Environmental Toxins: November 2006 Archives

Ingredients in Makeup Dangerous?

Many of the chemicals found in health and beauty products can, in large quantities, cause cancer, birth defects, or disrupt hormone functioning. Ingredients called dibutyl phthalates, a chemical used in the softening of plastics and found in nail polish and other household items, are known teratogens. Women for the most part thought that someone was minding the store in terms of the ingredients in cosmetics,” said Janet Nudelman, of the non-profit Breast Cancer Fund in San Francisco. “The cosmetics industry in the United States regulates itself,” Nudelman said. “That’s not the case in other countries.”

You Just Might Be Adding More Than Polish to your Nails or Blush to Your Cheeks

Only if a cosmetic product causes health problems once it's been on the market, will the FDA ask for safety information from the maker to decide if the product is safe. People are exposed to the chemicals in makeup when they are absorbed by the skin, inhaled as fumes or ingested. Environmentalists also are concerned that ingredients will end up in the food chain as the chemicals are released into the environment as waste.

Posted by Patricia Bowling at 03:50 PM | Permalink

Industrial Toxins Responsible for Brain Damage?

Scientists are warning that millions of children around the world may have suffered brain damage as a result of industrial pollution. Many environmental toxins can act as teratogens and cause brain damage. Conditions believed to be triggered by environmental toxins are autism, attention deficit disorder, mental retardation, and cerebral palsy.

Have toxins damaged millions of children?

Only a few industrial chemicals that damage the developing brain have been identified thus far and even fewer actually banned. 201 chemicals that are known the affect the adult brain still are in use, while more than 1,000 chemicals that are known to be neurotoxic to animals and consequently are likely dangerous to humans are still being used. Many of these chemicals are present in everyday goods, pesticides, and in the atmosphere. "Only a few substances, such as lead and mercury, are controlled with the purpose of protecting children. The 200 other chemicals that are known to be toxic to the human brain are not regulated to prevent adverse effects on the foetus or a small child," said Dr. Phillipe Grandjean, of the Department of Environmental Medicine at the University of Southern Denmark.

Posted by Patricia Bowling at 03:20 PM | Permalink

Portland Air High in Benzene

The air in parts of Portland, Oregon has been found to contain benzene in levels far above what is considered safe for long term exposure. The benzene causing the high levels comes from vehicular pollution; the gas Washington and Oregon residents put into their cars has twice as much benzene as the national average and three times as much as California gasoline.

The big dose of benzene in the air we breathe

There is little that Northwesterners can do to get cleaner gas; states can't override federal Environmental Protection Agency rules on gasoline ingredients. Benzene is a known cause of leukemia and other blood ailments. Chemical and oil industries have long fought against tightening benzene standards because it will be more costly. The EPA currently is seeing increasing lawsuits related to the matter and therefor is under pressure to consider new national limits on benzene in gasoline.

Posted by Patricia Bowling at 10:27 AM | Permalink

New Air Systems Don't Clear Smoke

A recent study shows that ventilation systems used to clear cigarette smoke from bars and restaurants don't elimate soot and carcinogens and can even make smoke levels higher in nonsmoking sections that in smoking areas. Ventilation systems studies are few; this study looked at three restaurants and comes as Arizona, Nevada, and Ohio consider bans on smoking in public places.

Study: New air systems don't clear smoke

Two of the restaurants looked at in the study had claimed that their ventilation systems would comply with the city's smoke-free restaurant law. James Repace, a secondhand smoke expert and lead researcher in the study, said that evidence suggested that the ventilation systems were not working properly. "They've been heavily promoted by the tobacco industry" and the casino industry as a way to accommodate both smokers and nonsmokers, Repace said. "I don't think it is possible for somebody to come up with a system that works," he said. "You'd need tornado-like ventilation."

Posted by Patricia Bowling at 10:17 PM | Permalink

Smoking Hookah is Trendy, Unhealthy

The use of hookah has begun to reemerge in younger Americans. The colorful Middle Eastern water pipe shows up in restaurants, bars, clubs, and lounges throughout the country, especially where anti-smoking laws are not very strict. Health experts are alarmed by the re-association of tobacco with cool. Scott Graber, sales manager for Hookah & Shisha Central, says that "a new hookah lounge opens up every day."

New generation takes up an old habit

Hicham Elmadi, a Georgia hookah bar sommelier, blends tobaccos to capture the customer's mood and personally lights each portion of tobacco with a drag on the hose. He places the tobacco in a clay bowl at the top of the hookah, where the smoke filters through a piece of charcoal and travels down the shaft of the hookah through the water in the bowl, which bubbles. The smoke is cooled by the water and then travels back up and out the hose. Though the tobacco is flavored, thus giving a false sense of security to users, it still is tobacco. June Deen of the American Lung Association of Georgia says that "We're concerned about the false impression that this is a safer form of smoking. In fact, people who engage in smoking hookahs spend a longer time smoking than someone who would smoke a cigarette, yet it has the same toxins associated with other nicotine use."

Posted by Patricia Bowling at 05:33 PM | Permalink

November 30, 2006

Ingredients in Makeup Dangerous?

November 29, 2006

Industrial Toxins Responsible for Brain Damage?

November 28, 2006

Portland Air High in Benzene

November 27, 2006

New Air Systems Don't Clear Smoke

November 08, 2006

Smoking Hookah is Trendy, Unhealthy