Remove the Lead in Your Water

Yes, these 11 are the most frequently found compounds in your water. Plus there are lots more!

Did you know that up to 20% of lead exposure comes from your water?

Long term exposure to lead in infants and children may cause reduced IQ,learning disabilities, and impaired growth.

In Adults, long-term exposure to lead may cause kidney problems, nerve disorders, and high blood pressure!

What's in Your Water? Here are a few of the most common things found in our water.

1. Disinfection By-products: Long-term exposure may cause increased risk of cancer, as well as liver, kidney, or central nervous system problems.
2. Heavy Metals: Even at low levels, long-term exposure may cause behavioral problems and learning disabilities
3. Agricultural Pollutants: Long-term exposure may cause increased risk of cancer, as well as eye, liver, kidney, spleen, blood, and nervous system problems
4. Industrial Pollutants: Long-term exposure may cause increased risk of cancer, as well as blood, nervous system, kidney, and liver problems.

So why not just use bottled water? Here are a few reasons not to:

1. Bad Choice for Your Wallet
• Bottled water is 100s to 1,000s time more expensive than tap water
2. Bad Choice for the Environment
• 1.5 million barrels of oil are used in the production of bottled water each year—enough to fuel 50,000 cars for one year
• 1,640,000 tons of packaging waste come from bottled water
• Only 34% of water bottles are recycled

3. Bottled water may not be contaminant free.
The Environmental Working Group found 10 popular brands had a total of 38 contaminants

What can you do to protect yourself?
GET EDUCATED
1. Learn what’s in your water at: epa.gov/safewater/ccr
2. Research how your water gets from your municipality to your tap

Get a Get Clean Water system
This system is certified to remove up to 99% of lead--compare that to the competition! Its refillable solid carbon block filter (a first in a water pitcher) is made from sustainable material using a zero-emissions process, and it handles the equivalent of 600 bottles (16.9 oz.) of water. Check it out

Clean Up Your Cleaners!

Chemicals that are in household products are linked to eye irritation, headaches, asthma and so much more.

See the President's Cancer Panel report to learn more about how to reduce the risk of environmental cancer. We already are exposed to a chemical soup in our everyday lives, and our homes should be the safest place we know.... use safe, non-toxic and natural cleaners wherever possible.

Pesticides in Your Body? Most Likely!

There are over 900 pesticides listed with the EPA, yet most of them have not been tested for toxicity or long term effects on us!

The World Health Organization estimates that 50% of our ground water is contaminated. (Look at previous post to check out the safety of your water)

These pesticides and poisons are finding there way into our bodies. There are more than 1.2 billion pounds of pesticides used in the U.S.

One pesticide, chlorpyrifos (CPF), was found in eighty-two percent of urine samples from a broad range of Americans aged twenty to fifty-nine

Besides using non-toxic cleaners and eating organic, what can you do to protect yourself from all of these toxins that are already in your body?

First, make sure you have a healthy liver. Your liver is a filter for all the toxins in your entire body.

All the toxins,(pesticides and pollutions) as well as poorly digested food, sugar, refined carbohydrates, alcohol,and heavy metals (like lead and mercury), are all filtered through your liver

Your liver has to process ALL of these toxins, with the help of bile and your gall bladder.

Here's how it works:

Bile is made by your liver and is stored in your gall bladder.

Your gall bladder releases the bile after you eat, helping get rid of toxic waste and digesting fats.

If you have too many toxins, your liver becomes overwhelmed. Then the liver cells die of toxic overload and are replaced by fat.

This condition is known as Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.
Without reducing your toxic load and helping your liver get rid of wastes, you could be experiencing an overwhelmed liver, setting the stage for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, cirrhosis, and even death.

You do not have to be obese or an alcoholic to be at risk for NAFLD!

For a healthy liver, remember these 3 tips:

1. Reduce your exposure to toxins.(see other articles on this blog for ways to reduce those toxins)

2. Help your body (and liver!) detoxify.

3. Follow a healthy nutritional plan, to keep your liver AND your whole body, in top condition! Taking even one of these steps today can go a long way to creating liver health!

Risk of Developing Asthma May Be Caused By Household Cleaning Products

I shared the info about the CDC 'going green'. Here is some research on why this is important and why YOU should also consider using non-toxic cleaning products.

Common household cleaners and appliances give off fumes, which can potentially increase the risk of developing asthma in children. Asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease in the developed world and has become more common in the last 30 years. In a 2004 study published in the journal Thorax, it was found that that many common household cleaners and appliances give off fumes, which can potentially increase the risk of developing asthma in children. It was concluded that, “Domestic exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) at levels [even] below currently accepted recommendations may increase the risk of childhood asthma." VOCs are found in many household products and may also be embedded in the house itself as part of the paint, flooring, or furniture. Source: Rumchev, K. et al. (2004).Thorax, 59(9), 746-751.

Using household cleaning sprays and air fresheners as little as once a week can raise the risk of developing asthma in adults. The epidemiological study, the first to investigate the effects of cleaning products in occasional users rather than occupational users, found that cleaning sprays, especially air fresheners, furniture cleaners and glass cleaners, had a particularly strong relation to increased asthma risk in adults. “The relative risk rates of developing adult asthma in relation to exposure to cleaning products could account for as much as 15 percent, or one in seven adult asthma cases,” according to Dr. Zock. Source: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Vol 176. pp. 735-741, (2007)

Reduce the chemicals in your home - Learn more

You can buy non-toxic cleaners here

CDC Only Allowing Green Cleaning Products

The CDC just came out with a policy for all of their offices to become chemical free and fragrance free.

No products that emit fragrance will be allowed - they must be odor free. Only Green cleaning products will be allowed.

In the report it states:

"CDC encourages employees to be as fragrance-free as possible when they arrive in the workplace. Fragrance is not appropriate for a professional work environment, and the use of some products with fragrance may be detrimental to the health of workers with chemical sensitivities, allergies, asthma, and chronic headaches/migraines."

Employees should avoid using scented detergents and fabric softeners on clothes worn to the office. Many fragrance-free personal care and laundry products are easily available and provide safer alternatives.

If the CDC thinks cleaners and products with fragrance is detrimental to health - what are you doing about it in your home? Check out these products.

Toxic Chemicals in Your Home

I have been reading some amazing research on what the toxic chemicals are doing to adults and children

Here are a few for your to ponder:

Children are highly vulnerable to chemical toxicants. Pound for pound of body weight children drink more water, eat more food and breathe more air than adults. The implication of this is that children will have substantially heavier exposures than adults to any toxicants that are present in water, food or air. Source: Landrigan, P.J. & Garg, A. (2002).Chronic effects of toxic environmental exposures on children’s health. Journal of Toxicology: ClinicalToxicology, 40(4), 449-456.

Faster metabolisms in children speed up their absorption of contaminants. “Children absorb a greater proportion of many substances from the intestinal tract or lung,” says pediatrician Dr. Philip Landrigan. “For example, children take up approximately half of the lead that they swallow while adults absorb only about one-tenth.” Source: PBS.org, Trade Secrets: A Moyers Report (2001).

Babies don't excrete contaminants or store them away in fat in the same ways that adults do, making the poisons more available to affect rapidly growing bodies. Furthermore, because a baby’s immune system is not fully functional, a baby’s body cannot counteract toxic effects as well as an adult can. In an adult, a blood-brain barrier insulates the brain from many of the potentially harmful chemicals circulating through the body. But in a human child, that barrier isn't fully developed until six months after birth. Source: PBS.org, Trade Secrets: A Moyers Report (2001).

Children exposed in the womb are at greatest risk of all. Because cellular structures change so rapidly during embryonic and fetal growth, a toxic exposure at the wrong moment can permanently alter further development. According to Dr. Landrigan, the central nervous system is especially vulnerable. To function properly, the developing brain must lay down an intricate web of interconnecting neurons. Small doses of neurotoxins during critical periods of brain development can alter those crucial neural pathways – one mistake early on, and the brain may be forever changed in subtle or serious ways. Government and university scientists are currently investigating the possibility of a connection between fetal exposures to toxics and developmental disabilities such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Source: PBS.org, Trade Secrets: A Moyers Report (2001).


Reduce the chemicals in your home - Learn more

You can buy non-toxic cleaners here

Earth Day - Get Clean: Safe. Powerful. Smart. Green

What is the best cleaning product? According to Real Simple it is Basic H2.

Basic H². is the flagship product of Shaklee’s Get Clean line of green household cleaning and laundry products. Introduced at Shaklee’s 50th Anniversary Celebration in 2006, Get Clean has quickly risen to become the #1 green cleaning line in the U.S. Get Clean has received accolades in many major magazines, TV shows, books and blogs. Including being one of Oprah Winfrey’s favorite things.

What makes Get Clean so fantastic is that it was created based on a few simple beliefs:
Safe. Home should be the safest place in the whole world. Did you know that many everyday cleaning products are designated as household hazardous waste and are recommend to be disposed of at your local chemical waste disposal center? All the Get Clean products are non-toxic, hypoallergenic, with no harmful fumes, and no harmful chemicals.

Powerful. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice powerful convictions for powerful cleaners. And vice versa. Today you don’t have to choose between harsh chemical cleaners that aren’t environmentally friendly indoors or out, or other eco-friendly cleaners that don’t clean well. Get Clean has been proven to outperform 12 national brands. And if you don’t think Get Clean products work better than the other cleaners you’ve gotten used to, you get your money back.

Green. Cleaning house shouldn’t involve dirtying the earth. Get Clean uses sustainably sourced natural ingredients, biodegradable surfactants, recyclable packaging, and ZERO chemicals that are harmful to the planet. And when you buy the Get Clean Starter Kit instead of the stuff you probably buy, you keep 108 pounds of packaging waste out of landfills and you eliminate 248 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.

Smart. Save money while saving the earth. Did you know that when you buy some common cleaners, a lot of what you’re buying is water? Shaklee makes a more economical cleaner by making it concentrated. That’s why Get Clean™ is such an awesome value. You’d have to shell out more than $3,400 at the grocery store to get the same amount of clean you get in the Get Clean Starter Kit!

Get the Real Dirt on Clean

The Slippery Slope of Non-Stick Pans

Those pans make cleaning up so much easier. What's the problem in using them?

If your pan gets overheated, it gives off toxic fumes. Gosh, who hasn't overheated a pan occasionally! Did you know that when that happens you risk inhaling toxic fumes?

Well, it can't be THAT bad, can it? According to the Environmental Working Group:

"Health dangers: When you breathe kitchen air polluted with fumes from overheated Teflon, you're at risk for developing flu-like symptoms (yes, "Teflon flu"). The long-term effects of routine exposure to Teflon fumes, and from Teflon flu itself, have not been adequately studied.

PFCs have been found in nearly all Americans tested by federal public health officials. Chemicals from this family are associated with smaller birth weight and size in newborn babies, elevated cholesterol, abnormal thyroid hormone levels, liver inflammation and weakened immune defense against disease."

One warning stated on the website is to keep your pet birds out of the kitchen. An overheated teflon pan can kill a bird in seconds! If that is the case, just think what repeated exposure to humans is doing!

The chemical that is on these teflon pans is called PFCS. It is found in many things besides non-stick pans - like microwave popcorn, scotchguard, etc. Download the pfc guide if you want to reduce the amount of this chemical in your body.

So what kind of pans are recommended? Cast iron and stainless steel.

If you must cook on non-stick pans, never preheat the pan,cook on the lowest temperature possible to cook the food safely, and use the exhaust fan on your stove.