donderdag 26 april 2012

De gevaren van wasdrogers (Engels)


The Household Appliance that Releases 600 Potentially Dangerous Chemicals into the Air





Toxins in Every Day Household Products,” Interview with Anne Steinemann, PhD

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Story at-a-glance

  • A new study finds more than 600 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are being emitted from dryer vents from commonly used laundry products, two of which are known carcinogens and unsafe at any level
  • Long-term cumulative effects of these chemical blends have never been studied so they’re largely unknown; however, potential adverse effects of fragrances used in commercial laundry products include respiratory, neurological, endocrine, immune system, and damage to virtually every organ system in your body
  • Fragrance reactions in the workplace are now so common that effects are being compared to those of secondhand smoke
  • The fragrance industry is unregulated, and companies are not required to list all chemical ingredients on labels or on MSDS sheets, making it impossible for you to know what’s in your products
By Dr. Mercola
The scent is unmistakable. Anyone who's ever taken a stroll through their neighborhood has picked up the familiar scent of laundry products wafting from dryer exhaust vents everywhere.
But have you ever wondered what's in these common laundry products?
The familiar "clean" scent of fabric softeners actually comes from a deceptively toxic blend of chemicals that have escaped regulation and are silently contributing to a number of health problems for unsuspecting consumers.
Thanks to the work of a few concerned scientists, the dangers of these products are finally beginning to see the light of day.
First, dryer exhaust contains carbon monoxide, an odorless gas posing well-known health dangers, depending on the concentration in which it's inhaled. Consider this if your child's bedroom window is close to your dryer vent.
But detergents and fabric softeners are commonplace as well, and as your clothing dries, these vapors are released into your house—and out into the neighborhood—in a chemical cloud.
The effects to humans and the environment are largely unknown.
The problem is, you are not exposed to single chemicals—you're exposed to blends of chemicals. We have no knowledge of the toxic effects of these mixtures.

One Research Scientist Sniffs Out the Truth

One University of Washington scientist is attempting to educate the public about the hazardous substances coming out of their dryer vents. Dr. Anne Steinemann, professor of civil and environmental engineering and public affairs, has done a large amount of research into what chemicals are released by laundry products, air fresheners, cleaners, lotions and other fragranced consumer products.
Her latest study, the first of its kind, focuses on chemicals emitted through laundry vents during typical use of fragranced products, and was published in Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health, 2011Steinemann found the following dryer vent emissions from 25 of the most common brands of scented laundry products:
  • More than 600 VOCs (volatile organic compounds) were emitted, and only two of those compounds were listed on any associated MSDS. Not one of those chemicals was listed on any of the 25 product labels.
  • Two of the VOCs are considered by the EPA to be carcinogenic (acetaldehyde and benzene) and unsafe at ANY exposure level.
  • Seven of the VOCs are classified as "hazardous air pollutants."
  • The highest concentration of emitted VOCs was acetaldehyde, acetone and ethanol.
  • Only 25 percent of the VOCs were classified as toxic or hazardous under federal laws.
Virtually none of the VOCs detected were listed on product labels or the product MSDSs (material data safety sheet). Instead, labels listed only general categories, such as "biodegradable surfactants," "softeners," or "perfume." So there is no way for you to know which of these toxic chemicals are present. Even more disturbing, the "greener" products were just as bad, if not worse, than the conventional products. In her work, Dr. Steinemann has found many other dangerous compounds emitting directly from dryer sheets:
Limonene (citrus scent)Methanol2,7-dimethyl-2,7-octanediolButane
(Z)-2-(3,3-dimethylcyclohexylidene)ethanolAcetoneAcetaldehydeBeta-pinene (pine scent)
Carbonyl sulfideIsopropyl alcoholEthanol 

In her radio interview (linked above), Steinemann explains that some chemicals are actually being shown to be more dangerous to humans at lower levels than at higher levels, a phenomenon that is turning our understanding of toxicity upside down. Other chemicals found in popular laundry products include the following:
Linalool: A narcotic that causes central nervous system disordersBenzyl Acetate:Linked to pancreatic cancer
Benzyl Alcohol: Upper respiratory tract irritant
A-Terpineol: Can cause respiratory problems, including fatal edema, and central nervous system damage
Ethyl Acetate: A narcotic on the EPA's Hazardous Waste listCamphor: Causes central nervous system disordersChloroform: Neurotoxic, anesthetic and carcinogenicPentane: A chemical known to be harmful if inhaled
1,4-dioxaneA recognized carcinogenChloromethane: A developmental toxin2-Butanone: A suspected toxicantO, m, or p-cymeneA suspected toxicant
Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS/SLES), and ammonium lauryl sulfate (ALS)Nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE):Hormone disruptorPhosphates: Major environmental health hazard
Optical brighteners

How Can Product Manufacturers Get Away with This?

Simple… It's still very much an unregulated market. Manufacturers are not required to disclose any ingredients in cleaning supplies, air fresheners or laundry products. The fragrance industry is actually allowed to regulate itself through a trade association known as the International Fragrance Association (IFRA). This association is responsible for conducting safety tests to determine the ingredients safe for use for their own industry. Typically, substances are tested on healthy adults, and only skin reactivity is tested—not neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity, or anything else.
Of the more than 5,000 different ingredients used by the fragrance industry, only about 1,300 have actually been tested and evaluated for safety. As Dr. Steinemann says,
"If they're coming out of a smokestack or tail pipe, they're regulated, but if they're coming out of a dryer vent, they're not."
But what about the MSDS—can't you just look at a product's MSDS and see everything that's in it?
No, the MSDS is unreliable.
Companies and consumers mistakenly believe that MDSDs are the authoritative documents on ingredients. But the truth is, there's no requirement for a manufacturer to disclose all ingredients on an MSDS—and fragrance mixtures are exempt from disclosure.

Fabric Softener Chemicals are "Built to Last"

Fabric softeners are designed to reduce static in synthetic fabrics. They work by leaving a residue on the fabric that never completely washes out. In fact, companies design these fabric softeners to BE tenacious and long lasting in clothing, especially the fragrances. They even have a name for it: "fragrance substantivity."
Are these chemical agents as persistent in your body as they are in your clothing? It's anyone's guess, because the health effects haven't been studied. This tenacious residue can cause allergic reactions through skin contact (contact dermatitis) and inhalation. When exposed to hot water, or heat from dryers, or ironing, vapors from product residues are emitted that can be inhaled, increasing their effects in your body. But the long-term effects are simply not known.
In the featured video interview, Dr. Steinemann explains that even if a product is labeled "fragrance-free," it's not a guarantee of safety because sometimes chemicals are added to mask the smell of the other ingredients.

One in 10 People Have Chemical Sensitivities—Are You One of Them?

The prevalence of chemical sensitivity is a larger problem than you might think. Two national surveys of more than 1,000 people each found multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) affects 11.4 percent of the population in the U.S., and is twice as high for asthmatics. It's not surprising then that Dr. Steinemann found 10.9 percent of the population reports adverse health effects related to scented laundry products vented outdoors.
These chemical reactions are so profound that some people can't function, citing symptoms like headaches, seizures, asthma attacks, and even loss of consciousness.
According to the Guide to Less Toxic Products by the Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia, fabric softeners often contain quaternary ammonium compounds, or "quats," and imidazolidinyl, both of which are known to release formaldehyde. Formaldehyde can cause joint pain, depression, headaches, chronic pain, and a variety of other symptoms. Laboratory studies suggest formaldehyde can damage your DNA and may even lead to cancer. For about five percent of people, quats are an extreme sensitizer that can cause a variety of asthma-like symptoms, and even respiratory arrest.
Fabric softeners can also contain carcinogenic coal-tar dyes, ammonia, and very strong fragrances. One fragrance can be made up of literally hundreds of chemicals, none of which has to be disclosed or tested in any way. All are derived from petroleum products, which means high potential for human toxicity. Fragrances are one of the leading causes of allergic reactions.

Scents and Sensibility

Our powerful attraction to fragrances is being manipulated by advertisers and marketers to sell products, and laundry products are among them. Your sense of smell is your most primitive sense, allowing you to recognize up to 10,000 different smells. Smell is hard-wired deep into primitive areas of your brain.
According to Dr. Stuart Firestein of Columbia University, the olfactory system is very closely connected to the limbic system, which is said to contain your most basic drives. So it's not surprising that scent is powerfully connected to both emotion and memory.
Fragrances are added to far more products than you may realize, often to mask the odor of noxious chemicals. Fragrances are even added to medications (inhalers and sports creams), furniture polish, dental floss, nail polish, paper, some disposable razors, and even construction materials such as paint and varnish. Many stores now use "scent branding" to draw people in, like bees to honey—and KEEP people in. Customers in ambient-scented stores have been found to shop for 20 to 30 percent longer.

Secondhand Scent: The New Secondhand Smoke

If you are sensitive to fragrances, it is important to understand that odor isn't the cause of all of your symptoms. Even pleasant smelling products, and products whose concentration is too low to be smelled, can cause symptoms, while a noxious smelling product may elicit no response at all. And there may be symptoms you cannot identify, so it is often difficult to link those effects to a given exposure.
Fragrance products can cross your blood brain barrier, and many of the thousands of chemical agents in fragrances have psychoactive properties, just like psychoactive drugs. This is important because seemingly innocuous fragrances, most of which are petroleum-derived, can potentially be neurotoxic. These chemicals can sensitize your immune system, making it react every time you are exposed. As there are literally thousands of chemicals in fragrances, it is hard to list all of their adverse health effects. There is still so much we don't know.
That said, there are general categories into which the adverse reactions tend to fall:
Respiratory: Allergic asthma, non-allergic asthma, reactive airway dysfunction syndrome (RADS), sinus problemsNeurological: Migraines and other headaches, nausea, dizziness, and mental confusion, memory impairment, lethargy and other central nervous system problems
Endocrine: endocrine disruption, reproductive dysfunction, abnormal sexual development, birth defectsImmune: Immunosuppression, bone marrow damage
Skin: Urticaria, irritation and sensitizationEye: Irritation, tearing and inflammation
CancerOrgan Damage: Kidney, liver, heart

We just can't predict the consequences of long-term cumulative exposure to these chemical mixtures, since relatively few compounds have undergone safety studies, much less the interactions between them. Many industrial chemicals, once inhaled or absorbed, lodge in your tissues and are VERY persistent, because your body lacks to ability to break them down or flush them out.
Is pleasant-smelling laundry worth any of that?
So many people are having fragrance reactions in their workplace that it's being compared to secondhand smoke. The good news is,the perfume industry has seen a significant drop in sales over the last few years, so perhaps Americans' brains are starting to override their noses.

Alternatives that Make Sense

It is safer, less expensive, and kinder to the planet to shift to less toxic products. Here are some alternatives to dryer sheets and fabric softeners:
  • Dry your clothes naturally on indoor or outdoor drying racks.
  • Remove your clothes from the dryer before they're completely dry. The remaining moisture helps prevent static cling. Use a drying rack instead.
  • Launder natural and synthetic fabrics separately, as the synthetics (nylon, rayon, etc.) cause most of the static problems.
  • Several sites recommend placing a wad of aluminum foil in the dryer with your clothes to eliminate static cling.
  • For general cleaning, stick to the basics such as baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, lemon juice and vinegar. If your house has an odor, just open a window.
Kid Feed even has a recipe for a homemade fabric softener:
"In a recycled gallon sized vinegar jug, add 2 cups baking soda and 2 cups distilled white vinegar. When mixture finishes foaming, add 4 cups of hot water and essential oils (optional) to desired strength. (Try using 20 drops each of lavender and lemon.) Shake before each use, and add about 1 cup for large loads in the rinse cycle."
If you really want to use a commercial product, look for a natural softener or reusable dryer cloth that uses a natural base. To find out about the ingredients in common household products, there's a searchable database you might find helpful from Environment, Health and Safety Online (EHSO).
There is more information about Dr. Steinemann's research on her website, Exposure Assessment.

woensdag 25 april 2012

Why Stress Makes It Harder to Kick the Common Cold



Story at-a-glance

  • The stress hormone cortisol may play an intricate role in why high levels of stress have such a detrimental impact on your immune system.
  • When stress becomes chronic your immune system becomes less sensitive to cortisol, which actually heightens the inflammatory response. This is what actually leads to coughing, sneezing and other cold symptoms, as well as makes you more vulnerable to getting sick.
  • Chronic stress also exerts a powerful negative influence on your epigenetic health, turning on and off genes that influence your likelihood of getting sick.
  • Addressing emotional stressors, as well as adhering to a healthy lifestyle that includes optimized vitamin D levels, will help you avoid colds and stay well.

By Dr. Mercola
Stress has a major influence on the function of your immune system, which is why you've probably noticed you're more likely to catch a cold when you're under a lot of stress. This is true for both acutely stressful episodes, such as preparing a big project for work, and chronic stress, such as relationship troubles or grief.Both will deteriorate your immune system and leave it less able to fight off infection.
Now researchers have revealed that the stress hormone cortisol may play an intricate role in why high levels of stress have such a detrimental impact on your immune system.

Why Too Much Stress Makes You More Vulnerable to Illness

When researchers from Carnegie Mellon University infected study participants with a common cold virus, those who had reported being under stress were twice as likely to get sick.i When you're stressed, your body releases stress hormones like cortisol, which prepare your body to fight or flee the stressful event.
Your heart rate increases, your lungs take in more oxygen, your blood flow increases and parts of your immune system become temporarily suppressed, which reduces your inflammatory response to pathogens.When stress becomes chronic, however, your immune system becomes less sensitive to cortisol, which actually heightens the inflammatory response.
This is what actually leads to coughing, sneezing and other cold symptoms, as well as makes you more vulnerable to getting sick in the first place. And, in the event you do get sick, emotional stressors can actually make your cold and flu symptoms worse. As lead author Dr. Sheldon Cohen, a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, noted:ii
"Inflammation is partly regulated by the hormone cortisol and when cortisol is not allowed to serve this function, inflammation can get out of control. … The immune system's ability to regulate inflammation predicts who will develop a cold, but more importantly it provides an explanation of how stress can promote disease.
When under stress, cells of the immune system are unable to respond to hormonal control, and consequently, produce levels of inflammation that promote disease. Because inflammation plays a role in many diseases such as cardiovascular, asthma and autoimmune disorders, this model suggests why stress impacts them as well."

Stress Also Impacts Your Gene Expression

You are in fact an extension of your environment, which includes everything from your thoughts and belief systems, to toxic exposures and exposure to sunlight, exercise, and, of course, everything you choose to put onto and into your body.
Rather than being controlled by your inherited genetic makeup, which genes are turned "on" and which are turned "off" can be greatly influenced by your thoughts, attitudes, and perceptions! This is the rapidly emerging field known as epigenetics, and stress exerts a powerful negative influence on your epigenetic health.
Many, if not most people carry emotional scars -- traumas that can adversely affect their health. Chronic stress is akin to emotional scarring, and causes ongoing damage to your cells. According to cellular biologist Dr. Bruce Lipton, the true secret to life does not lie within your DNA, but rather within the mechanisms of your cell membrane.
Each cell membrane has receptors that pick up various environmental signals, and this mechanism controls the "reading" of the genes inside your cells. Your cells can choose to read or not read the genetic blueprint depending on the signals being received from the environment.
Using techniques like energy psychology, you can correct the emotional short circuiting that contributes to your chronic stress which helps to optimize your genetic expression. My favorite technique for this is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), but there are many others, such as yoga, journaling and prayer. Choose whichever one (or a combination of them) that appeals to you, and if you don't sense any benefits, try another, until you find what works best for you.

The Vitamin D Connection

Like stress, vitamin D also works on the epigenetic level to influence your susceptibility to illnesses like colds, as well as chronic disease. Vitamin D influences nearly 3,000 of your 25,000 genes, and plays a critical role in your immune response. Vitamin D could rightly be described as a "miracle nutrient" for your immune system, as it enables your body to produce well over 200 antimicrobial peptides, which are indispensable in fighting off a wide range of infections.
Research has confirmed that "catching" colds (and flu) may actually be a symptom of an underlying vitamin D deficiency. Less than optimal vitamin D levels will significantly impair your immune response and make you far more susceptible to contracting colds, influenza, and other respiratory infections.
In the largest and most nationally representative study of its kind to date, involving about 19,000 Americans, people with the lowest vitamin D levels reported having significantly more recent colds or cases of the flu -- and the risk was even greater for those with chronic respiratory disorders like asthma.iii
At least five additional studies also show an inverse association between lower respiratory tract infections and vitamin D levels, and you can read about them in detail here. But the research is very clear, the higher your vitamin D level, the lower your risk of contracting colds, flu, and other respiratory tract infections.
It's not surprising, then, that the average American gets so many colds each year, as current guidelines for optimal intake and normal vitamin D levels are far too low -- and since most people do not get adequate sun exposure on a daily basis (which is what produces vitamin D in your skin) many are deficient. I strongly believe you could avoid the vast majority of colds and influenza by maintaining your vitamin D level in the optimal range.

The Perfect "Recipe" for Avoiding Colds

Chronic stress and vitamin D deficiency could be described as the perfect "storm" for developing colds, as if you're facing these two scenarios and you're exposed to a cold virus, there's a good chance you're going to get sick.
Cold viruses can live on pens, computer keyboards, coffee mugs and other objects for hours, so it's easy to come into contact with such viruses during daily life. However, the key to remember is that just being exposed to a cold virus does not have to mean that you'll catch a cold. If your immune system is operating at its peak, it should actually be quite easy for you to fend off the virus without ever getting sick.
If you want to join the ranks of "those people" who rarely get sick, start with the strategies listed below. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it does give you a general idea of how to live healthy and avoid getting frequent colds and other infections. Other factors, like getting high-quality sleep and avoiding exposure to environmental toxins, are important too, but if you're looking for a few simple "secrets" to get started on today... start with these...
  • Reduce and Eliminate Stress in Your Life, Especially Chronic Stress, as discussed above
  • Optimize Your Vitamin D Levels, as discussed above
  • Optimize Your Insulin and Leptin Levels by Avoiding Sugar, Fructose
  • Eating sugar, fructose and grains will increase your insulin level, which is one of the fastest ways to get sick and also experience premature aging. Leptin is another key hormone associated with disease and the aging process.
    Like your insulin levels, if your leptin levels become consistently elevated, your body will develop resistance to this hormone, which may wreak havoc in your body. My nutrition plan, based on natural whole foods, is your first step toward optimizing your insulin and leptin levels and increasing your chances of living a longer, healthier life. The heart of my program is the elimination, or at the very least, drastic reduction of fructose, grains and sugar in your diet – a change that can dramatically improve your immune function.
  • Exercise
  • If you are exercising regularly the likelihood of your acquiring a cold or other viral illness is significantly reduced, and studies have clearly shown this. In one such study, staying active cut the risk of contracting a cold by 50 percentiv , and cut the severity of symptoms by 31 percent among those who did catch a cold. The researchers noted that each round of exercise may lead to a boost in circulating immune system cells that could help ward off a virus.
    It is actually a well-known fact that exercise improves the circulation of immune cells in your blood. The job of these cells is to neutralize pathogens throughout your body. The better these cells circulate, the more efficient your immune system is at locating and defending against viruses and other pathogens that may opportunistically overrun the body.
    Due to the key role that exercise plays in supporting your immune system, it's crucial to treat exercise like a medicine that must be properly prescribed, monitored and maintained for you to enjoy the most benefits. Essentially, you need to have a varied, routine that includes high-intensity interval exercises like Peak Fitness.
  • Eat Plenty of Raw Food
  • One of the most important aspects of a healthy diet that is frequently overlooked is the issue of eating uncooked, natural raw food.
    Unfortunately, as you may be aware, over 90 percent of the food purchased by Americans is processed. And when you're consuming these kinds of denatured and chemically altered foods, it's no surprise we have an epidemic of chronic and degenerative diseases, not to mention way too many cases of colds and flu. Ideally you'll want to eat as many foods as possible in their unprocessed state; typically organic, biodynamic foods that have been grown locally, and are therefore in season. But even when you choose the best foods available you can destroy much of the nutrition if you cook them.
    I believe it's really wise to strive to get as much raw food in your diet as possible. I personally try to eat about the majority of my food raw, including raw eggs and organic, naturally raised meats.

LEES OOK HET BOEK VAN DR. JAMES L. WILSON "BIJNIERUITPUTTING, HET STRESSYNDROOM VAN DE 21E EEUW":
 http://www.succesboeken.nl/?ISBN=9789079872251&PC=476178F4