A "Silent Pandemic" of chemicals impairing brain development announced by Harvard Schl of Pub Health

[AikidoSoul]

Below is a press release in its entirety, from Harvard School of Public Health released last Nov. Notice it didn't make national news because chem/ pharm funds the news to a large degree. Almost every ad you see on national news is a chemical / pharmaceutical ad-- the same industry that's creating this pandemic. This industry profits by first selling its neurotoxic chems, and then by the chronic illnesses and neurodegenerative brain conditions that result.

I posted this press release a few minutes ago in response to another post regarding children's intelligence. Back in November when this came out I did not post it because it did not seem to be "political" --- but have reconsidered, and hope to convince you that it's one of the biggest problems facing our country. Without our health and intelligence -- our country will devolve in multiple ways. These ubiquitous chemicals will continue to increase dramatically due to the huge influence of the chem/ pharm industry on politicians.

This is my area of study and expertise. The word "pandemic" is not too strong a word. The number of neurotoxic chemicals we are exposed to is now so huge, so ubiquitous, that we cannot avoid them. They are impregnated into every conceivable product -- even clothing and bedding -- off-gassing continually into our indoor environments. Many of these chems -- like synthetic pyrethroids -- cannot be washed out of clothing even after 30 washings! (see military funded studies by Carl Schreck. The European Union recently passed a resolution requiring chemicals to be proven safe before marketing. This is not done here in the U.S. -- where chemicals must be proven dangerous AFTER they are widely marketed -- a process that most often takes decades.

When Skinner's new baby was announced -- I kept hoping that he and Mrs. Skinner know how to limit the child's exposures to brain poisons to the degree possible --as they are horribly prevalent in every imaginable thing, and little babies have woefully inadequate detox systems. Even adults are increasingly losing their ability to detox as more and more people's enzyme systems are breaking down from the overload. Over the past fifty plus years our bodies are increasingly unable to handle the new job forced on us whereby we have now become miniature haz waste disposal plants!



http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/press/releases/press11072006.html

A Silent Pandemic: Industrial Chemicals Are Impairing the Brain Development of Children Worldwide

For immediate release: Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Boston, MA – Fetal and early childhood exposures to industrial chemicals in the environment can damage the developing brain and can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs)—autism, attention deficit disorder (ADHD), and mental retardation. Still, there has been insufficient research done to identify the individual chemicals that can cause injury to the developing brains of children.

In a new review study, published online in The Lancet on November 8, 2006, and in an upcoming print issue of The Lancet, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine systematically examined publicly available data on chemical toxicity in order to identify the industrial chemicals that are the most likely to damage the developing brain.

The researchers found that 202 industrial chemicals have the capacity to damage the human brain, and they conclude that chemical pollution may have harmed the brains of millions of children worldwide. The authors conclude further that the toxic effects of industrial chemicals on children have generally been overlooked.

To protect children against industrial chemicals that can injure the developing brain, the researchers urge a precautionary approach for chemical testing and control. Such an approach is beginning to be applied in the European Union. It puts in place strong regulations, which could later be relaxed, if the hazard were less than anticipated, instead of current regulations that require a high level of proof. At present in the U.S., requirements for toxicity testing of chemicals are minimal.

“The human brain is a precious and vulnerable organ. And because optimal brain function depends on the integrity of the organ, even limited damage may have serious consequences,” says Philippe Grandjean , adjunct professor at Harvard School of Public Health and the study’s lead author.

One out of every six children has a developmental disability, usually involving the nervous system. Treating NDDs is difficult and costly to both families and society. In recent decades, a gathering amount of evidence has linked industrial chemicals to NDDs. Lead, for example, was the first chemical identified as having toxic effects to early brain development, though its neurotoxicity to adults had been known for centuries.

A developing brain is much more susceptible to the toxic effects of chemicals than an adult brain. During development, the brain undergoes a highly complex series of processes at different stages. An interference—for example, from toxic substances—that disrupts those processes, can have permanent consequences. That vulnerability lasts from fetal development through infancy and childhood to adolescence. Research has shown that environmental toxicants, such as lead or mercury, at low levels of exposure can have subclinical effects—not clinically visible, but still important adverse effects, such as decreases in intelligence or changes in behavior.

Grandjean and co-author Philip J. Landrigan, Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, compiled a list of 202 environmental chemicals known to be toxic to the human brain using the Hazardous Substances Data Bank of the National Library of Medicine and other data sources. (The authors note that the list should not be regarded as comprehensive; for example, the number of chemicals that can cause neurotoxicity in laboratory animal tests exceeds 1,000.)

The authors then examined the published literature on the only five substances on the list—lead, methylmercury, arsenic, PCBs and toluene—that had sufficient documentation of toxicity to the developing human brain in order to analyze how that toxicity had been first recognized and how it led to control of exposure. They found a similar pattern in how the risks of each substance were documented: first, a recognition of adult toxicity and episodes of poisoning among children, followed by a growing body of epidemiological evidence that exposure to lower levels of the substances caused neurobehavioral deficits in children.

“Even if substantial documentation on their toxicity is available, most chemicals are not regulated to protect the developing brain,” says Grandjean. “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 fetus or a small child.”

Grandjean and Landrigan conclude that industrial chemicals are responsible for what they call a silent pandemic that has caused impaired brain development in millions of children worldwide. It is silent because the subclinical effects of individual toxic chemicals are not apparent in available health statistics. To point out the subclinical risk to large populations, the authors note that virtually all children born in industrialized countries between 1960 and 1980 were exposed to lead from petrol, which may have reduced IQ scores above 130 (considered superior intelligence) by more than half and increased the number of scores less than 70. Today, it’s estimated that the economic costs of lead poisoning in U.S. children are $43 billion annually; for methylmercury toxicity, $8.7 billion each year.

“Other harmful consequences from lead exposure include shortened attention spans, slowed motor coordination and heightened aggressiveness, which can lead to problems in school and diminished economic productivity as an adult. And the consequences of childhood neurotoxicant exposure later in life may include increased risk of Parkinson’s disease and other neurogenerative diseases,” says Landrigan.

The researchers believe that the total impact of the pandemic is much greater than currently recognized. In supplementary documentation (see below for a link), about half of the 202 chemicals known to be toxic to the brain are among the chemicals most commonly used.

Testing chemicals for toxicity is a highly efficient public health measure. However, less than half of the thousands of chemicals currently used in commerce have been tested to assess acute toxicity and, although new chemicals undergo more thorough testing, access to the data may be restricted because companies fear exposing proprietary information. Also, current toxicity testing rarely includes neurobehavioral functions.

“The brains of our children are our most precious economic resource, and we haven’t recognized how vulnerable they are,” says Grandjean. “We must make protection of the young brain a paramount goal of public health protection. You have only one chance to develop a brain.”

To view supplementary documentation on industrial chemicals and risks of toxic effects on brain development, click here:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/neurotoxicant/appendix.doc

Support for this research was provided by the Danish Medical Research Council, the (U.S.) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

("Developmental Neurotoxicity of Industrial Chemicals," The Lancet, November 8, 2006- Vol. 368)

See the latest news from the Harvard School of Public Health .

For more information, contact:
Todd Datz
[e-mail]
617-432-3952

[Junkdrawer]

1. Watch mercury destroy nerve insulation...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=10457

[harveyrunner]

2. first link doesn't work.

[AikidoSoul]

6. I edited the link and it tests o.k. now

Don't understand why it didn't work in the first place.

[Triana]

3. Sheesh...

...and here I was feeling all safe and everything because I refused to use a plastic shower curtain anymore and refused to buy body products with parapens in them.

Acck! :o

[jwirr]

4. A soup of farm chemicals is the most likely cause of my daughter's

disability. She has seizures and mental retardation, problems eating and other disorders. When I was carrying her I got bladder trouble and used the old fashioned remedy: drink all kinds of water. Warning: just make sure it is clean water and not polluted with chemicals.

[pnwmom]

33. I'm so sorry.

There's nothing worse than to have a child who is injured, and thinking that something you did or didn't do might have been involved. . . I know. Best wishes to you both!

[AikidoSoul]

58. Am sad to hear about your daughter's seizures and other problems

It's a story I hear a lot from people with chemical sensitivities whose IQ has been grossly reduced due to their sensitization to neurotoxins. Many of us have seizures,and many of us are unable to process information normally when we are being exposed. The good news is that if the incitants are removed or avoided -- seizure activity is greatly reduced, as are the episodes of confusion, hyperagitation, and inability to concentrate.

[jwirr]

63. In her case serious scaring was done to the brain and there is not

much that can be done. She has 4 different kinds of seizures and meds stop only two - unless I want her acting like a zombie. We stear a balance between too many seizures and quality of life.

[colorado_ufo]

76. Of course, maintain your daughter's meds, however

there may still be more that can be done for her. Visit Dr. Andrew Weil's web site at: http://www.drweil.com/drw/ecs/index.html and do some online searching, or even send him a question.

Dr. Weil is a Harvard-educated physician who has devoted much of his practice for the last 20+ years to integrating alternative treatments. Researchers are more amazed each year at the dynamic results that herbs and other supplements and natural treatments can have, which studies are confirming.

Also, the brain can do an astounding amount of compensation. I recommend "Don't Leave Me This Way: Or When I Get Back on My Feet You'll Be Sorry" by Julia Fox Garrison, a young woman who battled her way back from a devastating stroke.

[jwirr]

103. Herbs are a good alternative but she is tube fed because her

digestive system is messed up and she cannot swallow or tolerate almost all meds of any kind. We do give her some herbs. We are lucky that she lives. When you are looking at multiple seizures coupled with other disabilities then you are looking at big trouble. She is only surviving by being tube fed every day for the rest of her life. She is 48 years old and is thriving at a rate which allows her to be happy if not a "worldly" success.

I long ago stopped allowing the drug co/doctors to use her as their guinea pig. The last new change put her in the hospital 3 times with dehydration and the loss of 7 pounds. When you only weigh 83 pounds that is a big loss. I stopped seeing that doctor and told the next one that he needed to understand her as a person and not a vessel for his experiments.

Before I get accused of being a too protective parent let me tell you that the medical profession in our area (MN) recognize me as a leader in this field of care. One doctor told me and my daughter's care team that she (the doc) learned something new every time we took her in for a checkup. That doctor is now teaching nursing.

[AikidoSoul]

104. I commend you for the job you're doing. Most parents just do as they're told. It's the ones who

dig into it, do research, think for themselves, etc. -- who are able to expand the knowledge base of medical professionals who are too often influenced and "educated" by the chem/ pharm industry.

[AikidoSoul]

105. I commend you for the job you're doing. Most parents just do as they're told. It's the ones who

dig into it, do research, think for themselves, etc. -- who are able to expand the knowledge base of medical professionals who are too often influenced and "educated" by the chem/ pharm industry.

[AikidoSoul]

106. I commend you for the job you're doing.

Too many parents just do as they're told. It's the parents who dig, do research, join discussion forums with those with similiar problems, take everything apart piece by piece and then put it back together -- in other words, think for themselves, these are the ones best able to expand the knowledge base of medical professionals who are too often influenced and "educated" by the chem/ pharm industry.

[colorado_ufo]

110. Thank you for sharing this very personal information with me.

Obviously, you have given your daughter inspired care at a level of quality that could not be equaled anywhere, and thus you have achieved a most lofty goal: a happy life for your daughter.

Having experienced invalid care in my family as a child, and through my work in the medical field, I appreciate the sacrifice involved and wish for you continued strength of body and spirit both for yourself and for your daughter's sake.

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. The human species is its own worst enemy

How many schools, preschools, lovely home nurseries, hospitals, and more, all with the latest in tech, cleaners, carpeting, etc. would have to be changed before anything that even brings notice to and affects a shift to actively change the fetal/child environment?

Asbestos was mostly changed out of the school and other building environments, but how to change the current environmental status?

[AikidoSoul]

8. It's far, far worse than you think. These toxic chems are in EVERYTHING

Here's a great example of how pervasive these chems are -- and this is just one type -- the pyrethroid pesticides. You'll find them where you don't expect them. What are they doing in animal feed (the animals eat the neurotoxins and then they store in their fat because these chems are extremely lipid soluble (store very readily in fat). Then we eat the animals and we get loaded.

Pyrethroids are also found in carpeting, ink, food storage bags, clothing, sheets, and a huge array of other things.

Here's proof: an excellent reference from U.S. Geological Survey that shows how pyrethroids are in almost everything you come in contact with everyday. If you do a search for the name "Schrek" you will also see studies conducted by the military that show that pyrethroids remain in cloth even after thirty washings.

http://ca.water.usgs.gov/pnsp/pyra/env_pro/trnfr_pro/sorp/resin.html

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SYNTHETIC PYRETHROID INSECTICIDES IN THE ENVIRONMENT
By Paul D. Capel and Blake J. Nelson

[Whoa_Nelly]

13. Over the past year and a half have developed idiopathic hives

and am on daily meds for it. High on the list of possible causes are pyrethroids, but so far have not been able to pinpoint the cause of the urticaria, which at it's worst and uncontrolled, will cover my body from neck to knees in dinner plate size welts.

Maybe, as a fair-skinned redhead, I have become extremely sensitive to the world at large over the last 50+ years of my life. All I know is that I want to be off daily meds and resume a life where I don't have to continually second guess about items and food. A physical life by trial and error really sucks, not to mention all the bloodwork testing that costs a small fortune and has resulted in giving me no concrete answers.

[KT2000]

17. May I suggest that you

do some investigation of the problem called chemical sensitivity. If your hives are coming from exposure to chemicals and you are still exposed to them, your future is more prescription drugs (likely steroids) and testing that does not answer anything. You will eventually be diagnosed with "stress disorder" and put on antidepressants.

Some of the physicians whose work you may find helpful include:
Claudia Miller, MD
Grace Ziem, MD
Stephen Edelson, MD

I was overexposed to formaldehyde and pesticides in a bolt of fabric that had been transported in a pesticide containier. I too had hives, swelling etc. Imagine steaming that brew onto your face when pressing the fabric!

Also - always be suspicious when a diagnosis contains the word "idiopathic." This means "unknown source" but in reality medicine is rarely concerned with source. The word is usually inserted by interests fearing linkage and liability. The chemical industry did a lot of work making sure the word idiopathic is used when people complain of chemical related illnesses. The medical community goes along with the chemical industry.

[Whoa_Nelly]

19. Am not on steroids

And only took those for 10 days over a year ago (decreasing daily doasage) to stop the hives. Am currently taking antihistamines.

I do know that idiopathic means unknown source, and 80% of hives are idiopathic and not stress or dermal-related. There's not going to be any antidepressants in my future as it's already been ruled out as stress-related. It's also been ruled out that it's not dermal-contact, but something that internally that has been triggered to make the mast cells leak and result in hives. I have had other health problems in the past that may have led up to the current condition, but it's also still under consideration that exposure to pyrethroids may have been the trigger.

Thanks for the MD names. Will share them with my allergist.

All I know right now is that if I stop or forget to take my antihistimines for more than 24 hours, small spots of urticaria crop up on sensitive areas of skin (not face, head, hands or feet.) I also can tell if I'm going to have an outbreak because I get a small headache across my forehead area, and I have never been a headache person.

[AikidoSoul]

26. I strongly suggest that you examine everything that you're

exposing yourself to. You may have reached a critical mass of sorts. Steroids are sooo bad if taken for so long, and antihisimanes may help with the symptoms -- but I would rather see you eliminate the triggers.

Neurotoxins can affect the immune system, but mostly they start by targeting the brain... which controls every organ and process in the body. When the brain is affected, your immune system can go into overdrive.

While allergic reations are traditionally seen as IgE mediated from reactions to proteins, chemicals can also indirectly be responsible by causing your immune system to go into hyper mode. That's an oversimplification -- but what I'm saying here is if you start removing potential triggers from your environment and diet, you will likely notice an improvement.

Most docs just treat the symptoms, and don't emphasize environmental triggers that much. And most docs won't even mention chemical triggers.

[AikidoSoul]

21. This is a very perceptive comment from someone who is familiar

with chemical injury.

You might also check out the work of researcher Dr. Martin Pall, who is tying together a wide variety of chronc illnesses -- linking them to chemical exposures. He has also worked with Grace Ziem, MD (cited by KT2000 above) to develop highly effective nutritional protocols that help resolve many of the symptoms. The MOST important step to take however, is to remove all chemical incitants from your enviroment and from your food, to reduce the number of triggers you are being exposed to.

Also important -- is to do a food rotation diet (don't eat the same thing within 4 days) and to identify food allergies which are becoming more common.

Alone or together -- toxicants (synthetic chemicals) and food allergies, can disable you over time.

[Duppers]

70. you're describing me

...a fair-skinned redhead with extreme chemical sensitivities who's been in the ER twice in one day for treatment of anaphylactic shock with began with urticaria.

And people don't understand why I cannot stay in some hotels, suffer their perfume, smoke, and fucking fabric softeners etc.!


AikidoSoul said, "And most docs won't even mention chemical triggers." That's the truth! My allergist laughed when I mentioned it 15 yrs. ago. I never went back to him. My GP is currently skeptical too and recommended long walks! Nope, I kid you not! The medical profession leaves much to be desired in this part of the country.

[undergroundpanther]

75. Yep

But you know people HATE hearing everything is contaminated.
But it's the truth. You cannot avoid the contamination either.

[malaise]

22. We are the enemy of every other species as well n/t

[AikidoSoul]

24. The incessant lies are keeping us exposed to these poisons

A really good example of how the chem / pharm industry gets away with outrageous lies that give a false feeling that this stuff is safe, is found in this really great report entitled:

The Secret Hazards of Pesticides: Inert Ingredients

The second paragraph states:

"Unfortunately, many people will conclude from the term 'inert' that such ingredients could not possibly have any adverse health or environmental effects. This is not the case at all. The chemicals used as inerts include some of the most dangerous substances known."

Full report found here: http://www.oag.state.ny.us/environment/inerts96.html

EPA and Congress enable these companies to use misleading terms and even to make claims of safety. Though there is a federal law prohibiting pesticide companies and distributors from making such claims, it is nonetheless done regularly -- with almost zero prosecution of the law.

[Faux pas]

7. Scary and interesting. It sure does explain the high incidents

of autism that I've been scratching my head about for years.

I can't get the first link to work, and how do I find the list of 202?

Thanks.

[AikidoSoul]

11. The list of 202 chems is not very helpful, because most chems on

the market have NEVER been tested for neurotoxicity! Most products in the marketplace today contain brain poisons. Any aerosol has neurotoxic propellants. Most fragrance products are neurotoxic as they are made from synthetic materials that have direct pathway to the brain where they do damage. Pesticides are notorious. There are very few pesticides that are not dangerous. The least dangerous is BT or BTI -- used for agriculture and mosquito control. The latter only targets mosquito larvae and black fly. There are problems with butterflies getting into BT pollen -- so even BT has a price.

Boric acid doesn't off-gass -- but it is a permanent neurotoxin and the dust should never be breathed, and it should never be eaten. At least it doesn't contain solvent materials.

[Faux pas]

101. Thank you for your time and answers. All this is fascinating. n/t

[KT2000]

9. Finally!

I bet a lot of people at Harvard are about to be reassigned or fired for telling the truth.

A 1990 report to Congress by the Office of Technology Assessment, "Neurotoxicity: Identifying and Controlling Poisons of the Nervous System" saw this and Congress declared the 1990's The Decade of the Brain. As I recall, OTA was dismantled soon after.

Action on this will never come from the top - it is up to all of us to push this information on our politicians.

Thanks for posting this.

[AikidoSoul]

12. Congress has igorned this kind of information for years

In the late eighties the Office of Science and Technology issued a report to Congress entitled, "Neurotoxins in the Home and Workplace" which detailed how common, everyday chemicals are causing brain damage. One neuroscientist was very clear when he testified that these chems "are causing holes in the brains of those exposed." What could be more clear?

That report was sent to me by a staffer from the Congressional Ag committee that feared for her job and made me promise never to tell where it came from.

I still have a copy, but it was obviously never meant for public dissemination.

[KT2000]

14. Wow - hang on to that

Someday, somehow, I hope that all of this information can be pulled together so we can save humanity.
I suspect you are "intimately" concerned about the damage chemicals can do, as am I.

I have an old EPA booklet that warns formaldehyde can cause chemical sensitivity. Of course chemical sensitivity was determined not to exist and the booklet was rewritten.

It is really an orphan cause - so much money involved. I just wish more people were concerned.

[AikidoSoul]

15. We are all being damaged-with some it's obvious, others it's sub-clinical

There is a huge amount of money continually funding checkbook scientists who work to disprove chemical injury and chemical sensitivities. Like cigarettes and global warming, the chem/ pharm industry uses tactics that serve to create doubt in the public's mind.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities are caused by the detox systems breaking down--which can happen from chronic low level exposures -- and that means that all of us are at risk.

Industry has done everything to try to disprove MCS but it cannot stop independent researchers who are now seeing the overlap of diseases caused by toxic synthetic chemicals. This research will continue, but the publicizing of the findings is being suppressed.

[orleans]

32. can we see it? n/t

[AikidoSoul]

54. I would have to get someone to scan it into digital format, and then post it on their web site

It's pretty long. Do you know anyone who could and would do that? I've marked it up with underlines and exclamation points and such, but you can still read it o.k.

If you contact me privately I can send you a copy when I can get someplace to get it done. We don't have a regular copy machine here that can copy bound materials.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

10. Most important statement in the article.....

A developing brain is much more susceptible to the toxic effects of chemicals than an adult brain.

[AikidoSoul]

16. Older people are very vulnerable as well. Especially those who

are taking multiple prescriptions. As we age our detox systems begin to fail. We are already overloaded, and polypharmacy increases the risks. Many drugs affect the brain too, so the combination of that plus ambient exposures -- can be disastrous. Most people are sick continually and don't realize that the triggers are in their own environment... usually from their own homes and workplaces.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

27. There are things that one can take to protect the brain. This is a

small sampling. I take all three.... and then some. I wonder if this is Sanjay's brother, cousin or mentor. I would think not, but one never knows, does one. Dr. Sinatra the legendary cardiologist was/is related to the crooner, believe it or not. www.SinatraMD.com


1: Ann Clin Psychiatry. 2005 Oct-Dec;17(4):269-86.Click here to read Links
A review of antioxidants and Alzheimer's disease.

* Frank B,
* Gupta S.

Department of Psychiatry, University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Buffalo, NY, USA. [e-mail]

BACKGROUND: In this article, we review a diverse body of research and draw conclusions about the usefulness, or lack there-of, of specific antioxidants in the prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: The National Library of Medicine's database was searched for the years 1996-2004 using the search terms "Alzheimer's, anti-oxidants, antioxidants." RESULTS: Over 300 articles were identified and 187 articles were selected for inclusion based on relevance to the topic. Agents that show promise in helping prevent AD include: 1) aged garlic extract, 2) curcumin, 3) melatonin, 4) resveratrol, 5) Ginkgo biloba extract, 6) green tea, 7) vitamin C and 8) vitamin E. CONCLUSIONS: While the clinical value of antioxidants for the prevention of AD is often ambiguous, some can be recommended based upon: 1) epidemiological evidence, 2) known benefits for prevention of other maladies, and 3) benign nature of the substance. Long-term, prospective studies are recommended.

PMID: 16402761


1: Peng QL, Buz'Zard AR, Lau BH. Related Articles, Links
Abstract Pycnogenol protects neurons from amyloid-beta peptide-induced apoptosis.
Brain Res Mol Brain Res. 2002 Jul 15;104(1):55-65.
PMID: 12117551
2: Liu F, Lau BH, Peng Q, Shah V. Related Articles, Links
Abstract Pycnogenol protects vascular endothelial cells from beta-amyloid-induced injury.
Biol Pharm Bull. 2000 Jun;23(6):735-7.
PMID: 10864026

5: Ames BN, Liu J. Related Articles, Links
Abstract Delaying the mitochondrial decay of aging with acetylcarnitine.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2004 Nov;1033:108-16. Review.
PMID: 15591008

2: Quinn JF, Bussiere JR, Hammond RS, Montine TJ, Henson E, Jones RE, Stackman RW Jr. Related Articles, Links
Abstract Chronic dietary alpha-lipoic acid reduces deficits in hippocampal memory of aged Tg2576 mice.
Neurobiol Aging. 2007 Feb;28(2):213-25. Epub 2006 Jan 31.
PMID: 16448723

[AikidoSoul]

28. While there are some things that can be protective, they cannot save you from damage

they can only limit the damge somewhat.

The best thing is to take supplements that are neuroprotective, but to severely limit your exposures.

Realize of course that the air outside is becoming more toxic all the time, so limiting your exposures from your living / working environments can only go so far.

My spouse and I both developed chemical sensitivities in 1993 and have been living with this terrible problem ... trying to find ways to mitigate symptoms is a huge challenges. We get serious neurological problems on a regular basis despite our long list of protective steps.

This past year we've noticed something new and frightening, and that is, when the air reaches dew point outside-- the toxicants start to settle into the lower atmosphere and we get disoriented, ditsy -- short term memory problems -- all the stuff that goes with MCS when exposed to brain toxicants.

We now have to get oursleves locked tightly into our "safe room" before the air reaches dew point.

This is how bad it has gotten here in the US just this past year. It wasn't as bad as this even two years ago.

We are worried for everyone on this planet -- but especially small children that have no context of a a "before" and an "after" of these debilitating brain toxicants. For a small child who never knew what it was like to be normal, the world is a terrible place.

These toxicants also affect behavior. But I'm sure you already knew that.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

30. RE: your last sentence, we have newer and better prisons for

that.... as far as MCS goes, try this resource if you want.... sorry about your plight, even sorrier that is is man-made.

http://search.lef.org/cgi-src-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=0&page_id=2867&query=mcs&hiword=mcs%20

Here are a few links, there are several more at the above link...

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

ABSTRACTS
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Bahrke MS., 2000. Evaluation of the ergogenic properties of ginseng: an update.
Baschetti, R., 1995a. Chronic fatigue syndrome and liquorice.
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Baschetti R., 2000. Chronic fatigue syndrome: a form of Addison's disease.
Beckman JS., 1993. Pathological implications of nitric oxide, superoxide and peroxynitrite formation.
Behan PO., 1990. Effect of high doses of essential fatty acids on the postviral fatigue syndrome.
Bounous G., 1999. Competition for glutathione precursors between the immune system and the skeletal muscle: pathogenesis of chronic fatigue syndrome.
Bugard P., 1984. Stabilium 200: Trial Protocol. Clinical Results of the Effects of Stabilium 200 on 40 Asthenic Patients
Butterworth Jr. C.E., 1993. Folate status, women's health, pregnancy outcome, and cancer.
CDC., 2001. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 2001.
Cleare AJ., 1995. Contrasting neuroendocrine responses in depression and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Cox IM., 1991. Red blood cell magnesium and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Crocq L., 1978. Fatigue Study Group inquiry into asthenia in general practice.
Cullen MR., 1987. The worker with multiple chemical sensitivities: an overview.
Cullen MR.,1987b. Multiple chemical sensitivities: summary and directions for future investigators.
De Becker P., 1999. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) response to i.v. ACTH in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Deijen JB., 1999. Tyrosine improves cognitive performance and reduces blood pressure in cadets after one week of a combat training course.
Dimai HP., 1998. Daily oral magnesium supplementation suppresses bone turnover in young adult males.
Dorman T., 1995. The effectiveness of Garom armoricum (Stabilium) on reducing anxiety in college students.
Droge W., 1997. Role of cysteine and glutathione in HIV infection and other diseases associated with muscle wasting and immunological dysfunction.
Elbaz M., 1988. Astheno-depression.
Fauci AC., 1998. Eds. Harrison's Textbook of Internal Medicine, Fourteenth Edition.
Forsyth LM., 1999. Therapeutic effects of oral NADH on the symptoms of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Fulle S., 2000. Specific oxidative alterations in vastus lateralis muscle of patients with the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome.
Gabe J., 1991. Tranquillisers and health care in crisis.
Gray JB., 1994. Eicosanoids and essential fatty acid modulation in chronic disease and the chronic fatigue syndrome.
Haruyama S., Garum extract and improved learning (undated report).
Hinds G., 1994. Normal red cell magnesium concentrations and magnesium loading tests in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Horrobin DF., 1990. Post-viral fatigue syndrome, viral infections in atopic eczema, and essential fatty acids.
Jacobson W., 1993. Serum folate and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Jeffcoate WJ., 1999. Chronic fatigue syndrome and functional hypoadrenia?fighting vainly the old ennui.
Jefferies WM., 1994. Mild adrenocortical deficiency, chronic allergies, autoimmune disorders and the chronic fatigue syndrome: a continuation of the cortisone story.
Judy W., 1996. Presentation to the 37th Annual Meeting of the American College of Nutrition, Southeastern Institute of Biomedical Research.
Kelly GS., 1998. L-Carnitine: therapeutic applications of a conditionally-essential amino acid.
Kingsbury KJ., 1998. Contrasting plasma free amino acid patterns in elite athletes: association with fatigue and infection.
Kodama M., 1996. The value of the dehydroepiandrosterone-annexed vitamin C infusion treatment in the clinical control of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). II. Characterization of CFS patients with special reference to their response to a new vitamin C infusion treatment.
Komaroff AL., 1998. Chronic fatigue syndrome: an update.
Kuratsune H., 1998. Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate deficiency in chronic fatigue syndrome.
Le Poncin M., 2000. Stabilium and chronic fatigue. The positive role of a neutraceutic in memory and cognitive function and symptoms of chronic fatigue in adults.
Logan AC., 2001. Chronic fatigue syndrome: oxidative stress and dietary modifications.
Manian FA., 1994. Simultaneous measurement of antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus, human herpesvirus 6, herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, and 14 enteroviruses in chronic fatigue syndrome: is there evidence of activation of a nonspecific polyclonal immune response?
Manuel y Keenoy B., 2000. Magnesium status and parameters of the oxidant-antioxidant balance in patients with chronic fatigue: effects of supplementation with magnesium.

[AikidoSoul]

35. Thanks, for posting this. will check out Garum extract

We've read thousands of papers and research documents of brain injury and protections, and I've written articles on this topic -- but not for awhile. Am too busy trying to survive.

We've tried so many things to help and are taking multiple supplements. For a long time we did IVs with glutathione, and then high dose B-complex, folic acid and B12 injections because many of us have low levels of B12 and other Bs in spinal fluid (serum levels are fine but it doesn't "make it" to the CNS. To make it complicated, merury interferes with B12 uptake into the CNS. Of course we take magnesium and the full spectrum of amino acids, fatty acids, vit D, C, E complexes, CoQ 10, Alpha Lipioic Acid, N-Acetyl Cyesteine (NAC), Melatonin (at bedtime)... and too many others to name here.

Thanks for being an angel and posting this to remind me of some others. Will check out the garum extract. Think I remember it being a precursor, maybe a polypeptide. Can't remember.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

37. Please do a search for glyconutrients and stem cells. You will find that the

medical community is just now realizing that they get a pass at the blood brain barrier at the base of the skull. The implications of this fact are quite uplifting, and the supplement has done some very impressive things for those with neurodegenerative disorders.

Also google for a DVD called Targeting Neurology with Glyconutrients, best wishes to you and yours.

[TahitiNut]

18. Areas of the country highest in chemicals toxic to brain development are shown ...

... in red.

[mzmolly]

20. LOL

Though, it took me a while ...

:rofl:

[JeffR]

31. !!

:rofl:

[DemExpat]

50. LOL, TN.....

Took a few seconds to get it too....:silly:

:D

DemEx

[TahitiNut]

52. Kewl!

I was afraid it was too obvious. :dunce: (Yay, me.) :silly:

[mzmolly]

23. Yikes.

Uhm, shall we let the "private sector" take care of this?

[porphyrian]

25. I'll kick that. - n/t

[Morgana LaFey]

29. Thanks for posting this.

I share your concern and note your alarm.

[Liberty Belle]

34. There are some ways to protect your brain through diet and supplements.

I heard Dr Perlmutter (www.drperlmutter.com) a famous neurologist and others speak at a Scripps Institute conference for physicians yesterday. DHA/omega fatty acids (found in fish oil), Vitamin E and Vitamin C can all help protect the brain and actually reduce the risk of developing serious neurological diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. for instance, taking vitamin C and E combined can cut the prevalence of Parkinson's disease by 78%, the Journal of Neurology has reported!

Inflammation has been shown to trigger onset of these neurological diseases, as well as heart disease and other serious conditions. An anti-inflammatory diet (ie the Mediterranean diet) plus fish oil and Co-Enzyme Q10 can sharply reduce risk of these diseases even in patients with a genetic predisposition.

Diabetes is a big factor causing inflammation of the brain, believe it or not. How big? The risk of Alzheimer's is 400% higher in insulin-dependent diabetics than in normal folks, and 200% higher in non-insulin dependent diabetics.

Anyone taking Staten drugs for cholesterol should also be on Co-enzyme Q10 supplements to prevent serious muscle damage or even permanent neurological damage leading to Parkinson's etc, Perlmutter said, since those drugs deplete the body's natural production of the enzyme. (CoQ10 also slows progress of Parkinson's in patients already diagnosed) Or better yet, try fish oil supplements first, which can often reduce cholesterol without the need for drugs, and much more safetly. There is now a prescription strength fish oil called Omacor covered by insurance, FYI. This really hit home for me, as my dad developed both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's after taking Staten drugs and suffering severe, rapid muscle damage and brain deterioration. To think it could have easily been prevented makes me angry at the medical community for not training doctors about these important facts!

Another doctor, an oncologist, spoke about nutritional items that can help detoxify the body and protect against chemical carcinogens such as parabens, benzene, chlordane etc that are prevalent now in our environment.

Antioxidants and compounds in soy trigger production of detoxifying enzymes. Green tea, incidentally, has 200 times more antioxidant potency than Vitamin C and 20 times more than Vitamin E. A compound in green tea can actually cause death of cancer cells by inhibiting growth of new blodo cells needed for tumor growth.

Curcumin, the spice that gives curry its yellow color, also inhibits carcinogens and growth factors for cancer cells, as does turmeric.

One study found selenium (found in brazil and cashew nuts) cuts rate of prostate cancer by 62% and colorectal cancer over 50%.

Taking 1000 units of Vitamin D daily was found to cut breast cancer rates in women by 50%, a 2006 study by UCSD medical researchers found.

While it's important to control our environment by eliminating toxins wherever we can, Americans also need to shift focus away from treating diseases to preventing them. This not only means a healthier population, but would also dramatically cut our out of control healthcare costs. The Lewin Group has estimated that cost savings of calcium supplementation would save $13.8 billion by preventing hip fractures in the elderly; folic acid supplementation in women of child-bearing age would asve $1.3 billion by preventing neural tube birth defects.

Fish oil is now being recognized as a "brain food" that nurtures development of intelligence in infants and children as well as adults. DHA, the fish oil substance that helps vision as well as brain development, is now being added to some infant formulas and other foods such as certain brands of eggs.

How much more money and lives could be saved if we'd clean up our environment AND train doctors to prescribe simple things like vitamins and fish oil to prevent diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and heart disease?

Given the importance of fish oil's benefits and the fact that fish are being depleted worldwide from our oceans, one doctor posed a troubling question: What happens to us all when the fish are gone?

[AikidoSoul]

36. Perlmutter is the only mainstream neurologist I know of that really

gets it about toxicant induced brain injury. We sometimes exchange e-mails with new information. I've never seen him as a doctor because he's very expensive and I don't have insurance.

It's cheaper to buy one of his books that discusses neuroprotective substances in detail, and he is on top of things in that regard. He markets some of them, and that's what draws me away from him a bit. Realize that everyone has the right to make a living off of these products, but something about it annoys me. I like to read things written by those who don't profit by the "solutions" that they happen to market.

Life Extension folks do great research too, but some of their supplements have bad stuff in them like titanium dioxide and di-calcium phosphate to bind the stuff to make tablets. Di-calcium phosphate doesn't break down very well in the body and end up staying in the body for very long periods.

One of our biggest problems are new clothes or fabrics -- because they so often contain persistent chemicals such as pyrethroid pesticides, used by manufacturers to "protect" the cloth from insect attack.. Because of this we created an outdoor laundry and use isopropyl alcohol combined with ammonia to soak new fabric because only solvents will remove the pyrethroid pesticides from its molecular bond to fabric. Then we wash the stuff in hot water with soap and household ammonia to break down the pesticides. We can't have metal buttons or snaps.. or colors that run.

We also use an industrial size ozonator in an outdoor closet to break down chems in clothes and other stuff. It's bad to breathe ozone though, so detox procedures using the ozone machine have to be confined to outside the house. You have to hold your breath moving things in and out of the closet.

What a life... eh?

[Liberty Belle]

45. Good point on the chemicals in clothes. Have you tried organic cotton?

Cotton is one of the most pesticide-heavy crops grown. Organic cotton is not only healthier for you, but feels softer and more comfy to wear. You can find it through catalogs like Patagonia or in some Whole Foods stores. More expensive, but perhaps worth it especially if you have chemical sensitivities.

Also using nontoxic laundry soaps and cleaning products can substantially lessen your exposure to toxic chemicals. I also use only natural or better yet organic personal care products (lotion, shampoo, face cream etc) as the skin is the largest and most absorbent organ in the body and many chemicals banned in Europe are sold in US-made personal care products.

We also grow a lot of our own produce to avoid the pesticide exposure.

[AikidoSoul]

49. Unfortunately, not all "organic" cotton arrives organic because the distributors use such heavy

chems before it arrives in the marketplace. Especially formadehyde and chems used in transport vehicles. Organic is also very expensive, so getting cheaper stuff works because the alcohol/ ammonia treatment strips the chems from the cloth and ends up costing less. If it wasn't for the transport chems though we would buy all organic -- just to keep the industry going. They will have to work on the transporation issues, and a few do make this happen... just not enough of them.

We use Seven Generations fragrance-free dishsoap and laundry detergent. We use the dishsoap to wash our hair and bodies as well as it doesn't contain sythetic chems and doesn't dry out our skin and hair.

We use nothing but the cleanest bodycare products that have zero synthetics in them. Dr. Hauschka is the best of all of them in my opinion. All biodynamically grown ingredients and synthetic free.

We also buy all organic produce and meats -- as expensive as they can be, we think it's worth it. We used to have a vegetable garden but it's too hard to keep up with it all these days. We do raise blueberries, Myer Lemons, persimmons and pears however. All are pesticide free of course. We use worm castings and organic chicken manure... plus compost that we make here on our land.

Our house is the tough challenge. We're building it with our own hands and it's taking years. Only a small portion of it is livable because we have to go slowly due to being so vulnerable to the chems, and also because our income has dropped dramatically due to chem induced chronic illnesses.

[TahitiNut]

38. Sushi!! O-cha!! Miso!

Yum!! Although I think it might be the wasabe and fresh ginger that helps most. :dunce:

[Liberty Belle]

43. Yes, but watch the mercury if you eat lots of sushi, especially the tuna.

[Morgana LaFey]

44. Good post. Additionally --

Everone should take CoQ10 because the body is less able to manufacture it as we age. It's essential -- in every cell.

Fish Oil -- be sure to look for the kinds that have had the Mercury and other bad stuff removed. Take yourself to a healthfood store for that, insteaed of buying WalMart's or CVS's brand.

I'm not sure diabetes is the "cause" of inflammation -- what I read more puts diabetes (Type 2, that is) as one of the "effects" of inflammation. And where do we get inflammation? From too much insulin running through our bodies continuously, caused by processed grains (white flour) and added sugar(s) which are in absolutely everything that comes in a box or bag or package, with very few exceptions.

Exercise is also important.

Anyone who is overweight or has developed a "beer belly" is at risk of either having or developing what's called "insulin resistance," the huge risk factor for all those diseases as well as cancer, also being called Metabolic Syndrome or sometimes Syndrome X.

I feel positive, from my own lay research, that as good as they are, more than just vitamins and fish oil is required to prevent Alzheimers and the other diseases for which inflammation (insulin resistance) is at cause. You have to amend the diet as well. You just can't force the pancreas to put out more and more insulin each and every day because you're eating foods that provoke that response on an unremitting, continual, daily basis.

Now, some people don't seem to have that much of a problem. Their DNA is apparently somewhat different. But the "epidemic of obesity" in our country involves and includes people like me who DO have a problem. It's also possible to have these problems without being overweight or obese, but if you're overweight, you stand a higher chance of developing these problems.

Oh, and when the fish are all gone? We'll have bigger problems than just how we'll get our fish oil supplementation.

[Liberty Belle]

46. There is no one-size-fits all solution. We can minimize but not eliminate risk of these diseases.

Genetics, environment, obesity, exercise and stress all play a role.

One interesting talk, though very detailed and technical, was by Dr. Jeffrey Bland of Metagenics, who spoke of the potential for personalized nutragenomics medicine in which certain genes could be turned on and off through nutritional approaches.

You're right, of course, that a proper diet is important in reducing diseases; many people just want to pop pills, be it supplements or medication. A combination of good eating habits, appropriation supplementation influenced by personal genetic history, exercise and a clean environment are all important.

One of these days I keep joking I should write a political and health best-seller: The Aerobic Guide to Precinct Walking. ;-) I never have trouble with weight control during an election cycle and feel better when I'm walking precincts or participating in peace marches. Hmm....maybe THAT's the approach to get more people off the couch and into the street!

[AikidoSoul]

51. Small children are defenseless against the onslaught of chemicals

and no amount of dietary or exercise will stop them from entering into our brains and bodies and storing there. There are now over 82,000 synthetic chemicals that our bodies were never designed to detoxify.

[Liberty Belle]

55. It's alarming, true. I hope the Dems will start regulating the polluters to stop this.

[AikidoSoul]

85. There's a "strong relationship" bet type II diabetes and body burden of persistent pollutants

Diabetes costs the nation billions every year. The same companies that manufacture the pollutants linked to Type II Diabetes, also profit from the drugs that are needed to treat it.

**********

Research published July 2006.

http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/NewScience/obesity/2006/2006-0715leeetal.html

Lee, D-H, I-K Lee, K Song, M Steffes, W Toscano, BA Baker, and DR Jacobs. 2006. A Strong Dose-Response Relation Between Serum Concentrations of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Diabetes. Results from the National Health and Examination Survey 1999–2002. Diabetes Care 29:1638-1644.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control, from 1980 through 2004, the number of Americans with diabetes more than doubled (from 5.8 million to 14.7 million). The chances that an American child will become diabetic are now 1 in 3. The odds for a Latinos in the US and indigenous peoples around the Pacific are even worse, 1 in 2.

Prevailing wisdom blames Western lifestyles and diet. An alternative explanation-- contaminants interfering with glucose and insulin metabolism-- has begun to gain traction, based on studies in the lab with cells and mice, and on epidemiological research with people. These explanations are not mutually exclusive: both could be at work at the same time.

New research by Lee et al., summarized here, adds substantial weight to the hypothesis that contaminants are involved. They find a strong dose response relationship between type II diabetes risk and body burden of 6 persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Five of the 6 have highly significant associations when examined singly. The association is especially strong between diabetes risk and an estimate of the summed exposure to all 6 POPs studied simultaneously

<<<<SNIP>>>>>

[nada republic-cons]

39. Another corporate chemical smokescreen

(snip)

By highlighting the fire-safety issues and downplaying the health risks, the chemical industry had successfully jammed the bill, even as those backing it -- including some fire officials -- insist safer alternatives could be used.

(snip)
In a Senate committee hearing on a similar bill the next day, after several proponents raised concerns, Squires disclosed that he also is employed by Ameribrom, a chemical company that makes the PBDE fire retardant.

(snip)
..... However, many companies already make PBDE-free products in order to comply with European trade laws.

Although the health effects of PBDEs have not been studied in people, animal tests indicate that PBDEs' effect on brain development during the prenatal period may alter behavior, learning and memory later in life. Studies of animals also show that these chemicals can affect reproduction.

Other studies cited by the Washington Toxics Coalition found that deca-PBDE has been found in cord blood of newborn babies and breast milk, damages the developing brain in mammals and is listed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a possible carcinogen.

(snip)

Wish I were rich enough to import all merchandise from Europe.


http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/299491_retardant12.html?source=mypi

[AikidoSoul]

40. And Europe now has much more stringent testing requirements

than in the US, although Germany, with its huge chem/ pharm industry -- fought it hard. But the new regs are passed there and now chem / pharm has to prove the chems are safe BEFORE marketing, unlike here in the US where we have the dead bodies method of regulation.

Even then it takes decades here before anything is taken off the market because chem /pharm makes any determinations of danger stay in the "controversial" column for decades. Chem / pharm spends huge amounts to keep these products making money. A good example is with dioxin. Chem/ pharm used its checkbook scientists to keep dioxin from being declared carcinogenic for more than 3 decades!

[nada republic-cons]

42. Yes! A couple of years ago, article said

the US was pushing the EU to allow us to sell all kinds of
nasty chemicals to them - chemicals the EU had already
banned.

So the brazen, domineering US corporations push on.

Has anyone heard if they have been successful? Think I
will go search and see if I can find anything current.

[pitohui]

41. one in six? one in SIX?

i stand amazed that anyone would have a child with odds like that, that's completely unacceptable

[nada republic-cons]

47. we are all polluted

WHEN MICHAEL LERNER volunteered to give blood and urine samples to medical researchers, he figured they'd only find a few chemicals in his body. After all, Lerner, the president and founder of Commonweal, a health and environmental research institute in Marin County, has lived in Bolinas for 20 years, eaten a healthy diet and avoided exposure to industrial chemicals.

(snip)

Martin, who also gave samples to the Body Burden project, was stunned by the results. "I was completely blown away," she told me. "There were 95 toxins, 59 of which were carcinogens."

(snip)


She also wonders whether her chemical body burden has caused her cancers. "We'll never know," she says, "because right now chemical companies don't have to prove the safety of their products and no government agency has ever studied the health risks that can be caused by chemical toxins."

(snip)

No one wants his or her body to be another pollution site. Still, lobbyists for the chemical industry resist further regulation. "As a result," says Martin, "we're living in a toxic stew and they are, quite literally, getting away with murder."

[AikidoSoul]

48. It costs over $1,000.00 to get blood or fat tested for DIOXIN, which is so pervasive and found in

many products as a contaminant. EPA says it's o.k. for companies to have dioxins in its products as long as it isn't intentional!!!

EPA should be called CPA -- Corporation Protection Agency.

Did you know that Lysol is a registered pesticide and that it has been found to contain dioxin contaminants?

Most people don't have a clue about these things...

[DemReadingDU]

56. Interesting thread

I've suspected that with so many people taking so many prescriptions that they are setting themselves up for a myriad of problems the older they become. The healthiest old people I know are the ones who take the least amount of prescriptions. Generally they eat healthy foods and keep busy mentally too.

It's scary the chemicals in our environment making us ill. I've read there could be trouble for people who consume quantities of 'diet' soda. The chemicals break down to form benzene, a chemical known to cause leukemia.

And Robert Kennedy Jr, has written articles on the suspected link between autism and vaccines preserved with thimerosal.

Bookmarking this thread for future reference.

[Radio_Lady]

111. Toxic benzene is in the breathable air in Portland, Oregon. We just had articles dealing with

this in the Oregonian. Highest concentrations measurable!

It's because our state has such clean air that the people in charge decided we could have "DIRTIER" gasoline (less expensive to process) from the Alaska oil and gasoline products we use in our cars! Amazing!

The other states, especially California, have received CLEANER products due to legislative pressure.

Here's the link:

http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/editorial/116890530221770.xml?oregonian?ede&coll=7

A sleight-of-hand game: the EPA's benzene rule
The agency's proposal for buying and selling credits
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
favors the oil industry over people of the Northwest

The Environmental Protection Agency mocks its own name with an artfully crafted new rule on benzene in gasoline. The EPA rule would not protect the environment. Nor would it protect the health of Americans, especially those who live in the Northwest.

The rule would protect only the oil industry. Residents of Oregon and Washington would still be left breathing the nation's highest levels of cancer-causing benzene.

Appropriately, the Northwest's four U.S. senators strenuously object. On Friday, Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Gordon Smith, R-Ore., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., sent a joint letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, sharply questioning the agency's proposal to regulate benzene in a way that would leave this region with America's dirtiest gas.

Benzene, spewed into the air from motor vehicle tailpipes, is a known carcinogen. It causes leukemia and other blood disorders. The EPA limits the amount of benzene allowed in gasoline sold in the nation's most populous areas but not in the Northwest.

And why on earth not? The answer defies logic: Because Oregon and Washington have less air pollution than other states, the EPA doesn't regulate Northwest benzene levels.

How wonderfully convenient for the refineries that produce fuel sold in Oregon and Washington. Most of it comes from Alaska, where oil is naturally rich in benzene, with as much as 10 times more than oil from elsewhere.

State environmental regulators have measured benzene concentrations throughout Portland, and much of Oregon, many times higher than the level specified as safe by the EPA and the state. Some parts of downtown Portland have benzene levels more than 50 times higher than what's considered safe.

Under pressure from lawsuits, the EPA is calling for new national standards for benzene content in fuel. That's welcome, but the proposed new rule is, to put it mildly, fundamentally flawed.

Instead of requiring refineries to buy equipment to reduce benzene levels in their products, the rule would allow them to buy or trade credits from other refineries that already produce fuel with lower benzene content. Wyden found just the right description for this artful scheme when he called the EPA's proposal a "regulatory shell game."

It all but guarantees that the Northwest would continue to be the national dumping ground for dirty, carcinogenic fuel. And even though the odds of developing cancer from breathing benzene are statistically low in Portland, they're still roughly twice as great as the odds for people in the rest of the country.

The EPA should enact uniform national limits on benzene in fuel. The agency's shell game will only make chumps out of the people of Oregon and Washington.

MORE AT LINK ABOVE...

[undergroundpanther]

66. Remember Olestra?

The oil that food companies tried to foist upon us a few years back, but it's initial hoo hah has faded because made people get the shit leaks and intestinal pain?

http://www.cspinet.org/nah/marolest.htm

It can remove dioxin and detox it out of the body..Coinkidink? Some back room deal made with food companies and polluters to throw people investigating the causes of disease off the chemical pollution angle? While tort reform was passed to make sure polluters would not be held financial;y responsible for the damages done.

http://www.toxictrains.org/dioxin.htm

Read it and think..Why? If the convenience of the connection don't get you worried I dunno what will.

[Occulus]

78. Wha.. huh?

:wtf:

ed.: Really?

ed. 2: I get it. It prevents chemicals from being redistributed in the body. Interesting.

I still don't like Olestra, because it gives me the shits.

[DemReadingDU]

80. and Sorbitol

artificial sweetner that causes diarrhea. Sorbitol is used in many sugar-free gum and candy

[SoCalDem]

100. I feel fortunate to have lived as long as I have. I was "DDT"-ed twice a day for 8 years

That stuff is probably still in me. As kids we used to actually PLAY in the clouds of it after the spray truck left.

We had no glass windows (only heavy duty screens & metal louvers, and every day that cloud rolled into the houses and deposited a greasy film on everything in the house.

(and the rodent sized mosquitos still ate us alive :)..)

[AikidoSoul]

109. If you ever have your blood or fat tested for DDE, that's the breakdown product of DDT

and it is in all of us. Some have much higher levels than others of course, and we pass some of this on to our kids when they're born.

Good luck to you. And good luck to the rest of the world and all it's critters.

Let's give chem/ pharm a kick in the ass for poisoning the entire world for profit!

[Jcrowley]

53. K&R n/t

[faithnotgreed]

57. thank you everyone for a grounded cogent respectful discussion - too often

on this board there are SOME who are very quick to dismiss information about toxicity in our world/relation to explosive numbers of disease

thank you for sharing important information - its a crucial start

[truedelphi]

59. The plug in air fresheners are the new cigarettes

According to the World Health Organization, the products known as "air fresheners" contain benzene.

Why would companies do this?

Well it's very smart and very profit motivated.

According to laws passed in the 1990's, any amounts of benzene that had no industrial purposes were to shipped to SuperFund sites.

So since pesticide regulations had been tighted, and benzene could not be added to over the counter pesticides, and also gasoline regulations were tightened, and benzene could no longer be put there, the Chem Pharmaceutical companies came up with the idea of really advertising the heck out of air fresheners.

That way we PAY THEM for things they otherwise would have to pay to have SuperFunded.

Notice these commercials never say "SO SAfe you could spray these in the babies' nursery"

Why not? Because if they did, the Attorney General for State of NY would take the companies to court and fine them.

But no law against having images of them being sprayed all over the place.

[Lifelong Protester]

60. Thanks for the information

as a teacher for 24+ years, I was beginning to wonder if it was just me, or ARE there more kids coming to us with ADD, ADHD, Autism, etc. I have suspected our 'chemical environment' for years. I will be distributing the Harvard website to my staff.

[AngryAmish]

61. If so, why do IQs increase every generation?

[AikidoSoul]

88. Maybe in the Amish community IQs are getting higher, but that's certainly

not true for a significant portion of the general population. Developmental disabilities have skyrocketed over the past few decades in an increasingly toxified population.

Angry Amish is your name --if you are Amish you may be aware that as a group the Amish are considered to be an excellent "control" group because generally speaking they shun many technologies and modern "conveniences" that have proven to be harmful to the general population. The rest of society unfortunately will generally accept almost anything that comes along. According to an investigative reporter that looked at autism statistics

http://www.mercola.com/2005/may/4/amish_autism.htm

he would have expected to find about 200 autistic children within a given number of children, but when he examined incidences of autism in the Amish community and found only three who had it. One of them was confirmed as receiving a vaccination, one may have already had autism as she was adopted from China, and the third could not be confirmed one way or the other. The point is that there were about 197 fewer children with autism in that community compared to the general population.

I'm sure you've read that many children in the US and abroad have been vaccinated with vaccines containing thermisol, a mercury solution previously used by chem/pharm as a preservative. This is but one of the neurotoxicants that small kids are exposed to. The synergistic actions of these chems are not even considered.. but mercury alone can do serious damage to a brain!

Those of us with chemical injury have seen our IQs decline dramatically from exposures to solvent-type chemicals used in everyday situations -- we're not talking about occupational exposures here.... just normal exposures you would find anywhere. At least one person I know of is down over 30 points -- and she received her exposures in the classroom teaching little kids! This is not a joke -- this is sadly real. One of the ways that brain injury is diagnosed is to conduct brain function tests -- and all of us have taken a dive downwards in IQ.

For physical evidence, take a look at the PET scans of those whose hippocampus has significant neuronal damage from chems. Robert Haley, MD did such tests, so did Thomas Callender, MD of Layfayette, LA in an occupational medicine setting. Callender testified before Congress about the damage seen in the brains of Gulf War vets that are consistent with exposures to neurotoxic chemicals.

Unfortunately --- all of this information is aggressively suppressed!

Callender sent out an angry letter about ten years ago accusing the chem/ pharm industry of pressuring the federal medical system that disallowed coverage of PET scans via Medicare. He suggested that chem/pharm was worried about the availability of scans that could show the brain's geography in such vivid detail -- pinpointing chem induced injury.

Hopefully this will make us all think -- while we still can!

Here's a link to Robert Kennedy, Jr's excellent expose' article entitled, "Deadly Immunity" on how the government, in this case the CDC -- lied and covered up the link between thermisol laced vaccines and autism:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7395411/deadly_immunity/

[AngryAmish]

91. No, I'm talking about the Flynn effect

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect> IQ tests have to be renormed every few years because folks are getting smarter. So a 100 IQ in 1997 would be a 93 IQ today.

BTW, the autism/thermisol link has been disproved. But this is not a hill I want to die on and don't feel like looking up the links, so good luck!

Also, I'm not Amish.

[AikidoSoul]

107. The thermisol study you refer to is probably the one that is extremely

flawed that repeatedly is cited by industry. It keeps getting cited over and over again despite the fact it is a bad study. The one I'm referring to was conducted in Sweden.

[AikidoSoul]

108. I had never heard about the "Flynn Effect" before but I did go to the site you provided and see that

Thank you for forwarding that to me. It's interesting to know that those ideas are out there.

However, according to the material you provided it's not a given that populations across the board are developing higher IQ as there is significant discussion over which groups actually seem to improve. Some of the scientist looking into this say that it's persons from the lower end of the economic scale and immigrants -- who seem to improve their IQs, but that the higher levels of society are regressing in some instances. It was speculated that the increases in the lower classes would be attributable to improved nutrition because these groups are moving from poor nutrition having emigrated from poorer countries, and now have better diets.

But that's only what I read in a cursory reading of the WikiPedia material and am certainly no expert on the "Flynn Effect".

One thing off the top of my head though -- if any of these populations are from Scandinavia, we know that these are the countries that are phasing out the use of pesticides and are doing more than any other countries to limit their population's exposures to neurotoxicants. They are way ahead of us. They also consume a lot of very high quality fish oil, which has been proven to repair and to create new neurons. They send the poorer quality, filtered stuff to the U.S.

I know for a fact that pesticides and other neurotoxins reduce IQ.

Besides the physical brain damage one can see with PET scans, and the neuro performance testing done on chem injury patients that show damage, (and my own case along with that of my spouse and thousands of cases I've seen like ours), there are also the independent studies that were not funded by the chem/pharm industry. Some of the more striking studies ever done have actually consisted of multiple ongoing studies over many years conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Guillette.

Guillette spent years recording the lives of children from two villages in Mexico that come from the same hereditary stock. Decades ago the families split into two villages due to strong philosophical differences in farming practices. One village never uses petrochemical pesticides, and the other does.

What is clear and striking are the differences in the quality of the drawings between the groups of children. The drawings coming from group that uses pesticides have poor detail, are scrawly, and are far less complex than the other drawings coming from the group in the village that doesn't use pesticides. Those drawings are higher quality and make stronger, more complex representations of the world around them.

Recently there's another striking study documented by Guillette. It's about the development of girls' breasts from both villages. The children from the pesticide village will never be able to nurse their children says Guillette because of the way the breast tissue is missing critical elements necessary to produce milk.

Guillette is a fine scientist. Her husband is Louis Guillette, a zoologist scientist who researches the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals on wildlife. It was he who showed that aligators for example, are becoming less able to reproduce because males have developed small and deformed penises. His first studies were done in Lake Apopka, FL after farmers reported seeing alligators that couldn't reproduce.

Thanks for posting a reply!

[moc]

62. I have a problem with the title of this post, specifically that these

chemicals are "impairing brain development". This implies that empirical evidence will be presented demonstrating demonstrable reductions in population level indices of brain development as a result of exposure to these drugs. Then, when I read the link, I see that all the Lancet paper is is a catalog of the potentially negative impacts of these industrial chemicals.

I'm not trying to poo-poo the concern, but I'll need to see a lot more convincing evidence before I get all in a tizzy about it. I'd like specific information on common levels of exposure in different populations. I'd like to see dose-response correlational data at a minimum between exposure and measures of cognitive outcome (not just IQ but also more refined measures such as information processing speed).

The truth is that the potentially neurotoxic effects, if there are any, are likely much more complex than the simple linear cause/effect that most assume. Let's take lead exposure as an example. The neurotoxic effects of lead are well-known. However, there are empirical data that have been around for quite some time (I think the citations are from late 70s, early 80s; I can look it up later if anyone is interested) that demonstrate there is a complex interaction between exposure to lead and socieconomic environment in terms of the resulting deficits in measures of cognitive functioning. That is, in a high SES environment, the same level of lead exposure would be associated with minimal if any cognitive deficits, whereas this level of exposure in a low SES environment is associated with a dramatic decline in functioning. It was dubbed many years ago as the "double jeopardy" of poverty -much more likely to be exposed to risk factors combined with a much greater impact of that risk. So reducing exposure to risks is important, but addressing the environmental deficits associated with poverty are proportionally much more important for reducing inequalities in cognitive development.

[AikidoSoul]

82. The trouble is that this is not seriously being investigated by the government which colludes with

industry to hide the truth.

Whenever toxicant induced (synthetic chemical exposure) illnesses ARE investigated, they are completely controlled and manipulated by political/ economic pressures which are powerful and unrelenting. The economic interests that strive to protect its bottom line essentially run the show. For starters, when chemically induced illnesses are researched the pressure is huge to conduct studies to look in the wrong places. Industry has successfully controlled this process for decades.

Well known examples are Agent Orange (combination of 2,4D and 2,4T) induced chronic illnesses in Vietnam War veterans, and Gulf War Illness vets of the Gulf War. "Investigations" into causes have always been politically controlled. The Air Force came out about six years ago and admitted that it lied in the original study and apologized. By that time a lot of those vets were dead because more than thirty years had passed. Then there's Gulf War Illness. With Gulf war illness -- scientists who have been conducting independent research on chemical injury for years -- were ignored by DoD when it came time to fund the studies. A good example of this is Claudia Miller, MD at the Univ. of Texas who has a excellent history and understanding of chemically induced illnesses. Her study design was flawless. DoD refused to give her anything.

The only really good, on-target research conducted on Gulf War Illness was funded by Ross Perot under the direction of two scientists, Robert Haley at the Univ. of Texas, and Abou Donia of Duke University. Much later DoD added some of its money, but Perot really controlled the process by threatening to fund it all if DoD didn't put something in the pot. Now chem/ pharm and is doing everything it can to destroy the two lead scientists funded by Perot, and the press cooperates-- such as the scathing Wash Post article on Haley a couple of months ago. There are plenty of high paid "checkbook scientists" who try to muddy the water, and attack dogs are continually making their lives miserable.

The Dept of Defense spent hundreds of millions on other studies that went down the wrong roads. Within the scientific community these things are known. The Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Illness was run off and for years by Mark Brown at the staff level. He admitted to me that he had a job waiting for him in the chem/ pharm industry when he was finished at PACGWI -- and that according to Brown, the PACGWI was doing political work, not scientific work --- and that the final decisions "will be a political one". He stunned me with this statement, but for a brief moment he was being totally honest about the reality of the situation--but I already knew that.

Do not seek and ye shall not find.... has been the saying of industry about toxicant induced illnesses for a very, very long time.

[moc]

87. I know Bob Haley personally. I guest lecture in one of his classes.

I know what you are saying is true. DoD tried to shut down UTSW on a spurious IRB violation, specifically because of Haley's work.

However, when you're talking about cognitive development in young children, the issues become much much more complex. This was the subject of my dissertation, so I know of which I speak. That was my point.

[AikidoSoul]

90. What is your dissertation topic specifically -? Of course it's true that this topic is

very complicated. So are our brains. Our understanding of how they work is very limited, but that doesn't stop the system from exposing our brains unrelentingly to a wide range of toxicants.

As a scientist you may want to know exact non-linear progressions of how young brains are affected by chemicals, but realistically this will likely remain elusive for a long time. You must already know that chemical "mechanisms" are elusive and that the majority of drugs and chemicals created are marketed even though it is not exactly known how they work. Most chemicals (not drugs) are required to show efficacy (if they do certain work), but are not required to show mechanisms of HOW they do that specialized work. Egregiously, chem development (not drugs)is allowed to EXCLUDE mention of the collateral damage they do, and critical data gaps are allowed to stand for decades.

We are a huge experiment, and that is no exxageration whatsoever.

Some of what we do know:

We do know that children have undeveloped detoxification capabilities.

We know that children's cells are dividing rapidly.

We know too that chemo (often neurotoxic) is used to destroy cancer cells that divide rapidly.

We know that we can see physical neuronal damage with neurotoxicant chemical injury.

We know that the olfactory is a direct pathway to the brain (even drug delivery systems utilize this pathway).

We know that many drugs cause a wide range of side effects.

We know that people with compromised detox enzyme systems get more side effects from drugs and chemicals.

We know that people who used to be able to detoxify chemicals o.k., can suddenly become unable to do so after chronic, low level or acute exposures exhaust these systems (low level chronic being far more insidious and permanent).

We also know that there can be genetic variability -- but I think this is too emphasized because it's obvious to me that detox systems can suddenly become disabled when injured -- and seem not to recover former abilities.

Yes-- it is complicated. Please don't discount increasing anecdotal reports that are all around us of those becoming sensitized to neurotoxicants and other types of chems. The research in the US is loaded with politics. You're working in a dangerous area -- and if you know Haley, then you know that he considers this area of research to be "a career killer".

I wish you the very best and hope we can share information.

I'm terrifically pleased to see the DU responses to this post. It's much better than preaching to the choir, which is what happens on many of the other list serves that specialize in exchanging info on this topic.

Check out Collaborative on Health and the Environment too. It's a good group that regularly exchanges scientific data on chemical impacts.

[moc]

94. My dissertation was on developmental risk, specifically on the interactions

between biological risk and environmental risk. That was 15 years ago. Since then, my research has focused on urban poverty and how it impacts developmental risk and resilience.

I just think it's a very fine line to walk between informing parents and scaring them unnecessarily. Let me give you a concrete example. I work with a fellow who's area of research is in dioxins. A few years ago, he reported on a study on dioxin levels in breastmilk, and his study got picked up by the popular press. He was quoted in the news as saying something like we were making our children dumber by breastfeeding them with contaminated breastmilk. I was livid. As a mother of an infant at the time, I was active in several online forums supporting breastfeeding mothers. The mothers in these forums were completely freaked out by this report in the news. I confronted this colleague and asked if he had any data actually linking dioxin levels in breastmilk to cognitive outcomes in his sample. He did not of course. There is a plethora of studies linking bf'ing with improved health outcomes for mother and baby and yet mothers would be scared into not bf'ing because of undocumented risks of dioxins in their breastmilk. The truth is that there is a synergistic relationship between a baby and his/her environment, and only one input into developmental competence are the biological risks to which s/he is exposed, including chemical exposures. Relative to the other influences on development, particular those in the social environment, the impact of chemicals on ultimate functioning are most probably very very small.

[AikidoSoul]

97. Risk assessment is woefully inadequate because of data gaps

If you see the tiny number of chemicals that have adequate testing data, you would realize why risk assessments -- conducted with paltry data -- are completely inadequate. More than that, they are highly misleading because the public assumes there is sufficient data to make these "assessments".

I did read about the dioxin-in-breast-milk issue and agree that babies are still better off being breast fed, generally speaking, because it confers so many benefits. To not breast feed would do more damage to the child. The problem of the researcher warning people to not breast feed babies is one of the few examples anyone can cite that shows how the notion of precaution can go astray. It sits almost by itself in making faulty assumptions regarding taking precautions about avoiding toxicants.

To be fair, it's difficult for anyone to make good assessments about what we should buy, or what we should avoid. Since data is scarce -- we can only make decisions on what we do know. I'd rather be cautious than pay the price, but of course it's too late for me and my spouse because we're already damaged badly. And we never even used pesticides! The sad fact is that our illnesses were triggered by others using pesticides in an adjoining building that we were unaware we even being used.

It's difficult being seen as one of the canaries -- and I guess it's difficult for some skeptics to accept that this is happening all over the world when we so badly want to believe that the world is a much better place, and that our government protects us.

But it doesn't. The result is that our bodies have become contaminated and we don't even know what most of them are doing to us at the sub clinical level. We know some things. We know for example that many of us are becoming highly sensitized to neurotoxins and other chems. We also know that every umbilical cord tested for chemicals over the past few years shows that the babies start out with a body burden that passed on from the mom.

I disagree vehemently with your following statement: "Relative to the other influences on development, particular those in the social environment, the impact of chemicals on ultimate functioning are most probably very very small."

That statement sits on a shaky foundation. As mentioned previously there is a huge deficit of testing prior to marketing. Since we're talking about brains here, let's start with the deficit in brain testing, and see where it takes us. At this point brain testing is not prior to marketing solvent based pesticides and many other chems. Because it takes decades to figure out the problems because of the lack of testing --we're essentially asking parents to trust chem/ pharm and the gov to do the right thing. Why should we? Chem / pharm profits not only from the toxic chemicals it manufactures, but from the huge array of drugs, medical imaging technologies, and therapies that it owns. It profits from our toxicant induced illnesses, so why in the world should it want to keep us safe when it profits so handsomely when we become ill?

And forget about liability. The legal system is fixed by the Dow Chemical case which has now established the Daubert Principle.

Just realize (using organophosphate pesticides as the example) that independent crude animal brain weight tests were the only brain tests ever conducted -- many years ago -- which showed that organophosphate pesticides (also in warfare nerve agents) damage the brain and actually reduce its size. That information was aggressively suppressed for years. When finally pressured by Congress Chem /pharm was told it had to conduct brain tests on these OP pesticides but instead it decided to voluntarily pull them from the lucrative household and lawn market. Unfortunately, this occurred after nearly five decades brain damaging exposures for countless adults and children.

We need to be far, far more cautious than we are.

[AikidoSoul]

95. MOC-- another thing. Here's a great theory of chem induced chronic illnesses getting excellent

reviews from those in the chemical injury community. Dr. Martin Pall hits so many points solidly and because he had also suffered from Chronic Fatigue, his own experience helps illuminate his thinking and helps make his work very exciting. His work has enormous integrity.

Pall authors breakthrough papers on toxicant induced neural sensitization, with special emphasis on the dark-side role of nitric oxide in this process. This information is cutting edge, perhaps leading us closer to understanding the chemical triggers and other stressors contributing to so many severe medical conditions we have today -- which cost society enormously. The effects of these triggers can be seen in both humans and animals.

All serious researchers in this field deeply respect Pall's ability to maintain independence from powerful economic / political influences.

The first link will take you to a seminal paper by Pall, but realize that his views about hypersensitization became developed later. He now realizes that sensitization can be much more pronounced than his original assertions suggest. In 2002 he used a conservative phrase describing toxicant induced neural hypersensitivity as being "... at least two orders of magnitude.." compared to normal populations. His more recent papers have adjusted that to being closer to one thousand-fold more sensitized. Here is the link to that first seminal paper that lays the foundation for the others:

http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/full/16/11/1407

The next link takes you to Pall's work at the University of Washington School of Molecular Biosciences web site. See how Pall has presented his case so we can better grasp the interrelationships of chemical hypersensitivity to other chronic illnesses that go by different names.

This is his web site at Washington State University that links Gulf War Illness, MCS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia that have similar triggers and overlapping symptomotology. These are less technical than the first paper and are perhaps better understood by laypersons:

http://molecular.biosciences.wsu.edu/Faculty/pall/pall_mcs.htm

[undergroundpanther]

64. Obesity

Is according to some an inflammation response to...CHEMICALS.

If it is toxic enough to mess with our enzyme systems brains and organs of course the body does stuff like get inflamed.

Obesity research has been stuck in the middle ages blaming the fat person, playing self responsibility games and teaching fat people to blame themselves hate themselves..thaty is far easier and more profitable then looking at pollution as a possible factor a possible factor in messing up gut flora,detoxing and endocrine function.
Maybe fat people are sometimes prone to disease is because thier bodies are already stressed fighing off invisible pollutants and chemical irritants wrecking havoc on thier cells. .The Chemical companies and industries are slowly poisoning us to death, Remember"tort reform" Very interesting it was passed a few years before this information about how chemical pollution wrecking our health was "discovered".

http://healthandenergy.com/inflammation_is_a_secret_killer.htm
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:Rw0n1w4-6iwJ:www.majidali.com/obesity-2.pdf+obesity+inflammation+response+to+chemical+pollution&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=49

[Duppers]

65. I'm glad you posted this

I caught your post in the other thread and thought this is very significant. Thanks for posting it again.

My husband and I both have multichemical sensitivities, allergies, and asthma. I also have "chronic fatigue syndrome" (a diagnosis which has brought ridicule from all sides) and my immune system is shot to hell. We have thought for a long time that something is extremely wrong with our environment.

Thanks and keep up the good work.

[undergroundpanther]

68. Thanks

If you found that post interesting..Do check out my other post upthread number 66, Remember Olestra..read a few of the responses before it too, talking about Dioxin.Read the links. Chilling.

[TheModernTerrorist]

67. This might be the cause

for the increase in autism cases.
Thanks for the post.

[undergroundpanther]

69. And heart disease

And who knows what else.

[RiverStone]

71. Great info and a question?

My eventual goal is to live in a chemical free built home (as best as possible). Filling the house with products, wood, etc. with minimal or ZERO chemicals - combining that with trying to have a ZERO carbon footprint as well. How can I create that?

OK, it may take me 5-7 years to get there....but I seek a few helpful links on building a home as described. Actually, when my teenage kids are grown---plan to sell this place, find land and live in a wood yurt with solar panels - really :)

Any ideas on cool links to check out?

[undergroundpanther]

72. It could cost alot

Here are some links I thought were good.

http://ranprieur.com/essays/dropout.html
http://www.jmooneyham.com/poor.html
http://www.powerfromsun.com/
http://solarcooking.org/
http://mizar5.com/
http://www.airwatercorp.com/
http://www.composttoilets.net/
http://www.alternatives.com/cob-building/what.html
http://www.gaiam.com/retail/SolarLiving
http://www.living-foods.com/bookstore/wildedibles.html
http://www.guerrillagardening.org/
http://beprepared.com/default.asp
http://enviro.org.au/waterFilter.asp

This oughta get you started.. Have fun.

[RiverStone]

79. Wow. Thanks for all the links!

It's much appreciated undergroundpanther! :)

And hopefully it will actually cost less $$ in the long run---don't imagine my home will exceed 1000 sq ft - 1 heat source, a garden etc.

cheers~

[Manifestor_of_Light]

73. Get your Hg fillings replaced and root canals pulled & jaw sterilized

The American Dental Association will yank the license of ANY dentist who tells their patients that Mercury is neurotoxic!!!!

To find a dentist that does things right, google "biologic dentistry" and "Huggins protocol".

I got my Hg fillings replaced with Cerex, and two root canal teeth pulled and the root tip pockets disinfected and sterilized because just about all root tips in those teeth have nasty anaerobic bacteria sitting there producing toxins that get in your blood stream.

I once had a major fight with a dentist because she put a quote "silver filling" in, which is misleading because it has mercury in it, and she didn't read my chart where I had written "I do NOT WANT any mercury fillings because it's poisonous."

Those people in the dental establishment are brainwashed. They think mercury is toxic before it goes in your mouth, and toxic when it comes out, since it has to be treated in a very specific EPA mandated way for toxic metals, but for some magical reason, it's perfectly safe (ha ha) and non reactive while it's in your mouth. Riiiight. And your mouth is an acid wet battery.
They've been putting mercury in fillings since about 1840, and dentists were writing papers about the bad effects by thirty years after that. But they refuse to give up. They are exercising prior restraint on free speech.

[undergroundpanther]

74. Don't forget

Your stomach has hydrochloric acid in it..What do you get when you mix mercury with hydrochloric acid and chlorine which drinking water most everywhere is laced with??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury(II)_chloride

Scary to think this shit is in YOUR TEETH, a toxic chemical reaction...
http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-profiles/summary.tcl?edf_substance_id=7487-94-7
http://www.hugginsappliedhealing.com/articles_digestivedisurbances.html
I wonder if amalgam is partly responsible for periodontal diseases? Read the description..
Toxicology

Acute poisoning by mercurials usually occurs in the case of corrosive sublimate. There is intense gastro-intestinal inflammation, with vomiting, frequent " rice-water " stools and extreme collapse. The treatment, except when the case is seen at once, is very difficult, but white-of-egg or other form of albumen is the antidote, forming an insoluble compound with the perchloride.

Chronic poisoning (hydrargyrism or mercurialism) is of great importance, since any indication of its symptoms must be closely watched for in patients who are under mercurial treatment. Usually the first symptom is slight tenderness of the teeth whilst eating, and some foetor of the breath. These symptoms become more marked and the gums become the seat of severe inflammation, being spongy, vascular and prone to bleed. The salivary glands are swollen and tender, and the saliva pours from the mouth, and may amount to pints in the course of a day. The teeth become quite loose and may fall out. The symptoms are aggravated until the tongue and mouth ulcerate, the jaw-bone necroses, haemorrhages occur in various parts of the body, and the patient dies of anaemia, septic inflammation or exhaustion. The treatment consists, besides stopping the intake of poison and relieving the symptoms, in the administration of potassium iodide in small, often repeated doses.

http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Mercury

I wish I could afford to get the mercury out of my teeth put there when I was younger.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

77. Thanks, i didn't know about that.

That sounds pretty horrible.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or health care professional. Use advice at your own risk.

Try to do what you can to detox. They have these "detox foot pads" you can slap on your feet at night. They make 'em in Japan. In the morning you peel them off and the gunk is amazingly gross!! I don't know if they help, but supposedly you can get 'em analyzed.

Also chelation suppositories.

There are herbs that help too.

[AikidoSoul]

83. Mercury blocks vitamin B12 from the central nervous system

which can cause very serious central nervous system and brain function problems.

Some chemically injured patients are adivised to takes the hydroxocobalamin form of B12, that it is readily converted to methylcobalamin via methyl donors found in certain food groups..... however, we take both types intramuscularly. Intramuscular injection is best because the vitamins are not
readily excreted as they are when taken orally. Also -- B12 is tricky to get into the CNS because of the large molecule. Stored in the muscle, it has longer to "get to" the CNS.

Here's part of a compelling article from Heavy Metal Bulletin about mercuy blocking B12 from the central nervous system (CNS).
******************************************************************************************************

Vitamin B12--- metals disturb transport -- From Heavy Metal Bulletin
http://www.algonet.se/~leif/fub12kau.html

The administration of relatively high doses of vitamin B12, in the form of methylcobalamin, in the treatment of fibromyalgia, diabetics, Multiple Sclerosis and amalgam-related disorders has been gradually increasing in Sweden since the end of the 80's. The results are remarkable...

Essential for blood formation and rapidly growing tissues, vitamin B12 is mainly present in animal food. A healthy person requires approximately 3-5 ug of vitamin B12 per day, the amount usually available in a normal diet.

For strict vegetarians, however, blue-green algae and bean sprouts are suitable sources.

The human body normally contains approx. 5000-10000 ug of vitamin B12, equally distributed in the liver and the nervous system. Due to the presence of the cobalt atom (trace element), vitamin B12 is also called cobalamin.

Anaemia

Vitamin B12 deficiencies have been mainly related to blood deficiency diseases, such as macrocytos and pernicious aneamia. First described in 1855, the latter was usually lethal. The connection with cobalamin was not established until after vitamin B12 was first isolated in 1948. (As early as 1926, however, it was found that raw liver, which later proved to be rich in vitamin B12, could effectively cure anaemia).

Causes and Symptoms

Deficiencies can be caused by low intestinal B12 uptake (intestinal disorders), low intrinsic factor (a substance essential for its transport to the blood) in the stomach, deficiency of hydrochloric acid in the gastric juices (increasing with old age), regular use of laxatives or medicines like Losec (for treatment of peptic ulcer), low uptake in the central nervous system (CNS) or excessive B12 degradation. Lack of calcium in the food can also reduce the uptake and so can heavy metals.

Vitamin B12 deficiencies are followed by neurological and psychological disorders, such as disturbed sense of co-ordination, paraesthesiae, loss of memory, abnormal reflexes, weakness, loss of muscle strength, exhaustion, confusion, low self-confidence, spacticity, incontinence, impaired vision, abnormal gait, frequent need to pass water, psychological deviances.

Non-anaemic deficiencies

Lately it has been discovered that anaemia is not always present in neurogical and psychological disturbances associated with B12 deficiencies.

In diseases such as Alzheimer's and suspected amalgam-related disorders, hidden B12 deficiencies in the CNS (without low blood values) have been found.

The transport of vitamin B12 to the brain can be disturbed or interrupted by heavy metals such as inorganic mercury, which affects the blood-brain barrier by causing leakage and hampering the active transport of nutrients.

Exposure to laughing gas (N2O), commonly given to women in labour, causes similar B12 deficiencies in the brain of the infant, and sometimes in mothers with low B12 levels (and the anaesthetist). When used as a sedative in connection with an operation, the gas can cause irreparable damage in an individual with B12 deficiency.

Non-anaemic vitamin B12 deficiencies also play a role in diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, Diabetes and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Schizophrenia, a psychotic condition, has been successfully treated with B12 injections in combination with other supplements. There also seems to be a connection between B12 deficiencies and cardiovascular diseases

In the 1950's, it was common practice to treat a patient with the first signs of herpes zoster with a vitamin B12 injection which effectively reversed the symptoms. This knowledge has fallen into oblivion. Ongoing research will most probably further increase the area of use of vitamin B12.

Test methods

Rarely detectable through normal testing procedures, such as blood serum or methyl malonic acid (emphasis added), B12 deficiencies in the brain and CNS can be determined by checking "increased homocystein in LIQUOR", (liquor cerebrospinalis)*, the most appropriate test method.

*) In rare cases, mainly very young patients, side-effects such as headaches may occur. It is therefore recommended to drink water and rest immediately after the spinal test.

If the blood serum B12 value is low, it can be expected that the B12 in the CNS is even lower. If B12 in methyl malonic acid is elevated while the serum value is normal, there are probably B12 deficiencies at a cellular level.

The LIQUOR-test method is rather complicated. Ordinary equipment can be used, but at the Uddevalla Hospital in Sweden, the method of analysis has been especially designed for the purpose. According to Dr. Bo Nilsson, Chief Physician, it is important to measure with an exactness of 1 pmol/L**. The secret is to extract the minute quantity of B12 available without changing the molecule.

**) One thousand of a millionth of a millionth mol per litre, which makes one millionth of a millionth of a gram/litre.

However, many amalgam patients use the trial-and-error method, and initiate the treatment without previous testing.

High doses

It has been suggested that in the presence of heavy metals the cobalt atom is oxidized from CO2+ to CO3+ (denaturation) at the same time as the heavy metal is reduced. The properties of the cobalamin are hypothetically changed and B12 has lost its biological properties. Due to its molecular size, B12 normally has difficulties in crossing the blood-brain barrier and it is possible that denaturation make this even more difficult. This process is analogous to the behaviour of laughing gas.

One of the advocates of this hypothesis is Dr. Britt Ahlrot-Westerlund in Stockholm. The reason why high doses are recommended is that, in the presence of heavy metals in the blood-brain-barrier (more specifically in the plexus chorioideus), most of the vitamin B12 seems to be consumed (for reasons we don't know) and, depending on the level of heavy metal exposure, part of the supplemented B12 will most probably also be consumed in this way until the surplus can be used in the brain where it is needed.

Hg seems to change valency and binding site in the body, and this causes increased free radical formation. It is possible that the Hg change in valency in prooxidative direction oxidizes the cobalt atom. There is, according to Dr. Westerlund, reason to believe that the process of Hg oxidation of the cobalt atom is analogous to the way in which Fe2+ in haemoglobulin is oxidized to Fe3+ in methaemoglobulin (incapable of releasing oxygen) by exogene toxic substances.

To confirm this, an in vitro investigation using electron spin resonance is planned at Stockholm University, Department of Biophysics.

Many different forms

The active vitamin comes in many different forms, i.e. methyl-, cyano-,adnosyl- and hydroxocobalamin, freely transformed into each other in the body. However, vitamin B12 in the brain and CNS is only present as methylcobalamin, which effectively transports methyl groups (-CH3) to proteins in the myelin, the insulating layer which together with fatty acids surrounds the nerve fibers, protecting them just like insulation on electric cables.

In cases of B12 deficiency, toxic fatty acids with 15-17 carbon atoms with a demyelinating effect on the myelin are formed, and the transmission of electrical impulses is disturbed. If enough B12 is supplied, the myelin might be repaired in the course of time.

Methylcobalamin

The uptake from oral B12 supplementation is usually very low, approx. 1 %.

Vitamin B12 is therefore often given intramuscularly.

Although vitamin B12 can be supplemented in any of its forms, it is given as

hydroxo- or sometimes as cyanocobalamin in many countries. In the south of Europe, however, methylcobalamin is generally used to treat disorders such as neuritis and polyneuropathia. Highly recommended by the Swedish Association of Dental Mercury Patients, it is usually the drug of choice for the treatment of patients with amalgam-induced disorders.

In the experience of Dr. Ahlrot-Westerlund among others, B12 in its active form, methylcobalamin, gives a much better result than other forms which have to be transformed into methylcobalamin. It is possible that the process of transformation itself is inefficient in many patients.

It has been suspected that the supplementation of methylcobalamin in the presence of mercury could lead to the formation of methyl mercury. Inorganic mercury steals methyl groups from methylcobalamin, and methyl mercury is formed. However, methyl mercury is not more toxic than inorganic in mercury and the positive effects of B12 supplementation in this form seem to outweigh the possible disadvantages.

Preservatives

Methylcobalamin should be obtained with dry substance and liquid packed separately to increase the shelf life. The preparation should be kept in the dark stored at a temperature below 25 degees C and used within a year.

(Premixed preparations, on the other hand, should be kept in a refrigerator).

Many of the vitamin B12 preparations on the market contain preservatives which can cause problems in sensitive patients. However, the methylcobalamin available under the product names "Algobaz" from Portugal or "Cobamet" produced by a French company (Roussel) also in Portugal do not.

The corresponding Japanese preparation, Esai's Mecobal, contains only 0.5 mg B12. According to Dr. Bo Nilsson, it is probable that, given daily, the transport between the blood-brain barrier is saturated even by such a small dose. In Dr. Ahlrot-Westerlund's opinion, however, methylcobalamin for patients with metal-induced disorders should be given daily intramuscularly* in doses of 10 mg with 8 x 5 mg oral folic acid and 300 mg vitamin B6 for 6 days a week until a positive effect is achieved and then continued until no further peak is achieved. This can take as long as 1/2-1 year or perhaps even longer. The dose should then be gradually diminished (given every other day for example).

*) given subcutaneously, the B12 treatment is, according to Dr.Westerlund, not as effective.

Multiple deficiencies

In many cases it can be assumed that multiple deficiencies, not always easily separable, are present. For example, lack of folic acid can also cause anaemia and its supplementation can mask a B12 deficiency. Therefore it is important that both vitamins are supplied, and to some extent also the other vitamins in the B-complex. Some of the symptoms of B12 deficiency are also present in B1 deficiency** and both deficiencies can be present at the same time.

**) diagnosed by testing thiamin pyrimydine phosphate in serum

(expensive)

For a successful recovery from amalgam-poisoning among other disorders, the importance of additional supplementation of essential fatty acids (fish oil

etc.) and anti-oxidants should be emphasized.

<<<<SNIP>>>>

[pecwae]

81. Thank you!

Was just reading about the arsenic in treated lumber that can leach out upwards of 15 years.

I feel surrounded by toxins!

edit to add: aspartame converting into formaldehyde in the body.

[TZ]

84. environmental toxins: benzene

I think this is one of the most underreported threats to our health these days. The various industrial chemicals/toxins and the damage they do. In my case in 1988-89 I was a student at Maryland in Organic Chem working with potential carcinogens like Benzene and Toluene. The fume hoods we used never worked well in my opinion and I wondered if I was exposed to anything. Well early last year I was diagnosed with a rare blood malignancy, related to leukemia called Essential Thrombocythemia. The bone marrow makes too many platelets (clotting cells) which can lead to both clotting and bleeding as well as stroke. And even though its not cancer there are some doctors which call it "pre-leukemia". Most people diagnosed with this disease are in their late 50's early 60's. I was 36 at the time. I also read that these kind of rare bone marrow problems are related to exposure to benzene and usually show up 10-30yrs after exposure. That would be about 15 yrs for me so it really had me thinking..:think:

[AikidoSoul]

93. And toluene is in perfume, along with other brain poisons NOT regulated and even with widespread

reports of brain injury from solvents in synthetic fragrance products, the feds will not do anything to regulate them and exclude the brain toxins. It's a travesty.

One continual exposure that too many people are getting is from laundry products with synthetic fragrances, and dryer sheets and fabric softeners. Fabric softeners have special characteristics that make them especially dangerous. What fab softeners do is to "coat" the fabric with persistent (binds tightly to the molecular matrix of the fabric) with lipid-like chemicals that make it appear as if the fabric is "soft". The trouble is that petrochemicals in the air are highly attracted to lipids. Petrochems love to bind to and store in fat-like substances like the brain, blood lipids, body fat, other petrochems, etc-- these chems just go there and stay there. The more lipid-like chems there are in your clothes, the more of a build-up there is of petrochems that you're exposing yourself to 24/7 even while you sleep on those "nice soft" sheets!

Because we've developed hypersensitivities to neurotoxicans, if we sleep on sheets with fabric softener -- we feel hyperagitated, have difficulty sleeping, and get cramps and fibrillations throughout the night. Fibrillations in the extremeties makes you feel as if low voltage electrical current is running through your feet and lower legs.

[TZ]

99. did not know that

Thanks. Pretty scary. Never liked the smell of those fabric softerners anyway. And perfume makes me sneeze...

[earth mom]

86. K & R! This is one of the most important threads on DU right now!

Thank you for posting the truth! :applause:

[autorank]

89. This is critical...thank you. KR

Iatrogenic is the term...from outside. There was a finding down here, DC area, that the water supply had elements of psychiatric and other prescription drugs in it. They'd never thought to filter for that in the past. So, would you like some Lithium with that steak. Sad stuff. The explosion of autism diagnoses is as alarming as it gets. More knowledge - more options.

Thank you.

[donsu]

92. awarding you solid gold star necklace for caring enough to post this info

however, a virtual necklace as much gold mining is beneath contempt

[libodem]

96. First the frogs

then us.

[Jcrowley]

98. Heavy metal contamination in sewge sludge applied to soil

I suggest going to the link below to see the tables which indicate how lax US standards are compared to the rest of the world. We know who writes the legislation and controls the process at the EPA.

On a related note:

TABLE 1 Sewage sludge generation rates 


Source: U.S. EPA and Reference (2)


Large amounts of sewage sludge are generated annually in the United States and western Europe.


Country
Amount
(million tons dry solids/yr)
Disposal method (%)

Application
to land
Land
filling
Incineration
Other

Austria
320
13
56
31
0

Belgium
75
31
56
9
4

Denmark
130
37
33
28
2

France
700
50
50
0
0

Germany (West)
2500
25
63
12
0

Greece
15
3
97
0
0

Ireland
24
28
18
0
54

Italy
800
34
55
11
0

Luxembourg
15
81
18
0
1

Holland
282
44
53
3
0

Portugal
200
80
13
0
7

Spain
280
10
50
10
30

Sweden
180
45
55
0
0

Switzerland
215
50
30
20
0

United Kingdom, 1991
1107
55
8
7
30

United States
6900
41
17
22
20


United States stands alone


When it comes to spreading sludge on agricultural land, the United States has the most relaxed standards for metals among developed nations. Standards for heavy metals are up to 100 times higher than any other country has ever proposed (Table 2, (1, 3-7)). To make this comparison, U.S. standards, expressed as cumulative loadings, or total permissible additions of sludge on a metric tons per hectare basis, have to be compared with European standards, expressed in terms of concentration in treated soil. Although these comparisons require an assumption about how far down into the soil the sludge is mixed, the differences between the standards are so large as to overwhelm any uncertainty in the conversion.


Everyone agrees that sludge contains toxic metals, although at what level and when such metals might cause harmful effects are largely unknown. In most cases, the metals are not a problem now, but they could be an issue sometime in the future, between 50 and 500 years hence. Many European scientists favor the low estimate, whereas many U.S. scientists favor the high one. Depending on who is right, farmers could be risking potentially dreadful consequences because once damaged, soil could be almost impossible to fix. Faced with these questions, EPA scientists decided that they already knew enough to make some decisions. “We know more than enough to say with confidence that high-quality sludge can be used practically forever on farmland without any adverse effects,” says Rufus Chaney, a U.S. Department of Agriculture soil scientist in Beltsville, MD, who is one of EPA's principal science advisors and a vigorous champion of the U.S. approach.


TABLE 2 Heavy metal contaminant standards


There is no general agreement concerning the maximum allowable concentrations of various metals in sewage sludge.



Country
Year
Cd
Cu
Cr
Ni
Pb
Zn
Hg

European Communitya (3)
1986
1–3
50–140
100–150a
30–75
50–300
150–300
1–1.5

France (1)
1988
2
100
150 
50
100
300
1

Germanyb (1)
1992
1.5
60
100 
50
100
200
1

Italy (1)
 
3
100
150 
50
100
300
-

Spain (1)
1990
1
50
100 
30
50
150
1

The Netherlandsc (4):

Clean soil reference values
 
0.8
36
100 
35
85
140
0.3

Intervention values
 
12
190
380 
210
530
720
10

United Kingdomd (5)
1989
3
135
400a
75
300
200 e
1

Denmark (1)
1990
0.5
40
30 
15
40
100
0.5

Finland (1)
1995
0.5
100
200 
60
60
150
0.2

Norway (6)
 
1
50
100 
30
50
150
1

Sweden (1)
 
0.5
40
30 
15
40
100
0.5

United Statesf (7)
1993
20
750
1500 
210
150
1400
8



aValues are currently being revised.
b Values are for soil pHs > 6. At pH 5-6, the Cd and Zn limits are 1.0 and 150 mg/kg, respectively.
c Soil cleanup levels which also apply to agricultural land amended with sewage sludge. Concentrations less than the clean soil reference are considered clean soil.
d Values shown are for soil pHs 6-7. Other values apply at pH 5-6 and >7 (U.K. DoE, 1989).
e Changed following Independent Scientific Committee recommendations (see text).
f Calculated from maximum cumulative pollutant loading limits mixed into soil plow layer. Soil background concentrations are not taken into account.

Read here:
http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Sewage-Sludge-Pros-Cons.htm

[TZ]

102. Whats sad is..

we don't seem to be learning. Did you know that people are starting to use DDT again on a regular basis (of course not in this country yet) claiming that the damaging effects are overstated, ie "junk science" and that its helpful in controlling malaria (3rd most deadly infectious disease behind TB and AIDS) and other diseases by killing mosquitos. (usually the same crowd who objects to spending money on vaccines for impoverished countries as not being "worthwhile")