Many common household products contain compounds that could be affecting our health.
Comment: I'm not sure about "Method." I read the label and it's a little scary when they tell you if it gets on your skin, to wash it off immediately, and of course, call 911 if it's ingested and wash out your eyes for 15 minutes. The ingredients did not make me feel safe. Maybe the reason they didn't test it on aminals is because they would have to reveal the results.
Comment: I'm not sure about "Method." I read the label and it's a little scary when they tell you if it gets on your skin, to wash it off immediately, and of course, call 911 if it's ingested and wash out your eyes for 15 minutes. The ingredients did not make me feel safe. Maybe the reason they didn't test it on aminals is because they would have to reveal the results.
Comment: I'm not sure about "Method." I read the label and it's a little scary when they tell you if it gets on your skin, to wash it off immediately, and of course, call 911 if it's ingested and wash out your eyes for 15 minutes. The ingredients did not make me feel safe. Maybe the reason they didn't test it on aminals is because they would have to reveal the results.
Comment: I'm not sure about "Method." I read the label and it's a little scary when they tell you if it gets on your skin, to wash it off immediately, and of course, call 911 if it's ingested and wash out your eyes for 15 minutes. The ingredients did not make me fell happy. Maybe the reason they didn't test it on aminals is because they would have to reveal the results.
Comment: I have been buying non-animal tested products for years and now use "Method" from Target for dish soap, detergent, etc. Anything non-animal tested is not only good for the soul but has nothing toxic enough in it to harm you. This needs to become important to people and at this point is not with most of the people I know.
Comment: Erica Asahan wrote:
Most definitely! Eversince I found out that clorox and/or other fragrant chemicals can trigger my asthma, I started using all none scented and organic cleaning and laundry detergent. And I think in doing so, I get less sick.
Comment: his story on common household products that could be affecting our health finally brought an explosive issue out from under the radar. Are we unwittingly killing ourselves with all these chemicals and additives we can???t spell? Missing from the story were the environmental links to the leading cause of death among US women aged 20-59 ??? breast cancer.
In a Breast Cancer Fund study that reviewed and analyzed nearly 350 scientific studies on environmental links to breast cancer, compelling scientific evidence pointed to some of the 100,000 synthetic toxic chemicals in use today ??? in shampoos, soaps and household detergents ??? as contributing to the development of breast cancer, either by altering hormone function or gene expression.
We all need to start demanding more attention on this issue from Washington!
Comment: visit www.livetotalwellness.com/dora for more info on how to go GREEN
Comment: Did you know there are many chemicals in your home at this moment? I started working with a company that showed me all the bad stuff in the household. I changed out all those bad things so that my family would be safer and healthier. I have definitely gone GREEN this year. My job is to educate other people and make them aware that the government does not provide us with all the facts!
Comment: I suffer from Dry Mouth Syndrome and must drink water from plastic bottles daily. I have avoided certain brands of Spring Water since I began buying bottled water because of an after taste from the plastic in the water.
I fell this week and was in so much pain I took a prescription pain medication. Then I remembered the recent death of an actor who mixed his prescription medications incorrectly. When I called a pharmacist, he told me to hold off taking one of my routine bedtime medications for another four hours. It is sad that we have to learn from national tragedies about the dangers of food and prescription medications the U.S. Government is supposed to be protecting us from.
Comment: I would like to correct some information in the written magazine. I have read this article and seen there are some compounds such as PBDE and BPA. In fact, their chemical structure is a little bit different than shown. Rings of the compounds are aromatic and should be benzene rings rather than hexane rings. All carbon atoms of the rings should be double bounded.....
Comment: I feel that if there are that many unanswered questions about the safety, ethics, or any other subject, then you probably already have your answer. Since there HAVE been studies showing negative effects, stop using them. It is better to be safe than sorry. I am pharmacist and know first hand, there isn't always a definitive answer...there has to be a certain amount of scientific evidence before a sound answer can be given; though that rarely happens. Not to mention the fact that studies are expensive, and who do you think funds a lot of those studies...trying to prove that the chemicals ARE safe...you guessed it, the companies who use them. Think they are going to publish results truthfully or won't skew the data in their favor? Happens all the time. So don't wait for someone to hand feed you an answer, just take the initiative and boycott those products yourself, contact the manufactuerers yourself and let them know how you feel. If there aren't consumers to buy the products, something will have to change!
Comment: I feel that if there are that many unanswered questions about the safety, ethics, or any other subject, then you probably already have your answer. Since there HAVE been studies showing negative effects, stop using them. It is better to be safe than sorry. I am pharmacist and know first hand, there isn't always a definitive answer...there has to be a certain amount of scientific evidence before a sound answer can be given; though that rarely happens. Not to mention the fact that studies are expensive, and who do you think funds a lot of those studies...trying to prove that the chemicals ARE safe...you guessed it, the companies who use them. Think they are going to publish results truthfully or won't skew the data in their favor? Happens all the time. So don't wait for someone to hand feed you an answer, just take the initiative and boycott those products yourself, contact the manufactuerers yourself and let them know how you feel. If there aren't consumers to buy the products, something will have to change!
Comment: comment: My daughters were born in Houston, Texas in 1980 and 1981 both of them were born very healthy. At the age of 2months their livers failed and they both almost died. they were in Texas Childrens hospital in Houston one of the best in that time. I have never found out why or how both of my daughters livers failed. It was determined by the many Doctors there it was not genetic and they had never seen anything like this before. Now, I wonder if it was due to chemicals.. I have wanted closure on this for almost 28 years now.
Comment: Just look at all the strange illnesses that affect our children today. Since we started bringing in cheap imports and using chemicals to make things last longer, seems like we have two new diseases every year. Please Newsweek, when you post an artical, give us an answer. Is this stuff bad or not, or do you not want to offend a sponser?
Comment: All you have to do is look at all the different types of physical problems our young children have since we started bringing in cheap imports and using more chemicals to make things last longrer. We pay with our health. Next time you post an artical, please have some kind of conclusion. We need something specific to work with instead of a lot of maybes. Is this stuff bad or not !!?
Comment: As long as major dollars are involved (for the big corporations) then safety and health will ALWAYS come second! This has been demonstrated repeatedly. People shouldn't kid themselves otherwise.
Comment: I just purchased this edition of Newseek today (2/4/08) and have recently finished a couple of books on this subject. I was amazed to discover that there was no mention of the European Union's ban of many of these chemicals, esp. in light of the comment "no government in the world..." while the author may have been referring to a specific chemical, the omission of the EU's position on much of this kind of research was curious. The studies seem to point to the problem of cumulative damage from so many sources of the same chemicals. Most frustrating is the multi-corporations that make these unsafe products willingly (after much lobbying) removed many of the banned chemicals from EU products (since safer ingredients are often available already) while fighting tooth & nail to avoid doing that in the U.S. Admittedly, I don't have personal experience with the reconfigured products in the EU (and I know Americans can't tolerate any natural odors), but I'd love an opportunity to find our for myself to see if they work as well. At least give us choices!
Comment: I dont see what the big deal is. Everyone i know including myself grew up drinking out of plastic bottles and we are still just fine.
Comment: you or i could find out tomorrow that we have cancer! i certainly hope this does not happen, but it is very realistic. i believe that widespread cancer is caused by exposure to such chemicals from "when we grew up" til today. many people i know have cancer. the food you eat is filled with pesticides, the products you use are unsafe, the air you breathe is dirty. it is very hard to avoid, but if we are informed, we can make choices like using safe products and eating organic foods that will help.
Comment: You can see that all Companies have been hidden what we need to know. When we buy a common toy, a bottle or a sofa, we are taking many things (or many substances) as well. I know the Medical Science is very advanced but can It help us to avoid health damage in a long term ? We can't forget some substances can cause injuries in a long term : they simply are accumulated in our bodies !!!!
Comment: The thing now is that, plastic has become such a commonplace in our lives, I really wonder how everyone can change their lifestyles to suit this. Anyways it is limited to this article here, I do not see it in the papers here, I do not see governments taking action.
So, anyone want to start any awareness scheme ?
Comment: Erica Asahan wrote:
I guess I will have to start throwing away my Tupperwares! Lucky for my relatives in Hawaii they have banana trees ~ they sure take advantage of using the leaves to store things!
Comment: You omitted something that to me is very stupid. The use of Teflon cookware which is made with Fluorine which as a gas will form hydrofluoric acid . Probably the singular most toxic chemical known to man (excluding radioactive materials). DuPont admits that fumes from teflon routinely kill pet birds yet we expose children, adults even pregnant woman to this stuff.
Comment: You omitted something that to me is very stupid. The use of Teflon cookware which is made with Fluorine which as a gas will form hydrofluoric acid . Probably the singular most toxic chemical known to man (excluding radioactive materials). DuPont admits that fumes from teflon routinely kill pet birds yet we expose children, adults even pregnant woman to this stuff.
Comment: The :"incorrect chemical structures" noltwhithstanding, l Idon't expect a journalist to be perfect in the presentation of materials. Her job was to present the material in such a way as to alert the public that there could be a problem. Hers is not a chemical tome. In the two pages allotted , she did what I frully expect het to do. That was to make me aware that perhaps these chemical combinations offer a clue to the derivation of my Parkiinson Disease, which seems to be caused by "environments factors.:
For those 1;.5 million of us in the United States alone who suffer from Parikinson Disesae, the derivation of which seems to be roughly associated with some sort of "environmental factors," Newsweek reporter Anne Underwood has done a tremendous service. Had she been writing a peer-review article on chemistry, I would have been expecting perfection on the chemical structures. That notwithstanding, she did her job as a journalist well: She alerted the world that our purusit of the good life through chemistry may have been a flawed strategy,.
'
Comment: As a chemist, I've come expect that news coverage of chemical toxicity issues will be relatively short on facts and long on scary innuendo. However, I was truly surprised at the level of carelessness evinced by Newsweek showing incorrect chemical structures for all three compounds in question. Moreover, the phosphate-bearing structure that is passed of as a phthalate bears absolutely no relation to any phthalate. There are real questions about the health effects of the compounds your article discusses, especially polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). But how can you expect anyone to trust what your reporting on complex matters when simple matters of scientific fact, such as structures that can be looked up on Wikipedia, are in serious error?
Comment: As a professional chemist I zeroed into this article seeking facts and research sources that back the words. Immediately, my attention was drawn to the chemical structures featured, because three out of three structures are incorrect, one of them not even close to the substance, the "phthalate" . The chemical structures for compoiunds are not trivial, esoteric drawings that look good as a picture, rather, every detail is critical in defining the properties, including toxicity, of every substance known to man. While none of us scientists would like to see contamination by otherwise useful chemicals being treated lightly, it is disheartening to contemplate the poor scientific literacy that even a global resource of information as Newsweek displays, not to mention poor fact checking on such serious matter as the health of individuals in our communities. Who should people trust for accurate, factual information? And, lets remember, the industries that manufacture all these products are driven by the consumers, so ultimately, these products exist today because we keep buying them.
Comment: Our Children are the Canaries in the coalmines. Anyone notice all the respiratory problems, allergies, attention deficit disorders, depression, infections, addiction, eating disorders, hormonal problems etc in even small children? And still expectant moms are ignorant or just don???t care about the content of the products they use! The don???t protect their unborn or are willing to breastfeed for any significant period of time during the most formative years of life. We give them products that are so far removed from real food that they are unrecognizable to the eye or to the body. We irradiate everything so that there are no digestive bacteria or enzymes to absorb what little nutrients are left. Soon we will be as well nourished as those starving in the deserts and still be obese.
Comment: It would be helpful if products had warning labels conspicuous to the consumer in the store when you're still considering whether to purchase the item. Sometimes people would still buy them anyway, but it could help create a market for products labeling themselves as free from such dangers.
Comment: Oh, and proof that most Americans are ignorant and apathethic lies within the small number of posings to this important article which shows that most people wont read anything unless there are lots of pictures, or britney spears name is in the heading.
Comment: Is anyone else infuriated by this article? The common sense soloution to this problem is to stop producing this stuff, how difficult could that really be? If the American public was better educated and not so Apathetic towards everything except for what tom cruize and britney (the ignorant slut) are doing right this minute than maybe things would change. All of the people who dont care, the politicians that dont act and the people responsible for knowingly designing these products should be rounded up and beaten to a bloody pulp for thier role!
Comment: my daughter is 8 now..........due to problems with breastfeeding i had to bottle feed........after alot of research i finally found a feeding bottle made from glass.....i still had to use the plastic nipple but at least the milk was not being heated in plastic........
Comment: I agree with freezeframe. It is pretty difficult to 'avoid using' plastic products. Everytime I use a plastic grocery bag or drink from a plastic water bottle I feel bad because I know that plastic takes an extremely long time to biodegrade and so it ends up floating around in the ocean and being washed up on formerly pristine islands. I recently found out about the miles of plastic waste in our oceans, and how plastic products disintegrate into tiny particles that marine life consume. The marine life dies or is consumed by human beings. How am I as an individual to do anything about this predicament? The only way to do anything is to kill the source, which is the plastic manufacturer. Not that Mr. Plastic Manufacturer is The Devil or the one and only culprit, but as long as the plastic plants exist and continue producing plastic products, one person choosing not to use these plastic products isn't going to do much about this monstrous problem.
Comment: I know I have problems with chemicals ever since I was exposed to chlorine gas 15 years ago...since then I have developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, various food / chemical allergies among other things. My mother and brother also have these problems, so I know what can happen.
Comment: Interesting... i just donated my gas guzzler for some serious cash at autogiver.com
Comment: O great something else we all get to wonder about. Neither my husband or I want kids so I dont need to worry about that part, but really does everything we own have to contaminate our bodies. Very informative article.
Comment: An informative book to read that addresses the prevalence of toxic, synthetic ingredients in our daily live is found in the recent publication: "Not Just a Pretty Face: the Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry." The unhappy message of this book is that we are slowly being poisoned by the synthetic chemicals contained in our personal care products: soaps, shampoo, hair products, deodorant, hair color, fingernail polish, lotions, potions, lipstick . . . Count up the number of lotions or potions we apply to our bodies each day, it's not surprising to see we are a group of walking chemical cocktails. How many of us have experienced (or are currently experiencing) significant illness or the loss of a loved one due to cancer? It is time that we, as consumers, demand the skin care industry (as well as other industries) to refrain from creating products that are harmful to the earth and our health.
Comment: it's a crying shame that honest hard working people have to constantly question the the security of our well being. we have left our good judgement to the idiots of corp. america.
Comment: Right on, silentminority! Yeah, shame on environmentalists for looking out for people's health and well-being! How selfish of them! ! Didn't anybody ever tell them to mind their own business? So what if males have lower sperm count as a result of leached chemicals--that's like birth control right there folks. Let's protest them by microwaving our leftovers in plastic!!! Let's let that plastic melt into our foods, that'll show 'em! BPA! BPA! BPA!
Comment: Right on, silentminority! Yeah, shame on environmentalists for looking out for people's health and well-being! How selfish of them! ! Didn't anybody ever tell them to mind their own business? So what if males have lower sperm count as a result of leached chemicals--that's like birth control right there folks. Let's protest them by microwaving our leftovers in plastic!!! Let's let that plastic melt into our foods, that'll show 'em! BPA! BPA! BPA!
Comment: Foolish fear-mongering again. Environmentalits suck!!!
Comment: Not only do these plastics companies have to be held responsible for the damage they are causeing to humanity,the impact from all the non-bio-degradible, non-recycleable products they produce never go away they just get smaller! So what the world is to find out next is that it's probably to late! This micro plastic has already made it into the food chain.Do you think the manufactures should be held accountable just like the tobacco companys were?
Comment: Whoever is afraid that these chemicals will harm them or their loved ones should avoid them, just like those who used tobacco products.
We should NOT hold a manufacturer accountable ever again. It will open the door to every single manufacturer to be at risk of constant lawsuits.
"Eating all that chocolate made me fat and get heart disease! I'm going to sue Hershey!"
Not good, kingdave, not good. People need to start taking responsbility for what they put on or in their bodies, not sue companies that make the products.
Comment: The prevalence of these plastics chemicals makes it much more difficult to avoid than tobacco products. It's one thing to avoid using plastic bottles, but there's not a whole lot of control over the fact that the fermentation process used to make beer is done in a container lined with the plastic in question. Regarding lawsuits, if it can be shown that a.) the product causes significant harm b.) the manufacturer knew about it c.) the manufacturer did not publicly disclose risks and d.) there are viable alternatives to the product, then there are grounds for lawsuits. If anyone thinks those are rare, check out MTBE lawsuits and Ford Pinto lawsuits. You'd be surprised to find that companies are more liable than they may appear.
Allowing manufacturers immunity from all lawsuits gives them free reign to abuse the general public.
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