Let's Talk Detox

NISKAYUNA, New York (Reuters) - General Electric Co is working to cut the amount of mercury in energy-saving fluorescent lightbulbs which have soared in popularity.

Read more

SCARSDALE, N.Y. — Every weekday at 2:30 p.m., a line of luxury sedans and sport utility vehicles idles outside Scarsdale Middle School in Westchester County. Exhaust fumes pollute the atmosphere, even though posted signs decree this a “No Idling Zone” and students berate their parents for violating it.

Read more

A groundbreaking plan to monitor carbon dioxide emissions at steel plants worldwide has provoked controversy over how transparent the industry needs to be in the fight against climate change.

Read more

ScienceDaily (Oct. 23, 2007) — With China now the destination for 70 percent of the computers, TVs, cell phones, and other electronic waste (e-waste) recycled worldwide each year, a new study has concluded that Chinese recycling methods significantly increase dioxin levels in women and their breast-fed infants.

Read more

I recently brought a story to you entitled "Arsenic Poisoning a Concern on Australian Playgrounds". The article started like this_ THE state is still riddled with playgrounds containing timber play equipment laced with arsenic, three years after the federal regulatory body found its safety could not be assured, particularly for young children.

Such is the concern about copper chrome arsenate-treated timber that the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority banned its use in new playgrounds and picnic areas from March last year, prompting a costly rush by local councils to remove old equipment.

It has always been my experience that there are 2 (or more) sides to EVERY story, and sensationalism sells newspapers. It is my pleasure to bring you the other side of this story, as brought to my attention by Mr. Peter Carruthers.

Read more

In 2005 PREVENTION (owned by MediaVision) wrote and article on the power of using zeolites for in conjunction with healthy lifestyle changes to promote health and wellness. That article in exerpted here with a link to the original full version for download. PLEASE respect PREVENTION's ownership of the content, and provide proper acknowledgement of content represented.

Read more

(AP) McADOO, Pa. - More than 30 years ago, an abandoned mine in Pennsylvania coal country was turned into a dump for toxic waste. Lots of it.

When government officials finally shut down the site in 1979, they found nearly 7,000 storage drums, and dead birds and animals. Many of the drums were badly corroded and leaking dangerous chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency called it the state’s worst environmental hazard, placed it on the Superfund list and began a cleanup.

Read more

Worried parents trying to get the lead out of their children's toy boxes have been taking matters into their own hands and buying home test kits.

The problem, according to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, is test kits commonly available are not reliable. "In a lot of cases, we're seeing these false negatives and false positives, and parents are panicking," said Ed Kang, a spokesman for the commission. Yesterday, the agency advised consumers against relying on consumer test kits.

Read more

Heavy metal toxicity can affect many body systems, and manifest a variety of symptoms. This toxic metal chart lays out the symptoms of heavy metal toxicity, and the heavy metals that cause them. System symptoms include Psychiatric Disturbances, Speech and Language Deficits, Cognitive Impairments, Sensory Abnormalities, Motor Disorders,Physiological Impairment, Brain and Central Nervous System, Peripheral Nervous System, Gastrointestinal Tract, Renal and Hepatic Impairment, Cardiovascular System, Respiratory System, Immune System, Reproductive System and Other Physical Disturbances.

PLEASE scroll down for the chart

Read more

The presence in the environment of large quantities of toxic metals such as mercury , lead, cadmium, zinc or others, poses serious health risks to humans, and this threat puts the scientific community under pressure to develop new methods to detect and eliminate toxic contaminants from wastewaters in efficient and economically viable ways.

Read more

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Michelle Hammond and Jeremiah Holland were intrigued when a friend at the Oakland Tribune asked them and their two young children to take part in a cutting-edge study to measure the industrial chemicals in their bodies.


Tests showed Rowan's blood had high levels of a chemical that can cause thyroid dysfunction in rats.

1 of 3 "In the beginning, I wasn't worried at all; I was fascinated," Hammond, 37, recalled.

But that fascination soon changed to fear, as tests revealed that their children -- Rowan, then 18 months, and Mikaela, then 5 -- had chemical exposure levels up to seven times those of their parents.

"[Rowan's] been on this planet for 18 months, and he's loaded with a chemical I've never heard of," Holland, 37, said. "He had two to three times the level of flame retardants in his body that's been known to cause thyroid dysfunction in lab rats."

Read more

Abstract Natural silicate materials, including zeolite clinoptilolite, have been shown to exhibit diverse biological activities and have been used successfully as a vaccine adjuvant and for the treatment of diarrhea. We report a novel use of finely ground clinoptilolite as a potential adjuvant in anticancer therapy. Clinoptilolite treatment of mice and dogs suffering from a variety of tumor types led
to improvement in the overall health status, prolongation of life-span, and decrease in tumors size. Local application of clinoptilolite to skin cancers of dogs effectively reduced tumor formation and growth. In addition, toxicology studies on mice and rats demonstrated that the treatment does not have negative effects. In vitro tissue culture studies showed that finely ground clinoptilolite inhibits protein kinase B (c-Akt), induces expression of p21WAF1/CIP1 and p27KIP1 tumor suppressor proteins, and blocks cell growth in several cancer cell lines. These data indicate that clinoptilolite treatment might affect cancer growth by attenuating survival signals and inducing tumor suppressor genes in treated cells.

Read more

VAXJO, SWEDEN -- When this quiet city in southern Sweden decided in 1996 to wean itself off fossil fuels, most people doubted the ambitious goal would have any effect beyond the town limits.

Read more

THE state is still riddled with playgrounds containing timber play equipment laced with arsenic, three years after the federal regulatory body found its safety could not be assured, particularly for young children.

Read more

The 5 most common metals discovered in someone who has heavy metal toxicity are listed here.

Read more

For years after being diagnosed with severe lead poisoning by the Mobile County Health Department, LaCourcha Lett's children remained in the Mobile Housing Board's Orange Grove community, living in an apartment where the contaminated paint peeled and flaked from the walls, according to health department documents.

Read more

All advertising for new cars will have to carry cigarette-style “health warnings” about their environmental impact, under a European plan to force manufacturers to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Read more

TO most people, the face of asbestos disease is male and worn with signs of a hard life labouring in construction or on a factory line.

But a new tide of victims - increasingly female and dubbed the "third wave"- has arrived, and its numbers are tipped to rocket.

Read more

Increasing From Other Facilities

The latest Taking Stock report from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) reveals that a continued decline in releases of toxic chemicals to the environment--15 percent for the United States and Canada from 1998 to 2004--is being driven by a group of industrial facilities that are the largest generators of emissions.

Read more

It's not apparent, but the plastic bottles of Noble Juice at Wal- Mart and local supermarkets are made from corn, not petroleum. So is the resin liner inside a Green Mountain Coffee Roasters takeout cup and the plastic iced coffee cups used by Coffee By Design in Portland.

Read more

BEIJING -- In summer, a gray industrial haze coats this city of more than 15 million, descending over the Great Wall, sticking to humid hillsides and obscuring skyscrapers. Soaring temperatures and a lack of wind conspire with gunk-spewing traffic to foul the air.

The pollution is so bad many visitors are wondering how Olympic athletes will be affected and how this city can possibly be ready to host them in less than 10 months.

Read more

How tough do you have to be to survive in Baltimore? Try breathing toxic waste instead of air.

That's what University of Maryland scientists have discovered a tiny microbe doing at the stinky, oily bottom of Charm City's stupendously polluted harbor. Down there, in muck as oozy as black jello, this creature can actually survive on PCBs -- one of the most harmful pollutants in U.S. waters -- and, in the process, break them down into something less dangerous.

Read more

In light of new research, metal bottles are the 'safer,' greener -- and cooler -- way to hydrate.

Louisa Morris, a 29-year-old Vancouver lawyer, recently ditched the Nalgene water bottle she once carried every single day to the University of Calgary law school. In July, she traded up, forking over $30 for a sexy new stainless steel version. The high-polished metal bottle looks sharp. But Morris's decision had nothing to do with style. Two years ago, the Ontario-born family lawyer was diagnosed with cancer after finding a pea-sized lump in her breast.

Read more

It's a great irony of the modern world that attempts to make us safer sometimes make us less so.

Fire causes billions of dollars in damage every year and kills thousands. Plastic items like small electronic gear and building materials are petroleum-based and would be very flammable if not for chemicals added during the manufacturing process known as brominated flame retardants, or BFRs.

But researchers are now finding that these chemicals have entered our food chain and might have a role in the recent deaths of hundreds of seals — and could ultimately be harming people as well.

Read more

Science Daily — Canadians are awash in toxic chemicals -- and it is costing our health care system up to $9.1 billion and 1.5 million hospital days annually, according to a new study led by University of British Columbia Trudeau Scholar David Boyd.

Read more

With the most recent focus on Sarah Beeny's "Is Your MakeUp Killing You" , consumers want to know where to buy toxin and chemical free cosmetics.

Read more

Questionable amounts of lead are found in toys "made in China". Questionable amounts of lead are found in major lipstick brands. Both issues make national headlines. In one case there is a HUGE recall, a media frenzy, and panicked parents everywhere wonder where they will ever find enough American made toys in time for Christmas. In the other case, the FDA questions the validity of the reporting.

Could any of this relate to the dismal U.S. economy?

Read more

Popcorn worker's lung, bronchiolitis obliternas, has been diagnosed in workers at several microwave popcorn and food-flavoring plants. The rare and serious lung disease is usually found in dairy farmers, bird lovers and others who breathe in excessive amounts of mold and bird droppings. Two workers have won multimillion-dollar damages against the manufacturers for permanent lung injuries. Both claim that diacetyl, commonly used in microwave popcorn as artificial butter flavoring, was the culprit.

Read more

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Folic acid, found in leafy vegetables, can cut drastically arsenic levels in the blood of people who have suffered long-term exposure to the poison in groundwater, a new study in Bangladesh has found.

Read more

In a 1991 memo, Dr. Maurice Hilleman, one of the fathers of Merck's vaccination programs, warned his bosses that 6-month-old children administered the shots on schedule would suffer mercury exposures 87 times the government safety standards....

Read more

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Friday it would look into claims from an advocacy group that certain lipsticks contain potentially dangerous levels of lead. Similar claims in the past have not been confirmed, the agency said.

Read more

Letters warning of potential asbestos poisoning have been sent to hundreds of former employees of Elmbridge Court revenue and customs offices.The buildings, which were formerly used as tax and council premises, were closed in 2004 after health and safety issues were deemed too expensive to repair.

Read more

The Food and Drug Administration has been gleefully warning us about the dangers of China-made food and personal care products recently. Why gleefully? Because announcing the discovery of toxic chemicals in products made by other countries (especially a Communist country) allows the FDA to appear as if it's protecting the public without having to tell the truth about the toxic chemicals found in American food and personal care products.

Read more

Top brands L’Oreal, Cover Girl and Christian Dior test positive for lead

Boston – Toys made in China aren’t the only products laced with dangerous heavy metals: lipstick manufactured in the United States and used daily by millions of American women also contains surprisingly high levels of lead, according to new product tests released today by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. The lead tests were conducted by an independent laboratory over the month of September on red lipsticks bought in Boston, Hartford, Conn., San Francisco and Minneapolis. Top findings include:

Read more

Environmental hazards can cause health problems and hurt home values. When in doubt, order a neighborhood environmental report before you buy.

This story originally reported on BusinessWeek.com

Falling home prices may not be the only thing poisoning your neighborhood. Landfills, abandoned manufacturing plants, and leaking underground petroleum tanks sometimes lurk in the backyards of unsuspecting homeowners and home buyers, leading to serious health issues and spoiled real estate markets.

Read more

MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass., Oct. 6 — The big news in this struggling southeastern Massachusetts community is a proposed $1 billion casino complex that many hope will bring financial salvation.

But for a small group of residents, the hope for economic revival is overshadowed by health concerns. They are awaiting a report later this year that could reveal whether the dozens of cases of Lou Gehrig’s disease centered around a downtown industrial area were caused by pollution.

Read more

First of all, let me tell you I am NOT a tree hugger. I am not an environmentalist by any stretch of the imagination. I have never been accused of being a health nut, I'm not a vegan, or a natural health practitioner. I still consume sugar, drink diet sodas and coffee, eat out at fast food restaurants occasionally, and rarely enjoy an ice cold rum and coke with a slice of lemon!

So HOW in heaven's name did I get HERE??

Read more

The report, 'Europe's environment — The fourth assessment', was presented in Belgrade, Serbia, at the opening session of the sixth ministerial conference of the 'Environment for Europe' process held under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

Read more

By now, most of us are keenly aware that emissions resulting from the burning of fossil fuels are causing our planet to heat up, altering our climate and putting the survival of plants, animals and even humans in peril. But what we don’t really know is whether it is still possible to stop those emissions and reverse the problem.

Now, it turns out, a great experiment is about to be performed, at enormous financial cost, providing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for science. Several weeks before the 2008 Summer Olympics, in an effort to make Beijing more palatable to foreign visitors, the government of China will begin shutting down industries that emit vast quantities of soot and carbon into the atmosphere surrounding the city.

Read more

WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Lead would be virtually banned from toys and other goods used by children younger than six, under bills introduced by Democrats in both chambers of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday following a rash of recalls of lead-contaminated products.

Read more

Now you can get rid of heavy metal build up in your body safely and effectively, with Zeolite Powder

Our Zeolite Powder contains Activated Zeolite, that grab heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, mercury, as well as other toxins from the bodies cells, trap them in their cagelike structure and remove them from the body safely.

Read more

Compact fluorescent light bulbs contaminate the environment with 30,000 pounds of mercury each year

A compact fluorescent light is a type of energy-saving bulb that fits into a standard light bulb socket or plugs into a small lighting fixture, and right now, compact fluorescents seem to be gaining in popularity. But did you know they can also be toxic to your home and the environment?

Read more

A story from The Daily News.

Women absorb 5lb of chemicals from cosmetics every year - from cancer-causing compounds in face cream to arsenic in eyeshadow. We tested two beauty junkies to reveal the shocking toll on their bodies...

Charlotte Kohl and her sister Emma are attractive young women. Their looks, they admit, are very important to them, which is why, between them, they use more than 70 different beauty and cosmetic products every day.

Read more

Where do I begin?

I started a journey and this is where it led me! As a registered nurse, I am very aware of the high incidence of certain types of cancer, asthma, and environmental sensitivities, miscarries, fibromyalgia, and a host of other ailments. It seemed to me that there were more people presenting with disease (in all stages) than I remembered from earlier years.

Read more