From the Protecting Human Health section of The David Suzuki Foundation website, http://www.davidsuzuki.org/health/toxics/default.asp, an article about flame retardants. Although I've only excerpted the article below, on the site you can find resources for the article, links and press releases.
TOXIC FLAME RETARDENTS
A Burning Issue
If you're like most people, you’ve probably never heard of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). But along with virtually every Canadian, you are surrounded by these chemicals.
These chemicals are used as flame retardants in a wide-range of consumer products, including TVs, computers, electronics, motor vehicles, carpets, and furniture.
Health effects of PBDE exposure include damage to the neurological, reproductive, immune, and hormonal systems. The most widely used chemical in this group, decaBDE, is also a suspected carcinogen. These toxic chemicals are released into the environment during manufacturing, and end up in household dust as products containing them degrade.
The discovery that PBDEs are rapidly accumulating in humans and the environment has raised serious concerns. Sweden has banned all these chemicals for health and environmental reasons. Many U.S. states are following suit. Legislation to ban decaBDE has been introduced in Washington, California, Maine, and Illinois.
There are currently no restrictions on the manufacture, import, sale, or use of PBDEs in Canada, despite the fact that Canadian women and killer whales have some of the world’s highest concentrations of PBDEs. PBDEs found in marine mammals increased by 7,000 per cent from 1984-2003 and continue to double every 3.5 to four years.
Many firefighters' organizations in the United States strongly support motions to ban PBDEs, because of the occupational health hazards they present to these frontline workers. Firefighters are keenly aware of the dangers of highly flammable consumer products, but they also know many alternatives to PBDEs are available today.
The good news is that the federal government is currently developing a PBDE risk management strategy. The bad news is that proposed regulations announced last December would exempt the most commonly used PBDE: decaBDE.
The David Suzuki Foundation has formally objected to the proposed regulations and advocates a ban on all PBDEs.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Healthy Home; Detoxing Your House
From the Spring & Summer 2007, greenliving magazine, pages 73, 75, here is an article about how to improve the air quality in your home:
HOME, SAFE HOME
Detoxing Your Digs
by Jennifer O'Connor
Sure, you eat organic and do Bikram yoga, but how healthy is your home? Things like cooking smoke, cleaning chemicals and common mould all hamper indoor air quality. Fortunately, there are some simple things you can do to breathe more easily.
To find out what I could do to improve my home environment, I decided to go to a specialist. When Art Robinson, president of Sick Building Solutions, and field manager Al McLaren arrived, the first thing they did was check the air's carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide levels, as well as the temperature and humidity. The carbon dioxide level in my living room came in at 800 parts per million (500 to 800 is acceptable), which I was told is normal for three people breathing in an enclosed, relatively small space. Radiators heat my apartment, so there's no air exchange, but it's an old house, so there are cracks that let fresh air in. Symptoms of too much carbon dioxide include headaches and sleepiness, so it's important to keep air flowing. Open your windows or balance the need for fresh air with energy efficiency by using a heat-recovery ventilator, which draws new air indoors and pushes the old outside ($1,000 and up, plus installation).
Robinson and McLaren didn't find carbon monoxide (but then, I don't have oil or gas powered appliance's a working fireplace or any of the other monoxide-makers. However, this colourless, odourless gas can cause numerous ailments, including nausea, headaches and dizziness, so Robinson suggests getting a carbon-monoxide detector, which costs $35 to $45 and lasts about five years. During an inspection, Robinson will also interview clients to find out if they have specific complaints and concerns - he is able to test for more than 1,000 different substances.
Of course, it didn't require an expert to find the mould in my loo. "We get calls for this," he said, recommending I leave the window open after a shower to let the mould-fostering moisture exit the building. Other household threats are radon and formaldehyde. Radon is naturally occurring radioactive gas found underground that can get into the home through cracks in concrete, dirt floors and under the furnace base and may increase your risk of lung cancer. Health Canada suggests sealing basement walls and floors with a polyurethane caulking compound. Formaldehyde is released by many items in the home such as carpet cleaners, particleboard and dishwashing liquids. Exposure to too much of it can cause everything from sore throats and burning eyes to, in extreme cases, cancer of the nasal cavity.
If sealing your basement or replacing your cabinets isn't high on your to-do list, never fear. Here are some tips for getting your quick detox fix.
1. Take off your shoes when you come in. There can be substances in soil you don't want to track through the house.
2. Ditch household hazardous waste such as old paint and batteries (contact your municipality for a safe disposal site near you).
3. Use eco-friendly cleaners such as baking soda and vinegar, and replace abrasive cleansers with steel wool.
4. Keep your house smoke-free. That includes smoke not just from cigarettes but from anything you burn indoors, such as candles.
5. Fight the good fight against dust, which can absorb and distribute toxic particles through the air. That means limiting rungs and curtains; they attract dust and are difficult to clean.
6. Take The Lung Association's virtual tour of air-quality hot-spots in your home at www.yourhealthhome.ca.
7. Consider consulting a pro. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), 1-800-668-2642, or your provincial lung association, 1-888-566-5864, can provide referrals. Or check the Yellow Pages under "indoor air consultant" or "building consultant." Ensure whoever you hire CMHC trained and expect to pay anywhere from $250 to $700.
HOME, SAFE HOME
Detoxing Your Digs
by Jennifer O'Connor
Sure, you eat organic and do Bikram yoga, but how healthy is your home? Things like cooking smoke, cleaning chemicals and common mould all hamper indoor air quality. Fortunately, there are some simple things you can do to breathe more easily.
To find out what I could do to improve my home environment, I decided to go to a specialist. When Art Robinson, president of Sick Building Solutions, and field manager Al McLaren arrived, the first thing they did was check the air's carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide levels, as well as the temperature and humidity. The carbon dioxide level in my living room came in at 800 parts per million (500 to 800 is acceptable), which I was told is normal for three people breathing in an enclosed, relatively small space. Radiators heat my apartment, so there's no air exchange, but it's an old house, so there are cracks that let fresh air in. Symptoms of too much carbon dioxide include headaches and sleepiness, so it's important to keep air flowing. Open your windows or balance the need for fresh air with energy efficiency by using a heat-recovery ventilator, which draws new air indoors and pushes the old outside ($1,000 and up, plus installation).
Robinson and McLaren didn't find carbon monoxide (but then, I don't have oil or gas powered appliance's a working fireplace or any of the other monoxide-makers. However, this colourless, odourless gas can cause numerous ailments, including nausea, headaches and dizziness, so Robinson suggests getting a carbon-monoxide detector, which costs $35 to $45 and lasts about five years. During an inspection, Robinson will also interview clients to find out if they have specific complaints and concerns - he is able to test for more than 1,000 different substances.
Of course, it didn't require an expert to find the mould in my loo. "We get calls for this," he said, recommending I leave the window open after a shower to let the mould-fostering moisture exit the building. Other household threats are radon and formaldehyde. Radon is naturally occurring radioactive gas found underground that can get into the home through cracks in concrete, dirt floors and under the furnace base and may increase your risk of lung cancer. Health Canada suggests sealing basement walls and floors with a polyurethane caulking compound. Formaldehyde is released by many items in the home such as carpet cleaners, particleboard and dishwashing liquids. Exposure to too much of it can cause everything from sore throats and burning eyes to, in extreme cases, cancer of the nasal cavity.
If sealing your basement or replacing your cabinets isn't high on your to-do list, never fear. Here are some tips for getting your quick detox fix.
1. Take off your shoes when you come in. There can be substances in soil you don't want to track through the house.
2. Ditch household hazardous waste such as old paint and batteries (contact your municipality for a safe disposal site near you).
3. Use eco-friendly cleaners such as baking soda and vinegar, and replace abrasive cleansers with steel wool.
4. Keep your house smoke-free. That includes smoke not just from cigarettes but from anything you burn indoors, such as candles.
5. Fight the good fight against dust, which can absorb and distribute toxic particles through the air. That means limiting rungs and curtains; they attract dust and are difficult to clean.
6. Take The Lung Association's virtual tour of air-quality hot-spots in your home at www.yourhealthhome.ca.
7. Consider consulting a pro. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), 1-800-668-2642, or your provincial lung association, 1-888-566-5864, can provide referrals. Or check the Yellow Pages under "indoor air consultant" or "building consultant." Ensure whoever you hire CMHC trained and expect to pay anywhere from $250 to $700.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Chemicals on Food Wrappers
From the Autumn 2007 issue of the University of Toronto Magazine, page 10, an article about the chmicals applied to food wrappers:
A BAD WRAP?
A study by two University of Toronto chemists has shown that potentially harmful chemicals commonly applied to food wrappers can make their way into the bloodstream.
Earlier research has found that perfluorinated chemicals can migrate from wrappers into food. The new study, by environmental chemists, Scott abury and Jessica D'eon, establishes that the wrappers are a potential source of these chemicals in human blood.
Professor Mabury, chair of the department of chemistry, and D'eon, a doctoral student, fed the chmicals to rats, whose blood was monitored daily. The chemicals appeared in the rodents' bloodstream within four hours, which suggests a similar process could occur in humans.
Researchers have not yet determined the impact of the chmicals on human health, but Mabury says the findings suggest more research is warranted. "I think our results do indicate that a broader look is necessary," he says, "especially when it comes to the potential for toxicity."
"I think [regulators] have made three assumptions," says Mabury. "That the chemicals wouldn't move off paper into food, they wouldn't become available to the body and the body wouldn't process them. They were wrong on all three counts." -Sarah Treeleaven
A BAD WRAP?
A study by two University of Toronto chemists has shown that potentially harmful chemicals commonly applied to food wrappers can make their way into the bloodstream.
Earlier research has found that perfluorinated chemicals can migrate from wrappers into food. The new study, by environmental chemists, Scott abury and Jessica D'eon, establishes that the wrappers are a potential source of these chemicals in human blood.
Professor Mabury, chair of the department of chemistry, and D'eon, a doctoral student, fed the chmicals to rats, whose blood was monitored daily. The chemicals appeared in the rodents' bloodstream within four hours, which suggests a similar process could occur in humans.
Researchers have not yet determined the impact of the chmicals on human health, but Mabury says the findings suggest more research is warranted. "I think our results do indicate that a broader look is necessary," he says, "especially when it comes to the potential for toxicity."
"I think [regulators] have made three assumptions," says Mabury. "That the chemicals wouldn't move off paper into food, they wouldn't become available to the body and the body wouldn't process them. They were wrong on all three counts." -Sarah Treeleaven
How You Can Stop Pesticide Poisonings
From a David Suzuki foundation newsletter,2007:
7 Ways to Stop Pesticide Poisonings
1. Use non-toxic alternatives instead of chemical pesticides.
2. Store pesticides in locked cabinets that are inaccessible to children.
3. Keep pesticides in their original containers to prevent misidentification.
4. Avoid using pesticides when children are nearby.
5. Find out from your local poison-control centre how to safely dispose of pesticides.
6. Vote for politicians who support tighter restrictions on pesticides in Canada.
7. Keep the number for your regional poison information centre near the phone.
7 Ways to Stop Pesticide Poisonings
1. Use non-toxic alternatives instead of chemical pesticides.
2. Store pesticides in locked cabinets that are inaccessible to children.
3. Keep pesticides in their original containers to prevent misidentification.
4. Avoid using pesticides when children are nearby.
5. Find out from your local poison-control centre how to safely dispose of pesticides.
6. Vote for politicians who support tighter restrictions on pesticides in Canada.
7. Keep the number for your regional poison information centre near the phone.
Safety Issues Regarding Pesticides
From a 2007 newsletter by the David Suzuki Foundation, an article about the safety issues regarding pesticides:
New report says children under six most at risk
PESTICIDE POISONING
By Dominic Ali
Those herbicides and insecticides in our tool sheds and garages seem harmless enough, even after we spray them in the summer to kill bugs and weeds. But these chemicals are actually sinister villains.
A new report by the David Suzuki Foundation, "Northern Exposure: Acute Pesticide Poisonings in Canada", reveals the surprisingly high numbers of pesticide poisonings in Canada, especially among children under age six.
Authored by Canadian environmental policy expert David Boyd, the report garnered national headlines when it was released. It is the sixth report in a series showing how environmental policies should be strengthened to protect the health of all Canadians.
In an earlier report, "The Food We East," Boyd found that approximately 1,000 commercial pesticides products for sale in Canada can't be sold in other countries because of health and environmental concerns. "To make matters worse," Boyd writes in "Northern Exposure," "negotiations are underway to further weaken pesticide residue limits in order to harmonize Canadian standards with American standards."
Mr. Boyd also found that although children under age six represent only 6.4 per cent of the total Canadian population, they experience as much as 64.5 per cent of acute pesticide poisonings. "Thousands of Canada's most vulnerable citizens, our children, are being needlessly poisoned. If that's not a wake-up call about the dangers of pesticides, I don't know what is," Mr. Boyd says.
Anti-pesticide bylaws have been passed in more than 125 municipalities across Canada because of the health risks involved. But, as Mr. Boyd, points out, more could be done to protect Canadians from unintentional pesticide poisoning.
Aside from the health costs of pesticide poisonings, there are also economic costs as well. In 1995, Health Canada estimated that four per cent of reported poisonings of Canadian children each year were due to accidental pesticide exposure. "Northern Exposure" estimates that these acute pesticide poisonings cost roughly $16 million each year.
So what can the government do to prevent future pesticide poisonings? Quite a lot, actually. For starters, different levels of government could enact legislation requiring all products in Canada to be sold in child-resistant containers, ban pesticides for cosmetic purposes, and increase funding to Canada's poison-control centres.
This report was funded by the Lefebvre Charitable Foundation and can be downloaded from www.davidsuzuki.org/publications.
New report says children under six most at risk
PESTICIDE POISONING
By Dominic Ali
Those herbicides and insecticides in our tool sheds and garages seem harmless enough, even after we spray them in the summer to kill bugs and weeds. But these chemicals are actually sinister villains.
A new report by the David Suzuki Foundation, "Northern Exposure: Acute Pesticide Poisonings in Canada", reveals the surprisingly high numbers of pesticide poisonings in Canada, especially among children under age six.
Authored by Canadian environmental policy expert David Boyd, the report garnered national headlines when it was released. It is the sixth report in a series showing how environmental policies should be strengthened to protect the health of all Canadians.
In an earlier report, "The Food We East," Boyd found that approximately 1,000 commercial pesticides products for sale in Canada can't be sold in other countries because of health and environmental concerns. "To make matters worse," Boyd writes in "Northern Exposure," "negotiations are underway to further weaken pesticide residue limits in order to harmonize Canadian standards with American standards."
Mr. Boyd also found that although children under age six represent only 6.4 per cent of the total Canadian population, they experience as much as 64.5 per cent of acute pesticide poisonings. "Thousands of Canada's most vulnerable citizens, our children, are being needlessly poisoned. If that's not a wake-up call about the dangers of pesticides, I don't know what is," Mr. Boyd says.
Anti-pesticide bylaws have been passed in more than 125 municipalities across Canada because of the health risks involved. But, as Mr. Boyd, points out, more could be done to protect Canadians from unintentional pesticide poisoning.
Aside from the health costs of pesticide poisonings, there are also economic costs as well. In 1995, Health Canada estimated that four per cent of reported poisonings of Canadian children each year were due to accidental pesticide exposure. "Northern Exposure" estimates that these acute pesticide poisonings cost roughly $16 million each year.
So what can the government do to prevent future pesticide poisonings? Quite a lot, actually. For starters, different levels of government could enact legislation requiring all products in Canada to be sold in child-resistant containers, ban pesticides for cosmetic purposes, and increase funding to Canada's poison-control centres.
This report was funded by the Lefebvre Charitable Foundation and can be downloaded from www.davidsuzuki.org/publications.
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