Letter to the Scented

Guest post by Debbie Clark Seely

Dear friends,

I wanted to take the time to write this letter because we (the “unscented” community) are concerned for you. With it being the holiday season we are seeing multiple reports of friends and family members choosing to cut ties to their unscented loved ones rather than make the effort to visit them unscented. This perplexes us. It makes us feel like you are choosing scent over a human being. Continue reading

“Artificial scents have no place in our hospitals”

Canada’s top medical journal, the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), says
Artificial scents have no place in our hospitals

Hospital NO Fragrance

“These patients may be involuntarily exposed to artificial scents from staff, other patients and visitors, resulting in worsening of their clinical condition. As patients,
family members and emergency physicians will attest, the attacks can be quite sudden and serious. There is little justification for continuing to tolerate artificial scents in our
hospitals.” …

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