Thailand Detox

Dangerous Mercury and Lead in Electronics

There is so much new technology in our society that it is hard to keep track of and more are coming out every month. In the recent past, it was a big deal to have a color TV. Now the average home has several HDTVs, DVD players, computers and a few different gaming systems. Everyone wants to have the newest and most advanced technology so we end up disposing of our old electronics to make room for the new and improved ones.

It can be difficult to safely dispose of electronics. Usually people throw their old electronics in the trash can and they are taken to the landfill. This creates a dangerous situation. Electronics of all sizes are full of mercury and lead so putting them in the landfill can be dangerous to the environment.

Mercury is a very dangerous metal even in small doses. Exposure to large amounts can be fatal, and exposure to even small amounts of the chemical can lead to kidney damage, liver damage, immune system problems and damage to the nervous system. Pregnant women should never be exposed to mercury because it can harm the baby. There is mercury in many electronic parts including LCD displays, batteries, switches and circuit boards.

Lead, on the other hand, can cause problems with the development of a child’s brain. It is also linked to kidney damage, damage to the nervous system and reproductive problems. There is lead in most televisions and in many computer monitors. There can be up to 8 pounds of lead in a television or computer monitor. Circuit boards and batteries also contain lead but in smaller amounts.

How to Prevent Mercury and Lead from Getting Into Landfills

There is not likely going to be a decrease of electronics being thrown out for new, more advanced items anytime soon. That doesn’t mean we have to keep filling the landfills up with our old electronics. Many of the items otherwise thrown away can be reused or possibly recycled if they no longer work properly.

Instead of throwing out your old computer, you can simply upgrade your machine to include new technology. The problem is that not all computer manufacturers produce computers that are easily upgraded. Often, they make it hard to upgrade their machines so consumers will have to buy a new one. Consider this when you are thinking about getting a brand new computer and make sure your new machine is easily upgradable.

Your old electronics can be very useful at schools, churches and for the less fortunate. You can find many organizations and schools that are willing to take your old electronics to use in their facilities and you can get a tax write off for donating your old electronics. You are doing good for others and the environment because you are extending the life your electronics and keeping them out of landfills.

If you have electronics that are no longer any good, you should recycle them instead of throwing them in the trash. You may have to do a little searching to find a place that recycles electronics but it is worth it to protect the environment. Another option may be to return the equipment to the manufacturer if you were able to lease it instead of buy it.

The increased levels of mercury and lead that are filling up our landfills are a dangerous trend. If we all were more responsible with how we got rid of old electronics, it would make a big difference to our environment and health.

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How Many Harmful Chemicals are in Your Home?

There are dangerous chemicals everywhere these days. Some companies have been in trouble for polluting our waters with harmful chemicals. Farmers are realizing how harmful the chemicals they use on their crops can really be. Landfills have become hazardous waste zones because of the amount of dangerous chemicals dumped in them each year. Your home is another place where there are probably quite a few harmful chemicals.

You should keep products with harmful chemicals locked up and away from small children in your home at all times. Even if you and your family do not ingest these dangerous chemicals, you can still have health problems from exposure. Just being around some of the harmful chemicals in your home can be bad for you. Repeated exposure to these chemicals in cleaners and other products in your home is very likely to cause health problems for you and your family.

The following are some harmful chemicals commonly found in your home:

• Acetone - Acetone is in many types of nail polish remover. If you inhale products with acetone, you can develop lung, throat and nose problems, as well as headaches and a increased heart rate. Serious health problems like going into a coma or damage to the liver, nerves or kidneys can also occur.
• Alkylphenol Ethoxylates (APEs) - This is a chemical that is commonly used in cleaning products for the home. It is thought that this chemical affects the endocrine system because it acts like a hormone. Exposure can lead to reproductive problems, immune system problems, ADHD and cancer.
• Benzene - This chemical is in everything from hygiene products to pesticides. If inhaled, it can cause headaches, increased heart rate, shaking, loss of consciousness and possibly be fatal. There may be an increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma with exposure to benzene.
• BHA and BHT - These chemicals may be in the cans of food you have in your kitchen cabinets. They are also in some hygiene products. While they are thought to to be to dangerous for human use in some countries, they are allowed to be used in manufacture in the United States.
• Formaldehyde - You will probably see formaldehyde as an ingredient in some of your cleaners, bath products, hygiene products and nail polish and remover despite it being a known carcinogen and neurotoxin. Exposure can result in mucus membrane issues, spasms, edema and other health issues.
• Hydroquinone -This chemical is in products used to color hair and lighten skin. This is a dangerous chemical that affects skin structure and increases skin cancer risks.
• Phthlates - This chemical can be a variety of products including plastics, perfumes, and lotions. Exposure could result in thyroid problems, hormonal issues, kidney damage, birth defects and reproductive system issues.
• Tolulene - This chemical is in many home cleaning products and in nail care products. It can damage the lungs if inhaled and is linked to liver and kidney problems, increased cancer risks, hallucinations and bone marrow problems.

This is just a sampling of the many harmful chemicals that you might have in your home right now. You can’t completely get away from all harmful chemicals in today’s society but you can try to buy products for your home that are as healthy and chemical free as possible. All you have to do is look at the ingredients on the cleaners and other household items you buy regularly.

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Healthy Power Snacks Kids Will Love

Like many kids, your child probably comes home hungry after school and wants sweets and other unhealthy snacks. Kids need snacks because they are growing so fast but they need healthy snacks, not snacks full of sugar. The snacks you give your child need to provide him with the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients his growing bodies need.

If you have healthy snacks that taste good available, your child will eat them. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

• Raisins - Raisins are a healthy and tasty snack that you can buy in prepackaged servings for an easy snack choice. The sweet taste of raisins will make your child want to eat them and he will get a lot of vitamins and iron from this snack.
• Apples - Apples are a popular fruit with kids of all ages. It is healthier for your child to eat the whole apple including the peel so he gets the most nutrients from the fruit. Even a peeled apple is still a good healthy power snack, though. You can always combine the apple with peanut butter, cheese or yogurt for something different.
• Yogurt, granola and fruit parfait - Yogurt itself is a good snack but adding fruit and granola makes it even more appealing to children. This is a low fat snack full of protein and vitamins.
• Trail mix - The combination of fruit and nuts is not only healthy but tastes good and is fun to eat.
• Ants on a log - You can make celery interesting by combing celery, peanut butter and raisins to make a fun and attractive snack for kids of all ages.
• Fruit and cheese - You can make a fun fruit and cheese snack by spearing grapes, pineapple and more along with different kinds of cheese on a toothpick or other type of skewer.
• Carrots - Carrots are a vegetable that most children enjoy eating. If you have baby carrots in your fridge you can give your child a quick and healthy snack especially if you have some healthy dip to go with it.
• Fruit snacks - The chewy fruit snacks they sell at the grocery store are actually a healthy power snack that kids love to eat. Just give your child the low sugar ones with a lot of vitamin C.
• Pizza bagels - This is a great snack for the bigger appetites that your child sometime has. All you need to do is cover a bagel with tomato sauce and cheese and toast in a toaster oven or microwave the bagel. You can put some veggies on there if your child will eat them.

Left to their own devices, children will often choose snacks high in fat and sugar. Healthy power snacks do not have to be a chore to make or to get your child to eat. If you keep some of these healthy power snacks in the house, you will find your child eating them without you having to tell him to. Get rid of those greasy and sugar filled snacks in your home and get some healthy power snacks instead.

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Landfills Can Harm Your Health

Each person in the America creates almost 5 pounds of trash per day! That adds up to one ton of trash for every person per year. Most of the trash we generate gets dumped in a local landfill.

Landfills are monitored for safety by the government. They can not be built on a piece of land that is unstable or is near a fault line. They have to be far enough away from any water supply so there is no danger of the water being polluted. They also have to be far enough from homes to not be an eyesore or nose sore. Despite all these rules, landfills are still dangerous to us and the environment.

Landfill Gas and Your Health

Generally, any waste that might create gas pollution is not allowed to be dumped in a landfill. However, some of this dangerous waste gets in due to negligence and this can be very bad for the health of people who live and work near the landfill. Landfills produce odorous pollution even if no gas producing waste gets in.

The large amount of paper goods and food people throw away that end up in a landfill is hazardous. These things will break down as time goes on but in the process they can create a dangerous gas called methane. This gas is more hazardous than even carbon dioxide. The problem with having methane gas at the landfills is it can easily catch fire, react with other gases and suck the oxygen out of the air.

Chemicals Leaking and Landfills

There are several millions of pounds of hazardous chemicals dumped into landfills around the country each year. Currently, landfills must store the chemicals in leak proof containers but some landfills have these chemicals stored improperly before this regulation went into effect. Even the properly stored chemicals may leak after a certain period of time.

Some of the chemicals commonly located in landfills are vinyl chloride and tolulene, known to be linked to cancer. The problem is that these chemicals interact with other landfill chemicals and create leachate. Leachate is a strong chemical mixture that often finds its way into the ground and possibly into water supplies and poses a danger to food supplies, as well as humans and pets. A little bit of this dangerous mixture of chemicals can do a lot of damage.

What Should We Do?

When landfills were first developed, not enough thought was given to the potential for the landfills to hurt the health of both humans and animals nearby. Most of the trash we as a country produce goes into landfills. There are other choices.

If people were willing to recycle, they would put a lot less trash into the landfills. The majority of our trash is indeed recyclable and a lot of it is biodegradable. We could lower the amount of trash put in landfills by around 70% if people recycled and composted biodegradable trash. If trash was dealt with in this manner, the toxins in the trash would not get into the landfill and into the environment.

Some success has been had with community based composting but it is not easy to get people to cooperate. People are generally happy to recycle as long as they have the option but as of now, it is a choice, not the law. Time will tell when the rest of the country will start to compost and recycle, but meanwhile we all need to take responsibility and do what we can to handle our trash responsibly.

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Understanding Plant-Based Products for Personal Hygiene

Most of us use many personal hygiene products every day without giving it a second thought. We wash our body with soap, use shampoo on our hair, put on deodorant, use toothpaste, and apply creams on our face. How many of us have looked at the ingredients in these personal care items, though?

A lot of the ingredients are chemicals with funny sounding names that we don’t recognize. These products contain chemicals that the FDA has not approved or investigated in some cases. They may lead to a variety of health issues for some people. That doesn’t stop us from using them, though, does it? One example of this is deodorant, which has aluminum and is thought to increase the risk of developing cancer.

Some manufacturers are responding to concerns about these chemicals and creating products with safe, natural ingredients like plant-based ingredients. Not only are these natural personal care items safer for all of us, they also provide vegans an alternative to use that fits into their belief system. The public is not fully aware of how important it is to avoid the chemicals in personal care items yet so the market for plant-based personal care products is growing slowly.

Many of the natural plant-based personal care items are packaged in a more environmentally friendly way that is less visually appealing than standard products. Manufacturers of these products try to use as small of a package as possible. Despite the lack of fancy packaging, the plant-based personal care products can work just as well as standard products. They have many advantages including the following;

• Since the plant-based products come from plants that can be quickly regrown, they have much less of a negative effect on the environment than standard personal care products.
• No one uses every drop of their personal care products so the products with chemicals can build up in landfills and hurt the environment. If everyone who uses a product with dangerous chemicals leaves just a little in the jar, it will add up to a significant amount of hazardous waste over time.
• None of the plant-based personal care products are tested on animals. It is cruel and dangerous to test products full of chemicals on animals who can’t defend themselves. You can use plant-based products to show you do not believe animal testing is right.

The Disadvantages

There are significant differences between plant-based and standard personal care items. For example, plant-based products do not contain fragrances. The taste of the products may be different too like with toothpaste and mouthwash.

It may take some getting used to but the plant-based products can be just as good as the ones you used to use but without the dangerous chemicals. You will be protecting your health and the environment so why not give these products a try?

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Keep Your House Pest-Free Without Chemicals

We all love visitors, just not visitors that are bugs, rodents and other pests. No one wants flies, ants, mice or any other creepy crawly pest in their homes. Sometimes we are so desperate to get rid of these pests we do not consider the harmful effects of the chemicals we are using. We can be putting ourselves, our families and our animals in danger without realizing it.

Pesticides are effective in killing all kinds of pests they but can also be dangerous to people and animals. For example, insecticides kill bugs by attacking the nervous system. They can also affect the nervous system of people and animals, which can be dangerous. Rat poison is usually full of anticoagulants that do not allow blood in the body to clot. The way the rats die is from internal bleeding. Humans and animals who come in contact with rat poison can have a similar problem.

Pesticides and other chemicals are hazardous to us and our animals. You can get rid of pests without dangerous chemicals. Here are some suggestions:

• Keep pests from wanting to come into your home by keeping your house as clean as possible. You can have a perfectly clean house and still have pests but you reduce your risk significantly by keeping it clean. Leaving crumbs and bits of food on the floor or on your counters is an open invitation to bugs, mice and other pests. Put your pet’s food away every night to keep pests out of your house and never leave open food containers on the counters.
• Close up any openings that pests could come in. Usually, pests like mice and bugs get in through small openings like those around the pipes near the exterior of your home and at baseboards. Make sure all these places are sealed.
• Make sure your windows have screens in them so you don’t let flying pests in the house.
• Try natural home remedies for keeping pests out of your house. For example, borax will keep roaches from coming into your home and things like pepper, coffee grounds, chalk and charcoal are thought to prevent ants from entering your home.
• Don’t let fleas take up residence in your home. Keep them at bay with frequent vacuuming and watch your pets for signs of a flea problem. To keep fleas off your pets, try rinsing them with an herbal remedy made up of rosemary boiled in 2 cups of water and strained and cooled. Spray this on your pets and fleas will stay away from them and stay out of your home.
• Put out traps for mice and rats. The most affordable traps are those that snap and kill the pests. If you want the more humane approach, you can spend more on live traps but make sure you don’t let the pests out anywhere near your home or they will come right back.
• Work on your lawn regularly so you do not need chemicals to keep it looking good. Aerating and mowing frequently along with letting grass clippings naturally fertilize your yard are easy things to do.

While products with chemicals will get rid of the pests in your home, they will also put you and your family at risk so they are not worth it. You can naturally control pests without using chemicals if you are willing to do the work.

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What are the Top Powerfoods?

We all know what foods are bad for us and that we should avoid. Still, many of us eat foods that are less than nutritious and full of salt, fat and cholesterol. There are some foods we should try and include in our diet to improve our health.

More and more people are talking about powerfoods, which are foods that help your immune system work better, allow your body to age at a slower rate and possibly prevent serious illnesses. It is much better to get these benefits from food than from medication.

Phytochemicals are the secret ingredient in the top powerfoods that make them so good for us. These are naturally occurring chemicals and can be found in the following kinds of foods:

Goji Berries

Goji berries have gotten so much attention lately that many people are tired of hearing about them. This amazing fruit has two important phytochemicals in it: beta carotene and zeaxanthin. These chemicals are linked to reduced risks of developing cancer. Goji berries are a good source of these chemicals. Other benefits of eating goji berries are healthier cholesterol levels. It can be expensive to buy goji juice but you can get goji berries for less at an Asian market near you. The goji berries can be added to cereal, trail mix or used in baking.

Kefir

Kefir is a combination of milk and the bacteria and yeast found in kefir grains. The result is a substance that resembles yogurt but kefir is a lot better for you than yogurt. Kefir is thought to help maintain healthy cholesterol levels and boost your immune system. Kefir is something you drink, unlike yogurt you eat with a spoon. A lot of people make kefir smoothies that are very tasty and also very healthy. If you are on a diet, kefir will fill you up and keep you from snacking on unhealthy foods.

Garlic

For centuries, people have known that garlic has many medical uses. It can help your body fight off infection and keep your blood pressure low. It is also a very nutritious food. Garlic has many nutritious benefits including protein, zinc, calcium, potassium and several much needed vitamins. Eating garlic can regulate cholesterol levels and lower your cancer risks.

Kale

A lot of people think that leafy vegetables like kale are only good for decorating a plate or for rabbits to eat. These vegetables are very nutritious, especially kale, which is one of the best leafy vegetables you can eat. The cartenoids in kale are thought to lower your risk of developing cancer. Kale also has potassium, several important vitamins, calcium and folic acid.

This is just a little bit of information about the top powerfoods. There are many more top powerfoods you can include in your diet to promote a healthy and long life.

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How to Pack Healthy Lunch Boxes for the Whole Family

Many of us find ourselves packing the same things in our lunches day after day. If you don’t have access to a fridge or a microwave, you don’t have a lot of choices. Eating a sandwich and some chips for lunch every day is not a healthy choice, though. You may need to come up with some out of the box ideas for healthy and tasty lunches for you and your family. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Main Dish Ideas

• Pasta salad, either homemade or store bought, can be a healthy and delicious lunch. You can add your favorite spices and vegetables to make it more interesting but still keep it healthy. Kids might like pasta shaped like letters and numbers or their favorite TV characters.
• Use the meat, vegetables and tortillas from leftover fajitas to make a roll that you and your family will love. Add some cheese and salsa or other sauce for even more flavor.
• Make yourself a BLT with turkey bacon instead of the unhealthy kind of bacon. It will taste just as good but be a lot healthier for you.
• Make a delicious grilled chicken salad with leftover chicken or chicken you grill the night before. With some lettuce, vegetables, and cheese and the chicken, you will have a tasty lunch that will leave you satisfied.
• Bring soup or chili that you made from scratch in a thermos, which will keep it warm if you can’t heat it up at work or school. This will warm you up on a cold day!
• Instead of bread for your sandwiches, use a bagel. Not only are bagels very filling, they are better for you than bread in most cases.

Side Dish Ideas

• Bring some vegetables like carrots or celery and a low fat ranch dip or hummus to snack on.
• You and your children both will love yogurt mixed with fresh fruit and granola as a snack. This healthy food is full of protein, vitamins and carbohydrates.
• Any kind of fresh fruit you have around the house is a great addition to the lunch box for your whole family.
• Make a quick fruit salad with canned fruit cocktail mixed with nuts, marshmallows and fresh fruit like a banana that has sat in lemon juice to avoid browning.
• Create your family’s favorite trail mix with dried fruit, nuts, granola and whatever else you all enjoy.

You don’t have to eat that same old sandwich for lunch every day. You can easily create healthy and delicious lunches for you and your family. Everyone will love their new healthy and exciting lunches.

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How to Build Your Immune System

Our immune system does an incredible job of fighting off foreign germs inside our bodies, keeping us strong and healthy. Often, our immune system is not working to its full potential, though. Things like everyday stress, poor nutrition, and a sedentary lifestyle weaken our immune system. When our immune system is not working as well as it should, we have a good chance of becoming ill. Being sick takes a toll on the body and it can be difficult to get over some of the illnesses we get.

There are things you can do to build your immune system up and it doesn’t have to mean taking a pill or other medication. The easiest way to boost your immune system is to get the right nutrition every day and to eat a balanced diet. Certain foods are especially important and here is more information about these foods:

• Citrus Fruits - Grapefruits, oranges and the other citrus fruits are very good for your immune system. Vitamin C found in these fruits is essential to the production of white blood cells and antibodies that our immune system need. Oranges can have as much as 75 mg of Vitamin C.

• Carrots - The beta carotene in carrots is a nutrient that works together with our immune system to produce the cells that fight off the germs in our bodies and prevent infection. Another benefit to carrots is they contain falcarinol, which is thought to reduce the risk of developing cancer.

• Garlic - Garlic can defend our bodies against infection. Many herbal remedies contain garlic. If you include garlic in your diet a few times a week, you will be healthier and your body will be stronger. It is best to eat raw, crushed garlic in order to get the most health benefits out of it especially with regard to fighting infection.

• Yogurt - When you eat yogurt you are getting a lot of bacteria, which sounds bad but the kind of bacteria in yogurt is acidophilus bacteria, which is good for your immune system. This good bacteria helps the digestive system and fights bacteria in the body. Yogurt is very good for older people because of the bifidobacterium in it.

• Oysters - Oysters are very high in zinc, which is a necessary nutrient that helps your body produce the antibodies your immune system needs. Oysters are also known to slow bacteria growth and the growth of viruses in your body.

• Fatty Fish - The Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish like tuna and salmon are essential for the health and growth of your white blood cells that the immune system uses to fight germs. You can also get Omega-3 from a vitamin E supplement.

When you keep your immune system healthy and strong, you rarely need to take medications like antibiotics to get rid of infections and diseases in our bodies. Eating the foods listed above will help you do just that.

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Why You Should Purchase Natural Pet Foods

Many years ago, stores did not sell any sort of food specifically for pets. The pets ate just like the people who owned them did. Pets were fed the scraps of meat and other food that was left from their owner’s meals. Dog food was first produced in the early 1800s by James Spratt who made pet food with vegetables, meat and wheat in it. His pet food was popular but the trend of dog food products didn’t start until much later.

Dead horses were used to make pet food during World War II. Soon, other companies were selling dog and cat food in a can and making a lot of money. It didn’t take long for the pet food industry to become a million dollar business.

The pet food you can buy at the store is not always the healthiest choice for your pets. Unlike food for human consumption, there is little regulation of pet food production. Things like hooves, beaks and hair often make their way into pet food and so do other nutritionally void fillers and dangerous chemicals. The production process that creates dry food removes almost all nutritional value from the food so a nutritional spray is applied to the food. These are not natural pet foods and they may make your pet sick.

During the late 1900s, pet food companies started seeing a growing interest in natural pet foods and creating products to satisfy that area of growth. You can now find pet food that is without all the chemicals and other unhealthy ingredients for your pets.

There is still little regulation of pet food production so you need to be careful what you buy. Here are some suggestions to help you choose wisely:

• Make sure your pet food is USDA approved. This means it is safe enough for even humans to eat.
• You want to see some sort of meat at the top of the ingredient list followed by vegetables and grains. You do not want to see any corn or wheat in the ingredients so you avoid any allergic reactions by your pet.
• Any preservatives in the food should be natural. One example of a natural preservative is Vitamin E.
• You want the meat in your pet’s food to come from animals that have not been exposed to hormones or antibiotics as these can be dangerous for your pet.
• Don’t buy food with artificial color or sweetener in it.
• Pet foods with soy should also be avoided. Soy is often eaten by people but can cause thyroid issues in dogs. It also makes it harder for your pet to absorb the nutrients in the food.

Centuries ago, pets ate as healthy as their human owners did. When pet food first came out, it changed the way pets ate in a big way and not all for the best. When you buy natural pet foods for your animals, you still have an easy way to feed them but you are not exposing them to chemicals and other dangerous ingredients.

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