Bodies of pregnant women polluted with chemicals found in consumer products

(NaturalNews) Every pregnant woman's body is probably contaminated with multiple toxic substances, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Washington Toxics Coalition, the Commonweal Biomonitoring Resource Center and the Toxic-Free Legacy Coalition.

"This study reveals that children spend their first nine months in an environment that exposes them to known toxic chemicals," said study author Erika Schreder. "Pregnant women can't avoid every exposure to these chemicals because they are in so many products. ... We need policies that keep toxic chemicals away from pregnant women and the most vulnerable -- the developing fetus."

Researchers analyzed the blood and urine of nine pregnant women and found that all of them tested positive for mercury, bisphenol-A (BPA), at least four phthalates, and two to four perfluorinated compounds.

All four substances are known to build up in human bodies and the environment. Mercury damages the nervous system, while the others interfere with the hormonal system and can produce a wide array of diseases and defects. Developing infants are especially vulnerable to damage by these toxins.

"The developing fetus is exquisitely vulnerable to the effects of toxic chemicals," the Washington Toxics Coalition said. "The fetus develops at a breakneck pace in the womb, and that development is easily derailed by toxic chemicals. The fetus also has a very limited ability to detoxify foreign chemicals. With chemicals like bisphenol A and the others in our tests passing easily through the placenta, there is cause for grave concern about their impacts on fetal development."

BPA is used to make hard, clear plastics, dental sealants and composites, and the liners of food containers. Phthalates are used to soften plastic and are found in everything from infant products to medical equipment. Perfluorinated compounds, also called "Teflon chemicals," are used to make nonstick cookware and certain outdoor products.

The researchers recommend that people reduce their exposure to toxic chemicals by looking for products certified BPA and phthalate free, avoiding flame retardant products, and purchasing certified organic body care products.

Of more than 80,000 chemicals used in manufacturing consumer products, only 200 or so have ever undergone safety testing.

Sources for this story include: www.organicconsumers.org; www.watoxics.org.

Heal Yourself in 15 Days by Cleaning Up Your Skin Exposure (Part Ten)

(NaturalNews) Continuing with our 15-day self healing series, today we focus on cleaning up your skin exposures. By "skin exposures," I mean all the things your skin comes into contact with... and the sheer quantity of those things will probably surprise you.

But first, let's get something out of the way that's crucial to all this. The consumer products industry wants you to believe their "Big Lie". The Big Lie is that chemicals you put on your skin don't get absorbed into your bloodstream. So there's no need to make sure consumer products are actually safe.

The FDA and most members of the conventional medical community also believe this lie: They don't acknowledge the absorption properties of the skin, so they tend to say that all the things you put on your skin are perfectly safe for your health even if they contain toxic chemicals. (Of course, these very same people then promote nicotine patches and other drugs delivered through the skin, so they do indirectly acknowledge that the skin absorbs chemicals.)

How many different products come into contact with your skin on a regular basis? You'd be shocked to consider all the sources:

• Perfumes, colognes and other fragrance products.
• Shampoo.
• Shower soap or shower gel products.
• Pesticides used on your lawn which are carried to you through pets or children.
• Skin creams.
• Sunscreen products.
• Cosmetics.
• Antibacterial hand soaps.
• Laundry detergents and dryer sheets (through your clothing).
• Dish soaps.
• Furniture polishes.
• Household cleaners such as window cleaners.
• Artificial dyes found in clothing.
• Feminine hygiene products.
• Deodorants and anti-perspirants.
• Shaving creams and after-shave products.
• Hair dyes.
• Massage oils and lotions.
• Hair sculpting products and hair sprays.
• Tattoos and temporary skin art.
• Insect repellants.
• Over-the-counter creams: Anti-itch, pain creams, etc.
• Chlorine in your shower water.
• Anti-flea and tick chemicals acquired by touching your pets.

Cancer-causing chemicals

If you look at all these products whose ingredients come into contact with your skin, you'll begin to realize something quite disturbing: They're loaded with cancer-causing chemicals!

The average perfume product, just as an example, contains over twenty cancer-causing chemicals all by itself -- and these are never even listed on the label. Antibacterial soaps are made with a chemical that's similar to the nerve toxin chemical called Agent Orange which was used as a chemical weapon in the Vietnam War.

Hair dyes contain highly toxic chemical solvents. Conventional laundry detergents are made with extremely toxic cancer-causing fragrance chemicals. Conventional cosmetics are loaded with not just cancer-causing chemicals, but also heavy metals like lead. Lawn pesticides contain chemicals that promote Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

The list goes on and on...

The products listed above probably contain over 10,000 different synthetic chemicals, and virtually none of them have ever been safety tested or approved as safe for human consumption by any federal agency. The EPA doesn't even know what many of these chemicals are because companies claim they need to protect their formulation "trade secrets" by not even listing the ingredients on product labels.

But think about these 10,000 chemicals for a moment and ask yourself this question: Why are you putting them on your skin?

Mainstream consumers poison themselves

Consumers are very easy to covertly influence through corporate advertising. I'm particularly struck by the advertising of a cologne product called "Axe" which is marketed to clueless teenage boys who naively believe that wearing these toxic chemicals will magically bring them hoards of slutty women who want to have sex with them. That's the underlying message of the Axe Cologne advertising, anyway.

So these teenage boys buy up these Axe products which include cologne, deodorant and shampoo. Naturally, they're oblivious to the fact that these products are made with artificial, synthetic fragrance chemicals that are absorbed right through the skin. None of these chemicals have been approved as safe for human consumption by the FDA, of course. But young men coat their bodies with these chemicals with no regard for their own health, thinking that smelling like Axe will reward you with female companionship.

And the ads work! Axe sales are through the roof. Sex sells everything... even synthetic chemicals.

Are you poisoning yourself, too?

But if you think these teenage boys are silly for buying such products, think about your own personal care products. Do you buy conventional shampoo? Sunscreens? Lotions? Cosmetics? Which toxic products are still in your own bathroom, kitchen or garage?

I've visited a lot of homes of people who told me they were "super health conscious." Yet in almost every case when I visit such homes, I still find they're using conventional laundry detergents, brand-name soaps in the bathroom, toxic skin lotions and baby products, etc. It is extremely rare for me to walk into someone's house and not find a huge assortment of cancer-causing products there.

People are poisoning themselves by poisoning their skin with synthetic chemicals. And they still think they're "health conscious!"

Most people, you see, are kidding themselves about protecting their skin from toxic, cancer-causing products. They may follow a fairly healthy diet, but they still bathe their skin in chemicals that damage the brain, liver, heart and kidneys. For some strange reason, many people who are acutely aware of what they put in their mouth are surprisingly unaware of what's contained in the products they put on their skin.

The point of this article is to raise your awareness of what's in the products your skin comes into contact with, and then to take new action to get all those toxic products out of your home.

Action items: What you can do right now

This may sound crazy, but here's what I want you to do: Go through your entire house, covering every room including the garage, under the kitchen sink, the bathroom closet and so on. Gather up every "chemical" product and throw them all out. (You're poisoning the environment by doing so, of course, but you're going to make up for that by never buying these products again...)

This includes all your conventional cosmetics, soaps, shampoos, fragrance products, cleaning products, laundry products, bug sprays, air "fresheners" and the whole lot. Gather them all up and throw them out.

More importantly make a commitment to never buy these products again. That's the only way to enjoy a long-term benefit for your health, of course.

Once this is done, begin to detox your body from these synthetic chemicals using a variety of detox products: Zeolites, chlorella supplements, cilantro, spirulina, etc. Drink a lot of water. Take liver detox herbs to support healthy liver function during all this. (I recommend Livatrex from www.GHChealth.com ).

Within just a few days, your chemical burden will start to fall as your body eliminates the chemicals that have been routinely poisoning it. After six months, your chemical load can drop as much as 90 percent, greatly reducing the chemical stress on your liver and kidneys while sharply reducing your risk of cancer and other neurological disorders.

Over time, your health will improve as your exposure to synthetic chemicals plummets. This action, combined with all the other steps in this 15-day self healing series, will vastly improve your health while slowing or even halting the development of many different degenerative diseases such as cancer, liver disease or Alzheimer's.

Previous articles in this 15-day "Heal Yourself" series

Part One - Remove barriers to healing
http://www.naturalnews.com/028053_s...

Part Two - Unleash your inner healing potential
http://www.naturalnews.com/028060_s...

Part Three - You are what you absorb
http://www.naturalnews.com/028067_s...

Part Four - Transform your health by making new blood
http://www.naturalnews.com/028075_b...

Part Five - Experience the healing potential of living plant juices
http://www.naturalnews.com/028100_s...

Part Six - Accelerate your healing with a 24-hour fast
http://www.naturalnews.com/028117_s...

Part Seven - Heal yourself by rejecting the mainstream crowd
http://www.naturalnews.com/028136_s...

Part Eight - Stop making disease
http://www.naturalnews.com/028153_s...

Part Nine - Correct your nature deficiency
http://www.naturalnews.com/028203_n...