A Toxic Chemical Planet (1 Viewer)

[Caveman33]

Yesterday I helped a hoarder move mattresses that had been decomposing in their yard, including one with the cover removed.  I already knew about the toxicity but I'm too weak to say No.  In the 1970s, our government began requiring flame retardation to save people, who fall asleep in bed with a cigarette, from burning to death.

https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/news/20190710/is-your-mattress-releasing-toxins-while-you-sleep

Mattresses are known to release minute amounts of gaseous chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These VOCs come mainly from the polyurethane used in the mattress, but also from other chemicals used in flame retardants and plastics, the researchers said.

Unfortunately, your body heat appears to increase VOC emissions from your mattress, according to tests conducted on eight different types of polyurethane mattresses.

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Health effects associated with VOCs range from eye, nose and throat irritation to headaches and organ damage, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Some VOCs, including benzene, acetaldehyde and formaldehyde, have been associated with increased cancer risk.

While European governments have started to ban flame retardants and other harmful chemicals in household items, the American government has not.  In the last decade, some manufacturers have voluntarily changed their process, including using fiberglass as a flame retardant.  Fiberglass causes a new set of problems as people have often discovered after mistakenly removing their mattress cover for washing.  Suddenly they are living in a sparkly house of fiberglass, with irritated skin and damaged lungs.

Harmful chemicals abound throughout our daily life: furniture, kids pajamas, make-up and lotions, household cleaners, dryer sheets and air fresheners, non-stick cookware, etc.  The danger is hard to quantify and it is likely not immediate but rather a matter of lifelong accumulation.  Flame retardants and pesticides have overtaken heavy metals as the largest contributor to IQ loss.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/491144

Adverse outcomes from childhood exposures to lead and mercury are on the decline in the United States, likely due to decades of restrictions on the use of heavy metals, a new study finds.

Despite decreasing levels, exposure to these and other toxic chemicals, especially flame retardants and pesticides, still resulted in more than a million cases of intellectual disability in the United States between 2001 and 2016. Furthermore, as the target of significantly fewer restrictions, experts say, flame retardants and pesticides now represent the bulk of that cognitive loss.

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The substances analyzed are found in household products from furniture upholstery to tuna fish, and can build up in the body to damage organs, researchers say. Heavy metals, lead and mercury in particular, are known to disrupt brain and kidney function. In addition, they, along with flame retardants and pesticides, can interfere with the thyroid, which secretes brain-developing hormones. Experts say exposure at a young age to any of these toxins can cause learning disabilities, autism, and behavioral issues.

I'm not trying to be a fear monger.  I think anxiety and stress are more acutely damaging than the chemicals, but it is probably wise to at least try to limit our exposure.  This can be difficult and expensive, given that the ingrained chemical lobby and uncertain medical studies have prevented our government from acting in our best interest.  As scary as future cancer might be, it is the less perceptible side effects that scare me most: diminished capacity and impaired quality of life.  Let's hope future generations live better on Mars.

 

[Terminalxylem]

There’s definitely a smattering of additives and chemicals worth avoiding, and surely a few we don’t know about. But people voluntarily consume a bunch of harmful stuff like high calorie foods, alcohol +/- drugs in far greater quantities.

We’d save a lot more lives convincing people to maintain a healthy weight and cut out their vices than worrying about pesticides and flame retardant.  They aren’t mutually exclusive, of course.

 

[Caveman33]

There’s definitely a smattering of additives and chemicals worth avoiding, and surely a few we don’t know about. But people voluntarily consume a bunch of harmful stuff like high calorie foods, alcohol +/- drugs in far greater quantities.

We’d save a lot more lives convincing people to maintain a healthy weight and cut out their vices than worrying about pesticides and flame retardant.  They aren’t mutually exclusive, of course.

The voluntary consumption of drugs, alcohol, and junk food is the big difference between the damage caused by those choices and the damage caused by the chemicals around us.  I would like to be able to drink tap water without impairing my health.  97% of Americans have PFAS in their bloodstream.

A growing body of science has found that there are potential adverse health impacts associated with PFAS exposure, including liver damage, thyroid disease, decreased fertility, high cholesterol, obesity, hormone suppression and cancer.

Studies have shown the contamination level of PFOA and PFOS declining in the last 20 years because of awareness leading to more water filtration and manufacturers using other PFAS instead.  In another 10 years, we might discover that these other PFAS are even more harmful.  It seems like we are always a few steps behind, introducing new chemicals and then later linking them to adverse effects.  

It seems difficult to determine the damage caused by each chemical when there are so many variables.  If I get cancer in the future, I'm sure my family will shake their heads and say, "It's because of all those drugs he did."  No one will attribute it to the fact that I drank a gallon of tap water a day.

 

[snellman]

Yesterday I helped a hoarder move mattresses that had been decomposing in their yard, including one with the cover removed.  I already knew about the toxicity but I'm too weak to say No.  In the 1970s, our government began requiring flame retardation to save people, who fall asleep in bed with a cigarette, from burning to death.

https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/news/20190710/is-your-mattress-releasing-toxins-while-you-sleep

While European governments have started to ban flame retardants and other harmful chemicals in household items, the American government has not.  In the last decade, some manufacturers have voluntarily changed their process, including using fiberglass as a flame retardant.  Fiberglass causes a new set of problems as people have often discovered after mistakenly removing their mattress cover for washing.  Suddenly they are living in a sparkly house of fiberglass, with irritated skin and damaged lungs.

Harmful chemicals abound throughout our daily life: furniture, kids pajamas, make-up and lotions, household cleaners, dryer sheets and air fresheners, non-stick cookware, etc.  The danger is hard to quantify and it is likely not immediate but rather a matter of lifelong accumulation.  Flame retardants and pesticides have overtaken heavy metals as the largest contributor to IQ loss.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/491144

I'm not trying to be a fear monger.  I think anxiety and stress are more acutely damaging than the chemicals, but it is probably wise to at least try to limit our exposure.  This can be difficult and expensive, given that the ingrained chemical lobby and uncertain medical studies have prevented our government from acting in our best interest.  As scary as future cancer might be, it is the less perceptible side effects that scare me most: diminished capacity and impaired quality of life.  Let's hope future generations live better on Mars.

Our government is too concerned with making us drive electric vehicles.

 

[NutterButter]

I'm all for us doing both.   Maybe I'm crazy, but I think we can do it. 

 

[Caveman33]

I just got back to the apartment and the place reeks from the grandfather going crazy with cleaning chemicals.  All my towels have stains from his son's girlfriend's make-up and pest control recently visited because the neighboring unit has cockroaches.  I can't take this, I'm ready to go homeless again.  Too bad all my camping gear is lathered with flame retardant.

 

[Terminalxylem]

I just got back to the apartment and the place reeks from the grandfather going crazy with cleaning chemicals.  All my towels have stains from his son's girlfriend's make-up and pest control recently visited because the neighboring unit has cockroaches.  I can't take this, I'm ready to go homeless again.  Too bad all my camping gear is lathered with flame retardant.

Homelessness isn’t associated with longevity either.

 

[belljr]

The toxicness starts in my underpants

 

[Caveman33]

Homelessness isn’t associated with longevity either.

Probably because the homeless also make other terrible decisions.  Drug addiction, poor nutrition, neglected healthcare and sleep disturbances.  I didn't sleep well during my short stint and it was exhausting always carrying my stuff around in a rucksack.  I now know some of the older drug free dudes so I could potentially join their community of tents.  I don't want longevity either.  Just physical and mental wellbeing for the remainder of my prime years.

I asked the grandfather why he is going so hard with the cleaning chemicals.  He said it's because he wants to keep covid out of the house.  Lol.  Not only is his approach ineffective, he is an anti-vaxxer who gave me covid when I moved in last year.  He and I are supposed to move to a new place next month, leaving behind his son and girlfriend to fight by themselves.  I'm hoping the owners of the new place see the red flags and it falls through.  It's time for me to leave this city.

 

[Caveman33]

The toxicness starts in my underpants

If it smells bad, it might be an infection.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Probably because the homeless also make other terrible decisions.  Drug addiction, poor nutrition, neglected healthcare and sleep disturbances.  I didn't sleep well during my short stint and it was exhausting always carrying my stuff around in a rucksack.  I now know some of the older drug free dudes so I could potentially join their community of tents.  I don't want longevity either.  Just physical and mental wellbeing for the remainder of my prime years.

I asked the grandfather why he is going so hard with the cleaning chemicals.  He said it's because he wants to keep covid out of the house.  Lol.  Not only is his approach ineffective, he is an anti-vaxxer who gave me covid when I moved in last year.  He and I are supposed to move to a new place next month, leaving behind his son and girlfriend to fight by themselves.  I'm hoping the owners of the new place see the red flags and it falls through.  It's time for me to leave this city.

Well, if you’re looking for physical and mental well-being in your prime, I’d say stable housing, maintaining a healthy weight and curtailing smoking/drinking/drug use are your best bets. Of those, housing may be the most important.

If all those chemicals are going to harm you, it will likely take a couple decades. Things like cancer don’t pop up overnight from short term, low level exposures.

The trade-off of being non-domiciled ain’t worth it imo.