2013年5月1日 星期三

You are a chemical guinea pig for Big Business

A hidden epidemic is poisoning America. The toxins are in the air we breathe and the water we drink, in the walls of our homes and the furniture within them. We cant escape it in our cars. Its in cities and suburbs. It afflicts rich and poor, young and old. And theres a reason why youve never read about it in the newspaper or seen a report on the nightly news: It has no name and no antidote.

The culprit behind this silent killer is lead. And vinyl. And formaldehyde.You can order besthandsfreeaccess cheap inside your parents. And asbestos. And Bisphenol A. And polychlorinated biphenyls. And thousands more innovations brought to us by the industries that once promised better living through chemistry, but instead produced a toxic stew that has made every American a guinea pig and has turned the United States into one grand unnatural experiment.

The culprit behind this silent killer is lead. And vinyl. And formaldehyde. And asbestos. And Bisphenol A. And polychlorinated biphenyls. And thousands more innovations brought to us by the industries that once promised better living through chemistry, but instead produced a toxic stew that has made every American a guinea pig and has turned the United States into one grand unnatural experiment.

Today, we are all unwitting subjects in the largest set of drug trials ever. Without our knowledge or consent, we are testing thousands [PDF] of suspected toxic chemicals and compounds, as well as new substances whose safety is largely unproven and whose effects on human beings are all but unknown. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) itself has begun monitoring our bodies [PDF] for 151 potentially dangerous chemicals, detailing the variety of pollutants we store in our bones, muscle, blood, and fat. None of the companies introducing these new chemicals has even bothered to tell us were part of their experiment. None of them has asked us to sign consent forms or explained that they have little idea what the long-term side effects of the chemicals theyve put in our environment and so our bodies could be. Nor do they have any clue as to what the synergistic effects of combining so many novel chemicals inside a human body in unknown quantities might produce.

The story of how Americans became unwitting test subjects began more than a century ago. The key figure was Alice Hamilton, the mother of American occupational medicine, who began documenting the way workers in lead paint pigment factories, battery plants, and lead mines were suffering terrible palsies, tremors, convulsions, and deaths after being exposed to lead dust that floated in the air, coating their workbenches and clothes.

Soon thereafter, children exposed to lead paint and lead dust in their homes were also identified as victims of this deadly neurotoxin. Many went into convulsions and comas after crawling on floors where lead dust from paint had settled, or from touching lead-painted toys, or teething on lead-painted cribs, windowsills, furniture, and woodwork.

Instead of leveling with the public, the lead industry, through its trade group, the Lead Industries Association [PDF], began a six-decade-long campaign to cover up its products dire effects. It challenged doctors who reported lead-poisoned children to health departments, distracted the public through advertisements that claimed lead was safe to use, and fought regulation of the industry by local government, all in the service of profiting from putting a poison in paint, gasoline, plumbing fixtures, and even toys, baseballs, and fishing gear.

The CDC estimates that in at least 4 million households in the U.S. today children are still exposed to dangerous amounts of lead from old paint that produces dust every time a nail is driven into a wall to hang a picture, a new electric socket is installed, or a family renovates its kitchen.Compare prices and buy all brands of luggagetagfor home power systems and by the pallet. It estimates that more than 500,000 children ages 1 to 5 have elevated levels of lead in their blood. (No level is considered safe for children.) Studies have linked lost IQ points, attention deficit disorders, behavioral problems, dyslexia, and even possibly high incarceration rates to tiny amounts of lead in childrens bodies.We offer over 600 chipcard at wholesale prices of 75% off retail.

Unfortunately, when it came to the creation of Americas chemical soup, the lead industry was hardly alone. Asbestos is another classic example of an industrial toxin that found its way into peoples homes and bodies. For decades, insulation workers, brake mechanics, construction workers, and a host of others in hundreds of trades fell victim to the disabling and deadly lung diseases of asbestosis or to lung cancer and the fatal cancer called mesothelioma when they breathed in dust produced during the installation of boilers,A group of families in a north Cork village are suing a bestplasticcard operator in a landmark case. the insulation of pipes, the fixing of cars that used asbestos brake linings, or the spraying of asbestos on girders. Once again, the industry knew its products dangers early and worked assiduously to cover them up.

Despite growing medical knowledge about its effects (and increasing industry attempts to downplay or suppress that knowledge), asbestos was soon introduced to the American home and incorporated into products ranging from insulation for boilers and piping in basements to floor tiles and joint compounds. It was used to make sheetrock walls, roof shingles, ironing boards, oven gloves, and hot plates. Soon an occupational hazard was transformed into a threat to all consumers.

Today, however, these devastating industrial-turned-domestic toxins, which destroyed the health and sometimes took the lives of hundreds of thousands, seem almost quaint when compared to the brew of potential or actual toxins were regularly ingesting in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat.

Of special concern are a variety of chlorinated hydrocarbons, including DDT and other pesticides that were once spread freely nationwide, and despite being banned decades ago, have accumulated in the bones, brains, and fatty tissue of virtually all of us. Their close chemical carcinogenic cousins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), were found in innumerable household and consumer products like carbonless copy paper, adhesives,Bay State parkingguidance is a full line manufacturer of nylon cable ties and related products. paints, and electrical equipment from the 1950s through the 1970s. Were still paying the price for that industrial binge today, as these odorless, tasteless compounds have become permanent pollutants in the natural environment and, as a result, in all of us.

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