EcoToaD

Algae, the Fuel of the Future

Posted on March 23, 2009 | 2 Comments

Earth2tech

Biofuels that come from corn, palm, sugar cane or soy are responsible for deforestation and an increase in food prices.

This is not the case of a biofuel that was first considered in the seventies, and is now getting much deserved attention: algae.

Algae transform carbon dioxide and sunlight into energy so efficiently that they can double their weight several times a day, and can generate 30 times more oil per hectare than other plant based biofuels. Algae can grow in salt water, freshwater or even contaminated water, at sea or in ponds, and on land not suitable for food production.

Its production doesn’t require massive amounts of land like other plant based fuels.

On top of those advantages, algae grows better when fed extra carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas), and on contaminated water bodies. By collecting algae we could produce biofuel while cleaning up other problems at the same time.

Various algae contain different levels of oil, and they can also be genetically modified to produce more oil. Most scientists argue that the algae found in pond scum is best suited for biodiesel.

Also, pressing algae creates a few more useful byproducts such as fertilizer and feedstock without depleting other food sources.

Once the oil’s extracted, it’s refined, mixed with an alcohol (such as methanol), and a few more steps will bring algae biodiesel fuel.

Polluted lake-Algal bloom

But the most exciting part of algae biodiesel is the great productivity at low cost (economic and environmental). Biodiesel makers claim they’ll be able to produce more than 800 gallons of algae oil per ha per year.

Algae production has the potential to outperform other potential biodiesel products such as palm or corn. For example, a 50 ha algae biodiesel plant could potentially produce 10 million gallons of biodiesel in a single year. Experts estimate it will take 140 billion gallons of algae biodiesel to replace petroleum-based products each year. To reach this goal, algae biodiesel companies will only need about 40 million ha of land to build biodiesel plants, compared to billions of hectares for other biodiesel products. Since algae can be grown anywhere indoors, it’s a promising element in the race to produce a new fuel.

For now algae based biofuel is still in the R&D stage, but we’ll hopefully run our cars on this uber green fuel in our lifetime.

Some interesting Algae Biodiesel Start-ups:

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Green Living, Sustainability

Tagged Algae, biodiesel, biofuel, Green Energy, Green Fuel

Less than 50 years to say goodbye to Sushi

Posted on March 21, 2009 | 4 Comments

According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, 75 % of the world’s fisheries are now either over-exploited, fully exploited or significantly depleted. A study published in Nature concluded that 90 % of the “big” fish (tuna, swordfish, and marlin) are already gone.

Scientists agree that if we continue to fish at our current rates, all commercial fish species will disappear in the next 50 years.

Government subsidies to the fishing sector, totaling approximately $20 billion annually, represent one of the principal forces behind the overfishing crisis. But the biggest force behind this crisis are the world’s industrial fishing fleets which are destroying the ocean at an alarming rate.

If all the fish we ate was caught old school using a simple fishing rod the oceans would be in much better shape. Small fishermen are trying to shift to sustainable practices, because they are realizing that overfishing is not only destroying the ocean, but also destroying their livelihood, leaving them with no fish left to catch.

But unfortunately most of the fish that we consume doesn’t come from sustainable sources, it comes from large industrial boats that that use highly destructive fishing methods and harvest massive amounts of fish at an unsustainable rate.

Following are some of the most destructive and also most common fishing practices. This is how the fish we consume gets harvested from our oceans and ends in our kitchen and restaurant tables:

Bottom Trawling:

Bottom trawling involves dragging huge, heavy nets along the sea floor. Large metal plates and rubber wheels attached to these nets move along the bottom and crush nearly everything in their path, coral, sponges, plants, and all kids of sea life. It literaly scraps the ocean floor clean of life.

It is used to fish cod, haddock, squid, shrimp and crustaceans among other commercial fish.

If allowed to continue, the bottom trawlers will destroy deep sea species before we have even discovered much of what is out there. What we are doing to our deep oceans by allowing trawling is like driving a huge bulldozer through an unexplored, lush and richly populated forest leaving a flat and lifeless desert.

This practice is so widespread and damaging that it can even be seen from space:

Bottom Trawling from Space

Botom Trawling

Bottom Trawler (Greenpeace)

spanish_trawler

Ocean Floor Before and After Trawling

Long lines:

Long-lining is one of the most widespread methods of fishing. The lines are up to 130 km long (80 miles) and have hundreds of thousands of baited hooks at a time. The hooks are dragged behind the boat at varying depths or are kept afloat by buoys and left overnight.

This method is used to catch mainly tuna and swordfish, but it also kills millions of sea birds, dolphins turtles, and other marine life every year.

Oceana

Turtle killed by a long line

Gillnets:

Gill nets hang like massive curtains in the oceans, drifting with the currents. Ranging from 3.5 to 10 km in length, gill nets are weighted at the bottom and held upright by floats at the top, creating what some have deemed “walls of death.”

Fish are unable to see the netting, and unless the mesh size is larger than the fish, they get stuck. When they try to back out, the netting catches them by their gills or fins and they get stuck.

In many occassions they are left to drift for days an many of them get lost (become ghost nets) killing thousands of untargeted marine life- specially dolphins, turtles and seals.

Gilnet (By Oceana)

Sea Lion killed by Gillnet

Purse Seines:

This is the primary fishing method for tuna fish. Tuna swim at the same level as dolphins, and fishermen usually trak dolphin pods in order to locate tuna.

The dolphin schools are then chased by small high-speed boats or even helicopters that accompany the fishing boats. When the dolphins begin to tire, the fishermen encircle the school with huge nylon nets that are up to 5 km long and 100 m deep. When both the dolphins and the tuna have been completely surrounded, the bottom of the net is pulled closed, much like a drawstring purse, hence the name purse-seining. Purse-seining has proven to be an extremely effective method of catching fish. Entire schools of tuna are able to be scooped up without a single fish escaping. Unfortunately, many dolphins are also killed in the process, as they become entangled in the nets and drown, or are crushed as the nets are pursed and hauled in.

pursesiene

Dolphins and Tuna trapped in a Purse Seine Net

Solutions:

Only 0.8% of the ocean is protected, we need to make more ocean sanctuaries where fishing is prohibited.

We need to ban these destructive fishing practices which are not only damaging the oceans, but also endangering the only protein source of millions of people and endangering the livelihood of many small fishermen.

Shifting to sustainable fishing practices, having stricter quotas and regulations could aide the recovery of most commercial fisheries.

Demand and support safer fishing alternatives, it is possible and it must be done soon!

Aquaculture can be an alternative, but it also has many negative consequences if not properly managed. There are sustainable aquaculture farms, but it depends on the fish you want to grow (some species are more suitable than others) and the methods used.

Guide to sustainable Sea Food :

Most Sustainable Fish : Anchovies, Sardines, Salmon (Wild), Mussels, Mackerel (Atlantic), Oysters (Farmed), Trout, Clams (Farmed), Lobster, Halibut, Crab.

Least Sustainable: Chilean Sea Bass, Tuna, Grouper, Cod, Swordfish, Shrimp, Salmon (Farmed), Octopus, Monk fish, Mahimahi (Imported), Snapper (Imported).

—————————————————————————————————————————

(Spanish)

Guia para comer pescado/marisco:

Mejores opciones: Anchoas/Boquerones, Sardinas, Salmon (Salvaje), Mejillones, Cavalla, Ostras (Cultivadas), Trucha, Almejas (Cultivadas), Langosta, Cangrejo.

Marisco menos sostenible: Atun, Bacalao, Pez Espada/Emperador, Gambas (importadas), Salmon (piscifactoria), Lubina (Importada de Chile/Asia), Pulpo, Rape, Dorada (Asia o Sur America)

SOURCES:

Oceana

Greenpeace

WWF

Environmental Defense Fund

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Posted in Biodiversity, Food, Green Living, Ocean, Sustainability

Tagged Bottom Trawling, Drift nets, eating fish, Fishing guide, Gillnets, Long lines, Over exploitation, Overfishing, Purse Seines

Sea Level Rise will be worse than anticipated

Posted on February 21, 2009 | 9 Comments

Sea level rise is one of the most feared consequences of global warming.

Polar ice caps and mountain glaciers are melting at such an alarming rate, that scientists don’t seem to agree how many meters the sea level will rise and how fast it will happen.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change worst case scenario predictions were of less than 1 m of sea level rise by the end of the century, but apparently they were way too optimistic. Recent studies suggest that the IPCC global sea level rise predictions were seriously underestimated.

The two major ice sheets that will most likely cause sea level rise (when melted) are Greenland and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. But the amount of ice that will melt and the time it will take it’s still unknown.

Greenland is the world’s largest island, with an area of over 2 million square kilometers. Most of the island is covered by an ice cap that can reach thicknesses of 3 kilometers

Data from a NASA satellite shows that the melting rate has dramatically accelerated since 2000.

If the ice cap were to completely disappear, global sea levels would rise by 6.5m.

Estimated monthly changes in the mass of Greenland’s ice sheet suggest it is melting at a rate of about 239 cubic kilometres per year. Most scientists agree that the melting won’t be gradual, there will be a tipping point when the melting will abruptly accelerate. When will this happen is still unknown.

National Snow and Ice Data Centre

We have known about Greenland’s dangerous warming for a while, but we recently learned that Antarctica is no longer immune to global warming.

A very recent study (Mann, et. al) published in Nature magazine, shows the increased and abrupt warming of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Mann explains that “a larger part of West Antarctica is melting than previously thought”.

In stark contrast, a large part of the continent — the East Antarctic Ice Sheet — was found to be getting colder. The cooling was linked to another anthropogenic (human-caused) effect: ozone depletion.

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is 1,800 meters above sea level and holds approximately 2.2 million cubic kilometers of ice, about the same amount of ice contained in the Greenland Ice Sheet.

NASA

Jerry Mitrovica, co-author of a new and groundbreaking study (published in Science) explains that “The West Antarctic is fringed by ice shelves, which act to stabilize the ice sheet — these shelves are sensitive to global warming, and if they break up, the ice sheet will have a lot less impediment to collapse”.

Whether or when this ice sheet might collapse and melt is still very uncertain, but even a partial melt would have a bigger impact on some coastal areas than others.

Sea level rise will not happen uniformly around the globe. When physical and gravitational factors are applied to projections of sea level rise, the impact on coastal areas is dramatically worse in some parts of the world than predicted so far.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that a full collapse of the WAIS would raise sea levels by 5 meters globally.
Mitrovica explains that this is an oversimplification, and that sea level rise will be higher than expected, and greater in some places than in others (such as North America).

This study shows three important factors that the IPCC overlooked:

Gravity: Huge ice sheets exert a gravitational pull on the nearby ocean, drawing water toward it. If an ice sheet melted, that pull would be gone, and water would move away. In the case of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, the water would move away from the south towards northern latitudes.
Rebound: The WAIS is called a marine-based ice sheet because the weight of all that ice has depressed the bedrock underneath to the point that most of it sits below sea level. If all, or even some, of that ice melts, the bedrock will rebound, pushing some of the water on top of it out into the ocean, further contributing to sea level rise.
Earth’s rotation: A collapse of the WAIS would also shift the South Pole location of the earth’s rotation axis from its present location. This would shift water from the southern Atlantic and Pacific oceans northward toward North America and the southern Indian Ocean.

Mitrovica explains that “The net effect of all of these processes is that if the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapses, the rise in sea levels around many coastal regions will be as much as 25 % more than expected, for a total of between 6 and 7 meters if the whole ice sheet melts,”. That’s a lot of additional water, particularly around such highly populated areas as Washington, D.C., New York City, and the California coastline.

“We aren’t suggesting that a collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is imminent,” said study co-author Peter Clark of Oregon State University. “But these findings do suggest that if you are planning for sea level rise, you had better plan a little higher.”

Click here for a great interview with the researchers of this amazing study.

If you want to see different scenarios of sea level rise in your area go to Google Flood Maps, select 5-7 m and zoom in your home town to see if in the next 100 years your home will be under water!

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Posted in Global Warming, Ocean

Tagged Antarctic, Climate Change, Global Warming, Greenland, Ice melt, Sea level rise

The Nastiest 10 Food Additives

Posted on February 18, 2009 | 2 Comments

Food Additives sneak into our favorite foods, most of us not realizing the dangerous consequences of consuming these artificial chemicals.

We must learn to automatically look at the ingredient lists of our everyday products and understand all the elements that make up this list. In most countries food preservatives are still coded (E-number) and people have no clue of what they are eating. If you want to know what those E numbers stand for, click here.

If any of these 10 nasty preservatives shows up in the ingredient list of a product you regularly consume, don’t buy it anymore, leave it on the supermarket shelf and look for a more natural and safer alternative, because these nasty 10 have been linked to cancer and other severe health problems.

ham_01 1-Sodium Nitrate/Nitrite

E-250 to E-252

Used to stabilize food color and add artificial flavor.

It is found in many products such as meats, ham, bacon, sausages, hamburgers, smoked fish, etc.

When grilled it’s even more dangerous -it transforms into a reactive compound that has been directly linked to cancer.

2-Monosodium Glutamate

E-621

A very common flavor enhancer used in a wide range of foods. It adds a meaty salty flavor to many processed foods and is commonly used in meats, soups, Asian food, sauces, dressings, potato chips, frozen foods, etc.

It has been linked to brain damage, asthma, headaches, stomach disorders, fatigue, depression, and obesity among others health problems.

3-Aspartame

E-951

Artificial sweetener found in “diet” products, low-calorie desserts, gelatin, drinks, etc.

Also known as Nutrasweet or Equal in the U.S.

Studies have shown that lifelong consumption may increase risk of cancer or other neurological problems.

gummy_bears 4-Food Colorings: Blue 1, 2; Red 2, 3; Green 3; Yellow 6

These colorings are found in thousands of products, and they have all been linked to cancer.

Some examples of Blue 1 and 2 are found in beverages, baked goods, candy etc and it has been found to cause cancer in mice.

Red 2 and 3 are widely used, some examples are to dye cherries, fruit juice, candy, baked goods and have been linked to thyroid tumors.

And the widely used yellow 6 (eg.beverages, gelatin, breads, baked goods,sausage, candy, etc) has been linked to tumors of the adrenal grand and the kidney.

pandemolde 5.Potassium Bromate

E-924

It’s very common in industrial breads, white flour, and rolls to add volume to baked goods. Most bromate breaks down into a harmless form, however, small amounts can create a risk for people.

California requires a cancer warning on products with this ingredient.

6.Propyl Gallate

E-310

It prevents fats and oils from going bad and it’s found in many products, such as meats, soups, gums, etc.

It has been linked to cancer and you should avoid it.

7.BHA and BHT

E-320 and E-321

Butylated Hydoxyanisole (BHA) and Butylated Hydozyttoluene (BHT) are used to prevent foods from oxidizing and keeping fats and oils from going rancid. They are found in countless products such as dry cereals, potato chips, vegetable oils, etc.

They have been linked to cancer in numerous studies.

8.Olestra

Olestra is Procter & Gamble’s synthetic fat that is not absorbed as it passes through the digestive system, so it has no calories. It’s found in chips and diet foods/beverages.
Olestra can cause diarrhea, loose stools, abdominal cramps, flatulence, and other adverse effects. Those symptoms are sometimes severe.
Even more importantly, olestra reduces the body’s ability to absorb fat-soluble carotenoids from fruits and vegetables.

9. Acesulfame-K

E-950

Found in baked goods, chewing gum, and gelatin desserts.
It’s a new additive and there aren’t many studies to confirm its safety, if possible try to avoid it.

10. Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils

Found in margarine, crackers, fried restaurant foods, baked goods, icing, microwave popcorn, etc.

Vegetable oil (liquid), can be made into a semi-solid form by reacting it with hydrogen. Partial hydrogenation reduces the levels of polyunsaturated oils – and also creates trans fats, which promote heart disease.

Harvard School of Public Health has issued a warning regarding the consumption of margarine, snack foods and other foods containing hydrogenated oils.

If you don’t eat butter, there are some alternatives to hydrogenated margarine, my favorite is Earth Balance.

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Posted in Food, Green Living

Tagged Food, Food additives, Food Preservatives, toxic chemicals

“Environmental Economics: Towards Sustainability” at Boston Green Scene

Posted on February 18, 2009 | Leave a comment

Boston GreenScene is a great new site promoting green living in the Boston area.

I wrote an environmental economics article for the launch, check it out by clicking on the picture:

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Posted in Green Living

Tagged Environmental Economics

Global Warming: Faster than Predicted

Posted on February 6, 2009 | Leave a comment

Our current CO2 emissions are already above the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projections. (IPCC report)

We are headed towards a future which is even more dangerous than the report’s most pessimistic scenarios.

This figure shows the past and current global warming, showing clear evidence of the man caused temperature increase.

Different surface warming scenarios are also shown, red representing the worst case scenario:

IPCC

The following figure from a recent study shows that we are currently above the worst case scenario projections (A1FI-red line).

A1FI (high) projections were of +2.7% increase of Co2 emissions per year, but the actual growth is at +3.5% per year (from 2000-2007).

Raupach et al., PNAS, 2007

This means that our temperature will increase more than 5 °C by the end of the century. How many degrees and how fast our temperatures will rise is still uncertain, but we will see the impacts of global warming in our lifetime, that’s almost guaranteed.

Following is a summary of some of the consequences of climate change:

Stern review on the economics of climate change, 2006

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Posted in Global Warming

Tagged Climate Change, Global Warming, Sea level rise

The Amazon at “Steak”

Posted on January 30, 2009 | Leave a comment

25beef-span-6001

The cattle industry is responsible for 80% of the deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon according to a recent report by Greenpeace : “Amazon Cattle Footprint”.

Brazil has rapidly become the world’s largest beef exporter:

USDA

Over the last ten years more that 10 million hectares of forest (an area about the size of Iceland) has been cleared for cattle ranching. And the figures are rapidly increasing; the Brazilian government wants to double the beef production by 60% , and most of this expansion will take place in the Amazon, where land is cheap and available.

Greenpeace

Industrial agriculture is also a large contributor to the Amazon deforestation, soy plantations are on the rise, mainly for bio-diesel and cattle feed production. Both cattle farmers and agribusiness are very powerful in Brazil, many of the country’s most influential politicians are linked to the industry.

A lot of money is being made at the expense of the Amazon, but the value of this ecosystem is far greater than what we are destroying it for. It’s terrifying to know that we’ll probably find out it’s real value when it’s too late.

The Amazon rain forest is one of the most biodiverse places on earth, being the home of at least 40,000 different plant, 430 mammal, 1399 bird, 500 amphibians and 3,000 fish species, and many others that we haven’t discovered yet (and could be potential cures for human diseases).

Deforestation causes over 20% of global carbon emission, more than the world’s entire transport sector. The Amazon is estimated to store over 120 billion tonnes of carbon, which would be equal to over 50 years of current US carbon emissions if destroyed.

Cattle ranching in the Amazon also has social impacts on the region, including the highest rates of slave labor in Brazil. In 2008, 3005 rural workers who were kept in slavery were freed from cattle ranches in the Amazon.

The Amazon is also home to over 300,000 indigenous people who depend on the forest for their food, shelter, tools and medicines.

deforestation1

Greenpeace believes that Brazil can reach zero deforestation by 2015 through stronger enforcement of its existing environmental laws such as asking landowners to keep 80 % of their land forested, promote sustainable development programs, increasing funding for monitoring and law enforcement, etc.

We as consumers can also do our part by reducing our carbon footprint. Some ways of doing so include reducing the quantity of meat that we consume, and checking its origin and how it was produced.

The greenhouse gas emissions from beef are 13 kilograms of CO2 per kg. This means that eating a kilogram of beef represents roughly the same greenhouse emissions as flying 100 kilometers of a flight, per passenger.

To know more about your carbon footprint go to this site.

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Posted in Biodiversity, deforestation, Food, Global Warming

Tagged Amazon, Biodiversity, Cattle, deforestation

Stop Flushing Ancient Forests Down the Toilet

Posted on January 27, 2009 | 1 Comment

WWF-Kurt Prinz

We hear it in the news, we see it everywhere, forests are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Most of us are aware that deforestation is one of the most serious problems of the century, but we continue to flush old growth forests down our toilets.

Most people are extremely surprised when they learn that the two largest manufacturers of tissue products in the world still use virgin fiber from old growth forest to make toilet paper. It seems like a bad nightmare, but it’s a reality!

Kimberly-Clark (Kleenex, Scott, Scottex and Cottonelle) and Procter & Gamble (Bounty) sell millions of tons of tissue products in over 150 countries annually, making each over 14 billion US dollars of profit every year.

Their toilet papers are made with virgin fiber that comes from old growth boreal forests located in Canada, Russia and the Balkans. They also use virgin pulp from tropical forests located in Asia and Latin America.

WWF published in a recent report that “Every day, about 270,000 trees are flushed down the drain or end up as garbage all over the world”.

This is clearly unnecessary and it needs to stop!

You as the consumer have the power. Buying 100% post-consumer recycled toilet paper is a very easy way to protect some of the last old growth forest left in the world.

Yes, recycled toilet paper is not as soft , but it’s a very small sacrifice that can save millions of trees!

And anyways, how soft do you really need your toilet paper to be? You only use it a few seconds a day!

According to the NRDC, “ If every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper with 100% recycled ones, we could save 423,900 trees”.

There are tons of recycled toilet paper alternatives out there, these are just a few…

In the US: Seventh Generation, 365 (Whole Foods), Earth First and Green Forest . And Naturelle, Ecotopia and Essential in Europe among others.

Also note that the whiter the tissue, the more likely it is to contain high levels of virgin fibers and huge amounts of bleaching, which also has very negative impacts in the environment.

So from now on try to buy recycled toilet paper, and if your supermarket doesn’t carry it ask for it!

The consumer has the power. Vote with your money!

You can also ask Kimberly-Clark to stop using old growth forest here.

Sources:

NRDC

WWF

Greenpeace-Kleercut Campaign

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Posted in deforestation, Green Living

Tagged deforestation, Green Living, Recycle

Smart at the Market

Posted on January 25, 2009 | 1 Comment

Organic Choice- From thedailygreen.com

It can be difficult to know which products are OK if not organically grown, and which of the foods that we eat should be organic.

Some products are more heavily treated with pesticides than others, and some like tomatoes or grapes have very thin and permeable skins that easily allow synthetic chemicals to enter and stay in their tissues.

In a previous post I wrote about the different reasons why organic is better for you, the environment and local farmers.

Following you’ll find two tables showing which fruits and vegetables have high or low pesticide content. The columns under highest pesticide represent the fruits and veggies which have the highest amounts of pesticides in their tissues, and the green column (lowest pesticide) shows produce that are not as heavily treated with toxic chemicals.

If you regularly eat products from the red columns, be aware that those are some of the products with higher pesticide content, and if you are gonna buy any organic produce those should be the ones to consider.

You should also be aware that MILK contains high amounts of pesticides, hormones and other synthetic chemicals. Organic dairies cannot feed their cows with grains grown with pesticides, nor can they use antibiotics or growth hormones like rGBH or rbST, so if possible buy organic milk!

Are you ready to take a QUIZ?

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Posted in Food, Green Living

Tagged Organic

10 Toxic Chemicals that you can and should avoid

Posted on January 23, 2009 | 1 Comment

It’s almost impossible to avoid all the man made chemicals that we are exposed to.

They are present in most of our daily activities: our food, or cosmetics, furniture, cleaning products, electronics, cars, etc.

Most of us have around 150 synthetic chemicals in our bodies, which we pass on to our babies through the mother’s blood stream or lactancy.

These chemicals are responsible for reproductive problems, birth defects, hormonal distruption, nervous system anomalies and cancer.

toxicchemicalsplacard

Here’s is a list of 10 synthetic chemicals that you can avoid without changing your lifestyle:

1-Bisphenol A (BPA)

This chemical is used to make certain plastics soft and pliable and it has been linked to hormonal disruption, heart disease, type II diabetes and liver enzyme abnormalities.

It leeks from plastic containers and also gets released when microwaving food inside plastic containers.

To avoid them buy food preserved in glass bottles and containers (especially tomatos, other acidic vegetables and oils).

2-Mercury

Mercury is found in almost every fish on earth, but the higher in the food chain the higher levels of mercury (it bioacumulates).

Mercury is emitted by coal burning power plants, oil refineries, medical waste disposal facilitties, and also from the combustion of diesel, jet fuel, and heating oil, and then released to the land and oceans.

Doctors recommend pregnant women not to eat fish because it can cause mental retardation in unborn babies.

Many studies suggest that our fish consumption should be limited because mercury can also cause dephiciencies in the motor system and kidney damage.

Tuna, swordfish and marlin have the highest mercury concetrations, and sardines, wild salmon and anchovies some of the lowest.

3-Pesticides

I already wrote about the health effects of pesticides in a previous post.

Organophosphate pesticides have immediate effects on the nervous system, motor function and attention span. Other pesticides (Carbaryl) are listed as human carcinogens, and linked to a higher incidence of infant brain cancer and non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Avoid them by buying organic fruits, vegetables, milk and meat.

4-Perfluorinated Compounds (PFCs)

A family of fluorine chemicals with unique properties to make materials stain and stick resistant.

They are found in Teflon pans, water resistant clothing, stain resistant textiles (for sofas, etc.), grease resistant packaging, and cosmetics.

Researchers are finding serious health concerns about PFCs, including increased risk of cancer.

In order to avoid them stay away from oily or greasy packaged food, avoid stain resistant treatments for fabrics, avoid cosmetics containing any “fluoro” or “perfluoro” ingredients (they are present in eye make up, dental products, moisturisers, etc) and avoid burning teflon or non stick cookware.

5-Phthalates:

Phthalates are plasticizing and softening chemicals used in a wide array of consumer products, especially those ccontaining PVC (polyvinyl chloride).

They are present in PVC products such as vinyl flooring, vinyl shower curtains, and children’s toys. Also in many personal care products, such as perfumes, nail polish, and lotions, automobile interiors and medical equipment.

In several studies they have been found to cause reproductive problems and asthma.

There have been many companies, hospitals and government agencies that are switching to other alternative safer materials, and if possible you should limit the n of pvc’s in you home.

: Image from toxicnation.ca

6-Nonylphenol & Nonylphenol Ethoxylates

Nonylphenol compounds are effective and cheap solvents used in cleaning products.

There are many safer substitutes, so simply don’t accept any “nonylphenol” on the ingredient list of products in your house because they can severely affect your reproductive system.

: 7-Polybrominated Flame Retardants

They are used in mattresses, electronics, plastics and other materials to prevent them from catching fire and burning.

Even if some states (such as California,etc.) and Europe have banned them,studies in the U.S., Europe, and Asia have found them in fish, meat, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and infant formula.

Adverse health effects include problems in brain development and genital malformations.

Avoid polybrominates by buying clothing, bedding and furniture made from natural materials.

8-Glycol ethers

There is a whole range of glycol ethers, many of which are relatively safe. However, the dangerous ones can cause birth defects and lower quality and quantity of sperm.

Look out for methyl cellosolve, Ethylene Glycol Ethyl Ether, Ethylene Glycol Methyl Ether Acetate, and Ethylene Glycol Ethyl Ether Acetate.

They are commonly used in paints, inks, house cleaners, detergents, etc.

9-Aluminum

Aluminum is the world’s most common metal, and it’s present in many products around us.

It is used in cans and aluminum foil, as lightweight sheet metal in airplanes and other machinery, in electrical wiring and in personal care products such as deodorant and antiperspirant.

The problem with deodorants and antiperspirants is not only the aluminum, but how it works to reduce sweat and smelly odors.

Aluminum compounds or aluminum salts, such as aluminum oxide are key ingredients in almost every antiperspirant. They are powerful astringents that close pores, stopping sweat and odor from escaping the body.

Antiperspirants may leave the outside of the body smelling fresh and clean , but inside, the toxins that would have escaped the body in the sweat have nowhere to go.

What’s more, “antiperspirants are designed to be absorbed”; the aluminum and many other chemicals are taken into the body and may affect the endocrine and lymphatic systems, as well as being a potential risk factor in breast cancer.

Aluminum has not only been linked to breast cancer, but many studies have shown links between between Alzheimer’s disease and aluminum.

Avoid buying deodorants with aluminum in it, check for the ingredient list!

10-Sodium Lauryl Sulphate

Sodium Lauryl Sulphate is a very harsh detergent found in almost all shampoos and a few toothpastes.

Studies suggest that “Shampoos with SLS could keep children’s eyes from developing properly”.

It can also cause cataracts in adults and delays the healing of wounds in the surface of the cornea.

It has a “low molecular weight and so is easily absorbed by the body, building up in the heart, liver and brain and can cause major problems in these areas.

Sodium Lauryl Sulphate causes skin to flake and to separate and causes roughness on the skin.

After long term applications it actually corrodes the hair follicle and impairs the ability to grow hair.

“Sodium Lauryl Sulphate is routinely used in clinical studies deliberately to irritate the skin so that the effects of other substances can be tested.”

Check the ingredients in your shampoo right now, I assure you they have Sodium Lauryl Sullhpate in it!

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