*Gagging From Stinking Up with Artificial Fragrances*
Have you seen the endless TV ads for artificial fragrances, pushed on possibly unsuspecting consumers looking to cover a big stink of some sort ? One of my favorite ads shows a grandmother-type arrive for a visit, ignore the children and immediately fall into an ecstatic trance, sniffing Febreze scented air, tennis shoes and various fabrics.
We are inundated with toxic artificial fragrances in the form of odor neutralizers, plug-ins, aerosols, room fresheners, car air fresheners, fabric fresheners, perfumes, scented candles/oils, paraffin candles and garbage bags. Scented garbage bags are the pits. Some brands are kind enough to put “scented” on packaging, others are not so thoughtful. I opened a box of Glad bags and became nauseous immediately from a Febreze-like odor. Gag!!!!!!!!! Upon returning to the store I punched little holes big enough to catch a whiff of the inner contents before purchasing more bags.
Why do we need so many kinds of artificial fragrances? Guess folks prefer cover-up to clean –up. It’s hard to imagine a stink bad enough to force one to reach for an artificial fragrance. Hopefully they aren’t used around infants and pets. It doesn’t really matter what the fragrance-peddlers say about the safety of petrochemicals and exotic toxins, we know better. Asthmatics claim attacks are most often triggered by artificial fragrances.
If you frequent 2nd hand clothing shops and don’t like the smell of Febreze - beware - sniff out the garment before purchase because the odor will not come out. It’s there for all eternity. And if you are a traveler with sensitivities to Febreze and other noxious odors, it’s a good idea to call ahead and ask questions.
Wafting Aromas: Ingredients
Artificial fragrances are composed of untold combinations of highly volatile petrochemical derivatives. The raw materials of perfumery are the solvents hexane and petroleum ether. According to a Natural Resource Defense Council sponsored test, 12 out of 14 air fresheners contain phthalates. These off-gassing chemicals are never listed as ingredients. They are claimed as proprietary secrets. Other chemicals found in a majority of air-freshners includes formaldehyde, (used as a preservative) benzene and naphthalene.http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/newscience/oncompounds/PBDE/whatarepbdes.htm
Perfumed garbage bags are created through a process that involves perfumed composites of ethylene and various co polymers such as vinyl acetate and ethyl acrylate which enable bags to retain fragrance for a year or more. Other types of perfumed objects are coated with polyurethane to sustain the release of various fragrances.
Procter and Gamble had to seek approval from the NYS Division of Solid and Hazardous Materials in order to register *Febreze Antimicrobial* because it contains Didecyl Dimethyl Ammonium Chloride. This product is used on fabrics to kill odor causing bacteria. Wow. Imagine some of that stuff up against your skin for 10 hours. The official letter from the Director of the Bureau of Pesticides Management states DDAC is a severe skin and eye irritant and goes on to say * “In the risk assessment conducted by the U.S.EPA, post-application dermal exposures were determined to pose unacceptable risks.” *Yet – the product was given the O.K. for production.
Over the holidays I almost gave a toxic gift of an evergreen infusion. It looked great with a graceful bamboo wicking system and it had a pleasant aroma. Interestingly enough it did not list one ingredient. I called the company and discovered ½ of the content was a “cosmetic preservative”. Most cosmetic preservatives are extremely toxic, including many of the innocent looking creams that have the various parabens in the ingredients. I use organic cosmetics that list all ingredients.
Alternatives
There are many alternatives including the placement of cotton balls scented with essential-oils or cooking flavors such as cinnamon, lemon around the home. You can google “organic, natural room fresheners” and find an assortment of products such as: Aura Cacia Air Freshener, California Scents Air Freshener , Aubrey Organics Blue Cypress Air Freshener, and Baby Ganics Air Freshner and Odor Eliminator.
Baking soda is a good odor absorber that might work wonders for the auto - instead of those horrible smelling doodads hanging from the rear view mirror.
Never has it been more important to know what you are putting into your personal environment. Take great precaution with everything that is not apparently organic and non-toxic. Look up exotic items such as medicines, supplements, pet medicine and products used in the service of the big stink.
PREGNANT AND NEW MOMS – BEWARE PLASTICS! (and everybody else should do the same)
Plastics off-gas volatile organic compounds known to interfere radically with the endocrine system (a complex network of glands including ovaries, testes, thyroid, adrenals and intestines) and chromosomal DNA (the basic structure of life). We’ll focus on Bisphenol A (BPA) and Phthalates, in hopes of convincing the reader to abandon the use of off-gassing plastics that come in contact with food, pregnant mothers, babies, toddlers & pets.
BPA and phthalates imitate estrogen in both males and females and should be considered very dangerous.
High levels of both chemicals found in all people tested.
Phthalates alter chromosomal DNA.
Estrogen dominance is at the root of most cancer.
In July ’08 Congress signed a ban on phythalates in children’s products because they cause Cancer. What about the rest of us? The production of phthalates should be totally banned. This is doubtful, since the federal agency Consumer Product Safety Commission recently over-ruled congress and decades of evidence by claiming phthalates are just fine for infants and all the rest of us. And the FDA has always ruled in favor of the plastics industry. Are our “protectors” unaware of the side effects of estrogen? We need an enormous outcry against this blatant disregard for our health and general welfare.
Estrogen Action:
There’s so much bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates in air, water and food that just being alive in today’s environment is similar to wearing a sex hormone patch. Makes sense considering the millions of tons of estrogen mimickers created annually to make some plastics hard (BPA) and others, soft and pliable (phthalates).1)
These chemicals amplify the effects of estrogen, increase the estrogen load in the body and produce estrogen dominance in females and males. In females this dominance encourages breast cancer, stroke, heart disease, hypertension, weight gain and chronic fatigue. In males it may cause hair loss, lowered libido and impotency. Is estrogen dominance the reason for the apparent outstanding need for Viagra type drugs?
Biochemist Tsu-Tsair Chi has developed Myomin, a chinese herbal formula that is claimed to control both the formation and utilization of estrogen and has no side effects or toxicity. 2)3) It comes highly recommended on the web where Chi and others find “over 99% of all cancers are driven by estrogen.” Various researchers are confident this natural herbal medicine helps conditions caused by estrogen imbalance such as cancer, fibroids, endometriosis, breast cancer, ovarian cysts and andropause (low testosterone) in men.
BPA
Geneticist Patricia Hunt discovered BPA was leaching from polycarbonate plastics, harming her control-mice and ruining her experiments. Without her discovery it might have taken years longer to recognize this danger which the FDA continues to ignore. 4) Hunt often collaborates with Frederick vom Stall who inspired the controversial book “Our Stolen Future” (on our book list) which discusses their work among other reports of chemicals causing deadly hormonal disease. Various plastics councils have supposedly threatened both scientists and insist the revolt against plastics is a left wing conspiracy. 5)
Off-gassing BPA creates chronic toxicity in animals. Over 100 animal studies show the following results at low doses: cancer, obesity, neurotoxicity and breast cancer. In 2007 a consensus statement by 38 BPA experts concluded average levels in people are above those known to produce harm in animals and there is concern for effects on brain, behavior, prostate gland, mammary gland in fetuses, infants and children. 6) Why do organic food stores continue to sell the #7 plastic water containers known to release BPA? 7)
Canada (4/08) announced a ban on the use of BPA-polycarbonate baby bottles and other infant products. Our FDA doesn’t get it. Based on several American Plastics Council studies, they gave the o.k. to BPA on 9/16/08. On the following day a new study on human subjects published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found BPA strongly linked to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and liver-enzyme problems. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention conducted the study which gauged the levels of BPA in the urine of adults aged 18 to 74. The National Toxicology Program reported that “the possibility that BPA may alter human development cannot be dismissed.” 8)
The Sun Online, a British News Journal, ran a story 9/17/08 about research at Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, England that discovered subjects with high levels of BPA were twice as likely to have diabetes and heart disease. “Killer Chemical Lurking in Food” is name of the article. This study sounds almost identical with the one presented in Journal of the American Medical Association mentioned above.9)
Phthalates
Phthalates are the most common estrogen mimicking plasticizers and have the unique quality of migrating to the surface of plastic and evaporating/leaching into the environment.10) Phthalate DEHP, a carcinogen found in PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is commonly found in building products, medical devices, PVC toys such as rattles and teethers, shampoo, food packaging, vinyl flooring, hoses, nail polish, hair spray, to name a few. Many phthalates are classified as toxic by EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory and research using human subjects show phthalates create observable DNA damage in the sperm. 11) 12)
The primary route of DEHP exposure is food such as meat, fish and milk. Way back in ‘92 the International Programme on Chemical Safety found the daily intake of the average person to be 2mg. That was 17 years ago - imagine what it is now with fish swimming in seas of plastic and inorganic beef full of additives and who knows what. (Be sure and see video at the end of footnotes). The primary route for getting DEHP out of the body is sweating and avoidance. Sounds like a good idea to get to a sweat lodge or steam-bath.
Very high levels of phthalate esters were found in the blood serum of 28 out of 41 female subjects between 6 months and 8 years with very noticeable premature breast enlargement. That is 67%. “Identification of Phthalate Esters in the Serum of Puerto Rican Girls with Premature Breast Development” contains details of this research by the various participating institutions and can be found at the Environmental Health Perspectives Online.13)
“Testicular toxicity” is revealed in the “neutral comet assay” test showing DNA damage in human sperm cells exposed to Phthalates. This test is used in radio biology to measure DNA damage in individual cells. The study was approved by the Harvard School of Public Health and Massachusetts General Hospital Human Subjects Committee, and received full consent from males 20 – 54 involved in a semen quality study. This is one of the first human studies to report an association between DNA damage and phthalates in urine at levels found in the general population. “In the neutral comet assay, a cell with fragmented DNA has the appearance of a comet with a brightly fluorescent head and a fluorescent tail whose intensity represents the relative amount of DNA strand breaks present.” Images of fragmenting DNA are stunning and can be found at Environmental Health Perspectives. 14)
Avoid Estrogen Mimickers
According to Green Guide and other guides, 15) the safest plastics for repeated use in food storage are #2, #4 and #5. Plastic #1 (PETE or PET) primarily used for soda bottles, leaches carcinogenic phthalates and should not be reused in any fashion. #7 polycarbonate hard plastic must be avoided. #7 leaches BPA. The Green Guide.com advises removal of deli items from Plastic #3 soon as you get the items home because #3 is made of polyvinyl chloride which leaches dioxin, a carcinogen.
Styrofoam is #6 plastic and considered dangerous by Green Guide who associates it with central nervous system damage, depression, fatigue and compromised kidney function. They suggest emptying restaurant orders into safer containers pronto as soon as you get them home. Watch for deli items that have been resting on a bed of Styrofoam.
One of the most accessible sources of BPA is canned foods. Canned soups, pasta and infant formula have BPA levels in the dangerous zone. Some liquid baby formula is packed in containers lined with BPA.
BPA and phthalate free products for infants and toddlers are available. Type “BPA free”, “phthalate free” or “safe plastic” into the search box at Amazon, Ebay and other sites. But choose carefully, some of these products are poorly made and come apart with a toddlers loving care. Look at product reviews to learn if dishwater-safe etc before purchasing. Brands with good reviews include: Think Baby, Kid Basix, Born Free, Dr. Browns and Foogo by Thermos. We hope BPA and phathalate free products will soon be available for all of us including animals. Total avoidance of toxic plasticizers is impossible but there are many things one can do to protect against regular consumption. Some of the most important:
Never microwave plastic. Use pyrex or other oven safe glass.
Pregnant mothers, infants and toddlers should avoid food wrapped in plastic.
Store food and water in glass containers.
Remove plastic from the kitchen, nursery and toy-box.
Don’t drink from hose and wear gloves or wash hands after use of hose.
Look on the bottom of plastic containers and don’t use the worse plastics: 1,3,6&7.
Don’t let food touch plastic wrap; remove portions that touch plastic wrap. 16)
Remove dentures, partials etc at night and whenever possible.
Don’t drink or eat from plastic containers.
Don’t allow children or pets to play with plastic toys.
Plastic wrap made from polyethylene doesn’t leach plasticizers, PVC does.
Backings on new carpets use PVC.
Indoor plastic materials in vinyl sheet flooring, wall surfaces in bathroom and kitchen may cause respiratory problems. Proper ventilation is important.
Use glass lenses for eye glasses instead of plastic ones.
Phthalate DEHP is found in cosmetics, perfume, nail polish, hair spray and is considered a reason for high levels of phthalate in women 20–45.
Phthalate found in flea collars.
Use glass or ceramic bowls and containers to feed pets.
If there is breast cancer in the family or should you have breast cancer avoid BPA and Phthalates.
Plastics in the dash board and other sources off-gas BPA inside a new car. I can’t ride in a new auto without becoming ill.
Don’t use canned baby formula. “All U.S. manufacturers use BPA-based lining on the metal portions of the formula containers.” 17)
Go to Organic Grace.com 18) and you will see a list showing all cans release BPA with exceptions being Eden beans and Newman’s Own canned pet food. (Although I am uncertain about the new shorter cans of Newman’s dog food.)
Don’t eat canned food if you are pregnant.
Choose meat and dairy items that do not contain Rbst recombinant bovine growth hormone.19)
Available evidence suggests a majority of population is estrogen dominant. It might be a good idea to embrace a diet high in natural estrogen inhibitors such as Broccoli, berries, buckwheat, Cabbage, Citrus fruits, grapes, onions, melons, squash and green beans.
Helpful Sources
owww.deliciousorganics.com/controversies/plastics.htmur book list
www.environmentalhealthnews.org
http://healthychild.org/marketplace/retailer/
Concluding Remarks
Think of plastics as living entities giving off molecules of life altering chemicals. BPA, Phthalates and other plasticizers are found everywhere including the open seas of the Gulf and the North Atlantic, not to mention the blood of most tested subjects. The tragedy of this scenario is the powerful, life-altering effect they can have on the fetus and infant. Although these toxins are everywhere, Moms can limit direct feeding of plasticizers to their children.
Grab up the teethers and plastic toys and dump them in the trash. Get rid of the plastic sippy cups and kitchen ware. Don’t wrap infants in plastic; use cotton diapers, natural fiber garments and don’t let them suck and teethe on plastic furniture and objects. Avoid inoculations whenever possible for numerous reasons and because they are known to contain a wide variety of phthalates. Check this out for yourself.
The subject of dental plastics etc is an enormous subject and will be discussed in an upcoming blog.
`Soylent Green is people” Charlton Heston screamed, running through the streets of a futuristic NYC in the prophetic 1972 film of the same name. He had just discovered the food being fed a starving metropolis was made out of rendered people.1) Guess what! Commercial pet food and much livestock feed is made of a contemporary Soylent Green: dog eating dog, cat eating cat and cow eating cow. In ‘97 the FDA banned rendered protein a la Soylent Green yet commercial production continues as never before. And now the FDA/ CVM and AAFCO has produced a 2007 ruling that designates commercial pet food the dumping ground for animal-waste including everything from slaughterhouse leavings to euthanized pets from animal shelters etc. The implications are staggering as incidents of salmonella, e-coli poisoning and emerging diseases are on the rise.
“There is no requirement that pet foods have pre-market approval by FDA.” 2) The FDA website states the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) “establishes standards applicable for all animal feeds” which includes proper identification of the product and listing of ingredients. It goes on to say “If scientific data are presented that show a health risk to animals of an ingredient or additive, CVM can act to prohibit or modify its use in pet food.” 3) Their statements suggest a serious oversight of the pet food industry. Not so! Their existence is meaningless. They stand for nothing.
Rendering plants are the heart of commercial pet food production. These plants produce raw protein by cooking animals such as discarded carcasses, downed livestock, waste from poultry plants and euthanized pets for several days at high temperatures and then puffing the brew into various kibbles that are sprayed with grease from nasty tallow-fats to make them palatable.4) These toxic kibbles are found at chain-stores where the greasy odor wafts across aisles surrounding the pet food section.
According to an employee of Sacramento Rendering: “Thousands of pounds of cats and dogs are picked up and brought here everyday” for processing into meal. Imagine the amount of sodium-pentobarbital and other pharmaceuticals passed on to Fluffy. It would be interesting to learn if FDA/CVM veterinarians receive incentives from meal and by-products industries. We already know vet clinics receive a stipend for all the Science Diet sold from their offices. 5) Why else would most vets recommend Science Diet, ranked lower than Whiskas and Purina?
AAFCO has no authority to enforce any standards and they have no standards to enforce.This is apparent by their support of the ‘07 FDA ruling that says “specific risk materials” (SRM) in the guise of “by-products” can only be used in pet food. This garbage should not be used anywhere! It’s considered imperative to keep SRM out of human food via livestock feed - yet rendering plants are known to throw all raw meat into the same rendering ‘pots’ used for livestock feed - along with drugs, pesticides, salmonella, flea collars, bad meat in plastic wrappers and manures of every description including human sewage sludge. It is a totally unregulated industry from which hundreds of tons of this “Soylent Green” are shipped out to feed pets and livestock. Humans that eat commercial-meat are getting their dose of soylent via livestock feed.When “by-product”, “digest” or “meal” appears in the ingredients list of commercial pet food it must be avoided.
Bad Chemicals:
Most of us think of veterinarians as Fluffy’s protectors. Yet policy makers at the FDA/CVM allow possible disease causing chemicals into pet food. BHA is used to preserve oil and fats. At high levels it is known to cause cancer in mice, hamsters etc. Animal Protection Institute associates it with stomach and urinary tract cancer. 6)
Hill’s Science Diet is the biggest user of the very worse preservative Ethoxyquin (EQ). Veterinarians continue to line their office walls with the foul stuff and recommend it to clients for various cat and dog diseases. EQ is a rubber stabilizer-insecticide similar to Agent Orange and travels from Monsanto labeled with skull & crossbones and the word “poison.” EQ is not listed in ingredients when included in fish meal. Much is found on the internet regarding these preservatives. Read labels.
Propylene Glycol is a petroleum product used as antifreeze, brake fluid, de-icing fluids etc. It is approved by the FDA as a food additive and widely used in pet foods to adjust viscosity and keep materials in solution by absorbing water which it continues to do after ingestion. It decreases the moisture content in the intestines, a bad idea particularly in dry, desert environments. It is banned from cat food but is still used in canned dog food. Poor woofers! Material Safety Data Sheets claim it may cause changes in EEG and central nervous system depression.7)
Human Grade Food:
There are many alternatives to toxic commercial cat and dog food brands and I’m hopeful it will have a positive effect on your cat or dog’s behavior. I make homemade dog food using Dr. Harvey’s Canine Health dehydrated mix as the base to which is added organic chicken thighs (or other organic meat), Probiotics, Omega 3 Oil and minerals. An abundance of wonderful dry, human grade mixes for dogs and cats is available and several include a dried meat source. Some of the best dog food can be found at the following companies on the internet: Honest Kitchen, Ziwi Peak(with meat), Europa(no grains), Peak Waggers Gourmet and Sojo’s European Style. Dr. Harvey’s is one of the most economical.
There’s a wide range of prepared human grade food but one must do the research because AAFCO, in control of wording on packaging, doesn’t allow human grade to appear on the outside of the package, but it does appear in the content of company websites. Be sure to check labels even if your pet food states “organic dog food” or “natural beef”. When it is not mentioned, it might not be human grade. I suggest some of the following: California Natural (economical), Canidae, Wellness, Newman’s Own, Timberwolf and Eagle Pack and there are many others.
Feeding the same food month after month is not advised. Humans need variety and so do our pets, for both emotional and physiological reasons. And it’s good to remember cats are very different from dogs. They never really loose their wild-needs, a sensitivity that should be honored for their good health. Big jungle hunters thrive on raw food and must have taurine.
Don’t confuse “human grade” with labels such as “premium”, “super premium”, “ultra premium”, “natural”, or “gourmet”. The FDA makes it clear on p4 of “Pet Food Labels” at their website that these labels mean nothing.: “They are not required to contain any different or higher quality ingredients.” 8) It is plain to see human grade is the only way to avoid meal, by-products, animal digest, ethoxyquin, BHA and BHT. Family members deserve better than Soylent Green.
General Care:
Disease and chronic illness are on the rise in the pet population. A general consensus among published alternative veterinarians blames deteriorating health on the breakdown of the immune system caused by gross overuse of vaccines, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and scanky commercial pet food. 9)
Become involved in the wellness process, do the research and rely more on alternative DVMs. You’ll learn that alternative Docs advise against more than one set of vaccinations and you never give them at the same time as a spay or neuter. It’s too much of a shock to the system. Unfortunately the average veterinarian usually recommends giving the whamaroo, everything at once treatment because it is much more convenient for them.10)
When an anti-inflammatory drug such as Prednisone is advised check out Vaxamine, a natural substance made from frankincense. You can find it for pets (including cats) and for humans. The only difference between the two is the flavoring in the pet products. It has created a miracle for my pets and everyone else I’ve recommended it to. If you are uncertain and have questions, speak to the veterinarian, Dave Biehl at doc@heartlandvetsupply and he will share his personal experiences with Vaxamine. 11)
Keep an eye on your pet’s poop; make it a daily routine. It’s the best way to determine Snoopie’s general health.
