The EPA tells us our indoor air quality is a greater threat to our health than even the industrial releases sending pollutants into the outdoor air of our urban environments. There is some sense to this claim if we examine what we bring into our homes from a trip to the store or home ‘improvement’ center. The irrationality of purchasing air-polluting materials unnecessary to our lives can only be accomplished by sales campaigns rich in disinformation. Such advertising is designed to maximize the profits of vendors without obliging them to justify their selections in product ingredients through objective measurements of air quality following the use of their products (air fresheners, pesticides, construction materials, etc.). There is no way for the average person to comprehend the potential harm posed by the simplest of products adorning our grocers’ shelves when the labels and even the MSDS documents of the manufacturers aren’t required to list all ingredients.

A ‘lifestyle’ based upon the introduction of air fresheners and perfumes, pesticides and paints, polyurethanes and adhesives, attaching garages to our living and working spaces – these methods of introducing serious and continuous sources of poisons into our bodies are indeed ‘lifestyle’ issues. If we spent a fraction of the time considering our surroundings that we spend pondering our intake of fat and calories, the cost of health care in America would drop like the proverbial stone. We are even learning that obesity can result from exposure to certain chemicals in our products. Many toxins are lipophilic, requiring us to produce more fat cells to store them where they won’t have an ongoing, adverse effect upon our systems.

Test it out in your own home. Literally. You may not be at fault for what lurks in your air, but you are living with the consequences of those unknowns.

Let it be known.

Sent to the LA Times:

Re: LA Times article, “How to Have Healthier Air in your Home” by Karen Ravn (7/27/09)

To the Editor,

Our bodies are excellent at informing us of danger — unless we pop analgesics, anti-inflammatories or anti-depressants without ever looking for the cause of our discomforts. Toxicity reactions (as opposed to allergies), are year-round and have helped health care grow to an obscene 16 percent of the GNP.

Many carbon monoxide detectors won’t ring until an hour after detecting levels at 70 ppm. Harm begins at 35 ppm, so purchase meters allowing you to read current and peak levels at a touch.

Your home could harbor higher concentrations of pesticides and herbicides than outdoors if windows are open while landscapers apply weed killers or trucks drive by spraying for mosquitoes. These chemicals remain active for years where there is no sunlight to degrade them. Stay alert to events which will pollute your home, even as you ventilate it.

You can’t know if your home was built on old farmland, was renovated using toxic materials, or otherwise badly treated by prior owners. Test your home via air filter analysis, baseboard swipes or other method recommended by qualified toxicologists, if family members (including pets) are suffering from health problems. I have uncovered levels of various chemicals which would be prohibited by law in the workplace.

It is less painful and expensive to prevent illness than to treat it. Lower your risks through testing.

Barbara Rubin

All humor aside, this editorial is based upon an oxymoron – the “ethical” testing of poisons upon healthy humans solely for the purpose of maximizing profits for an industry that clings to the unsafe technologies of a profitable past. The chemicals they want to test (e.g. Dursban, Diazanon), have already been banned for use around people, are closely related to WMDs like sarin and are descended from the gasses used in the Nazi concentration camps. There are many effective alternative products.

Numerous studies have proven that the vast majority of adults and children have significant concentrations of pesticide residues in bodily fluids. Other studies show we store them in our fat cells. Any physician who swore the Hippocratic oath should be prosecuted for malpractice (or at least prostitution), if they participate in these studies.

Ethics forbids the transformation of human bodies into waste treatment plants for industry’s gain. The fragile, easily damaged and depleted organs and enzymes devoted to the detoxification of trespassing poisons are needed so we can age gracefully instead of succumbing to disease and dementia. If consumers stop buying pesticide sprays since there are no ways to apply them, such research becomes moot.

Barbara Rubin

There is a flaw in the issues brought before the courts by victims of cancer due to industrial contaminants. Mr. Menn’s article, (“Case Targets High-Tech Manufacturing“, 10/13/03), flirts with this truth, quoting two litigants who suffered signs of neurological damage (e.g. vision disturbances, headaches, blackouts) while still employed at IBM. They were handling many toxic materials common to the workplace and home settings, including xylene, benzene and acetone.

The public needs to recognize when clinical signs of poisoning occur in any setting as most doctors are not trained in toxicology. The default diagnosis for illness of indeterminate origin is always stress. Stress is not causing three out of ten workers to become disabled prior to their retirement years. It does not explain why so many live with chronic pain and illness which reduces productivity and destroys quality of life.

Only we can change this by demanding full disclosure of all ingredients for any materials we handle or consume in advance of their use. Data on harmful effects is readily available once one knows the name of the chemical in question. However, employers and landlords need not inform us in advance about the use of toxic materials in our vicinity. Our labelling laws do not require disclosure of toxic ingredients (e.g. fragrances can contain toluene among many other toxicants). Even your box of Bounce dryer sheets may sport a warning not to dry children’s clothing with them as it increases flammability of garments. The box fails to mention the fact that same unspecified ingredient will enter your lungs during drying cycles when heating renders it airborne.

Many chemicals are carcinogens, yes, but they also cause us immediate harm in respiratory and neurological functions. Solvents can cause anemia and insecticides lead to severe gastrointestinal symptoms in early stages of poisoning. Safer alternatives to most of these items are available as well as stronger protections (e.g. respirator masks, suits) against harm when their use is essential to a particular purpose.

As Dr. Sherry Rogers points out, a headache is not a sign of an aspirin deficiency. Learn what is around you and determine if it might be implicated in your symptoms. Don’t wait for cancer or irrevocable brain and immune system damage to occur. Nip chemical poisoning in the bud early!

Barbara Rubin