Article Time

Copyright 2006 Michael Madigan

You may feel healthy…. but you`re sitting in front of a big toxic timebomb when you compute.

Your computer contains some of the most dangerous chemicals on earth, and they are building up at a location near you!

Manufacturers have sealed the toxins inside, but the dumping of obsolete PCs over the years, and crushing them in landfills, will let dangerous substances seep out into surrounding land, air and water.

In the US, according to the Safety Council, 60 million PCs are already buried in landfills, and 138,000 computers per day will become obsolete – and so ready for dumping – between 2004 and 2009.

Just in the UK, up to 2 million Pentium PCs are dumped each year.

Also, any disaster is likely to release vast quantities of poisonous material. (One estimate of 9/11 was that the personal computers destroyed contained 200,000 pounds of lead!)

How much escaped into the outside world? Judging from onsite readings in the following weeks- a LOT.

A computer is environmentally expensive to make. It will use 10 times its weight in fossil fuels plus a tonne of purified water. Polluting substances (at low levels)are also discharged into rivers` lakes and the air during every stage of manufacture.

However savage competition increasing repair costs, and regular model upgrading has meant manufacturers have made little effort to recycle, as pc prices – and hence profit margins – have stayed low.

So what poisons are there in your average model? The main ones are:

LEAD

Consumer electronics make up 40% of lead continually dumped (until recently) into landfills and scrap yards. An average computer uses 4 pounds of Lead, i.e., 6.2% of the total weight of the PC.

The main uses of Lead in Consumer Electronics are for soldering of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and other electronic components, as well as glass panels in computer monitors (cathode ray tubes), to shield you from radiation. Typically a screen can contain 2 to 5 grams of lead!

Lead is one of the few natural substances not essential to life. At even very low levels, lead has been shown to cause health problems.

Lead can damage the central and peripheral nervous systems, blood system and kidneys in humans. It accumulates in the environment and has serious damaging effects on plants, animals and microorganisms. The difficulty with lead is that once it is mined from the earth, there is no commercially acceptable way to destroy or make it harmless – you can only try recycling it The recyclable efficiency of Lead is around a low 5%.

CADMIUM

Cadmium occurs in certain electronic components such as resistors, infrared detectors, semiconductors, older cathode ray tubes, in batteries and as a plastic stabilizer. Cadmium is an extremely toxic metal, and may damage human health irreversibly. Cadmium and cadmium compounds concentrate in the human body, in particular in the kidneys. Cadmium is absorbed mainly through breathing – very dangerous, high levels can kill! but also enters as food, and can easily accumulate in amounts that cause symptoms of poisoning.

Again like lead, cadmium has accumulated via the dumping of old computers, and has become a hazard to us all.

BARIUM

Barium is used in the front panel of a CRT to protect users from radiation. Barium can be released through the air, water, and soil, and is also accumulated in fish. Studies have shown that short-term exposure to barium (through ingestion) has resulted in brain swelling, muscle weakness, and damage to the heart, liver, and spleen.

MERCURY

22 % of the yearly world consumption of mercury is used in electrical and electronic equipment. In PCs you`ll find mercury in PWBs, batteries and the newer liquid crystal LCD flat screens that are replacing the older bulkier monitors, with their cathode ray tubes, ( whose screens contained lead!)

Mercury is a powerful poison. Published research has shown that mercury, even in small amounts, is more toxic than lead, cadmium and even arsenic! Although mercury is just 0.0022% of the total weight of the computer, it is a big health hazard.

And we haven`t even touched on other hazardous and polluting substances like Tin, Arsenic, Beryllium, hexavalent Chromium, Selenium,arsenic,manganese, Silver. Plus stabilisers and additives.

Polybrominated flame retardants used on cables and circuit boards may damage sexual development and growth, and accumulate in human breast milk

If computer materials are `destroyed` by commercial incineration, hazardous metals and cancer causing organics like dioxins can be discharged into the air.

Stricter laws are being gradually introduced worldwide controlling the dumping and recycling of computers, although the present `dumping` of computer waste by the West on developing countries has now become a major scandal. We healthy people are making people overseas ill dismantling our PCs.

The main aim behind PC disposal laws worldwide has been `make the polluter pay`, So manufacturers will be expected to pay the direct costs.

(But don`t be too amazed if you find your new PC suddenly costs $60 more!)

The European Union has led the way with a series of Directives putting strict limits on the hazardous content of a PC sold in member countries and how all PCs are disposed of – sellers will have to take them back and arrange recycling.

The US has so far adopted a more piecemeal approach, although states as far apart as California and Alaska are enforcing strict controls on dumping and disposal of electronic equipment.

What can YOU do?

- Check your local regulations if you want to dispose of your computing equipment.

- Give your computer away to a registered charity or organisation that can use it. (Make sure it`s in good working order before you try this!)

- Use a registered specialist disposal firm to remove and recycle old computers, don`t break the law and pollute the environment!

- In future, before you buy a new PC, consider buying a recycled computer, or upgrade your old one.

Plus, have a look at these sites…….

Environmental Protection Agency (US) http://www.epa.gov/

In UK, Industry Council for Electronic Equipment Recycling (ICER) http://www.icer.org.uk/

Good luck, and healthy living and computing in 2006 and beyond!

——

Mick Madigan lives in the UK and has a continual interest in healthy computing.
He has published a fully detailed guide on how computing will harm you – and how you can avoid it – at:
http://www.m1mart.co.uk

Copyright 2006 Michael Madigan

Did you know computer equipment continually gives out small amounts of different gases and fine dusts? Some people are highly sensitive to these.

Plastic PC components are one source, as most plastics are unstable and break down naturally over time, especially when exposed to ultraviolet light and sunlight. (That`s the reason why they turn yellow and get brittle.)

Another source comes from vapour produced from traces of manufacturing materials slowly evaporating.

The gases and fumes given off are called `out-gassing` and only occur in small amounts. But when the equipment is new, the out-gassing is greater and noticeable even to people who aren`t particularly sensitive.

This is similar to the smell that we get when we first get into a new car – out-gassing from the vinyl, plastic carpet and hard plastic interiors, as well as the wiring.

A new computer has a similar smell. So to some extent you can avoid outgassing, at least of `new` volatile components, by buying a good quality `used` PC.

Other office materials, particuliarly new furnishings, may also outgas – chipboard contains phenolic resins, which release trace amounts of formaldehyde; also carpeting (especially foam padding), paint and fabrics give off obnoxious chemicals when new.

People who have been sensitized (by previous exposure) may react badly to even very tiny amounts of these gases, by getting headaches, dizziness, and respiratory problems. The problems may persist even when the original cause is reduced, or disappears. In such a case it`s wise to seek qualified medical advice.

Casings may also be contaminated by fine brominated phenolic dust originally put on as a fire retardant, which can be blown out by fans, circulation or movement.

The best solutions are :-

- Initally, to run any new equipment in an empty well ventilated room to allow most of the outgassing to occur before use.

- Always work in a room with good ventilation and avoid continual high room temperatures–outgassing will increase as the temperature rises.

Laser printers emit a lot of toner dust, which contains carbon and solvents, and quite a few people are sensitive to it. You can smell it when the printer is on, and especially on freshly printed-paper. You may notice wheeziness, coughing, and sneezing.

People working at copy centers and service bureaus often suffer from headaches, and toner dust is the main suspect. NCR paper (`carbonless` paper) can also cause wheeziness.

Good ventilation, drawing air away from the operator and filtering out particles, will help reduce these reactions, but effective ventilation in a commercial or home office is sometimes hard to achieve, especially in sealed buildings.

You can try going outdoors and breathing deeply for 10 minutes every hour or so. Open doors, maybe have a fan on., and avoid routine (multiple) photocopying every single document.

Think long term. Removing even mild poisons from your environment is yet another way to keep safe, stay fitter at the PC and enjoy a healthy computing career!

——

Mick Madigan lives in the UK, has a continual interest in healthy computing, and has recently published a fully detailed guide on the ways computing can harm you – and how you can avoid them – at
http://www.m1mart.co.uk
A stress- busting audio/text exercise ebook, plus futher articles on staying fitter at your PC, can also be downloaded without obligation from this site.

I`ve worked at a vet`s office and asked one of the
one`s I really trusted, what they would recommend for
my new dog. He said “None” of the commercially
produced ones. When I asked why, he said it was
because there are no quality standards for pet food.
There could be variations between one batch and
another. One lot could cause diarrhea, another a dull
coat, intermittent vomiting or skin problems. Since
you change what batches you feed your dog over time,
you will never know what caused the problem.

You would be shocked what goes into dog food.
Products unfit for human consumption are put into dog
food. That includes rendered pets. Yes, euthanized
and animals that die from disease are rendered into
products that end up in your dog food. Supporters of
this practice say that the product is sterilized so
that no diseases are transmitted. When you read
pet-food labels and it says meat or bone meal, that`s
what it is — cooked and converted animals, including
some dogs and cats. Even worse than the thought of
our dogs becoming cannibals is the process that the
flesh goes through to become bone meal. This meat and
bone must be treated with toxic chemicals to render it
to product.

Since many of the condemned animals are euthanized,
dog food contains sodium Pentabarbital. There is also
heavy metal contamination such as lead from our
environment. While food for human consumption must
meet strict standards, dog food does not.

So think long and hard before you feed your dog that
food from the supermarket that is labeled healthy dog
food. It probably is not.

Protecting your puppy or dog from everyday poisons in the home and garden will be the focus of this article.

Along with your veterinarian`s phone number, you should have posted in prominent vicinity by the phone the number to a 24 hour emergency pet hospital and the ASPCA Poison Control Hotline (888-426-4435). Make sure you know where the pet emergency hospital is before the need arises. Having these numbers available before you need them may save your puppy or dog`s life. It is also suggested that you have a doggie emergency kit available consisting of the following:

� Bottle of hydrogen peroxide

� Bulb syringes (medium and large sizes) or large medicine syringe

� Saline eye solution

� Muzzle

� Clean blanket to wrap dog in if necessary

� Assortment of towels

� Portable pet carrier if dog is small

� Rubber gloves

Most canines love to explore and sniff out new things. Most puppies and dogs lick things or put items in their mouth before you have a chance to tell them no or direct their attention elsewhere. Keeping all unsafe items out of a dog`s grasp is one way to protect them in your house. Keeping them on a leash helps protect them when away from the house or out walking.

Placing cleaners in cabinets or cupboards and gardening supplies in the garage away from the dog is a start on making your home doggie safe. If your dog has access to the garage, make sure all gardening supplies or additives are on shelves or in an area of the garage inaccessible to the dog. Think how you would childproof your home and apply it to the dog. A dog can`t climb but he can jump up on tables and grab anything he thinks is edible. Fumes from paints, fuel oils and acetones are very harmful to animals and can also make humans ill. Keep these items in a well ventilated area and out of reach of dogs and children.

Most people don`t think of their prescriptions or over the counter medicines as a danger to puppies or dogs. A dropped pill on the floor could cause great harm to the puppy or dog that finds and swallows it. One little pill could cause live failure, depression, seizures or a multitude of medical emergencies. If you drop a pill or anything on the floor, pick it up. Taking 2 minutes to locate the pill may save the life of your pet.

Everyone must know by now that chocolate is harmful to dogs. It isn`t that great for humans either but our weight gain (as a side effect of too much chocolate) is not as serious as the effect that chocolate has on dogs. Theobromine is a natural stimulate found in chocolate and affects the heart muscle and central nervous system of dogs. Eating a little chocolate won`t hurt your dog but knowing how much is safe is hard to judge. If you have a small dog even a little chocolate may be fatal. Theobromine may cause increased heart rate, increased urination and excessive panting. This then could lead to seizures, coma and death. Keep all chocolate candies, cookies and cakes away from puppies and dogs and make sure the goodies are put away in the refrigerator or cabinets when leaving the room. If a dog wants a piece of chocolate, he may jump on the counter or table.

Setting out ant and roach baits is dangerous for animals and children. Placing the bait containers inside cabinets and away from little fingers or paws is preferable to placing the containers in an open area.

Any pest control poisons or rodenticides are extremely dangerous to puppies and dogs. The key ingredient in some of these poisons is warfarin which stops the blood from clotting. Ingesting these poisons or a mouse or rat that has ingested these poisons could be fatal to your animal unless medical treatment is sought immediately. Make sure your puppy or dog is in their crate and unable to get near the poison if you do set it out. You could always set the poison in another room and make sure the door is firmly closed. Before letting your dog have run of the house, please pick up the poison bait and either dispose of it or place it high on a shelf out of the dog`s sight.

Antifreeze kills many dogs and puppies each year. It is sweet tasting and curious animals seem drawn to it. If an animal drinks the antifreeze and you catch it right away you may be able to get medical attention and save them. Making sure the containers of antifreeze are tightly sealed and placed out of reach of children and animals is one way to guard against accidental poisoning. Keeping your dog on leash when out walking and away from driveways is another way to prevent your dog from ingesting the antifreeze. Check your garage floor for any antifreeze runoff from the car and clean the garage floor if necessary. Staying alert to this danger and being watchful will help keep your furry friend safe.

Before planting that spring garden, do your research and find out which plants are poisonous to dogs. This information would be available in any library and online. You can also research poisonous houseplants to make sure your home is safe for your four legged companion.

——

Jim McKiel lives in the Chicago suburbs with his wife Doris and their pet family members Buddy and Buster. They have devoted their lives to the betterment of pet ownership. For more information, visit Large Breed Family Dogs

Common rat and mouse poisons include anticoagulants and hypercalcemic agents. Both can be deadly if your cat ingests them and, in some cases, if he eats a rodent who has these poisons in its system.

Anticoagulant rat and mouse poisons are the most commonly used household poisons. These products account for a large number of accidental poisonings in cats and dogs. Anticoagulants block the synthesis of vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors, which are essential for normal blood clotting.

Observable signs of poisoning do not occur until several days after ingestion. The cat may become weak and pale from blood loss, have nosebleeds, vomit blood, have rectal bleeding, develop hematomas and bruises beneath the skin, or have hemorrhages beneath the gums. The cat may be found dead from bleeding into the chest or abdomen.

There are two generations of anticoagulants, both in current use.

The first generation anticoagulants are cumulative poisons that require multiple feedings over several days to kill the rodent. These poisons contain the anticoagulants warfarin and hydroxycoumarin.

Second-generation anticoagulants contain bromadiolone and brodifacoum, poisons that are 50 to 200 times more toxic than warfarin and hydroxycoumarin. These products are more dangerous to pets and are capable of killing rodents after a single feeding. It is possible for a cat to be poisoned by eating a dead rodent with residual poison in its stomach.

Closely related to the second-generation anticoagulants are the long-acting anticoagulants of the indanedione class (pindone, diphacinone, diphenadione, and chlorphacinone), which are extremely toxic.

Seek immediate veterinary help and, if at all possible, bring in the product container so the veterinarian can identify the poison. This is important, because treatment depends on whether the poison was a first- or secondgeneration anticoagulant. With observed or suspected recent ingestion, induce vomiting.

Treatment of spontaneous bleeding caused by all anticoagulants involves your veterinarian administering fresh whole blood or frozen plasma in amounts determined by the rate and volume of blood loss. Vitamin Kl is a specific antidote. It is given by subcutaneous injection and repeated subcutaneously or orally as necessary until clotting time returns to normal. With first-generation anticoagulants, this often occurs within a week. With long-acting anticoagulants, treatment takes up to a month because of the length of time the poison remains in the cat’s system.

Hypercalcemic agents are poisons that contain vitamin D (cholecalciferol) as their effective agent. Cholecalciferol poisons work by raising the calcium content in blood serum to toxic levels, eventually producing cardiac arrhythmias and death. They are becoming increasingly popular because rodents do not develop resistance to them. Cats who eat poisoned rodents may develop toxicity, but in most cases, the cat must eat the poison itself to become ill.

In cats, signs of hypercalcemia appear 18 to 36 hours after ingesting the poison. The signs include thirst and frequent urination, vomiting, generalized weakness, muscle twitching, seizures, and, finally, death. Among survivors, the effects of an elevated serum calcium may persist for weeks.

If you suspect your cat has ingested one of these poisons within the past four hours, induce vomiting and notify your veterinarian. Veterinary treatment involves correcting the fluid and electrolyte imbalances and lowering calcium levels using diuretics, prednisone, oral phosphorus binders, and a low-calcium prescription diet.

For more cat poisoning symptoms, treatments for minor poisoning, and phone numbers for 24 hour poison control hotlines visit http://www.2cathealth.com/cat-poisoning-symptoms.html

Copyright 2006 Carol Stack

Each year many dogs die from ingesting poisons they found in the house, backyard, or neighborhood. According to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) the numbers are increasing. In some cases the increase is quite dramatic.

There are numerous plants and fertilizers that are poisonous. In fact, there is a very popular cocoa mulch that people like to use because it degrades into an organic fertilizer. It also lacks that strong, pungent smell found in regular fertilizer. It even has an attractive color and odor.

Unfortunately, it is a life-threatening poison for dogs that are attracted by the smell and often eat varying amounts. One dog in particular found a bag of it on the patio, got into it, and ate a large amount. The next day he suddenly had some seizures and collapsed dead.

The ASPCA highly recommends that anyone with a dog or any animal that might be tempted to eat this fertilizer not use it, especially if their dog is ever unsupervised in the yard.

Fertilizers are not the only things found in our yards that are poisonous for our dogs. There are some plants that we need to avoid if we want to keep our pets safe and healthy.

The following is a partial list of plants that can kill:

• Azalea/Rhododendron
• Oleander
• Castor Bean
• Cyclamen
• Yew
• Some mushrooms (always assume that an ingested mushroom is toxic and see your vet)

Plants that can cause liver, heart and/or kidney damage include:

• Lilies
• Tulips
• Marijuana
• Cycads (such as the Sago Palm)
• Kalanchoe
• Foxglove
• Rhubarb
• Shamrock
• Autumn Crocus
• Rosebay

If you think your pet has eaten a poisonous plant or fertilizer contact your vet immediately. If you don`t know if the plant is toxic to animals bring a sample to your local nursery.

Symptoms can very, and can even take hours or days to appear. The dog mentioned above seemed fine until the seizures started. The owner had no idea that the cocoa mulch was toxic.

The best way to prevent your pet from ingesting a poisonous plant is to dig up any toxic plant that is in your yard. There are so many beautiful plants available that are not poisonous that there is no need to have one around that could kill your pet.

It`s possible you could train your dog to leave the plant alone, but it`s really not worth the risk. Remove the Oleander, Sago Palms and Lilies from your yard and grow safe plants in their place.

When you put fertilizers, insecticides or herbicides on your lawn or in your garden make sure your dogs and cats do not go on the treated areas until the time listed by the manufacturer. If there is no time listed call the company who manufactured the product to find out.

Don`t use snail bait that contains metaldehyde, fly bait that contains methomyl, and mole or gopher bait where your dog or cat can get to it. Most forms of rat poisons are also toxic for pets.

Also, be sure to store any unused fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides in an area that is not available to your pets. Dogs can easily tear into a bag of fertilizer, as that dog did with the cocoa mulch, and eat half the bag before anyone notices.

If you have any questions about poisons, or if you think your dog might have eaten something poisonous, contact your vet or the ASPCA Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.

——

Carol Stack has been working with dogs for more than three decades. She lives with her husband, 3 kids, 4 dogs, 8 cats and one bird (Bob) in California. Carol and her daughter Christy have created a web site especially for dog lovers at: http://www.christysdogportal.com

It`s never become more apparent than in the 21st century that the earth is saturated with poisons. It`s nearly impossible to avoid them, despite our best attempts.

The media, coupled with the “all-knowing experts,” advise us to steer clear of pesticides, household cleaners, processed foods, food additives, preservatives, and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles.

If it were up to them, we would all be living in the mountains of Montana, growing our own food, drinking aquifer-supplied water, and driving a hybrid car (or riding a horse). While this might be an ideal way to live, unfortunately for you and me, it`s likely not possible.

That`s why it`s even more important to build up and support our immune systems and make healthy choices when it comes to what we eat, what types of foods we choose to have in our homes, and which foods we provide for our children.

I don`t want to sound paranoid. And my desire is not to make you eliminate all of the things that are a part of our everyday lives. I will, however, offer you the following scientific evidence and guidelines for avoiding what I believe to be the most toxic substances to our bodies, which drain our energy!

Sugar and hydrogenated fats. These two toxins, which are consumed by the billions of tons each year, literally drain our mental and physical energy and infect us like a poison.

Here`s a brief explanation of each and how they negatively affect us:

“Sugar makes you irritable, hyperactive, and causes premature aging…”SUGAR
Sugar is the most consumed substance on the planet. Whether it`s in the form of fructose, sucrose, dextrose, corn syrup, maltodextrin, or confectionary sugar—this poison negatively affects our mood and behavior. It makes us want more and leaves us cranky when we don`t have it.

Scientific evidence has shown that sugar, in any form, depletes essential B vitamins and lowers your body`s resistance to bacteria, viruses, and yeasts. Sugar makes you irritable, hyperactive, and causes premature aging through a process called glycosylation (pronounced gly ko si lay shun). And to no surprise, sugar is the number one culprit to adult-onset (Type II) diabetes, which is typically self-induced as a result of a life laden with sugar. At this point, the body is no longer capable of disposing of insulin properly, which becomes a serious risk factor for heart disease.

The Insulin “Roller Coaster” Ride

When you eat sugar, it enters your bloodstream all at once, instead of slowly as it would as part of a whole-food, naturally occurring meal. Insulin is then immediately secreted and shuttles the sugar away into cells within muscle or adipose tissue (fat). Now that there is not enough sugar in your bloodstream, your brain senses that you are in a time of famine and sends a message to the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol.

Adrenaline releases energy from sugar stored in your liver and muscles, and cortisol begins to break down your own muscle mass into sugar like I shared earlier. This sequence of events is called the insulin -> adrenaline -> cortisol cycle. It`s a vicious “roller coaster” ride for your body, and the worst part is that afterwards, it leaves you feeling lethargic, cranky, and surprisingly, craving even more refined, sugary foods.

Thus, the cycle starts over again. As you can see, it`s a downward spiral to poor health and even poorer energy levels.

HYDROGENATED FATS
We have heard it said that we eat too much fat and that fat consumption has risen in the last 20 years, and we are becoming an increasingly obese nation. While the later of these statements is true, statistics have since proven the former is false. See, fat consumption has not changed: what has changed is the type of fats people eat.

Today, more and more people are getting the majority of their fats from “manmade” hydrogenated fats and other harmful polyunsaturated oils such as palm and corn oil. As long as 20, 30, or 50 years ago, people ate a diet which consisted of more naturally occurring fats and oils, such as butter, coconut oil, lard, olive oil, and tallow (fats from red meat and lamb).

“…fat consumption has not changed: what has changed is the type of fats people eat.” Now, our diets are polluted with hydrogenated fats. These types of fats have been clearly linked to slowing our bodies` metabolic processes and have also been shown to cause heart disease and cancer.

The reason these fats are particularly harmful to us is because polyunsaturated and hydrogenated oils have been subjected to damaging industrial processes (literally restructuring them), which has rendered them toxic. Their new “trans molecular structure” has not, until recently, been incorporated into human physiology and is therefore unrecognizable to the human body. Since their introduction to our diets, just in the last century, these unhealthy oils have been linked to heart disease, cancer, and other degenerative diseases.

The best examples of a polyunsaturated oil is corn, cottonseed, canola, vegetable… and any derivative of hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.

Make no mistake, these toxic fats should be avoided at all costs.

By avoiding sugar and hydrogenated fats, you will:

Improve concentration and mental clarity (along with short-term memory);

Enhance your immune system;

Slow the aging process;

Reduce fat on the abdomen area;

Eliminate future “junk-food” cravings.
The way I see it, the real problem is the food industry—which thrives on the sales of sugar and “fake” fat-containing foods.

They have succeeded in brainwashing the public and suppressing the scientific findings that eating whole foods, which contain little to no sugar, and meats and oils, which contain naturally occurring saturated fats do not contribute to heart disease (like they claim) and are, in fact, a healthy way to boost your metabolism, stabilize your cholesterol levels, improve your immune system, and provide energy and structural integrity to literally every living cell in your body.

Therefore, to avoid these toxins…

Here`s all you do tomorrow:

Daily Energy Exercise: Rid Toxins from Your Life
Take about 10 minutes to check the food labels and ingredients panels on the foods in your cupboards, refrigerator, and on the counters in your kitchen.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR?
Any foods that list sugar, dextrose, sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, or maltodextrin as the first, second, or third ingredient. These are typically things like soda, breakfast cereals, and white-flour products like bread.

Any foods that list hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, or corn, palm, or cottonseed oils. These are typically things like processed, frozen, and nearly all deep-fried foods and even some nutrition bars and most meal replacements/protein drinks. (Not Eat-Smart­, however!)

Make a special trip to the grocery store to pick up items to replace these harmful toxic foods.

Instead of soda, use water (preferably), sugar-free Crystal Light­, iced tea, or on occasion even diet soda.

Instead of breakfast cereals, use whole oats or grits.

Instead of white-flour products, use whole-wheat or soy-flour type products.

Simply instruct yourself that you WILL NOT eat deep fried foods any longer (like French fries, chips, etc.). Deep-fried foods and the oils they`re cooked in have no nutritional health benefits whatsoever.

Replace your salad dressings and cooking oils with healthy oils like flaxseed oil, olive oil, sesame oil, and walnut oil.

Read your labels carefully… manufacturers are tricky about trying to hide these harmful ingredients. (Now you know why!)

Did you know computer equipment continually gives out small amounts of different gases and fine dusts? Some people are highly sensitive to these.

Plastic PC components are one source, as most plastics are unstable and break down naturally over time, especially when exposed to ultraviolet light and sunlight. (That`s the reason why they turn yellow and get brittle.)

Another source comes from vapour produced from traces of manufacturing materials slowly evaporating.

The gases and fumes given off are called `out-gassing` and only occur in small amounts. But when the equipment is new, the out-gassing is greater and noticeable even to people who aren`t particularly sensitive.

This is similar to the smell that we get when we first get into a new car – out-gassing from the vinyl, plastic carpet and hard plastic interiors, as well as the wiring.

A new computer has a similar smell. So to some extent you can avoid outgassing, at least of `new` volatile components, by buying a good quality `used` PC.

Other office materials, particuliarly new furnishings, may also outgas – chipboard contains phenolic resins, which release trace amounts of formaldehyde; also carpeting (especially foam padding), paint and fabrics give off obnoxious chemicals when new.

People who have been sensitized (by previous exposure) may react badly to even very tiny amounts of these gases, by getting headaches, dizziness, and respiratory problems. The problems may persist even when the original cause is reduced, or disappears. In such a case it`s wise to seek qualified medical advice.

Casings may also be contaminated by fine brominated phenolic dust originally put on as a fire retardant, which can be blown out by fans, circulation or movement.

The best solutions are
– Initally, to run any new equipment in an empty well ventilated room to allow most of the outgassing to occur before use.
– Always work in a room with good ventilation and avoid continual high room temperatures–outgassing will increase as the temperature rises.

Laser printers emit a lot of toner dust, which contains carbon and solvents, and quite a few people are sensitive to it.
You can smell it when the printer is on, and especially on freshly printed-paper. You may notice wheeziness, coughing, and sneezing.

People working at copy centers and service bureaus often suffer from headaches, and toner dust is the main suspect.
NCR paper (`carbonless` paper) can also cause wheeziness.

Good ventilation, drawing air away from the operator and filtering out particles, will help reduce these reactions, but effective ventilation in a commercial or home office is sometimes hard to achieve, especially in sealed buildings.

You can try going outdoors and breathing deeply for 10 minutes every hour or so. Open doors, maybe have a fan on., and avoid routine (multiple) photocopying every single document.

Think long term. Removing even mild poisons from your environment is yet another way to keep safe, stay fitter at the PC and enjoy a healthy computing career!

Activated charcoal has been treated by heat to open up millions of small spaces between the carbon atoms and turn it literally into an atomic sponge that adsorbs both organic and organic impurities.

This heat treatment is carried out in the absence of oxygen, so the charcoal cannot burn. Instead, what oxygen it did contain is driven off leaving behind all of these interstitial gaps that multiply the effective surface area by factors of ten. Since it is the surface area of the charcoal that determines its potency, then the greater this is the better.

Activated charcoal has a massive surface area, and just ten grams has the same surface area as nine American football pitches or 77 tennis courts. Ten grams is just marginally more than a third of an ounce. The term adsorb has a different meaning to absorb, and while a real sponge absorbs water by mopping it up through capillary action and suction, activation carbon adsorbs substances through a form of chemical attraction. You get rid of water from the sponge by squeezing it, but that doesn?t work with activated charcoal, since the substances are bound to it, not just physically constrained.

This huge surface area provides activated charcoal with innumerable bonding sites, and when chemicals that are attracted to carbon pass by they are attached to the surface. They cannot get free again, as water in a sponge can, but are bound to the surface of the carbon. Because the digestive system has no effect on charcoal then whatever is bound to it passes naturally through the body.

It is most effective at binding other carbon-based materials, and other substances with the right electronic arrangement, but others will just pass straight through. Because it is a chemical process, once all of the empty bonding sites have been taken up, the charcoal loses its effectiveness and has to be replaced. It is possible to regenerate it, but hardly worthwhile for you to do so because of the small quantities you use.

Because of the way it works, activated charcoal can help people to recover from some forms of food poisoning. It can adsorb gases in the intestine and help to relieve the pain of excessive gas in the gut. It has many additional uses that will be touched on later, but for now we will look at its effect on poisons because that is where activated charcoal is of greatest benefit to us.

It does not adsorb and neutralize all poisons, but is very effective with those that it can be sued for. Professor Touery proved a point when he drank a lethal dose of strychnine in front of colleagues at the French Academy of Medicine in 1831 and came through unscathed. He had mixed the strychnine with activated charcoal, and the fact that he lived after drinking a dose that would certainly have led to a very painful death within minutes testifies to the powerful effect of activated charcoal as an potential antidote for poisoning.

Ever medicine cabinet should have an emergency supply of activated carbon, especially those with young children in the household. However, this is not good news for the pharmaceutical companies who have reacted by refuting some of the claims made in its favor: they have claimed that it is not effective against arsenic. If that is so, then how did Michel Bertrand survive after swallowing 5 grams of arsenic trioxide ? 150 times what is regarded as the lethal dose? He did this is 1813 after mixing it with activated charcoal, just as Professor Touery was to do 18 years later with ten times the lethal dose of strychnine.

It is true, however, that it does not have this degree of activity with all poisons, and it has no effect on cyanide, alcohols, antifreeze (glycols) and lithium. It also has no effect on corrosive poisons such as the strong alkalis used in oven clearers, or hydrocarbons such as kerosene. The way it works is adsorb the poison and prevent it being released into the body. For that to happen, the poison must have an affinity for carbon, and its adsorption site, and not all substances possess that property. Those that do however are permanently bound and therefore safe.

For charcoal to be effective in neutralizing a poison, it must be swallowed within an hour of taking the poison, or the poison will be too far advanced ion the digestive process for the charcoal to do any good. Keep in mind, though, that it is not selective, and activated charcoal can adsorb nutrients and other beneficial constituents of your body?s chemistry. It is important therefore that you take in only when necessary: you might need several doses if the poison was severe, but once it has done its job it is not meant to be used as a maintenance material to take ?just in case?. Used like that, it can do harm.

If charcoal can adsorb poisons then it makes sense to believe that it can also adsorb some of the harmful agents that cause food poisoning. Not all food poisoning of course, but certainly those organisms that emit toxins that are attracted to carbon. And this is, in fact, the case. Food poisoning is caused by bacteria rather than viruses, and is not the presence of the bacteria that make you vomit and feel very ill.

As bacteria grow in your body they release toxins, or poisons, into your digestive system. These poisons are what make you ill. They can seriously affect the complete gastro-intestinal tract, causing vomiting, diarrhea, and inflammation and swelling of the small and large intestine. The latter can cause abdominal cramps and severe colic, and the severity of the symptoms depends very much upon the type of bacteria and the number of them in your body.

Many of these toxins are attracted to carbon since they are frequently organic based, and activated charcoal can be used to adsorb them. Once adsorbed they lose their potency, and since carbon is not digested by the body, they are passed harmlessly through the colon and eliminated in the faeces. It can also be used to eliminate many other foreign bodies from your gut, including viruses and fungi and might possibly reduce the concentration of uric acid, which can bring relief to gout sufferers.

Activated charcoal has many uses, and is normally available in capsule form. It can be dangerous to take too much, particularly if you suffer from intestinal problems that cause constipation, because the charcoal itself can have that effect. However, there is no better emergency treatment for accidental poisoning in the home, although, since it is not suitable for all poisons, you must still regard poisoning as an emergency and contact the emergency services.

Activated charcoal, or activated carbon as it is sometimes called, is also a good emergency treatment for vomiting and the other unpleasant effects of food poisoning. It deals with bacterial toxins in the same way as any other, though once again you must refer to your physician before or after using it ? preferably the former.

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More information on activated

Organic food is the rage of the day if you can afford it. Many ill and a few healthy people start buying organic, it’s the way to get healthy. Eat organic and be cured if you can afford it. But if you can’t? And what about the rest of us? If we eat non-organic stuff and the organic is the healthy, what do we eat? Poison? It is only recently that I realized that the notion of organic has been created because what the rest of us eat is something totally different. An explosive Molotov-cocktail of chemicals: artificial hormones, preservatives, colours, flavours, you name it. Just check the content of your favourite stuff – or maybe better not. Numbers upon numbers… Some foods have several types of preservatives, obviously one is not enough… Artificial flavours make up what is nowadays considered the natural taste. Strange thing, not all that long ago all the food stuff in the shops was all organic. There was simply nothing else… Water in the floods was organic, meat was organic, and bread was organic… Nowadays organic is so strange tasting so should you have a taste of real wild meat – I promise you – you wouldn’t like. What was natural is unnatural. And we love the unnatural. Nothing tastes as good as the stuff with poisons. Take MSG as an example. The Chinese are crazy about it, and the rest of the world love it too. Many a factory produces millions of tons of this tasty chemical that makes our food taste so good… Mmmm… that’s the way the food should taste in the first place. Obviously there is something wrong with the Divine design. Strawberries taste better with MSG, I promise.
Don’t we love our drinks too? Coke buys its phosphoric acid from chemical factories, sorry, no more cocain in the stuff, but caffeine, as a poor, but nonetheless, addictive, substitute and we love this stuff too. Even orange juice tastes better with preservatives.
The artificial hormones are a special case in point. The women use the pill and the HRT… they have their pleasure and relief… but the excess comes out the usual way through urination. Nothing wrong with that, except that it all comes into the waters and “hormonizes” innocent fish. That’s why eating sweet water fish is not a good idea, unless you want to get off the pill or treat your hot flashes the “natural” unnatural way. A while ago farmers in France noticed that their cows would grow faster if you gave them female hormones – the meat still tastes good – except kids started to grow breasts long before reaching puberty. Great fun! Nowadays hormones as well as antibiotics are present in most meat products and eating non-organic meat it’s an easy way of getting an antibiotic treatment free of charge and without a prescription and as a bonus killing nasty (and good) bacteria. It’s mass medication. You could say that we get a preventive dose of medicines every time we consume a chicken. Tastes good, looks good and kills bacteria. Take your dose of chicken medicine … It’s not organic though, since the antibiotics come from a chemical factory, but on the other hand we are used to all the chemicals… And don’t forget all the fertilizers and pesticides, some are really nasty stuff… But we don’t care… We’ve become like cockroaches that can survive anything… even an atom bomb. Well, maybe not an atom bomb, but still, we are almost immune to all the poisons we consume and taking into account that we live healthier (according to statistics) and longer, it seems that eating poisonous stuff suits us just fine.
Just think about it, fifty or so years ago almost all food was organic and now almost everything is contaminated… When it comes to organic, what you can buy is some milk, some meat, some eggs, some fruit and veggies, probably less than 1% of the total stuff shops sell. Strange but there is no organic bread. I have a question, though:. if all the world is polluted and contaminated, where do all those organic products come from – from outer space, Mars or some other unpolluted planet? If all the air is polluted, how is it possible that organic cows inhale organic air only? If all the water is polluted how is it possible that some chicken drink organic water only and where does it come from? If the entire world is polluted where does this organic grass grow that organic cow eat? Organic or is this yet another hoax… Organic foods? Whey not call them, less contaminated instead… If our waters, air and land are not organic… how can the food we eat be organic? I for one am happy when the price of oil goes up. It is the invention of the petrol engine that has crated the polluted air we breathe. Should one day all cars stop driving, should one day all planes stop flying… it would be a great day and a giant step towards going back to the organic world our forefathers.
Courtesy of “The Universal Court of Love” http://askaande.atspace.com