Common Chemicals are Linked to Breast Cancer

[babylonsister]

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/14/1173/

Common Chemicals are Linked to Breast Cancer
Of the 216 compounds, many in the air, food or everyday items.
by Maria Cone

More than 200 chemicals - many found in urban air and everyday consumer products - cause breast cancer in animal tests, according to a compilation of scientific reports published today.

Writing in a publication of the American Cancer Society, researchers concluded that reducing exposure to the compounds could prevent many women from developing the disease.

The research team from five institutions analyzed a growing body of evidence linking environmental contaminants to breast cancer, the leading killer of U.S. women in their late 30s to early 50s.

Experts say that family history and genes are responsible for a small percentage of breast cancer cases but that environmental or lifestyle factors such as diet are probably involved in the vast majority.

“Overall, exposure to mammary gland carcinogens is widespread,” the researchers wrote in a special supplement to the journal Cancer. “These compounds are widely detected in human tissues and in environments, such as homes, where women spend time.”

more...

[flyarm]

1. clean your house with vinegar!!!

VINEGAR IS SAFE..closest to human ph...and your floors will shine ..your counters will shine...your bathtubs will shine!!

hardwood floors will shine beautiful!!

if you have wax on your floors.. it will get foggy at first..

but a hardwood floor man told me many many years ago..only put vinegar on the floors...and they shine so much nicer than anything else can make them..and it is safe for your family

i know you don't like the smell..get used to it..for somereason we think the smell of chemicals means clean..

you will come to recoginise clean by the smell of vinegar..it is a mind thing..

but switch to vinegar..its cheep and it is safe..and cleans better than most chemicals!!

fly

[in_cog_ni_to]

2. And don't forget vinegar mixed with water for THE CLEANEST, STREAK FREE windows and mirrors!

Vinegar is also great in the laundry. It removes odors and helps to soften fabrics.It's a wonder product really. I didn't know about the hardwood floors though! Thanks for the tip! I'll try it the next time I get around to cleaning my floors.

[flyarm]

10. now if you have used oil products ..it will get foggy until the oil is worn off!!

don't let that panic you..( murphys soap is gasty on hardwood floors..it builds up..and it takes sometimes quite a while for the vinegar to break through it..but don't give up..

people come in my house and they always say first thing..my ..how your floors shine..what do you use..vinegar!! and water...

they shine incredibly!!

now i had a friend who had used murphy oil and her floors took almost 6 months to get rid of the cloudy look..but then with the constant use of vinegar..she was so happy when the oil soap finally wore off...

and now her floors shine like mine do!!

but it took patients..

fly

[notadmblnd]

14. How did you get sick people to come over and clean your floors?

I'm just kidding. I saw the use of the word patients for patience and just couldn't resist. I'm really not a grammar cop, I just play one on DU.

[blondie58]

27. lol notadmblnd!!

I am like you, one of the grammar police, and through the wisdom of my years have come to realize that for some people it comes naturally, along with spelling and for others it is a struggle and they have their gifts somewhere else.

I often feel sorry for people who are learning English, as English has to be a difficult language to learn. One word can mean so many things and have several spellings.

You gave me a chuckle though! Thanks!

[notadmblnd]

34. Your right , for some it really does come easy

I'm taking college courses in English now, and for some reason I'm finding that I write using the rules of grammar even though I don't know what many of them are. Homonyms have always fascinated me though.

[flyarm]

5. i started using vinegar..when a neighbor almost died from chemical poisoning

she had 5 children and used chems to clean all day..and she had what was thought a massive heart attack..and she was young..but there were no tests that showed heart attack..but her body acted like she had a massive heart attack..

she was posioned from using cleaning chemicals!! from the daily use of them...

and she became very ill..incapasitated ill..

then all the neighbors had to send a warning to her home if you were going to have even your yard chemically sprayed..

i then made a personal choice...vinegar and vinegar smell or chemical smell...

no more bounce in the dryer..no more chemcicals at all in my house..

now when anyone walks in my house ( friends or family) they recognise ..the house was just cleaned because it smells of vinegar ..and it smells clean...

i even use one of th clorox floor cleaners ( like swifter..swifter doesn't work as well as the clorox system)..with my housekeepers...but i dump out the chemical stuff and reuse the bottle and fill the bottle with vinegar and warm water..and that is what is used on all my floors..i have even trained my housekeepers..that nothing comes in my house that is chemical..
i buy gallon jugs of white vinegar..and the ladies know how to do it..i have showed them how to clean my home..safely.
they have told me that they tell other ladies what i do..and many have asked them to clean, like they clean for me!!
some have even asked me to write down what i do and how i do it..

and the gals i have clean say they feel much better physically when they use the vinegar..

but it is mental..we all think clean smells like chemicals and perfumes put in the chemicals..it is a mind set..

clean in my house..smells like vinegar..and today..i love that smell!! and the smell disapates much quicker than the old chemical smell used to last..

save your body ..save your cells..switch to vinegar!!

fly

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. Did you know that vinegar contains acetic acid?

It's a chemical.

"that nothing comes in my house that is chemical.."

Just wanted to let you know.

[flyarm]

8. but it is a natural PH closest to the human PH...it will not harm you in any way!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

12. Human pH ranges from strongly acidic to mildly basic.

~2 to 7.4 or so.

That's highly acidic in the stomach, 7.4 in blood and most tissue. A dilute acetic acid solution, say vinegar, is going to have a pH around 3. Dilute soap solutions, and ammonia solutions are going to be higher than seven. Probably around 10 for most household cleaners. So they're "closer to human pH" if anything, but "human pH" doesn't really mean anything and has nothing to do with carcinogenesis.

[flyarm]

16. what happens when you breath the fumes of clorox products?????????

that won't happen with vinegar

what happens when you breath in any of the chemicals in household products..??

that won't happen with vinegar..

what happens when the chemicals you clean with in your home get on your skin??

that won't happen with vinegar..you can bathe in the vinegar..won't hurt you..

what happens if you swallow household cleaners??

that won't happen with vinegar..

what happens to women( vaginally) getting into a bathtub and soaking... with residuals of household chemicals on the tub and in the water....well we don't know..but <i know> i am safe with vinegar!!

if i can't eat it , put it on my skin safely, or breath it ..it is not coming in my house to clean!!

my neighbor went through such extensive testing at Univ OF Kansas because the reg hosptial sent her there when they couldn't find anything saying she was having heart attacks..they did such extensive testing on her..for over a year..and she kept experieincing the "heart attacks..whenever she went home from the hospital..within 24 hours...it was finally found she had chemical poisoning from common household cleaners..that had permeated every part of her home..

her house had to be chemically cleaned before it was safe for her to go home finally after extensive research of what was happening to her..

and what was she told to clean with ..vinegar!! vinegar only!!

with 5 little kids ..4 boys..there is alot of daily cleaning involved..she switched to vinegar..and never got sick again...rugs everything like that were torn out of the home by the enviornment cleaners..and hardwood replaced them...and she was told..only use vinegar..

that is when i changed my cleaning habits as well..that was 20 years ago..

and my house is clean ..spit shinning..and i have no nasty chemicals in my home..and i can drink my cleaner!! i can wash with my cleaner, and i can breathe my cleaner ...and when my salad calls for it ..i can eat my cleaner.. safely!!

fly

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. Generally, flyarm, I don't go around huffing and drinking...

household cleaning chemicals.

[flyarm]

23. when you use them in your household ..you are huffing them!! in fact

they linger in your home forn a very long time!!

and your family is huffing them as well!!

fly

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

26. Sorry, no.

Keeping cleaning chemicals in my home and huffing them is an entirely different thing, LOL.

[PinkyisBlue]

31. Did you know that ascorbic acid is.....vitamin C?

All compounds, natural or artificial, are chemicals. Our bodies are full of chemicals. It's obvious that what the poster meant to say is she only uses natural products to clean her home, not harsh, artificial cleaning agents.

[The Backlash Cometh]

25. Oh, thank God. I haven't done much cleaning so I think I'm safe.

[devilgrrl]

11. Vinegar is nature's gift to mankind...

as is garlic and honey.

[Recursion]

24. We used to wash fencing whites in vinegar

When we weren't using eletric sensors we had charcoal on the tips of the weapons and you had to clean off the marks on your whites between bouts. People tried bleach, shout, all kinds of stuff; vinegar was the quickest and most thorough. So for me the combined smell of sweat and vinegar always reminds me of fencing tournaments.

I've also found vinegar removes tobacco stains from cotton and linen, which is good news for tobacco chewers like me (yes, I know, yuck, I don't do it in your living room so don't bug me about it).

[senseandsensibility]

33. Do you dilute it?

I'd like to start cleaning with vinegar. Do you mix it in a spray bottle? How do you clean toilets, for instance? It sounds like a great idea--cheap and safe!

[TZ]

35. but its not a great anti-microbial

It kills some but not all. Bleach is best. Thats what labs do to decontaminate and kitchens and bathrooms can have as many pathogens as any standard lab.

[Donnachaidh]

3. cosmetics ingredients and hormones

Are just two.

Wonder how quickly the beauty companies and big pharma will come out swinging to debunk this study?

[shraby]

4. When I was in school many many years ago

I rinsed my hair with vinegar after I washed it. It took all the soap residue out and my hair was really shiny.

[donsu]

7. me too

nt

[devilgrrl]

13. Bet it was silky smooth too...

isn't it incredible? :-)

[donsu]

9. anti-perspirents and nail polish are toxic too

nt

[madrchsod]

15. hydrogen peroxide,vinegar, alcohol,bleach,and soap

is about all you need to clean anything in the house.

[shraby]

21. Don't forget baking soda. It's great.

[coffeenap]

17. And, it kills grasses and weeds where you don't want them--

kills in hours with no harm to the animals, no pollution of the water supply! Vinegar forever!:hi:

[earth mom]

22. Just put vinegar in a spray bottle and spray the grass & weeds?

I'm on that like right now! :woohoo:

[OzarkDem]

18. Air Pollution & polluted food chain

First, here's the list of some top ones (in alpha-numeric order) (thanks to Silent Spring Institute):

Chemical Source/use

1,4-dioxane Detergents, shampoos, soaps
1,3-butadiene Common air pollutant; found in vehicle exhaust
Acrylamide Fried foods
Benzene Common air pollutant; found in vehicle exhaust
Perfluorooctanoic acid Used in manufacture of Teflon
Styrene Used in manufacture of plastics; found in carpets, adhesives, hobby supplies and other consumer products
Vinyl chloride Used almost exclusively by the plastics industry to make vinyl
1,1-dichloroethane Industrial solvent; also found in some consumer products such as paint removers
Toluene diisocyanate Used in foam cushions, furnishings, bedding
Methylene chloride Used in furniture polish, fabric cleaners, wood sealants and many other consumer products
PAHs Diesel and gasoline exhaust
PCBs Electrical transformers; banned but still in environment
Atrazine Widely used herbicide, particularly for corn


The problem requires a much more comprehensive, systemic solution.

One of the biggest contributors to breast cancer is believed to be benzenes and fine particulate matter in automobile exhaust. The studies have been out there for some time, but don't get news media coverage (wonder why?)

In addition, many of the other pollutants are pervasive in the food chain. We need a system approach to avoid exposure. Doing things around our own house isn't going to make a lot of difference.

To get these toxins eliminated once and for all, we need much more definitive research. The producers of these toxins won't stop just based on the evidence at hand. That's why breast cancer activists have been pushing for the Breast Cancer & Environmental Research Act, which will provide funding at the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences to do the necessary research to make definitive links. The best thing about this research proposal is that is allows consumers to participate in deciding which research is funded and it requires the results to be made public.


The bill is currently gathering co-sponsors in the House & Senate. Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Pelosi have both decided to make its passage a priority. Sign the petition to ask Congress to support it at the following link:

http://www.lesspinkmoreresearch.org/

[SoCalDem]

28. Not just the food chain.. It's in our landfills & reservoirs too

We have toxified ourselves, and now we just have to "play it out". Of course the other branch of the science that "gave" us all these miraculous products is standing right there waiting to envelop us into their loving embrace.

Big Pharma & their little buddies, the Health Care system. the have been diligently working on treatments for the ills their "cousins" bestowed upon us... but for a price :(..

There's a reason why so many of us are having a hard time affording health insurance.. THEY know what's coming.. Their actuaries have been crunching the numbers..

[SheilaT]

20. Not to undermine

the actual message here, heart disease is actually the leading cause of death in women. Lung cancer is number two. Then breast cancer.

[OzarkDem]

29. We know what's causing #1 and #2

We're trying to figure out what's causing #3.

We're making such great progress in reducing heart disease and lung cancer rates, we need to do the same for estrogen related cancers like breast and prostate.

[Individualist]

30. Thank you for mentioning this

While I don't want to detract attention from breast cancer, many people are unaware that heart disease is the leading cause of death in women. Many women are unaware that symptoms of heart disease differs between men and women, and unfortunately some physicians disregard symptoms of heart disease in women, instead trying to convince them that their problem is psychological. Both my brother and I inherited heart disease from our father's side of the family, so I've seen firsthand that symptoms are different. I consider myself fortunate to have a primary care doctor who immediately referred me to a cardiologist when I began having chest pain.

[Cobalt Violet]

32. I wish to have a list of all the chemicals.

That may help.