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.

Tags: Advanced Technology, Batteries, Color Tv, Computer Monitor, Dangerous Situation, Dvd Players, Gaming Systems, Hdtvs, Health Food, Healthy Eating, Immune System Problems, Kidney Damage, Landfill, Landfills, Liver Damage, Mercury, mercury & lead poisoning, Mercury Parts, Nervous System, New Technology, Old Computer, Pregnant Women, Switches, Televisions

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.

Tags: Acetone, Benzene, Bha And Bht, Cleaning Products, Dangerous Chemicals, dangerous chemicals in the home, Endocrine System, Harmful Chemicals, Hazardous Waste, Health Food, Health Problems, Healthy Eating, Hodgkin S Lymphoma, Hygiene Products, Immune System Problems, Increased Heart Rate, Kidneys, Kitchen Cabinets, Landfills, Loss Of Consciousness, Nail Polish Remover, Non Hodgkin S Lymphoma, Serious Health

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.

Tags: Carbon Dioxide, Chemical Mixture, Containers, Dangerous Gas, Dangerous Waste, Fault Line, Gases, Hazardous Chemicals, Health Food, Healthy Eating, Landfill Gas, Landfill Leachate, Landfills, landfills and your health, Leak Proof, Methane Gas, Negligence, Oxygen, Paper Goods, Period Of Time, Pollution, Trash, Vinyl Chloride, Water Supply

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?

Tags: Aluminum, Belief System, Cancer, Dangerous Chemicals, Fda, Fda Approved, food for weight loss, Health Food, Health Issues, Landfills, natural cleansers, Natural Ingredients, Natural Personal Care, organic soaps, Packaging Products, People, Personal Care Products, Personal Hygiene Products, Plants, Products Manufacturers, Risk, Shampoo, Soap, Toothpaste, Variety, Vegans

Cell Phones are Hazardous to the Environment

Cell phones are a relatively new invention but almost everyone has one. Companies are constantly coming out with new cell phone technology and people feel lost without their cell phones. The rapid growth of technology and popularity of the cell phone has some dangerous consequences, however.

Making Cell Phones is Hazardous

As soon as a factory starts to make a cell phone, the environment is negatively affected. A lot of our natural resources go into the production of cell phones. Valuable elements like gold, copper, palladium and silicon are all used in cell phone production. These elements have to be drilled or otherwise extracted from the ground, which uses a lot of energy and water and creates a lot of hazardous waste.

Making a phone or two is not too much of a hazard but millions of cell phones are produced every single year. A lot of people have a phone for personal use and a work phone. People usually only use their cell phone for a few years before replacing it with a more modern cell phone model. The more phones we use the more dangerous waste is produced and released into the environment and the more resources we use.

Disposing of Cell Phones

Cell phones are hazardous to the environment because we generally just throw our old phones away when we get new ones. The problem with all the cell phones ending up in the trash is that there are toxic metals like lead and mercury in the phones that can harm our environment.

The large number of cell phones in our landfills is a serious environmental problem. No matter how well taken care of the landfill is, the toxic metals in the cell phone make their way into the environment at some point. That can lead to toxins in our water and soil that can get into our food supply.

If everyone would recycle their old cell phones, that would greatly reduce the harm to the environment. Unfortunately, most people do not recycle their cell phones and may not even know that it is an option. There are no laws requiring cell phones to be recycled. It can actually cost you to recycle your cell phone so that causes a lot of cell phone owners to be discouraged and simply throw their phones in the trash.

Dangers of Cell Towers

The more cell phones we use the more cell phone towers we need so we have a signal wherever we go. Cell phone towers use up valuable land that could be put to a better, more environmentally-friendly use. Cell phone towers also require the use of natural resources to build. There can be other dangers to the environment as well.

Cell phone towers work by sending out a frequency that we cannot hear. It is unknown what the long term effects of this frequency are. Birds can become disorientated and fly right into cell phone towers in some cases and that may be from the frequencies. Some farmers report problems with their cows’ health if they are near a cell phone tower. There are no scientific studies to show exactly what effect these frequencies have on humans or animals, however. Cell phones make it possible for us to always be in contact with our friends and family. However, the popularity of cell phones has negatively affected the environment.

Tags: Cell Phone Technology, Copper, Dangerous Consequences, Dangerous Waste, Environment Cell, Environmental Problem, Food Supply, Hazardous Waste, Immune System, Landfill, Landfills, Natural Resources, New Invention, Old Cell Phones, Old Phones, Palladium, Personal Use, Phone Model, Rapid Growth, Silicon, Toxic Metals