Consider the future generations, writes author of Green Chemistry, Elizabeth Gossman, when dealing with synthetic compounds. "There are nontoxic alternatives to the chemicals that make products lightweight, shatterproof, and moldable."Consider the future generations, writes author of Green Chemistry, Elizabeth Gossman,... more
At the link you can read all about them, very informative.
I will highlight Soy protein as it is a very tricky food for Vegetarians, vegans and people that love proteins.
Excerpt:
"Textured vegetable protein (TVP)found in vegetarian "Not Meat" products and Soy protein isolate found in most processed foods.
No matter what side of the fence you sit on the great soy debate, TVP or textured vegetable protein made from de-fatted soy flour is so processed that it hardly qualifies to be called a food anymore.
It is a highly processed and unhealthy food, it is NOT a health food."
It is GMO, it absorbs aluminum and becomes carcinogen from the processing method.
Organic soy only solves part of the problem, it still remains very unhealthy.
I am glad the author mentioned High fructose corn syrup which I despise and is number one public enemy.
Also I want to emphasize the notion that diet food does not mean "diet" means "unhealthier".
Excerpt:
"Many of those are also used in products such as household cleaners, and have been linked to a number of health problems from allergies and skin sensitivity to more serious hormonal disturbances, fertility problems and even cancer.
Parabens, for example, which are designed to preserve the shelf-life of your cosmetics, are one of the most widely used preservatives in the world, and are found in shampoos, hair gels, shaving gels and body lotions. But their use is becoming increasingly controversial - a range of different studies has linked them to serious health problems including breast cancer, as well as fertility issues in men.
Research from the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine suggests that some parabens we had previously presumed to be safe, such as Methylparaben, may mutate and become toxic when exposed to sunlight, causing premature skin ageing and an increased risk of skin cancer.
This woman who uses chemical cleaners has no idea that the chemicals are still watching as she uses the shower...
When did clean become so dirty? You deserve to know what chemicals are in your "cleaners." Support the Household Product Labeling Acts at http://www.peopleagainstdirty.comThis woman who uses chemical cleaners has no idea that the chemicals are still... more
I'm starting to see these little empty non-recyclable, non-biodegradable petroleum-based plastic containers everywhere. I've seen entire trash cans filled with these things at convenience stores after the morning rush... day after day.
In this day and age, you would think that Keurig and the companies associated with this product (Paul Newman's Own, Heifer, Green Mountain Coffee, Celestial Seasonings, Ghirardelli) who claim to be "organic" and/or "sustainable", would be more aware of it's impact to our environment.
You can contact these companies at the blog post above.
"The Keurig single-cup brewing system uses a special packaging for coffee, tea and hot cocoa called K-Cup portion packs or "K-Cups". Each K-Cup is an airtight, mini-brewer that locks out oxygen, light, moisture and humidity while locking in freshness and flavor. "
Even more evidence of Eugenics. Again this type of stuff is discussed in 'Eco-Science' by John Holdren, US Attorney General.Even more evidence of Eugenics. Again this type of stuff is discussed in 'Eco-Science'... more
Chemicals in plastics alter the brains of baby boys making them "more feminine", say US researchers.Chemicals in plastics alter the brains of baby boys making them "more feminine", say... more
This is sad, all crimes against the elderly should carry an extra amount of time on their sentence automatically.This is sad, all crimes against the elderly should carry an extra amount of time on... more
As with oil and coal, our addiction to nitrogen is harming the very ecosystems we need to survive.As with oil and coal, our addiction to nitrogen is harming the very ecosystems we need... more
Seventh Generation, the nation’s leading brand of non-toxic and environmentally-safe household and personal care products, announced today a new partnership with noted advocate Erin Brockovich and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. Together they’re launching the Million Baby Crawl, a grassroots effort to raise awareness about the nation’s badly outdated chemical laws and encourage parents and others everywhere to ask Congress to pass new stronger regulations that will protect the health of all Americans.
Synthetic chemicals are currently regulated by the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a decades-old law that experts say has utterly failed to keep the nation’s environment and its citizens safe from materials that cause cancer and a host of other serious illnesses. Under the outdated TCSA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not have the authority to demand the information it needs to evaluate a chemical’s risk, and neither manufacturers nor the agency are required to prove a chemical’s safety before it can be used. In fact, in the 33 years since the TCSA was enacted, the EPA has required testing on only 200 of the more than 80,000 chemical compounds now in use.
“It’s time for commonsense limits on toxic chemicals in our homes, workplaces, and in the products we use,” said Andy Igrejas of the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition. “We must act together to see that new legislation is passed and families are protected from unsafe products. The Million Baby Crawl will take much more than baby steps toward making these things happen.”
Congress is writing a new proposal to reform TSCA, updating last year’s Kid-Safe Chemicals Act. Scheduled for a Fall 2009 introduction, the policy will address these and many other deficiencies by establishing tough new safety standards for each chemical on the market and requiring manufacturers to prove that their chemicals meet these standards before they can be used in the products people buy. The bill would give the EPA new authority to restrict any substances that fail to pass the test.
-- excerptSeventh Generation, the nation’s leading brand of non-toxic and environmentally-safe... more
"Cheap meat has become a way of life in much of Europe, but the full price is being paid across Latin America as vast soya plantations and their attendant chemicals lead to poisonings and violence. "
Excerpt:
"The film, Killing Fields: the battle to feed factory farms – produced by a coalition of pressure groups including Friends of the Earth, Food and Water Watch and with European coordination by Via Campesina, – documents the experiences of some of those caught up in Paraguay's growing conflict over soy farming and reveals, for the first time, how intensive animal farming across the EU, including the UK, is fuelling the problem.
Campaigners plan to use the film to highlight the 'unsustainable' nature of modern food production, and to spearhead efforts to raise awareness of the largely hidden cost of the factory farming systems supplying much of Europe's cheap meat and dairy produce."
More:
"Industrial scale soy production, particularly for genetically modified (GM) crops – some 90 per cent of Paraguay's soy is now thought to be GM – is dependent on the frequent application of powerful pesticides and other agri-chemicals which have been linked to environmental degradation and a host of negative health impacts on people living near to soy farms.
Crop spraying has polluted important water sources in many rural regions, say campaigners, poisoning both domestic and wild animals, threatening plant life, and resulting in a number of health problems in people, including diarrhoea, vomiting, genetic malformations, headaches, loss of sight and even death.
The film contains harrowing testimony from Petrona Villaboa, who lives in Pirapey, whose son Silvano died after being sprayed with toxic chemicals on a soy plantation.
Statistics compiled by pressure groups suggest that as much as 23 million litres of pesticides and herbicides are sprayed in Paraguay each year, including several that have been classified by the World Health Organisation as being 'extremely hazardous'."
This is so sad and scary.
What is the world doing about this?
The meat consumption in America as in Europe is devastating our Nature at an alarming rate.
The whole world has to rethink the consumption of meat as it causes deforestation, hunger, poverty, desertification, water contamination, water scarcity, species extinction and the subjugation of the indigenous people.
A new discovery by scientists at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, however, has shed new light on one of nature's best mercury fighters: bacteria.
"Mercury pollution is a significant environmental problem," said Jeremy Smith, a UT-ORNL Governor's Chair and lead author of the new study. "That's especially true for organisms at or near the top of the food chain, such as fish, shellfish, and ultimately, humans. But some bacteria seem to know how to break down the worst forms of it. Understanding how they do this is valuable information."
The UT Knoxville and ORNL researchers, working with colleagues from the University of Georgia and University of California, San Francisco, were able to determine the mechanism -- at the most detailed level -- of how the MerB enzyme breaks apart the dangerous methylmercury moleculeA new discovery by scientists at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Oak Ridge... more
U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking waterU.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271... more
Your clothes may have a chemical-dependency problem.
The cotton in your shirt was likely grown with a strong dose of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Many synthetic fabrics such as nylon, acrylic and polyester are petroleum-based.
But it's getting easier for consumers to break the habit, as more clothing made from organic cotton or renewable and reused fabrics hits store shelves and the Internet.
Q: Why should I be concerned about chemicals used to make my clothes?
A: We probably won't experience any ill effects from these chemicals when we wear the clothes. It's the farmers or factory workers and their families, usually thousands of miles away, who face the greatest risk.
About half the pesticides used to grow cotton globally are classified as hazardous, according to the London-based Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF). Children commonly suffer from pesticide poisoning because of the closeness of their homes to cotton fields and the reuse of empty pesticide containers.
The environment pays a price as well. Hazardous cotton pesticides have contaminated rivers in India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Brazil, Australia, Greece, Western Africa and the U.S., says the EJF. Petroleum used in synthetic fabrics contributes to global warming.
Q: Hasn't the cotton industry reduced its use of pesticides?
A: Since 1996, the global environmental impact of insecticides used on cotton has decreased nearly 25 percent due to the development of genetically modified, insect-resistant cotton, says the industry organization Cotton Inc. However, some researchers have concerns about long-term effects of genetically engineered crops.
Three percent of the world's agricultural land and 8 percent of all pesticides are used for cotton production, Cotton Inc. says. Some environmental groups claim the percentage of pesticides used for cotton is much higher.
Please follow link for more Q & A and for additional resources for going 'green' with your wardrobeYour clothes may have a chemical-dependency problem.
The cotton in your shirt was... more
"The $500 billion beauty industry is no stranger to the art of obfuscation. The sole purpose of cosmetics and personal-care products, after all, is to correct, conceal, and camouflage. So does it come as a surprise to anyone that there are a few sticking points certain parties would rather see glossed over?"
One more excerpt:
"Here, Malkan shares five of the biggies that the major beauty purveyors would rather keep under wraps. "
1.Many skincare products contain chemicals toxic to the skin
A mind-boggling array of products contain chemicals that sensitize skin and trigger skin problems such as rashes, redness, acne, and other symptoms of contact dermatitis, says Malkan, who notes that doctors often misdiagnose these problems as eczema and prescribe drugs such as steroids or immunosuppressants. Then, of course, there are the toxic chemicals that are known or suspected causes of long-term health effects such as asthma, infertility, learning disabilities, and cancer—ingredients that companies persist in including despite the fact that they "already know how to make great products without these hazardous chemicals," she says.
More:
"Every October, we're barraged with a cavalcade of pink-ribbon products promoting breast-cancer awareness and research. The biting irony: Many of them may actually be contributing to the same disease they purport to seek a cure for."
An other excerpt:
"The United States has no safety standard for cosmetics. Period. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not require companies to prove that personal-care products are safe for use before they put them on store shelves."
Much more at the link.
Scary!
It's not only our food that isn't labeled rightfully but also the cosmetic products.
Lurking an appalling reality, these go unchecked by the agencies that are supposed to protect our health.
Without mentioning the cruel animal testing which is an other shocking, tragic matter.
Read your labels.Know your products and the companies behind them.
Glossy cancer isn't listed.
Manufacturers of detergents, household cleansers and furniture polish, like Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and others, are facing questions from consumers about the chemicals in their products. While many of the chemicals are present only in small amounts, some have been associated with asthma, birth defects and fertility problems in higher doses. And even if the amounts are low, consumer groups say, what is the effect of using these products over a lifetime?
The questions have left the industry in an awkward position. It wants to be seen as environmentally sensitive and consumer-friendly. But at the same time, companies do not want to give competitors and makers of cheap knock-offs all the details of what goes into Pine-Sol, for instance, or Windex.
So they have been working with consumer groups to devise a plan that could satisfy both sides. Come January, the industry has said it will voluntarily start to disclose much of what is in its cleaning products, which now represent a $14 billion-a-year business. Consumers will be able to call an 800 number, look at a Web site or, in some cases, simply check the product label to find the ingredients.Manufacturers of detergents, household cleansers and furniture polish, like Procter &... more
"Judy Hoy has tracked genital malformations among Montana's roadkill for years. She's been reporting disturbing trends for years, but few are paying her heed."
"Hard as it is to be a voice in the wilderness, Judy Hoy has been sounding an alarm in southwestern Montana for more than 13 years.
For years she's been documenting, through autopsies, photos, articles and scientific papers, changes — mutations, really — she's observed in various ungulate species in the valley. In particular, she's seen malformed genitalia among male white-tailed deer.c
Such observations are not unique. More and more scientists are documenting reproductive changes in male animals ranging from cricket frogs to polar bears. But the response from public health and governmental agencies has been underwhelming."
More:
"Thirty had a scrotum that was misaligned, with one testes positioned in front of the other, one had no scrotum, one had misplaced organs, and nine had ectopic (positioned between the body wall and the skin) testes.
The next year, 25 of 49 males had anomalies in their genitals. Between 1998 and 2000, two-thirds of the bucks examined had abnormalities. Hoy took notes, kept data, shot photos and began calling Montana's FWP.
She tried to interest them, or wildlife scientists in the University of Montana's Wildlife Biology program, in further study. At first, FWP personnel and others seemed interested, but it wasn't long before Hoy felt the door close in her face."
The suspect cause of these malformations is "chlorothalonil, a broad-spectrum fungicide. It had been the go-to fungicide in 1994 when neighboring farmers in Idaho were fighting potato blight."
An other excerpt:
"What had first been detected in toads, fish and birds was showing up in mammals around the world. Gwynne Lyons and Elizabeth Salter-Green of Britain's CHEMTrust — an organization that focuses on the problems of manmade chemicals in the environment — brought much of the research together in a 2008 report, "Effects of Pollutants on the Reproductive Health of Male Vertebrate Wildlife — Males Under Threat."
Lyons used the term "gender bender" chemicals in a press release on the report, noting, "Affected species are widespread and include flounder in United Kingdom estuaries, cod in the North Sea, cane toads in Florida, peregrine falcons in Spain, and turtles from the Great Lakes in North America." Hoy's paper was included in this study."
Last passage is:
"Haas, who has a degree in wildlife biology, is turning over his data on this "malocclusion" to Hoy for a study she is working on.
'I've seen what she's talking about — orientation of testicles on bucks and the changes in the jaws. I can't deny that there's something out there. There's something wrong.' "
Much more at the article.
Toxic chemicals,pesticides,a deadly chemical cocktail is obviously responsible for this.
Chlorothalonil is found in the market under various names Bravo, Echo and Daconil and was also found implicated in the Colony collapse Disorder of our dear bees.
Jennifer Hall-Massey knows not to drink the tap water in her home near Charleston, West Virginia.
In fact, her entire family tries to avoid any contact with the water. Her youngest son has scabs on his arms, legs and chest where the bathwater — polluted with lead, nickel and other heavy metals — caused painful rashes. Many of his brother’s teeth were capped to replace enamel that was eaten away.
Neighbors apply special lotions after showering because their skin burns. Tests show that their tap water contains arsenic, barium, lead, manganese and other chemicals at concentrations federal regulators say could contribute to cancer and damage the kidneys and nervous system.
“How can we get digital cable and Internet in our homes, but not clean water?” said Mrs. Hall-Massey, a senior accountant at one of the state’s largest banks.
She and her husband, Charles, do not live in some remote corner of Appalachia. Charleston, the state capital, is less than 17 miles from her home.
“How is this still happening today?” she asked.
When Mrs. Hall-Massey and 264 neighbors sued nine nearby coal companies, accusing them of putting dangerous waste into local water supplies, their lawyer did not have to look far for evidence. As required by state law, some of the companies had disclosed in reports to regulators that they were pumping into the ground illegal concentrations of chemicals — the same pollutants that flowed from residents’ taps.
But state regulators never fined or punished those companies for breaking those pollution laws.
This pattern is not limited to West Virginia. Almost four decades ago, Congress passed the Clean Water Act to force polluters to disclose the toxins they dump into waterways and to give regulators the power to fine or jail offenders. States have passed pollution statutes of their own. But in recent years, violations of the Clean Water Act have risen steadily across the nation, an extensive review of water pollution records by The New York Times found.
In the last five years alone, chemical factories, manufacturing plants and other workplaces have violated water pollution laws more than half a million times. The violations range from failing to report emissions to dumping toxins at concentrations regulators say might contribute to cancer, birth defects and other illnesses.
However, the vast majority of those polluters have escaped punishment. State officials have repeatedly ignored obvious illegal dumping, and the Environmental Protection Agency, which can prosecute polluters when states fail to act, has often declined to intervene.
Excerpts:
"Ryan Massey, 7, shows his capped teeth. Dentists in the area of Charleston, W.Va., say pollutants in drinking water have damaged residents’ teeth.
Nationwide, polluters have violated federal act more than 500,000 times
Almost four decades ago, Congress passed the Clean Water Act to force polluters to disclose the toxins they dump into waterways and to give regulators the power to fine or jail offenders. States have passed pollution statutes of their own. But in recent years, violations of the Clean Water Act have risen steadily across the nation, an extensive review of water pollution records by The New York Times found."
"The Times obtained hundreds of thousands of water pollution records through Freedom of Information Act requests to every state and the E.P.A., and compiled a national database of water pollution violations that is more comprehensive than those maintained by states or the E.P.A. For an interactive version, which can show violations in any community, visit
This reinforced my belief that our water treatment plants are not removing most of the contamination from tap water.
I previously posted here on Current suggestions to improve the quality of our tap water, by
building reverse osmosis water treatment plants or may be using solutions like the ones used by Penta and Smartwater companies, also rebuilding the water infrastructure.
Obviously more and different steps need to be taken to stop the cause that pollutes our water but this shouldn't refrain us to pressure EPA and the Government to obtain better purification and pipes.
Both the cause and the restructure need to be addressed to solve this problem as they depend on each other.
Despite its incredibly low density, aerogel is one of the most powerful materials on the planet. It can support thousands of times its own weight, block out intense heat, cold and sound – yet it is 1,000 times less dense than glass, nearly as transparent and is composed of %99.8 air. The lowest-density silica-based aerogels are even lighter than air.
Despite its fragility in certain regards and its incredible lack of density, aerogel has amazing thermal, acoustical and electrical insulation properties as illustrated by the images here. A single one-pound block can also support half a ton of weight. NASA continues to find new space-based applications for this incredible material.
An aerogel window one inch thick has the effective insulative capacity of a ten-inch thick glass window system. While it is still expensive and has other limitations, this material – originally developed nearly a century ago but still undergoing experimentation – could prove to be one of the most influential materials of the 21st Century.
Aside from its other capabilities, aerogel also has amazing absorbing abilities. Some speculate it could be the future solution to oil spills. It is also being tested as a possible slow-release drug deliver system for potential human patients.Despite its incredibly low density, aerogel is one of the most powerful materials on... more
