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Tag: Toxins - Organic Lifestyle Magazine Tag: Toxins - Organic Lifestyle Magazine

Charges Brought upon Doctor and Advocate for Toxic Flame Retardant Chemicals

Dr. David Heimbach, a well-known advocate of the flame retardant chemical industry, was one of the nation’s top burn surgeons. But now the doctor is facing disciplinary charges and has surrendered his medical license. The charges have been brought on by Washington’s Medical Quality Assurance Commission.

State officials have accused Heimbach of fabricating testimony. A 2012 Tribune investigation titled, “Playing with Fire,” exposed Heimbach as a fraud. The doctor was thought to be an unbiased burn expert who testified to the efficacy of the toxic flame retardant chemicals added to furniture. Not only are these chemicals toxic, but research has shown that despite what Dr. Heimbach’s claimed, they do not work.

The Tribune reported that Heimbach’s testimony about babies dying in fires was part of a campaign of deception paid for by the chemical industry.

In the charges, the commission cited Heimbach’s work for Citizens for Fire Safety. It turns out this organization is merely a front that is founded, funded, and controlled by the three largest manufacturers of flame retardant chemicals.

Due to health concerns, states were looking into banning or at least putting limitations, on flame retardant usage.

Citizens for Fire Safety accomplished their agenda, which was to scare the public in regards to the dangers of fires, while downplaying health risks linked to flame retardant chemicals, including, but not limited to, cancer, developmental disorders, and neurological deficits.

In a written response to the commission, Heimbach said that Citizens for Fire Safety paid him a total of $240,000 for consulting work he did in 2010 and 2011. The problem is, he never disclosed this information at legislative hearings.

“I should have been more circumspect regarding this, but I was an advocate of fire retardants and had read the scientific literature indicating that they were useful and that the benefits exceeded the risks of their use,” he wrote to the commission. “I only learned the true circumstances after the newspaper articles appeared. Mea culpa for this.”

The doctor also said that he believes flame retardants are useful and that his testimony was not meant to mislead anyone.

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6 Things in Your Home That Are Unintentionally Making Your Family Sick

Carpet

Homes are meant to make a family feel safe, secure, and together. While many people take steps to ensure that their homes are clean and healthy places, there are several considerations you may be overlooking in your endeavors to keep your family healthy. Check out these six areas in your home that might accidentally be causing problems for your family.

Carpeting is a household staple. But carpeting might be making your family feel sick. For one, carpet traps pollen, pet dander, dust mites, and other allergens. Some carpet materials also give off volatile organic compounds. These compounds evaporate and are inhaled, which can cause respiratory problems. Volatile organic compounds don’t just appear in carpeting, either.

To eliminate the problem, furnish your home with items that don’t contain volatile organic compounds by asking at the furniture store. Buy thinner carpeting and keep your home well ventilated.

Dust Mites

Most people with dust allergies are actually allergic to dust mites. The microscopic critters like warm weather and high humidity. When they die, they tend to collect in fabric-based furniture and accessories, like beds, pillows, couches, and the like. So if you or anyone in your family experiences allergy symptoms outside of the typical allergy season, the reaction may be to a dust mite allergy.

There are several steps you can take to reduce the number of dust mites in your home, including keeping your humidity down, regularly washing your linens in hot water, and getting rid of bedroom carpeting.

Drinking Water

The EPA regulates and protects clean drinking water, so most people feel it’s safe to drink straight from the tap. But even with the EPA’s involvement, drinking water may not be as clear of contaminates as we’d like to believe. Trace amounts of pharmaceuticals, like ibuprofen and anticonvulsants, have been found in metropolitan water supplies.

The simple workaround might appear to be to drink water out of bottles, but a lot of water bottles are actually filled with tap water that hasn’t been filtered for these specific contaminates. Consider instead water filtration for the whole house, which has the added bonus of preventing the plastic waste that comes from drinking water out of bottles.

Carbon Monoxide

Most homes have smoke detectors that alert you to the presence of smoke in your house. But unless your smoke alarm specifically also features a carbon monoxide detection system, the dangerous gas might be present in your home without your knowledge. Carbon monoxide is odorless, colorless, and has many common household sources like gas heaters, furnaces, dryers, fireplaces, motor vehicles, and more. To protect your family, make sure carbon monoxide producing devices are properly ventilated, and purchase a detector.

Mothballs

Fumigants are what make mothballs so useful against pests. Mothballs contain chemicals that release into the air and kill pests at high enough doses. But these high doses of chemicals can also be harmful to humans. The side-effects of inhaling these chemicals include dizziness, headaches, vomiting, difficulty breathing, and red blood cell loss. Next time you need to take care of creepy crawly pests, safer ways to treat the problem exist. You can eliminate moths without resorting to mothballs.

Refrigerator

Your refrigerator might also contribute to making your family ill. A packed fridge with incorrectly stored food can end up growing things that cause food poisoning. Plus, if the temperature is off, by even a little bit, it only makes matters worse. Keep your cooked and uncooked foods well away from each other, especially meats. Clean the interior of your fridge regularly. Find out what temperature your fridge should be and check it often.

While checking for mold and having a working smoke detector seem like obvious ways to keep your house clean and your family healthy, you may be overlooking some subtler aspects of the equation. Some of these issues, like dust mites, the refrigerator, and carpeting, aren’t deathly serious, others like carbon monoxide and mothballs can cause serious health problems, especially with prolonged exposure. Thankfully most of these areas are easy to take care of with a little diligence.




Toxins You Touch Daily – Top 12

We are surrounded by toxins. We get it. The thought of how many toxins we encounter every day almost makes us want to vomit (and in some cases, probably does). Although every toxin is something you want to avoid, in many cases, it is simply not possible. However,  you can start to eliminate the more serious toxins you touch daily to significantly lighten your toxic load.

Water

Most people start their day by waking up on their chemically treated mattress, glancing at their EMF emitting cell phone, while considering how many more minutes they can wait before they hit the shower.

This is where the toxin onslaught begins.

More than 2,100 toxic chemicals have been detected in America’s water systems, with fluoride, chlorine, and VOC’s being the main culprits. These chemicals have been linked to behavioral, brain, and thyroid problems as they bio-accumulate in your tissues. These chemicals have also been known to create allergies and increase cancer death rates.

So if you are of the majority who showers in treated water with no filter to remove these contaminants, you are slowly absorbing these toxins through your skin on a daily basis. Don’t be fooled into believing the dose is not harmful; over a period of time these toxins will take their toll.

Personal Care Products

Now that you are all cleaned up (using soap, shampoo, and possibly conditioner in the shower) , it’s time to finish making yourself fit for interaction with other human beings. This process could include any number of personal care products. The typical applications include deodorant, hair products, cologne/perfume, and skin lotions.

The majority of personal care products contain a number of chemicals and preservatives like phthalates, parabens, aluminum, and petroleum distillates, just to name a few. These chemicals are known hormone disruptors and can cause allergies, attention deficit disorder, and breast cancer.

Consult the Environmental Working Group and their skin deep database to determine the safety of your personal care products, and make better choices if necessary. There are many companies producing organic soaps, shampoos, and personal care products.

Coffee

Now it’s time for what we have been looking forward to ever since we woke up – coffee. Nothing seems to make our heart sing more than the anticipation of the sight, smell, and boost that is our morning coffee.

Too bad most coffee drinkers are completely contaminating themselves.

Coffee is one of the most heavily, chemically treated crops and coffee is highly acidic, with a pH often ranging between 4.5 and 6 (alkaline is closer to 7.4). If your non-organic coffee is not toxic enough for you, the refined white sugar (or worse, HFCS flavourings or artificial sweeteners) and dairy you add to it is sure to add another layer of contaminants that gives your gut a serious knockout punch. Oh, and don’t forget the toxic tap water that is the main ingredient.

If you drink coffee, make it organic and consider drinking it black or with better sugar and dairy alternatives to reduce the toxic load.

Corn

Seriously, is there anything on the shelves that doesn’t have corn in it nowadays? This crop really needs to take a rest and remove itself from a lot of our food supply.

Corn is largely GMO, and is difficult to digest for most people, which automatically makes it a toxic choice. But if GMO corn in the produce aisle wasn’t enough, nearly every other aisle contains it.

Corn can be found in pork, beef, bread, sodas, chicken, fries, chips, cereals, and spaghetti sauces. The only way you can really avoid GMO corn is to buy only organic corn and corn products.

To learn more about how GMO corn gets on your plate without you knowing, watch the documentary, King Corn.

Rice

A staple in many people’s diets, rice has also found its way onto our plate and in our cups on a daily basis. The only problem is with the source and the contaminants that cannot be easily cleaned up.

The majority of rice production takes place in China and India (the top 2 rice producing countries in the world), and accounts for up to 40% of production. This isn’t necessarily a problem until you factor in the major pollution problem these two countries are dealing with and the fact that it directly affects soil composition and makes even “organic” a difficult label to apply.

Recent reports have shown that products containing rice sourced from China are riddled with heavy metal contaminants–lead, tungsten, cadmium, and mercury at far beyond acceptable limits. This makes eating rice in any form from these regions very risky, as heavy metal toxicity is a major health compromising factor.

terraced rice fields in chinaCleaning up soil in a heavily polluted environment is a task that takes decades. Until these limits come down to acceptable levels, choose organic rice from reliable producers outside of those regions.

To learn more about the issue with rice, and a supplier that can help you get around it, check in with this report.

Soy

Although soy was once considered the darling of all things healthy, research now suggests otherwise. Soy in its most common forms is actually detrimental to our health.

GMO soy shows up in a variety of packaged foods, most notably soy sauce, soy milk, and soy protein isolate that is found in the majority of protein and meal replacement shakes, as well as protein bars and snacks. These products are difficult to digest and disrupt your hormones to the point that they can cause breast and other cancers related to the hormonal system.

If you choose to consume soy, make it organic (non-GMO) and fermented (like miso and tempeh) to almost completely alleviate the toxic load.

Refined Wheat Flour

Wheat has been the poster child of all things bad, and the gluten free movement has gained more momentum than any other health concern.

Even it its whole form, wheat causes severe toxicity issues. The digestive system is not set up to handle copious amounts. Gluten is very difficult to digest, especially with our deficiency of good gut bacteria. Then you strip it of any remaining nutrients to make it white, and wheat ends up being a better insecticide than food because any bug that tries to live off it eventually dies.

In addition, wheat appears to be making some headway as a fully blown GM crop thanks to Monsanto announcing new research into GM wheat in 2009, with industry groups jumping on board. Thankfully, there has been push back by consumers that has stalled some of their efforts.

Refined wheat is found in nearly every packaged product. If you do choose wheat products (even though it is not recommended), ensure that they are organic and sprouted to limit the toxic load.

Refined Sugar

Sugar is one of the most difficult foods to avoid due to our own cravings and the fact that it is found in nearly every packaged product in the grocery store.

Aside from being largely GMO (sugar from sugar beets), refined sugar is literally feeding the candida outbreak that is silently ruining people’s health through hundreds of different disease labels, from arthritis to cancer. Yet, we can’t seem to keep this food out of our diet as it shows up in a variety of forms in packaged foods, as well as our coffee, tea, and baked goods.

If you choose a sweetener, make sure to reference this chart to make a better decision.

Dairy

Even though dairy has also received widespread attention as a gut menacing food or beverage, it still has a stronghold in people’s diets across the world.

If you aren’t putting it into your coffee, cereal, baking, or sauces, you still have to deal with it in chocolate, yogurt, dressings, cheese, shakes, soups, and many packaged and fried foods (often disguised as whey or casein).

The main issue with dairy is that it is largely pasteurized (making it a “dead” food”), and loaded with hormones and antibiotics. Combine that with natural sugars like lactose that are very hard to digest, and you have a

toxic touch point that makes it into many people’s diets everyday.

Animal Meat

Most of us have grown up eating animal meat in one form or another. This daily habit is now more toxic than ever.

Meat is not as simple as it once was. Meat production has become a huge industry infatuated with pumping out as much product as cheaply and in as little time as possible. The cost to us is tainted meat that introduces a variety of toxins into our physiology.

Most of the animals are raised in horrible, inhumane conditions.  On top of this, they are often fed toxic animal parts and low quality grains laced with elements like arsenic to fatten them up quicker at a reduced cost (this is most prevalent in the chicken industry). In addition to these horrific acts, these animals are injected with or fed hormones and antibiotics, which ends up on your plate, now creating a health issue for you. According to data from 2011, more than 80% of the antibiotics produced were fed to livestock.

If you choose to eat animal meat, look for labels saying organic, free from, grass fed, and free range. Even better, know your farmer and understand their operation so you know they are being treated respectfully, fed well, and naturally maintained.

Alcohol

Another common habit, alcohol use has been perpetuated as a way to really enjoy yourself. Although alcohol may seem to help, beer, wine, whiskey and other spirits have created a host of health problems associated with the gut and liver.

Alcohol does not promote health. Although there may be some useful nutrients associated with wine and beer, they are overshadowed by the toxicity created from the alcohol, grains, sugar, and yeast that are present in them. This combination puts a serious smack down on your gut and your liver, two parts of your body that contribute largely to your livelihood.

If you do choose to drink alcohol, exercise moderation and choose organic.

Prescriptions

Most people have caught on by now that prescription medications are some of the most toxic things you can put in your body. With that being said, it certainly isn’t stopping many as it is now estimated that 70 percent of Americans take at least one prescription drug, and more than half take two or more. Antibiotics, antidepressants, and painkillers are the most prescribed drugs.

The unfortunate part of this bandaid solution is that it creates a massive array of complications, with the most damage being inflicted to the intestinal system and liver. This creates a wide variety of symptoms. Just listen to a drug commercial; 10-15 seconds is dedicated to listing the side effects, a clear indicator of just how toxic the side effects can be.

Until an individual is able to come off of prescriptions, there will always be an onerous toxic load from this one act alone.

The Rabbit Hole Goes Deep

Although these daily toxic touch points make up a large portion of your daily intake, there are hundreds of others that make their way into our lifestyle. The list is so pervasive, unless you have done hundreds of hours of research, you can’t even begin to imagine the bombardment our bodies are subjected to over a course of a day.

The safest way to avoid these daily toxins is to buy whole, fresh, and organic foods that do not come in a package. For those that do, ensure the ingredients are minimal and clean, and be mindful of the origin of the product. Choose more natural personal care products, and keep your water clean for hygiene and drinking purposes.

If your health and happiness is worth it, why not get started today?




Environmental Toxins Typically Do Not Cause Cancer on Their Own

In the film Healing Cancer from the Inside Out, narrator Mike Anderson explains that carcinogens provide the seeds for cancer, while a diet rich in animal proteins and fats (a typical Western Diet) provides the fertilizer.

To support his arguments, he reminds us that indigenous cultures eating traditional diets have low incidences of cancer. But when they begin eating western diets, cancer rates explode.

In Okinawa, cancer rates are extremely low in the midst of rampant environmental toxicity. When Okinawans immigrate to the United States and consume a Western diet, their cancer rates soar.

Anderson’s final argument is the surprising lack of correlation between smoking rates and lung cancer in the United States. While smoking rates have dropped significantly in the last 50 years, there has been no corresponding decline in lung cancer. Again—carcinogens and toxins are the seeds. Our unhealthy diet provides the fertilizer. Conversely, healthy foods provide the cure.




Chemicals in Foods, Medicines, and the Environment Cause Cancer

The news is not that we are bombarded with cancer causing chemicals in our food, medicine, and our environment, but that the Government’s advisors are actually admitting this.

A recent report from the President’s Cancer Panel, Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk, is a hard hitting report that calls on America to rethink the way we fight cancer, including, but not limited to, a much more serious regulation of cancer-causing chemicals.

On page five of the report they say, “With nearly 80,000 chemicals on the market in the United States, many of which are used by millions of Americans in their daily lives and are un- or understudied and largely unregulated, exposure to potential environmental carcinogens is widespread. One such ubiquitous chemical, bisphenol A (BPA), is still found in many consumer products and remains unregulated in the United States, despite the growing link between BPA and several diseases, including various cancers.”

The report also states that only a few of the 80,000 chemicals we use in the U.S. have been tested for safety and “Many known or suspected carcinogens are completely unregulated.”

Full Report: Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk, What We Can Do Now




Children, Cell Phones & Health

An Inconvenient Truth about a Convenient Technology

Once upon a time there was a little girl on a playground who noticed gray smoke pouring out of the windows at a school across the street.

“Fire!” the little girl shouted.

A man sat calmly on a nearby bench. “I don’t see any fire,” he said.

“Fire!” the girl cried again.

“But I only see smoke.”

“Fire!” the girl shouted over and over.

A few hours later, the school burned to the ground.

The moral of this story?  Where there’s smoke, there’s a good chance you’ll find fire. That’s the precautionary principle practiced by most governments in Europe when it comes to the 4.2 billion cell phones in the world, the electromagnetic radiation (EMFs) they emit, and protecting public health. Refusing to adhere to this “better safe than sorry” principle has caused catastrophic health and
environmental effects globally, writes David Gee, author of THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE IN THE 20TH CENTURY: Late Lessons from Early Warnings. The book analyzes the dismal failures of governments around the world to respond to early danger signs from carcinogens such as lead, benzene, asbestos, and the depletion of Atlantic fisheries. In fact, David Gee recently testified in Brussels at the European Commission on EMF & Health about the profound danger posed by cell phone radiation, or electropollution, which many scientists are now calling the ”worst toxin in planetary history.”

“All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” – Arthur Schopenhauer

Because of this common-sense precautionary principle, France outlawed cell phone ads to children this past January. Many other countries followed suit: Russia’s Ministry of Health issued a warning that no child under eighteen should use a cell phone, and pregnant women should avoid them completely. Israel’s Health Ministry and Canada’s Dept. of Health issued warnings as well. Germany, the UK, Belgium, India, and Finland have all publicly discouraged children’s use of cell phones, too. What are we doing here in the USA? Not long ago, Sprint signed a two billion dollar contract with Disney Corporation to market cell phones to children under twelve. Ironically, the US government makes more money from cell phone minutes than any other product besides oil.

What is the health impact of 4.2 billion microwave emitting devices on the human body and brain; wireless devices that were never pre-market tested for health?

“Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and radiation damage DNA and enhance cell death rates and therefore they are a ubiquitous, universal genotoxic carcinogen that enhances the rates of cancer, cardiac, reproductive, and neurological disease and mortality in human populations. Therefore there is no safe threshold level…”- Dr. Neil Cherry, Associate Professor of Environmental Health

There is a growing body of evidence – more than 2,000 independent studies worldwide – linking EMFs with serious health issues, from autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, to developmental delays and spectrum disorders like Autism and ADD, to various cancers such as astrocytomas and glioblastomas. Award-winning cancer specialist and
vneurosurgeon Dr. Vini Khurana went so far as to declare that cell phones were more dangerous than smoking and asbestos.

But this is not an article about giving up your cell phone, cordless phone, laptop, iPod, or Wi-Fi technology. That request would be impossible since 80% of our planet is already wireless. Cell phone towers now decorate the Himalayas.

The health risks posed by smoking and asbestos pale in comparison to cell phone radiation, which produces ICRWs (Information Carrying Radio Waves), precisely because our exposure to ICRWs is completely involuntary. We can choose to walk out of a smoky bar or re-insulate an asbestos laden home. We can no longer avoid electromagnetic radiation. One might say this has become a civil liberties issue because our exposure is non-optional, which may be why parents and teachers in Europe have marched in the streets, demanding wireless be removed from schools.

Microwave radiation, in fact, passes through everything between the cell tower and your phone (or computer) at the speed of light (186,282 miles/second) and is instantaneously absorbed into your body and brain. The compelling research from Dr. Om P. Gandhi, a professor and Chair of Electrical Engineering at the University of Utah, dramatically illustrates this: When adults makes a cell phone call, there is 30% radiation penetration into their brains; 50% radiation penetration into the brain of a 10 year old; 75% radiation penetration into a five-year-old. Professor Leif Salford, who headed the research at Sweden’s prestigious Lund University, says “the voluntary exposure of the brain to microwaves from hand held mobile phones is the largest human biological experiment ever.”

But it’s not just human cells at risk. Dr. Robert Becker, twice Nobel Prize nominee, and Dr. Neil Cherry believe EMFs may be permanently damaging all DNA material, plants and animals included, affecting the genetic integrity of all life on earth.

“I have no doubt that, at the present time, the greatest polluting element in the earth’s environment is the proliferation of electromagnetic fields (EMFs). I consider that to be far greater on a global scale than global warming and the increase in chemical elements in the environment.” – Dr. Robert Becker, twice Nobel Prize nominee, author, CROSS CURRENTS: The Promise of Electromedicine, the Perils of Electropollution

Children and teenagers are most at risk due to their developing brains and skulls. Dr. Lennart Hardell, M.D., Ph.D. from Sweden studied teenagers on cell phones and found they are at a five-fold increased risk of brain cancer by the time they reach their mid twenties. (Cordless phone radiation gives them a four-fold risk.) A Spanish study headed up by Dr. Michael Klieeison demonstrated that a two-minute cell phone call disrupted the electrical activity in a child’s brain for up to two hours. How many minutes does our average American teenager spend on a cell phone? Two thousand sixx hundred minutes each month.

Fortunately, there are actions you can take to mitigate the harm posed by EMFs. Thomas Jefferson insisted a free society cannot exist with an uninformed public. So whether you’re a parent, teacher, or concerned human being, educating yourself is the first step; then you can make the best decisions to support the long-term well being of your family, and this planet.

CALL TO ACTION – Ways to Thrive in a Wireless World

  1. Limit exposure. Use speaker mode or landlines whenever possible.
  2. Use patented noise field intervention technology on all wireless and wired devices. (Wireless routers, digital alarm clocks, and hair dryers emit high levels of EMFs.)
  3. Wired headsets act as antennae, tripling the radiation to the head. Use Blue Tube headsets, not unprotected Blue Tooths.
  4. Never let your child or teen sleep with their cell phone (or any other electronic device). Texting still exposes them to a near-field plume of radiation.
  5. Unplug or remove all electronics from your child’s bedroom.
  6. Maintain a potent, nutritionally healthy diet and lifestyle.
  7. Take political action, e.g., write to your congressman, demanding that governments adhere to the standards set by the Bioinitiative Report. (www.bioinitiative.org)



Household Toxins

The problem of bioaccumulated toxins is reaching crisis proportions. Residues of more than 400 toxic chemicals have been found in human blood and tissues, many of them at levels that cause disease in animals. Recent medical and scientific studies show disturbing correlations between chronic low-level exposure to synthetic chemicals and allergies, asthma, autoimmune diseases, birth defects, developmental delays, cancer, and a host of other problems. Thousands of chemicals permeate our everyday life.

Fortunately, we can minimize these toxins through education and common sense. We must learn how to stop bringing toxins into our homes, to rid ourselves of toxins we have already introduced, and to help our bodies detoxify.

We accumulate toxins from air, water, and food. Surprisingly, most of our toxic load comes from sources in our own homes. Indoor air pollution poses a serious threat to the health and safety of families—especially to children. Indoor air is usually five times more polluted than outdoor air. The EPA has measured many indoor air samples to be 70 times more polluted.

Common household products contribute some of the most dangerous chemicals. One class of products is aerosols. A new study in the Archives of Environmental Health looked at the effects of aerosol air fresheners on the health of more than 10,000 young mothers and their infants. Formaldehyde and phenol are components of air fresheners that interfere with the ability to smell by coating nasal passages with an oil film or by releasing a deadening nerve agent.

Aerosol products, from air fresheners to cleaning products and shaving cream, contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can include known carcinogens such as benzene and known neurotoxins such as xylene. Studies have shown that within 26 seconds of exposure to such products, traces of these chemicals can be found in every organ in the body and daily use of such aerosols causes a gradual increase in the amount of VOCs in the home air.

Daily use of air fresheners has been shown to cause adults to experience a 10 percent increase in headaches and a 25 percent increase in depression. Infants living in these homes suffered significantly more earaches and were 32 percent more likely to suffer from diarrhea. Keep in mind that these symptoms were the result of toxins seriously harming normal cell chemistry. The solution is simple: don’t use aerosols! (If you feel you must, use them sparingly with very good ventilation.)

Furniture and carpets made of synthetic materials are significant sources of indoor pollution and VOCs; they will off-gas toxic chemicals for decades. New carpets are especially toxic. Chemicals outgas from the fibers as well as the adhesives, backing, and padding. Researchers at Anderson Labs measured the effects of carpet toxicity on 110 families and found that within three months of installation, 82 percent of those people developed diverse health problems including irregular heartbeat, fatigue, rashes, memory loss, muscle pain, blurred vision, and tremors.

The problems with carpets first gained attention in 1988 when the new headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency caused “sick building syndrome.” The problem was eventually traced to chemicals outgassing from the backing of their new carpets. Synthetic-fiber carpets can contain as many as 200 different chemicals, many of which outgas into a home’s living space.

Mice exposed to fumes from new carpets died in a matter of hours, while carpets up to 12 years old caused severe neurological problems. If carpet fumes can kill mice, what are carpets doing to you, your children, and your pets? And if all this isn’t bad enough, it gets worse when carpets are cleaned.

Carpet cleaning products usually contain a multitude of toxic ingredients, including high risk hazardous chemicals such as 2-butoxy ethanol, formaldehyde, and perchlorethylene. During application and while drying, these chemicals evaporate and pollute the air. Carpet shampoos also leave a residue on carpet fibers. Such residues can disperse into the air or be picked up by pets and children who are close to the carpet. Children play on the floor and they tend to put everything in their mouths. They are more susceptible to toxins because their detox systems are still developing.

Carpet cleaning also leaves carpets wet for too long, encouraging the growth of mold. Once mold begins to grow in a carpet or its pad, it is impossible to adequately remove it. Even when mold is not actively growing, mold particles and spores can cause health problems such as fatigue, headaches, allergy symptoms, and asthma attacks. Chemicals from molds can cause cancer and mimic hormones.

Dangerous gasses and particles are also generated by household appliances. Gas stoves, water heaters, furnaces, space heaters, and fireplaces all release toxins such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, and other gasses along with fine particles into the air. Furnaces and gas water heaters should be kept outside the living space, in a shed or an unattached garage. If that is not possible, consider switching to an electric water heater. This is what I had to do. Gas stoves should be used only with good ventilation. Electric stoves are preferable. Use fireplaces sparingly and never use artificial logs as they put a heavy VOC load into the living space and the neighborhood.

The list continues. Paradichlorobenzene, found in mothballs and deodorizers, is another common indoor pollutant and carcinogen. Pesticides are very toxic. Never use them in or around the home. Tobacco smoke, perfume, cosmetics, cleaning products, aerosol products, and all manner of scented products are toxic and should be avoided. Biological contaminants include mold, animal dander, dust mites, and cockroaches.

Attached garages pose another problem. Exhaust fumes and hydrocarbon vapors coming from the engine can enter the living space. The interiors of vehicles, especially new vehicles, are exceedingly toxic. Even tap water is dangerous. Most tap water is contaminated with aluminum, arsenic, pesticides, chlorinated hydrocarbons, chlorine, and fluoride. In addition to damaging the brain and lowering IQ, fluoride also causes cancer, weak bones, poor teeth, and soft tissue calcification.

Exposure by breathing these chemicals in your bath can rival or exceed exposure from drinking the water. Breathing the fumes from dishwashers, clothes washers, bathtubs, and showers is particularly bad, and bleaches and detergents used in washing add to the toxic load.

Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors. Indoor air pollution is creating an epidemic of undiagnosed chronic disease that is mystifying medical doctors. Too often the medical response is to prescribe medications that only add to the toxic load.

Even if we could stop putting all these toxins into our bodies today, we would still be in toxic overload. Since toxins are now unavoidable, we must reduce our toxic exposures and help our bodies detoxify.

There are three major approaches to detoxifying: eating a nutrient-rich diet, consuming high-quality supplements, and taking regular saunas.

Most of us are malnourished. The body’s detoxification system requires a variety of nutrients to operate efficiently. Lack of these nutrients allows toxins to build up and do harm. Nutrients critical to detoxification include vitamins C and E, magnesium, zinc, molybdenum, selenium, carotenes, quercitin, CoQ10, glutamine, choline, and glutathione. It is important to supplement with detoxification-supporting nutrients and herbs.

There is another very effective way to get rid of toxins—saunas. According to detox expert Dr. Sherry Rogers, “Saunas have become a household necessity.” Sweating is a critical detoxification pathway, and saunas are the only proven way we know of to effectively rid the body of the hundreds of manmade chemicals we bioaccumulate. Through regular saunas, people with undiagnosable and untreatable problems have been restored to health. Unfortunately, saunas themselves can be toxic.

It took me two years to find and approve a sauna that met my exacting standards for safety and effectiveness. I finally found a far infrared (FIR) sauna made of nontoxic wood with special patented heating elements. I have one in my home. Twice a week, I sauna for an hour-and-twenty-minutes.

FIR saunas which operate at lower temperatures, take out more toxins and are far safer and more easily tolerated than regular saunas. If you are unable to have a sauna in your home, you can sauna at a health or fitness club. The important thing is to sauna regularly, at least once a week.

Other household aids include water filters, shower filters, and air filters. Each of these helps to reduce our toxic exposure. Finally, eating organic foods and using safe personal-care products such as organic, non-toxic shampoos, soaps, toothpastes, deodorants, and skin creams are a must. There are safe alternatives for most of the dangerous products we use. Remember, there are only two causes of disease: deficiency and toxicity. Both of these causes are under your control.

With a modicum of education and a willingness to put it to work, almost anyone can improve their nutrition, reduce their toxic load, get well, and stay well.

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