Time to Come Clean: What's in Toxic Cleaners

Had you attended any of the Green Living classes I started teaching almost 20 years ago now you might have been alerted to some of the very toxic ingredients in the many cleaning products sold in major grocery chains.

Somehow it seems not so long ago, but at least now the subject is at a critical mass and for that reason so many more people will have access to this information.

Do Common Cleaners Have Toxic Ingredients?
Lawsuit attempts to enforce arcane law in effort to force full disclosure on U.S. cleanser industry.

People concerned about the use of chemicals in their homes and schools have long sought out alternative and DIY cleansers that promise nontoxic cleaning. Ingredients in cleansers could contaminate indoor air, or lead to more subtle developmental, hormonal or reproductive effects, according to laboratory studies on those specific ingredients.

Now, environmental groups are taking several giants of the conventional cleanser industry to court, in an effort to enforce a forgotten New York law they say requires the companies to disclose all chemical ingredients in their products. The 1976 law, according to Earthjustice "requires household and commercial cleaner companies selling their products in New York to file semi-annual reports with the state listing the chemicals contained in their products and describing any company research on these chemicals' health and environmental effects."

Earthjustice filed the lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of state and national groups: Women's Voices for the Earth, Environmental Advocates of New York, New York Public Interest Research Group, Riverkeeper, Sierra Club, and American Lung Association in New York.

Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, Church and Dwight and Reckitt-Benckiser, and the dozens of brands each produces, are being targeted because they did not respond to a request to disclose their ingredients, as apparently is required by law. Several companies, including the California-based Sunshine Makers, Inc. (manufacturers of Simple Green products), complied with the request, filing reports with the state for the first time.

(Clorox, whose Greenworks brand has been endorsed by the Sierra Club, has also responded, according to David Willett, a Sierra Club spokesman: "Our partnership with the Greenworks line of products did facilitate more direct conversations because we now have relationships with people at Clorox, but our partnership itself did not play a role. Rather is was Clorox's assurance ... that they have a plan which the company has already started implementing for disclosing ingredients in accordance with the law.")

The Soap and Detergent Association, an industry group for U.S. cleaning products manufacturers, responded to the lawsuit by saying it "is unfounded, lacks legal standing and its claims are not supported by state law." The association pointed to its November 2008 Consumer Product Ingredient Communication Initiative, a voluntary program to disclose more ingredients publicly.
"Responsible manufacturers ensure their products go through comprehensive, extensive risk assessments, and also review scientific developments and monitor product use data that may affect the safety assessment process," the SDA statement reads, in part. "An incredible amount of research and development goes on before these products ever hit the shelves, not to mention that the products must meet federal and state quality and safety regulations." The Soap and Detergent Association (SDA - ), the Home of the U.S. Cleaning Product and Oleochemical Industries(R), is a one-hundred plus member trade association representing the $30 billion U.S. cleaning products market. SDA members include the formulators of soaps, detergents, and general cleaning products used in household, commercial, industrial and institutional settings; companies that supply ingredients and finished packaging for these products; and oleochemical producers. SDA and its members are dedicated to improving health and the quality of life through sustainable cleaning products and practices. Website: http://www.cleaning101.com/

You can read more about the lawsuit on the Earthjustice Web site, and the industry's response.

Among the ingredients of concern ethylene glycol ethers and other solvents, alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), surfactants called ethanolamines as well as chlorine and ammonia in combination. The following is a list of the brands, as listed by Earthjustice, made by each company targeted in the lawsuit:
Colgate-Palmolive

* Ajax Fabuloso All-Purpose Cleaner
* Dynamo
* Tom's of Maine
* Softsoap
* Palmolive (dishwashing soap)
* Ajax Dish Liquid
* Dermassage
* Murphy Oil Soap (wood cleaner, soap spray, soft wipes)
* Suavitel

Reckitt-Benckiser

* Calgon
* Vanish
* Resolve
* Spray ‘n Wash
* Woolite
* Lysol
* Finish (dishwashing detergent)
* Electrasol (dishwashing detergent)

Procter and Gamble

* Joy
* Cascade
* Ivory (laundry detergent and dish detergent only)
* Dawn
* Mr. Clean
* Swiffer
* Bounce
* Cheer
* Downy
* Dreft
* Era
* Gain
* Ivory
* Tide

Church and Dwight

* Brillo steel wool soap pads
* Brillo Scrub 'n' Toss
* Scrub Free Soap Scum Remover
* Scrub Free Mildew Stain Remover
* Scrub Free Disinfectant Bathroom Cleaner
* Arm & Hammer Clean Shower
* SNOBOL Toilet Bowl Cleaner
* Parsons' Ammonia
* Cameo Aluminum & Stainless Steel Cleaner
* Cameo Copper Brass & Porcelain Cleaner
* Kaboom (various bathroom cleaners)
* Orange Glo Hardwood Floor Care
* Orange Glo Wood Furniture Cleaner & Polish
* OxiClean (stain removers for clothing and carpet)

Find this article at: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/toxic-cleaners-47021801

Stop GMO Corn NOW!

UPDATE: 18 February
Please realise that it has been proven that GM products do alter tissue in the human boy and the long term effect of this alteration is unknown.
EU court attacks GM crop secrecy

Europe's top court has ruled that EU governments have no right to conceal the location of field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops.

The European Court of Justice was responding to a case brought by Pierre Azelvandre in Alsace, eastern France.

He wanted to know where GM field trials had taken place in his local area.

The only EU-approved GM crop is a strain of corn developed by the US firm Monsanto. But GM trials for research are legal, under strict controls.

The court in Luxembourg ruled on Tuesday that "information relating to the location of the release can in no case be kept confidential".

It said "considerations relating to the protection of public order and other secrets protected by law... cannot constitute reasons capable of restricting access to the information listed by the [EU] directive, including in particular those relating to the location of release".

On Monday, the European Commission failed in a bid to force the governments of France and Greece to allow Monsanto's GM corn to be grown in their countries.

Opponents of GM crops say more scientific data is needed, arguing that their long-term genetic impact on humans and wildlife could be harmful.

The biotech industry says the crops are as safe as traditional varieties, and that they would provide plentiful, cheaper food.

Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7896813.stm
Published: 2009/02/18 12:29:39 GMT
© BBC MMIX

Genetically Engineered Crops Creating More Pesticide Addiction in U.S.
According to a recent (December 2008) global summary report from the Worldwatch Institute:
1) The U.S. leads the world, by far, in genetically engineered crop production and consumption.

2) The widespread planting of crops genetically engineered to resist specific pesticides (which allows farmers to apply more pesticides to their
crops) has created 15 new species of plants known as "superweeds" that are resistant to commonly used pesticides. In 2008, these superweeds were discovered on hundreds of thousands of acres of U.S. farmland.

3) Due to the presence of these new superweeds, GM crop production has already led to a $60 million annual increase in pesticide use in the U.S.
Most of that money goes to the same companies that developed the GM crops that were supposed to reduce pesticide use in the first place.

Respond by this Friday, 6 Feb.
February 3, 2009

Tell USDA "NO" on new untested genetically engineered corn

USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has given preliminary approval to Event 98140 corn, the first of a new generation of pesticide-promoting, genetically engineered (GE) crops designed to survive spraying with multiple herbicides. This latest petition to deregulate a new, untested, and complex GE crop poses food safety, environmental, and agronomic concerns that were not adequately evaluated by the previous Administration's USDA. APHIS has failed to adequately address a range of health and environmental risks in its draft environmental assessment (EA), including novel food safety concerns, increased pesticide use and increased prevalence of herbicide-resistant weeds.

To make matters worse, the USDA has limited the opportunity for public input, by only accepting comments until this Friday, February 6th!

Speak out now! Tell USDA to put the brakes on this approval, and prepare and publish a thorough Environmental Impact Statement before making a decision. Visit the Center for Food Safety's True Food Network at http://ga3.org/campaign/PioneerCorn TODAY to learn more and take action.

Thanks for all your support for family farmers and a sustainable future for all!

Sincerely,
The Farmers and Staff of Organic Valley Family of Farms

Yes, rBGH is a thing of the past, so we are told

"...yogurt can only serve as a source of absorbable calcium if it is prepared from unpasteurized milk and is unsweetened."

Yoplait, the not real yoghurt stuff promoted mainly to women under many sorts of advertising, especially connected to the fraudulent pink lid campaign, may still be hiding health from you.

While everyone is now happy with General Mills for telling us they decided, after a lot of pressure, to stop using rBGH (recombinant or genetically modified - bovine growth hormone containing milk for their Yoplait brand of products.

Of course you need to ask what else they might not be telling you.

Yoplait might not be telling you that aspartame is still in their "light" versions. Aspartame is a known carcinogen and that is exactly why people in Hawaii and New Mexico are now attempting to get the substance banned from their states.

They might also not be telling you that using low fat or non fat milk to manufacture their product will keep you from getting to be able to sue the calcium that you think is in all dairy food and helps give you healthy bones. Yes, ladies, you really do need fat in milk to be able to absorb and utilize the calcium because it is a fat dependent nutrient.

Have they mentioned that the sugar used ion their fruit versions also block the absorption of both calcium and protein?

And what about the high level of phosphorus in their products?

And just why is it so hard these days to get unpasteurized (raw) milk, something previously easy to purchase within the last 20 years?

Be that as it is, a colleague happened to send along this morning from one of his recent articles:

Yogurt is also heavily promoted as a good calcium source. Aside from the fact that a great many people have dairy food sensitivities that make these foods congesting and a causative factor in a wide variety of catarrhal disorders, yogurt can only serve as a source of absorbable calcium if it is prepared from unpasteurized milk and is unsweetened. The uptake of calcium from the small intestine into the blood is inhibited by the presence of sugar.

Plain unadulterated milk made at home into health promoting yoghurt is a longevity secret of the Bulgarians. Here's some information to help you do some thinking about grocery store quality products.

If you'd rather have a healthier brand try Nancy's or Strauss. Better yet make your own.

How To Lose Belly Fat Fast

No one has ever been tempted into a relationship by a fat
pot belly. Nor has anyone extended their life with a big
tummy. That belly fat doesn't enhance the fit of your
clothes. With all the tempting fast foods and a busy life,
what are you to do? If you want to lose belly fat, you can.
With a careful belly fat diet and consistent moderate
exercise, you can lose belly fat, and keep it off!

Lose weight with and feel great with the world's #1 super food!

The most common mistake people make when trying to lose
belly fat or lose love handles fast is thinking that
starving themselves will work. If you don't eat but exercise
strenuously, you'll find yourself drained, hungry and still
not losing weight. Another common belief is to eat very
little but fail to exercise. This approach won't lose that
belly fat either.

Your body doesn't operate that way. With small amounts of
food, your metabolism slows to compensate for the lack of
food. So fat will be burned, but much less than with a
combination of diet and exercise.

The secret to losing your fat is to reduce food portions,
and get daily exercise. You can eat whatever you want, as
long as it's nutritious and portions are smaller. Smaller
portions allow you all the tastes you already enjoy, but
because you're eating less, your body will be a fat burning
machine without the awful side effects and dangers of
starvation.

If you're going to consume 1500 calories per day, then a
half-hour of belly exercise will be enough to slowly burn
weight. If you want to ramp it up, then increase the amount
of exercise as you see fit (pun intended). But half an hour
of belly exercises are usually hard enough for a person to
do.

Why is this? Why does it seem much harder to lose belly fat
than anywhere else on your body? It's not that you aren't
burning fat, it's just that the stomach naturally has more
padding. Also, when people try to lose belly fat, they
usually aren't making the most of their exercise program.

They stop between situps, which slows down the fat burning
process. Instead, when you exercise, go all the way through
the routine, stopping only when absolutely necessary.
Another very effective technique to lose belly fat is to do
twists. Standing with your legs apart, twist the upper half
of your body from side to side, with arms stretched out to
the sides. Toe-touches are also a good exercise. These all
provide for a smaller waist and flatter stomach.


Lose weight fast and fit into your favorite jeans. Get AcaiBurn Free today!

When you start your diet and exercise programs, remember not
to slow down. Missing even one day will lead to missing
"just" two days, and soon you're eating burger after burger
while breaking that couch in a little more. After you lose
your fat, don't stop your exercise program. Now you're fit,
so keep yourself that way!

Weight Lifting Fitness Myths – 4 Muscle Building Lies

The defining characteristic of human beings is our ability to freely communicate and share knowledge with one another. Unfortunately, the knowledge we share with each other sometimes isn't really knowledge at all but false and potentially damaging information. Having been a fitness enthusiast for more than 5 years I have heard all kinds of myths and misconceptions being preached as practical advice.

Sometimes this misleading advice is basically benign and won't harm your muscle building efforts. Other times, however, weight lifting fitness myths can actually prevent you from achieving the results that you have likely been working very hard for. Always remember to exercise common sense and your own intuition when taking advice from fellow weight lifters even if that individual happens to be a personal trainer and certified expert.

Here are 3 muscle building lies that you may have encountered at some time or another:

1. No Pain, No Gain – This one is actually half true. When an exercise is new or you have increased the amount of weight being lifted you will likely feel muscle pain in the effected area within a few hours of working out. But this is the only time you should feel pain from weight training. Feeling intense pain during a workout or chronic pain following a workout is not normal and is your body's way of telling you somethings wrong. If you experience this kind of pain you should consider serious changes in your workout routine as you are likely putting yourself at very high risk for serious injury.

2. Steroids Will Help You Bulk Up Like A Balloon – There is no such thing as a magic bullet that will grow muscle on your body without you having to lift a finger. Steroids will only grow muscle if taken in conjunction with a high intensity workout routine. At the same, a proper diet combined with a few supplements will produce similar results but without the dangerous side effects of steroids. If taken for prolonged periods steroids can cause serious health problems including kidney failure which is often failure.

3. Taking Time Off Will Cause You To Lose Your Muscle Gains – I was once told that if you take more than a few days off from working out your body will begin to convert your muscle tissue into fat and thus reverse your muscle gains. Not only is this not true at all but taking a week off every 8-10 weeks is actually a good thing and will heal those small and perhaps unfelt injuries throughout your body. When you do take time off always mix in a couple of hours of cardio per week.

4. More Protein Means More Muscle – It is true that you need lots of protein in your diet to build muscle but protein is not all important. To build muscle mass you need to stimulate muscles beyond their normal levels of resistance and take in more calories than you burn off. Muscles actually work on calories not on protein and the calories you do take in should be derived from carbohydrates.

weight lifting fitness,weight exercises,weight tips,fitness and

Better Health Without SOY

Soy is a food that has many known problems and negative effects on health. Several articles on soy are posted here at Natural Health News and many articles are found on our main web site.

It is also good to recall that the push to give your "cholesterol lowering plant sterols" adds more soy and toxic canola oils to your diet, while lowering health protective carotenoids (vitamin A family).

"What if I told you that the Food and Drug Administration lists soy as a poisonous plant?"

It really does pay to get educated and read labels before something goes in your shopping cart.

This article provides a good overview of the problems.

Highlights -

* soy oil was the first and primary profit centre for soy, and soy was largely responsible for the spread of hydrogenated or trans fats

* most soy is genetically modified

* soy farming is wreaking greater devastation on forests, cottage industries, and family farms than the cattle industry. (If you mistakenly thought soy was a bunch of hippie farmers, like I did, Dr. Daniel tells it like it is: "Let's name names. Monsanto, Dupont, Archer Daniels Midland, Solae . . . Nearly all the old hippie companies have been bought up by the big boys. For example, White Wave is owned by Dean Foods. Some of America's largest food companies now manufacture soy foods or use soy ingredients heavily in their products. Think Kraft, Kellogg, ConAgra, General Mills, Heinz, Unilever Best Foods and Dean Foods.")

* soy is a major allergen, and because it is used as filler in hundreds of products including meats and 'vegetable oil,' people with allergies may be at risk

* soy contains goitrogens, which damage the thyroid

* soy contains lectins, which cause red blood cells to lump together and may trigger abnormal immunity responses

* soy contains oligosaccarides, sugars that cause bloating and gas

* soy contains oxalates, which prevent calcium absorption, cause painful kidney stones and vulvodynia, a vaginal disorder

* many plant foods contain phytates and phytic acid, naturally occurring 'pesticides' to keep plants from being eaten while growing. phytates impair mineral absorption, and in fact, remove many minerals already in the body, including iron, zinc, and calcium. phytates in many foods are alleviated by cooking - soy's phytate levels are high and stubborn.

* isoflavones, lauded as natural estrogens, are serious endocrine disruptors, lowering testosterone, causing menstrual disorders, and cancer cell proliferation

* protease inhibitors interfere with digestive enzymes, saponins may lower good cholesterol and damage intestine

* that all of these plant chemicals can have benefits, and do exist in other foods, to varying levels of edibility: that soaking grains and fermenting beans are ancient food prep traditions

* soymilk is far from a natural food: it is filled with rancid fats and high in sugar

* soy cheeses are largely made with hydrogenated oils (safety level of hydrogenated products? ZERO)

* some health problems that may be associated with soy foods are: bladder, prostate, colorectal, thyroid and breast cancer; precancerous lesions; heart disease; type 2 diabetes; malnutrition; stunted growth; flatulence; pancreatic problems; low libido: early puberty; anemia; zinc deficiency; osteoporosis; intestinal damage; mal-absorption and leaky gut syndrome; kidney stones; allergies; infant death; immune system disruption; thyroid disease - and the list goes on.

Aluminum and Cooking

UPDATE: 3 February 2010

    In the brain of his low dose test animals, Isaacson observed a tangling of capillary blood vessels, reduced oxygen uptake along with the peculiar crystalline structures, all of which are identical to those found in Alzheimer's victims. Dr. Isaacson's research indicates that the Alzheimer's-like effects result from the transport of aluminum to the brain and the high death rates from the toxicity of the fluorine.
    Aluminum has previously to this, of course, been implicated in Alzheimer's, but how is the link made between fluoridation of human drinking water and the presence of aluminum fluoride? According to Drs. Carton and Burgstahler, fluoride being the most electrochemically active of all the elements, it has a strong propensity to create metallic compounds with itself whenever fluoridated water comes into contact with such things as aluminum cooking vessels. Ergo: there is created aluminum fluoride from cooking with such vessels using fluoridated water and not incidentally, according to Dr. Robert Carton, former EPA scientist, aluminum is used in city water treatment.
    "An incidental observation of possible importance must be mentioned," the research paper adds. "Pathologic changes were found in the kidneys of animals in both the AlF 3 and NaF [sodium fluoride] groups." If all this weren't enough, the research team observed a "general impairment in the immune capacities of the treated subjects." They also found that the death rate increased among those animals treated with the aluminum fluoride where stress was elevated due to a training regime.

Originally posted Feb, 2009


I think this clarifies that using aluminum cookware of any kind is not health promoting. Keep in mind too that aluminum is now often used as a preservaative in vaccines.

Is anodized aluminum cookware better than non-anodized?

Concerns with aluminum cookware come from the fact that measurable amounts of aluminum can migrate from the pot into the food. Several research studies have confirmed migration of aluminum from conventional aluminum cookware at a level of concern for our health. Aluminum is included in the 2007 list of top priority toxins in the United States (a list put out every year by the Agency for Toxic Substances &; Disease Registry), and aluminum has been clearly identified as a toxin for the human nervous system (neurotoxicity), immune system (immunotoxicity), and genetic system (genotoxicity).

Anodization is a process in which chemical baths are used to prepare the surface of aluminum to receive an electrical charge that will increase the thickness of the oxide layer and make it harder, more durable, and less likely to corrode. Anodized aluminum is definitely less reactive than non-anodized aluminum and will leach less aluminum as a result, provided that the surface has not been damaged. Although it is more difficult to damage the surface of anodized versus non-anodized aluminum, its surface can still be damaged.

Although the non-stick properties of anodized aluminum have been a selling point for this cookware to consumers, most cookware in the marketplace using anodized aluminum does not feature this material on the surface that is in contact with the food; instead, they feature a specialized non-stick surface that may have potential toxicity problems much greater than anodized aluminum. Many manufacturers are taking advantage of the durability and quick heat-transfer properties of anodized aluminum by using this material on the exterior of their pots and pans, but they are leaving the non-stick tasks to another material (not anodized aluminum).

Given all of the potential health risk factors listed above-together with the environmental problems created by aluminum mining and manufacturing-I still favor stainless steel and porcelain-coated pots as my first choices for stovetop cooking. Copper-bottomed pots or pots with a layer of copper in between the stainless steel are also fine. Some stainless steel cookware now comes with a layer of anodized aluminum sandwiched inside, and that cookware would also be fine from a health standpoint, even though the environmental problems with aluminum would remain.

It's important to wash all cookware carefully. For example, take care not to scour stainless steel pots too harshly when cleaning them as once the surface of the stainless steel has been damaged, the pot will leak nickel into the food that is being cooked. Stainless steel pads or brushes, for example, are too harsh in my opinion to risk using.

Inside the oven, stainless steel, tempered glass designed for oven use (for example, oven-safe Pyrex), and non-leaded ceramic are all good choices.

References:

Rajwanshi P, Singh V, Gupta MK, et al. Leaching of aluminium for cookwares: A review. Environmental Geochemistry and Health. 1997;19(1):1-18.

Gramiccioni L, Ingrao G, Milana MR, et al. Aluminium levels in Italian diets and in selected foods from aluminium utensils. Food Additives and Contaminants. 1996; 13(7):767-774.
Courtesy: whfoods.org

And again we have a report on the correlation of aluminum and Alzheimer's.

Aluminum, silica in water affect Alzheimer's riskWed Mar 4, 2009
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Higher levels of aluminum in drinking water appear to increase people's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, whereas higher levels of silica appear to decrease the risk, according to French investigators.

"Alzheimer's disease is a multifactorial disease, and aluminum concentrations in drinking water may have an effect on cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease," Dr. Virginie Rondeau told Reuters Health.

The results of some studies suggest that silica reduces the oral absorption of aluminum or increases the excretion of this metal.

Rondeau, at the Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale in Bordeaux, and her colleagues examined associations between exposure to aluminum or silica from drinking water and the risk of cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease among elderly subjects followed for 15 years.

Daily aluminum intake of at least 0.1 milligram was associated with greater cognitive decline during the course of the study, the team reports in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Subjects with a high daily aluminum intake had a 2.26-fold increased risk of dementia, the researchers note. On the other hand, for every 10 milligram-per-day intake of silica, the odds of developing dementia dropped by 11 percent.

"Further studies are needed to settle the debate over the link between aluminum or silica in drinking water and neurologic disorders and cognitive impairment," the investigators conclude.

SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, February 15, 2009.
Copyright © 2009 Reuters Limited