Dioxin · Eco-Chick

Browsing all posts tagged with Dioxin

Cancer or Germs? I'll take the germs.

I must admit that in my house we might be thought to be a little lax when it comes to germs. I am not saying that we don’t wash our hands when we go to the bathroom or before we eat. We play in the yard digging for bugs and worms and get big slobbery kisses from our dog. We are not afraid of dirt, and follow the “five second rule”. That said, we are a very clean family. We focus on washing our hands to ensure that there is no, as my 2 year-old says, “durt” when we touch food.

Now, I have never been big on anti-bacterial soaps and hand sanitizer because I believe that we need to build up our immunity to bacteria and viruses to make us stronger. When the kids were infants I did use these types of cleaning products but now that they are older, these products are basically non-existent in our house.

So when I was asked to test out a new, natural, non-toxic hand sanitizer, I was little disinterested, but began a dialog with the company because I was willing to learn more. One of the key points of this new product was they do not use triclosan, a widely used anti-bacterial agent.

What is triclosan you ask? Well, this is what I learned, and it is not a pleasant story…

Triclosan is antimicrobial and antifungal pesticide that is used in a wide variety of products found in retail stores across the country including soaps, toothpastes, cosmetics, deodorants, personal care products, first aid, kitchenware, computer electronics, toys, plastics, paints and clothing. It is widely known as Microban which is infused into everything from cutting boards, pillows and shoes because it inhibits the growth of microbes, such as bacteria, mold and mildew. Ok, that does not sound that bad…yet.

However, according to Beyond Pesticides, a group dedicated to eliminating toxic and harmful pesticides from our environment, “Studies have increasingly linked one of the most common antimicrobial, triclosan (and its chemical cousin triclocarban), to a range of adverse health and environmental effects, from skin irritation, allergy susceptibility, bacterial and compounded antibiotic resistance, tainted water, and dioxin contamination to destruction of fragile aquatic ecosystems.”

As explained on Wikipedia:

During wastewater treatment, a portion of triclosan is degraded while the remaining adsorbs to sewage sludge or exits the plant in wastewater effluent. In the environment, triclosan may be degraded by microorganisms or react with sunlight forming other compounds which may include chlorophenols and dioxin, or it may adsorb to particles that settle out of the water column and form sediment. Triclosan was found in Greifensee, a small lake in Switzerland, sediment that was over 30 years old, suggesting that triclosan is degraded or removed slowly in sediment.

Whoa….wait a minute, Triclosan degrades into dioxins and chlorophenols, both are known carcinogens. Studies have shown that ultraviolet light converts triclosan to dioxins and it is believed that sunlight could transform triclosan to dioxins naturally. Scientist at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, VA tested 16 products including soaps, lotions and body wash with triclosan and without. They discovered that the triclosan products reacted with chlorinated water to produce chloroform, another carcinogen. So this stuff breaks down into cancer causing agents. I think we’ll keep our hands a bit dirtier and live longer.

In a press release from the Environmental Working Group, the organization states:

Triclosan has been linked to cancer in lab animals, has been targeted for removal from some stores in Europe for its health and environmental risks, and the American Medical Association recommends against its use in the home. It is also linked to liver and inhalation toxicity, and low levels of triclosan may disrupt the thyroid hormone system. Thyroid hormones are essential to proper growth and development, particularly for brain growth in utero and during infancy.
Triclosan breaks down into very toxic chemicals, including a form of dioxin; methyl triclosan, which is acutely toxic to aquatic life; and chloroform, a carcinogen formed when triclosan mixes with tap water that has been treated with chlorine. Scientists surveyed 85 U.S. rivers and streams, and found traces of triclosan in more than half.

Just last month, Beyond Pesticides, along with Food and Water Watch, Greenpeace US, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and dozens of public health and environmental groups filed a comment/letter with the Environmental Protection Agency, urging the the agency to stop all non-medical use of triclosan because of its detrimental effects on our health and the environment. You can read the press release and comments submitted to the EPA by clicking here [PDF] and here [PDF].

As I mentioned, triclosan can be found in many, many everyday products. To see a detailed list of products and brands, check out the list on Beyond Pesticides by clicking here. Some very well known brands are on the list like Colgate Total toothpaste. Toothpaste? How scary is that? You are putting triclosan and therefore carcinogens directly into your mouth and your body! So rinse and spit, and now you have chloroform. The Colgate website touts: “Colgate Total® formula is so revolutionary it’s even patented. One of its active ingredients is triclosan, which is used to help prevent plaque and gingivitis. The formula’s copolymer enables triclosan to continue working in the mouth for 12 hours.” Great! So use this toothpaste and triclosan will stay in your mouth for 12 hours! That’s 12 more hours of exposure to a potential cancer causing agent than I want.
Clean Well, triclosan free hand sanitizers So how do we get rid of those unwanted germs when we really need to? Well let’s go back to that product I dismissed at first. It is called Clean Well made from Ingenium, a natural germ killing product derived from thyme and other essential oils. According to the company, Clean Well kills 99.99% of germs on contact including E. Coli, Salmonella, Staph (MRSA) and Pseudomonas. Clean Well is made from a renewable resource that is sustainably grown with no pesticides, irrigation or fertilizer and there are no toxic byproducts from the manufacturing process. Clean Well comes in a spray, as hand wipes and hand wash foam. So for when you have a house full of sick kids or are cooking with chicken and want to kill germs, you know can avoid triclosan.

To read more about triclosan check out the Environmental Working Group site where they give detailed information on the effects of triclosan on our health and the environment, what products contain triclosan and much, much more.

Those germs don’t look so bad anymore….so are you gonna give up your anti-bacterial soaps, or are you gonna to keep on using triclosan-based products?

To read more of my post, check out my blog, Green Luvin’.

Anti-Bacterial Soaps, Cancer, Dioxin, Triclosan

Score one for PCs

1 Comment

by Katie Kish · 04/10/07

Health Hazards in Electronics:

· Some brominated flame retardants, used in circuit boards and plastic casings, do not break down easily and build up in the environment. Long-term exposure can lead to impaired learning and memory functions. They can also interfere with thyroid and oestrogen hormone systems and exposure in the womb has been linked to behavioural problems.
· As much as 1000 tonnes of a brominated flame retardant called TBBPA was used to manufacture 674 million mobile phones in 2004. This chemical has been linked to neurotoxicity.
· The cathode ray tubes (CTR) in monitors sold worldwide in 2002 contain approximately 10,000 tonnes of lead. Exposure to lead can cause intellectual impairment in children and can damage the nervous, blood and reproductive systems in adults.
· Cadmium, used in rechargeable computer batteries, contacts and switches and in older CRTs, can bioaccumulate in the environment and is highly toxic, primarily affecting the kidneys and bones.
· Mercury, used in lighting devices for flat screen displays can damage the brain and central nervous system, particularly during early development.
· Compounds of hexavalent chromium, used in the production of metal housings, are highly toxic and human carcinogens.
· Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a chlorinated plastic used in some electronics products and for insulation on wires and cables. Chlorinated dioxins and furans are released when PVC is produced or disposed of by incineration (or simply burning). These chemicals are highly persistent in the environment and many are toxic even in very low concentrations.

Greenpeace has an extremely informative section on their website about electronics. Recently they have released their third discussion and break down on where companies stack up in regards to being green. I always knew there was another better reason as to why I haven’t liked using macs…

adults, batteries, BPA, car, children, Dioxin, electronics, estrogen, fur, health, kidney, Lighting, plastic, produce, Recycling, resources, spa, Target, waste

Flushables

5 Comments

by Starre Vartan · 08/10/06

Flushaway

Among the women I know there are three types when it comes to dealing with good ole ‘Aunt Flo’: there’s the pads only crowd, the tampon champions and the diva cup/sponge menstruation alterna-nation. I count myself among the first group, which is also the most wasteful of the bunch. My grandma told me that it wasn’t a good idea to block the flow, and I’m sticking with her advice, but I do feel guilty taking what is totally biodegradable and packaging it up in layers of plastic that then is preserved practically forever in landfills. And no, I’m really not going to wash my own reusable pads. No.

Recently I’ve been using Naturacare pads (they make tampons too), which are dioxin-free and made from all plant materials. They are totally biodegradable. Their tampons are 100% organic cotton and also dioxin-free (and if you’re still using regular tampons, read this article, because you should stop right now! You’re putting chlorine-bleached, unnatural materials inside your body and letting them sit there for hours. If you don’t think your body is absorbing that stuff, then you probably aren’t eating organic either! Many natural health practitioners also say that tampons block the natural flow of energy during menstruation and actually cause cramps.)

So, I’m excited that Flushaways are here because not only are they biodegradable, they are, as the name implies, flushable. Even for septic systems! And yes, they are the ultra-thin kind with wings, which are the best. I’ve tried them out and they are just as good as any of the evil plastic, commercial brands out there.

car, cotton, Dioxin, eating, Energy, health, Lush, Organic, organic cotton, plastic, waste, women

Health Care Without Harm

8 Comments

by Kimberly Jordan Allen · 04/16/06

I remember growing up along Long Island Sound and enjoying its beaches as a child. In the late eighties, when tons of medical waste ended up in the NY rivers and the sound, the beaches became hazardous, or what was perhaps even more disgusting, bio-hazardous. My friends and I heard awful stories of syringes and other medical waste littering the shore. I recently had to undergo a surgical procedure and wondered what was going to happen to the wrappers, tubes, and those hideous little rubber padded socks that all procedure rooms seem to require. Were those awful socks going to end up on some beach next to some poor unsuspecting kid’s sandcastle in Greenwich one day?

Health Care Without Harm is a global coalition of medical practitioners, hospitals, community groups, labor unions, and environmental health affiliates whose constituents include 443 organizations in 52 countries. The purpose of the coalition is to minimize pollution and thereby protect the health of practitioners, their patients and the surrounding environment, a.k.a. the earth.

In 1995 the EPA identified medical waste incinerators as the leading source of dioxin contamination in the environment. This report brought health care workers together to found the organization in 1996. Today, HCWH touts such successes as: eliminating mercury-based equipment completely in the US, promoting safe waste management and helping to close incinerators worldwide, initiating green building programs geared specifically toward hospitals, and helping to improve the food hospitals serve in order to support local agriculture and provide patients with nutritionally viable meals.

The HCWH has come under fire from conservatives who feel the organization is a front for the anti-capitalistic environmental movement that thwarts progress on any level. Perhaps right wingers are just fearing the loss of their extra special golf cart at the club, or their financial panderings from BigBiz. The religious right fear the organization’s manipulation of clergy for their detrimental eco-slander that supposedly does more harm than good by promoting less toxic practices. HCWH stays strong and continues to fight for the removal of PVCs and other dangerous materials and contaminants in medical systems. And then there are religious groups affiliated with the coalition who steer clear of the partisan politics.

Just as the Hippocratic Oath promises to, “first, do no harm,” HCWH is based on the premise that health care providers have a responsibility to eliminate practices that harm people and the environment. Together with our partners around the world, we share a vision of a health care industry that first does no harm, and instead promotes the health of people and the environment. To that end, we are working to implement ecologically sound and healthy alternatives to health care practices that pollute and contribute to disease.

I love good news. To find out what you can do to participate in this movement click here.