Toxic City

Toxins are everywhere; in the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe. Luckily, they have little effect on us in small doses. Although, when they accumulate in our bodies through repeated exposure, they can be harmful. And their number is growing, due to the invention of new chemicals for industrial and scientific uses. Not to scare you away but you might want to take a look at these harsh looking one's below for your own safety while shopping for home accessories, fashion wears, food items, cleaning and personal hygiene product.

Phthalates is a class of compounds derived from phthalic acid with many common household uses
Sources: plastic softener, perfumes, hairsprays, lubricants, wood finishers, new-car smell.

Dangers: cancer; phthalates also inhibit sexual development of male babies in utero.


Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)
A group of compounds used in the manufacture of many industrial items from plastic to insulation.

Sources: Fish, soil, drinking water, indoor air.

Dangers: impairment of immune system and reproductive system, cancer, impairment of child neurological development.

Formaldehyde
A colorless gas used primarily as a disinfectant and preservative.

Sources: carpets, plastics, paper products, shampoos, bath products.

Danger: cancer

Carbamate insecticides, Triazine herbicides, and nitrates
Common pesticides.

Sources: water supply

Dangers: detrimental effects on nervous, immune, and endocrine systems.

Dioxins
Toxic compounds usually occurring as waste products of industrial processes such as pesticide manufacture.

Sources: dairy products, meat, fish, shell fish.

Dangers: impairment of immune system, endocrine system, nervous system, and reproductive functions.

Heavy Metals
Metallic elements with specific gravity five or more times that of water, such as mercury, copper, arsenic, lead, cadmium, iron, and manganese.

Sources: fish, contaminated water, soil, badly fitted fillings, lipstick (in the case of lead).

Dangers: headache, fatigue, anemia, dizziness, constipation, tremors, cancer.

Phenol is a suspected human carcinogen that also can cause skin eruptions and peeling, swelling, pimples, hives, burning, gangrene, numbness, vomiting, circulatory collapse, paralysis, convulsions, cold sweats, coma, and death.

Pentachlorophenol is a carcinogen that can also cause central nervous system depression, light headed, dizziness, sleepiness, nausea, tremor, loss of appetite, disorientation, and liver damage.

Naphthalene is a suspected human carcinogen, naphthalene can promote skin irritation, headache, confusion, nausea and vomiting, excessive sweating, and urinary irritation. Exposure to a sufficient quantity can lead to death.

Benzene is carcinogenic. It also can cause drunk like behavior, lightheaded-ness, disorientation, fatigue and loss of appetite.

Cresol can be absorbed through the skin and mucous membranes to affect the central nervous system, liver, kidneys, lungs, pancreas, and spleen. Symptoms of toxicity include dermatitis, digestive disturbances, faintness, vertigo, mental changes, sweating, pallor, weakness, headache, dizziness, ringing in the ears, shock, delirium, skin numbness and discoloration, and death.

Flame retardants used in clothing and mattress/bedding production---TRIS,  is a leading flame retardant that has been proven mutagenic and carcinogenic to animals. Studies have shown that TRIS can be absorbed through the skin from garments washed more than fifty times.  Some clothing and household materials are treated with  tetrakis (hydroxymethyl) phosphonium sulfate (THPS), Phenol, polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and tetrakis (hydroxylmethyl) phosphonium chloride (THPC), another retardant, that release formaldehyde when fabric is wet. 

Do it yourself chemical dyes contain highly carcinogenic dichlorobenzidene,  which is very easily absorbed through the  skin. They can cause anemia; jaundice; damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, and liver; and death. Azo, basic, disperse, fiber-reactive, and vat dyes all can cause allergic reactions, as can florescent whitening agent.

Your alternative choice will be organic clothing or flame retardant free cotton or wool material.
 
Methylene chloride is a suspected human carcinogen that may be mutagenic.
Xylene----prolonged exposure to xylene may cause nausea, vomiting, excessive salivation, cough, hoarseness, feelings of euphoria, headaches, giddiness, vertigo, ringing in the ears, confusion, coma, and death.

Trichloroethylene is a suspected human carcinogen, trichloroethylene is mutagenic. 

Symptoms of exposure include gastrointestinal upset, central nervous system depression, narcosis, heart and liver malfunctions, paralysis, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, and psychotic behavior.

Sulfur compounds (including potassium and sodium bisulfate and metabisulfite, sulfur dioxide, and sulfuric acid)----sulfur compounds can cause fatal allergic anaphylactic shock and asthma attacks. They destroy vitamin B1 (thiamin); have mutagenic effects on viruses, bacteria, and yeast; and can be synergistic with carcinogens to make them more potent.

Saccharin causes cancer.
Sucrose (sugar, corn sugar/syrup, dextrose, glucose syrup, invert sugar/syrup, maple sugar/syrup) Use of sucrose can lead to nutritional deficiencies, lowered resistance to disease, tooth decay, diabetes, hypoglycemia, coronary disease, obesity, ulcers, high blood pressure, vaginal yeast infection, and osteoporosis.

Asbestos fibers in building materials can affect every organ of the body if you are exposure to it. Illnesses caused by aabestos exposure include asbestosis, a chronic lung disease; and mesothelioma, an often fatal form of cancer. The EPA announced in 1972 that there is no safe level of asbestos exposure, as any exposure to the fibers involves some health risk.

Ammonia (including ammonium chloride, Ammonium hydroxide, Benzalkonium chloride, and quaternary ammonium compounds): These substances cause irritation of eyes and respiratory tract, conjunctivitis, laryngitis, tracheitis, pulmonary edema, pneumonitis, and skin burn.

    Hydrogenated oil
The hydrogenation of oil into hard fat (margarine, vegetable shortening) destroys or deforms the essential fatty acids in the oil. Lack of essential fatty acids can contribute to neurological disease, heart disease, arteriosclerosis, skin diseases, cataracts, arthritis, high blood cholesterol levels, and cancer.

Vaccine


  Chlorine (including chlorine dioxide and sodium hypochlorite).

  
symptoms of chlorine toxicity include pain and inflammation of the mouth, throat, and stomach; erosion of mucous membranes; vomiting; circulatory collapse; confusion; delirium; coma; severe respiratory-tract irritation; pulmonary edema; skin eruptions. Exposure has been linked to high blood pressure, anemia, diabetes, and heart disease, and causes a 44-percent greater risk of gastrointestinal or urinary-tract cancer.
Clinical observation by medical doctors has shown that reactions to chlorine also can occur from chlorine fumes rising from hot or cold running tap water, including such symptoms as red eyes, sneezing, skin rashes, and fainting or dizziness while taking shower or washing dishes.  

A reason to consider getting a good alkaline reverse osmosis water filter.