The 10 most dangerous toxins in your house, 1999

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I also recommend a book and web site titled,
"Our Stolen Future" www.ourstolenfuture.org/

The 10 most dangerous
toxins in your house


Thursday, January 14, 1999.
The Los Angeles Times Syndicate,
By Claude Morgan.

Claude Morgan is a freelance writer
based in Maine who contributes to
E, the Environmental Magazine.)
This is posted for educational and
research purposes. Copyright laws
still apply. Please note the
"fair use statement.

Household toxins? Look no further than
your kitchen cabinets.

It's official: Staying home is hazardous to
your health. Toxins found in the home
injured 789,000 Americans between 1992
and 1995, and new research suggests
that this figure is underestimated.

"Toxins in U.S. homes now account for
90 percent of all reported poisonings
each year," says Ross Ann Soloway,
administrator of the American Association
of Poison Control Centers. That's an
epidemic of hazardous living by any
standard. And while these figures include
everything from non-fatal aspirin
overdoses to the deadly consumption
of drain cleaners, they fail to include
long-term exposure to toxins like
lead and asbestos.

To address the climbing domestic
injury rates associated with household
toxins, Congress and the Centers for
Disease Control in 1992 created the
Unintentional Injury Center to focus
on the health dangers of consumer
goods and modern home living. Other
federal agencies are following suit.
The EPA now has branches which
deal with home indoor air quality,
lead exposure and ubiquitous
low-level toxicity, and the Department
of Housing and Urban Development
publishes a pollution look-out list
for first-time home buyers.

The short list of toxins under your
roof may surprise you:

Formaldehyde offgasses (evaporates)
from cushions, particleboard and the
adhesives used to manufacture most
inexpensive wood-based products.
Carpets and carpet cushions may also
offgas formaldehyde, causing eye and
upper respiratory irritation. According
to the EPA, formaldehyde may even
cause cancer;

Radon is the second-leading cause of
lung cancer in the United States, warns
the Surgeon General. Radon is a natural
radioactive gas that can seep into homes
through cracks in the basement, the
surrounding foundation and in well water.
It enters the body quietly through the airways.

________________________________________________

Notes:

Cancer studies along electric poer lines did not
consider that the EMF's can attract pockets of radon
and alter the vibration of radon,
In reference; title of article:
Are pylons and radon a lethal cocktail.
By O'Brien-Claire.
New-Scientist. Feb 17, 1996. v149(n2017). p4(1).


Radon also sticks to tobacco leaves. In 1990, the
Surgeon General (Koop) said that the majority of cancers
associated with tobacco were actually caused by radiation.
A Google search, "radiation tobacco" reveals that
radioactive fertilizer has also been used, growing tobacco.

Book title "Preventing Breast Cancer"
By
John William Gofman MD, (from the Manhattan Project)
Quote; "Our estimate is that about three-quarters of the
current annual incidence of breast cancer in the United
States is being caused by earlier ionizing radiation,
primarily from medical sources".
http://www.ratical.org/radiation/CNR/PBC/index.html

End of note from "The Toxic Reverend".
________________________________________________

Lead keeps epidemiologists returning to the drawing board,
says Soloway, "mostly because we know more now about
the adverse effects of low-level exposure." Levels once
thought to be acceptable are now known contributors to
learning disabilities and behavioral problems. Lead is found
in paint in older houses, old plumbing and soil near highways
and busy roads. It causes neurological and kidney damage,
high blood pressure, disrupted blood cell production and
reproductive problems;

Carbon monoxide will kill an estimated 660 Americans this
year. Don't look for exhaust fumes in the attached garage;
the biggest culprit is the unserviced furnace burning propane,
butane or oil; Arsenic is still lacing many household pesticides
and is increasingly used as a wood preservative. Low levels
of inorganic arsenic "may cause lung cancer risk," according
to the CDC. The Department of Health and Human Services
agrees, adding arsenic compounds to the list of unknown
carcinogens;

Vinyl chloride is the source of "new car smell": The plastic
interior of a new car offgasses this known carcinogen. Water
sitting in PVC pipes overnight may also be steeping into a
toxic tea. Very large exposures can lead to "vinyl chloride
disease," which causes severe liver damage and ballooning
of the fingertips;

Hydrofluoric acid "can cause intense pain and damage to
tissues and bone if the recommended gloves happen to have
holes in them," says Soloway. This highly corrosive substance
is the active ingredient in many household rust removers.

But even the most liberal list of known toxins pales next to
the order of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs
comprise hundreds of natural and man-made, carbon-based
agents. They react quickly with other carbon-based compounds,
and evaporate easily, making them ideal solvents. VOCs can be
found in disinfectants and pesticides, too.

Solvents: Benzene and methyl ethyl ketome traverse cell
walls unchecked by normal cell defense. Both are known
carcinogens. Cousins toluene, xylene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane
and trichloroethylene make up the lion's share of the solvent
market;

Disinfectants: Phenols, which include biphenyl, phenolics and
the preservative pentachloraphenol, are found in disinfectants,
antiseptics, perfumes, mouthwashes, glues and air fresheners;
Pesticides: Chlordane, aldrin, dieldrin, though all banned for
nearly two decades, continue to show up airborne in older houses.

Don't be a statistical figure on the CDC's tracking list: Be
aware of what substances, from pesticides to cleaners, pose
threats in your household. Maintain ingredient awareness.
Many poisonings still occur because of product combinations,
like the ammonia-chlorine bleach reaction, which produces the
deadly respiratory irritant chloramine (a problem labeling
practices have not addressed).

Replace toxic agents with non-toxic alternatives. Above all,
educate your household to reduce risk and exposure. For
practical ideas on reducing your family's risk, consult the
following books: "Living Healthy in a Toxic World" by
David Steinman and R. Michael Wisner (Berkeley, 1996);
"Toxins A-Z: A Guide to Everyday Pollution Hazards"
by John Harte, Cheryl Holdren, Richard Schneider and
Christine Shirley (University of California, 1991); "Home
Safe Home: Protecting Yourself and Your Family from
Everyday Toxics and Harmful Household Products" by
Debra L. Dadd (Putnam, 1997).

For more information, contact :
the Unintentional Injury Center,
(770)488-4652.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/duip.htm

USA.gov: The U.S. Government's Official Web Portal
Department of Health and Human Services
"Safer Healthier People"
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA
Tel: 404-639-3311 •
CDC Contact Center: 800-CDC-INFO • 888-232-6348 (TTY)

Contact CDC
Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention,
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
(NCIPC)
4770 Buford Hwy, NE
MS K-65
Atlanta, GA 30341-3717
Call:
1 (800) CDC-INFO (232-4636)
TTY: 1 (888) 232-6348
FAX: (770) 488-4760

E-mail:
cdcinfo@cdc.gov

_______________________________

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  1. i like this page keep up the good work..... thak you for your time to read this

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