Essential oils have been used for eons as a healing tool.  They are mentioned numerous times in ancient sacred texts for anointing and healing the sick.  The Christ child was rubbed with frankincense and myrrh at birth. Diseases occur when the body’s vibrational frequency drops below a certain point and essential oils work by raising the bodies vibrational frequency.  This can only be achieved by organic therapeutic grade essential oils.  There has been much written about the healing abilities of essential oils on the physical body but more and more over the last few years research has shown that most physical ailments have an emotional counterpart.  The challenge here is to access the cellular memory and change the automatic response to an emotional charge.  Our emotional patterns control our life experiences.

The key to producing therapeutic grade essential oils is to preserve as many of the delicate aromatic compounds within the essential oil as possible.  Oils are made of many chemical constituents, and these constituents can be affected by a vast number of different variables, including: the part of the plant used, soil condition, fertilizer (chemical or organic) geographical region, climate, altitude, harvesting methods and most importantly the distillation method.  High temperatures and pressure as well as contact easily destroy fragile aromatic chemicals with reactive metals such as copper and aluminium. It is also very important that the plant material is grown organically, otherwise there is residues of poisonous pesticides, herbicides and other agrichemical chemicals, these react with the essential oil during distillation to produce toxic compounds and because many of the pesticides are oil soluble, they can also mix into the oil. The fertilizer should be of an organic nature to ensure that the plant is complete in its chemical makeup.

As we begin to understand the power of essential oils in the realm of healing on many levels (physical, emotional and spiritual), we appreciate the necessity for obtaining the purest essential oils possible, there can be no substitute as the alternatives can be toxic and ineffective as a healing tool as the extraordinarily high vibrations of the oils are reduced.

What makes essential oils such potent healers…

Essential oils and human blood share several common properties: They fight infection, contain hormone-like properties and initiate regeneration.   They work as the defence mechanism of the plant and contain many potent antibacterial, antifungal and antibacterial properties. As they contain a chemical structure that is similar to that of human cells they are compatible with human protein and therefore readily identified and accepted by the body.  The molecules of essential oils are relatively small and can penetrate the cell membranes and diffuse throughout the blood and tissues.  When applied topically (feet or elsewhere) they can travel through the body in a matter of minutes.  Because of their complex chemical makeup, essential oils do not disturb the body’s natural balance or homeostasis, as this allows for a counteractive reaction if the effect may be too strong.  Synthetic chemicals on the other hand usually have only one action and often disrupt the body’s homeostasis.

We can, however, reduce our exposure by becoming knowledgeable and making educated, informed decisions. For example, use a water filtration system to purify your water; eat fresh, organic produce wherever possible; try to choose a home in a suburb that is far from industry or main roads; wisen up about harmful chemicals in toiletries and household cleaners and choose more natural alternatives, or even better, make your own!

Babies and children are at particular risk as their livers (which acts as a filter for toxins) are underdeveloped and therefore not able to cope as well with an onslaught of toxins on a daily basis. Another important thing to understand is that children, being smaller, have a bigger total skin area (about 2.5 times greater than adults per unit of body weight) – obviously this means that exposure is more problematic for children

Many parents are simply not aware of the fact that the so-called “mild” or “hypoallergenic” products for “delicate” or “sensitive skins” are far from being the pure products they believe them to be! Ever wondered why so many children suffer from skin conditions, allergies and asthma? Most people put it down to being “just one of those things” – it seems that ailments and diseases have become so commonplace that we don’t question why we’re suffering – rather we just accept our problem and battle on.

So what are the problematic ingredients that parents should be on the lookout for? And in what ways are these substances harmful?

Topping the list is sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) or sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), with the latter being the higher foaming variation of SLS.

SLS is used as a garage floor cleaner, engine degreaser and car wash soap in the cleaning industry! It is thus corrosive and harmful to the skin. In baby products, SLS & SLES are used to make products foam and lather so beautifully, such as baby washes, cleansers and bubble baths. In essence, it is the core ingredient that makes products soapy. Then you get lather boosters, which stabilise bubbles and make them last longer – these are used in bubble baths – cocamide DEA is an example.

The US National Toxicology Program has found that repeated skin application to mouse skin of DEA or it’s fatty acid derivative cocamide DEA, induced liver and kidney cancer. DEA is known to readily interact with nitrite preservatives or contaminants in toiletries and cosmetics to form a potent nitrosamine called NDELA (nitrosodiethanolamine), another cancer causing agent, which like DEA, is also rapidly absorbed through the skin.

According to the FDA, products containing detergents and foaming agents, emulsifiers and certain solvents (identifiable by the prefix “PEG” or “-eth-“ may be contaminated with 1,4 dioxane which has been shown to produce cancer of the liver and nasal turbinates in animal tests, as well as systemic cancer in skin painting tests. Professor Samuel S. Epstein, world renowned expert on the causes and prevention of cancer, warns that “products containing DEA or TEA (triethanolamine), PEG compounds, ethoxylated alcohols, or polysorbate 60 or 80 should not be used unless the manufacturer provides label certification that states the product is free of nitrosamines or 1.4 dioxane.

Dyes are also readily added to products – watch out for FD&C Blue #1 (a chemical dye which is a known cancer-causing agent. Fragrances are also of particular concern as each synthetic fragrance can contain up to 600 ingredients, with 95% of the chemicals found in fragrance being derived from petroleum (as petroleum chemicals are cheaper than the real thing). And to make matters worse, some 84% of the ingredients in fragrances have never been tested for human toxicity, or tested only minimally!

Most worrying is the concern that we really do not know what sort of reactions occur when a number of chemically-laden products are used together. Consider this scenario – you wash and condition your child’s hair, you “treat” them to a bubble bath, wash them with soap, and then if still in nappies, you use talc to ensure that no moisture remains, followed by some barrier cream. Then, if their skin is dry, you smother them with some or other lotion! If you consider that you absorb up to 60% of what you put on your skin, one should be seriously discerning about what you use for you and your family.

Note that this write up just touches very briefly on some of the problematic ingredients – there is an incredible amount of information out there, and there is a lot of controversy around what is safe and what isn’t. I think that it’s all about getting back to basics and simplifying your family’s personal care routine.

Think back to the good old days…there weren’t the myriad of choices that there are today, and they certainly didn’t use all the concoctions that we fill our cupboards with!

Chemicals are present in the houses we live in, the food we eat, the water we drink, the toiletries and cosmetics we use, even in the air that we breathe. With over 70,000 in existence, escape from contact with chemicals is impossible, as they now exist in virtually every facet of our modern lives.

Therefore, it may come as a shock to discover over 85% of the commonly used chemicals that we encounter so regularly have not even had minimum safety testing and there is no obligation on the chemical industry to properly assess the chemicals they sell or to use safer alternatives.

Scientists and doctors tell us that life today is healthier than ever before. The main killer diseases of the past have been eradicated, people have a longer life expectancy, mortality rates are lower and our hygiene conditions are better than those of previous generations. However, in the face of the increasing numbers of new disorders that are appearing, should we believe them? Occurrences of cancer are now more common than previously and there has been an increase in asthma, heart disease, allergies, infertility and chemical and pesticide poisonings over the past fifty years.

While controversy still rages as to whether or not chemicals are causing these conditions, there is growing evidence from the UK’s Environmental Medicine Foundation to demonstrate that it is highly likely chemicals are causing many people to become ill and the EEA (European Environmental Agency) and UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme) Annual Message 2 on the State of Europe’s Environment states that widespread exposures to low doses of chemicals may be causing harm, possibly irreversibly, especially to sensitive groups such as children, pregnant women and parts of the environment. What you have to decide is that while we are waiting for the scientists to make their mind up, do you really want to take the risks?

More than 300-500 man-made chemicals have been found contaminating our bodies 1 and links have been found between man-made chemicals and illnesses such as testicular and prostate cancer 2, both of which are on the increase. Worryingly, there are now so many chemicals in our environment that it has become difficult to identify which of them might be the cause of a particular environmental or human health problem.

Synthetic chemicals are appearing in alarming places – for example, a 1999 study by the World-Wide Fund for Nature showed that samples of British mothers’ breast milk were contaminated with more than 350 chemicals from products including perfumed suntan lotions and pesticides and the effects on various animals, birds 3 and fish 4 include birth defects, cancers and damage to nervous, reproductive and immune systems.

The key to the problem is that the government has to prove a chemical poses a threat before it is removed from the market – which is a difficult and expensive process. However, chemical manufacturers are still allowed to introduce most chemicals onto the market without having to prove that they are safe.

Cancer Research Campaign data from 1998 shows a large increase in testicular cancer and there has also been a rise in the numbers of girls entering puberty earlier 5 . In both cases it has been suggested that exposure to hormone altering chemicals could be the cause. Most concern has been shown over the chemicals that accumulate inside our bodies (‘bioaccumulative’ chemicals), which may be disturbing our delicate hormone systems. Our bodies are ‘fooled’ by these toxins, which can bind to the same sites as natural hormones, thereby altering, magnifying or blocking the function of the natural hormones.

Scientists are now investigating the role of oestrogen as a trigger in these growing levels of cancer and fear rising levels of hormone-altering chemicals in the environment that mimic this hormone may be to blame.

What is apparent is that there has been:
• An increase in testicular cancer by 55% between 1979 and 1991 in England and Wales
• One in six girls in Britain starting to show signs of puberty at the age of eight, compared to one in 100 girls a century ago
• Lower sperm counts in young men in Denmark. A survey conducted there concluded that more than 40% of young Danish men have reduced sperm counts, which is associated with decreased fertility
• An increase in breast cancer by one percent per year since the 1940’s in the USA and by 50% in Denmark between 1945 and 1980
• An increase in prostate cancer by 40% between 1979 and 1991 in England and Wales

Although experts are currently undecided as to whether chemicals are the cause of falling sperm counts and increase in cancers, manmade chemicals are certainly in the frame. While some chemicals can be linked to particular health problems it is difficult to provide unarguable proof that a specific chemical from a specific source is the cause of a particular disease or health problem. Even when it has been proven that chemicals are dangerous action is not always taken; for example evidence of human health risks from toxic chemicals in cigarettes emerged more than four decades ago and the cigarette industry is still flourishing.

Notes
1. Study by Dr Howard, Liverpool University’s Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology
2. Study by Samuel Epstein, Professor of Environmental Medicine at the University of Illinois
3. Campbell & Cook, 1997, ‘The Indirect Effects of Pesticides on Birds’
4. Cameron & Berg , 1994, ‘Biological Monitoring of the North Sea Employing Fish Embryological Data.’
5. US Center for Health, Environment and Justice Environmental Health Monthly Vol. 11 No. 3 December, 1998

Reproduced with kind permission from Natural Collection and dotguides: http://www.naturalcollection.com © 2001 Green Dot Guides

These are things you do without thinking; they are a mundane part of an everyday routine. But this routine might be more damaging than you ever imagined. A survey carried out by the US National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health found that 884 chemicals used in personal care products and cosmetics were toxic and estimate that women absorb up to 2 kilograms of chemicals through toiletries and cosmetics over the course of a year.

These products are often classified as ’safe’ as they won’t kill you if you eat them. However, it is important to remember that the stomach is highly acidic and digests many of these chemicals. Make-up is applied externally and consequently is absorbed through the skin directly into your blood stream.

If you have children, you will more than likely have to treat them for head lice at some point. They pick it up easily, and often children must be treated before they are allowed back in the classroom to prevent the lice spreading further. But the lice shampoo you use might well involve a dose of toxic pesticides such as organophosphates, or even lindane that will, when inhaled, ingested or absorbed through the skin, cause vomiting and diarrhoea.

Other known effects include liver damage, stillbirths, birth defects and cancer. The risk of childhood brain cancer has also been associated with the use of domestic pesticides to control termites, flea collars on pets, insecticides in the garden and herbicides to control weeds – all common, everyday items you probably use without thinking twice.

After severe government warnings over the dangers of sunbathing, most people religiously slather themselves with suntan lotion before venturing out into the sun to protect themselves from the risk of skin cancer. Yet in 2000, a team of Norwegian scientists found that a chemical used in 90% of suntan lotions might be toxic and could actually cause skin cell damage. Perhaps the most frightening of all the items in the beauty industry is perfume. Most women use it regularly, but what many people don’t know is that the perfume industry is unregulated. This is because it is protected by laws that allow the manufacturers to keep the ingredients of their fragrances secret.

Many of the chemicals contained in perfume are easily absorbed through the skin where they accumulate in major organs. While no serious medical research has been done on the effects of perfume, some doctors and scientists believe that perfumes could be as damaging to the health as tobacco smoke, partly because 95% of chemicals used in fragrances are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum.

They include benezene derivatives, aldehydes and many other toxics and sensitisers, capable of causing cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders and allergic reactions 1. These scent chemicals can also be found in chemical air fresheners, tissues, washing powders, detergents and cat litter.

Chemicals in food over the past 50 years and how our food is produced, sold, bought and reprocessed has changed dramatically. The British alone consume around a quarter of a million tons of food chemicals a year and pesticides and herbicides are the primary areas for concern. These are sprayed liberally over the foods we eat and may contain ingredients that affect not only the nervous system of insects, but also that of the humans who eat them 2.

Many of the chemicals contained in pesticides cannot be evacuated from the body with food waste but accumulate in fatty tissue, where they can be responsible for degenerative diseases. For example, organochlorines are commonly found in pesticides, which are very stable and not water-soluble, which means they can remain in the human body and the environment for long periods of time.

Pesticides are not the only area of concern where food is concerned. All processed foods contain additives that are toxic in varying degrees, and over 200,000 tons of these additives are added each year to food in Britain. Processed foods also have large quantities of hidden sugars or salts that can interfere with insulin functions and essential fatty acids functions. Polyunsaturated fats have been suspected of causing a range of illnesses, including certain types of cancer 3.

Chemicals found in fish are also a growing problem, particularly in farmed salmon. A BBC programme screened in 2001 documented Canadian researchers showing a comparison with wild Pacific salmon that found farmed fish contained significantly higher levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Dioxins and PCVs have been implicated in causing cancers, hormone disruption, developmental and neurological problems and accumulate in the fatty tissues of animals and humans.

According to research in 2000 from the UK’s Government scientists, consumers eating two or three portions of oily fish a week are likely to exceed the dioxin and PCB intakes considered safe by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Farmed salmon are fed with cheap fish caught in open sea, which have come into contact with chemicals from industrial waste deposited there. In addition, fish lice are prevalent in fish farms and to help combat this problem, farmed fish are often fed with food pellets containing organochlorine and other pesticides.

Notes:
1. ‘Neurotoxins: At home and in the workplace’, Report by the Committee on Science and Technology, US 1986
2. US Environmental Working Group Research, 2000, ‘Diazinon was safe, now it isn’t.’
3. Newsholme E A. Mechanism for starvation suppression and refeeding activity of infection. Lancet 1977; i: 654 &. Miller JD, et al. Br Med J 1973; i: 765.

Reproduced with kind permission from Natural Collection and dotguides: http://www.naturalcollection.com

© 2001 Green Dot Guides

• PVC plastic frequently contains phthalates, which evidence has suggested could be hormone disrupters, so avoid goods made from this material. PVC is one of the most widely used types of plastics and is used for packaging in cling film and bottles, for consumer products such as credit cards and audio records, for construction in window frames and cables, for imitation leather and around the home in pipes, flooring, wallpaper and window blinds. Testing by several governments concludes that children can ingest hazardous chemicals from PVC toys during normal use. Ask in the shop if the product contains any PVC – if so, try using a different brand.
• Buy organic produce whenever possible and support local growers
• Avoid perfumed products containing artificial musks as they contain chemicals that build up in the body.
• Try cutting down on the scented products you use. For example, only wear perfume on special occasions, open the window instead of spraying a chemical air freshener or use products marked ‘fragrance free’.
• Try to use paints that are water-based, as these are often less toxic than those which are oil-based. There are some non-toxic paints on the market as well.
• Avoid using pesticides and chemicals in your garden and avoid going near areas that have been freshly sprayed with pesticides.
• Reduce your use of plastics in general; use glass containers, wax paper, etc.
• Avoid ‘anti-bacterial’ products, which can contain risky chemicals such as alkyltins, persistent and bioaccumulative chemicals.

Make your Own Cleaners
It’s easy to make your own green cleaning solutions rather than always having to buy them in. Vinegar is the active ingredient in many commercial products anyway – just add a bit to warm water and you’ve got the perfect solution for mirrors, tiles and windows. A stronger vinegar solution will de-scale a kettle or toilet, while lemon juice is a good alternative to bleach.

• Descalers – distilled white vinegar for limescale in kettles and toilets, lemon juice is a fragrant alternative for teapot stains
• Oven Cleaner – a paste of baking soda and water left on for 3 minutes and then washed off with a scouring cloth and hot water. Sprinkle salt on spills while still warm to ease their removal once oven is cool.
• Window Cleaners – 2tbsp distilled white vinegar and a few drops of liquid soap in a spray bottle. Some smearing may occur on first use due to waxy build-up from previous cleaner. Remove this with surgical spirit or washing soda.
• Scourers – Bicarbonate of soda is a good scouring powder for sinks and baths and polishing chrome. Salt is also abrasive but perhaps not quite as effective.
• Drain blockages – dissolve quarter of a cup of baking soda and 50ml of vinegar in boiling water. 1

Notes:
1. Taken from http://www.arcania.co.uk/greentree/features/clean.htm

Reproduced with kind permission from Natural Collection and dotguides: http://www.naturalcollection.com/

© 2001 Green Dot Guides

However, you will probably not find the ingredients on the labels, and if you do they will be disguised by category names that leave you none the wiser.

Toxic/harmful ingredients include:
Para-dichlorobenzene (PDCB); napthalene; formaldehyde; Sodium bisulphate (sulphuric acid); solvents (ethyl/isopropyl alcohol, propylene glycol, ethanol, Butyl cellosolve); synthetic perfumes; detergents /surfactants containing DEA, TEA and morpholine; EDTA; ammonia; phenol (carbolic acid/cresol); coal tar dyes; Pine oil; alkyl phenols (include nonyl phenol, nonyl phenoxy ethoxylate, alkyl phenol polyglycol; petroleum distillates; bleach; napthas; nitrobenzene; phosphates (ecological disaster); polyethylene glycol (PEG); and many others.

In South Africa, personal care products, by law, have to list ingredients on labels, some of which are listed below.

DEA, MEA, TEA
Cause allergic reactions, irritate the eyes and dry the hair and skin. Can be carcinogenic. PEG can mix with DEA and TEA to form carcinogenic nitrosamines.

EDTA
Stabilises bleach and foaming agents in detergents. Irritates skin and mucous membranes and binds with toxic metals in the environment, carrying them back into our drinking water and the environment, especially fish and shellfish.

Petrolatum
Also known as mineral oil jelly, liquid vaseline, paraffinum liquidum and baby oil. Can cause photosensitivity and strips natural oils from the skin, causing chapping, dryness and premature ageing. Prevents elimination of toxins and can cause acne and other disorders.

Imidazolidinyl urea and DMDN hydantoin
These formaldehyde-forming preservatives can cause joint pain, allergies, depression, headaches, chest pain, chronic fatigue, dizziness, insomnia and asthma. Can also weaken the immune system and even cause cancer. Found in skin, body and hair products, anti-perspirants and nail polish.

Alcohol, or isopropyl
A poisonous solvent and denaturent (alters the structure of other chemicals). Found in hair-colour rinses, body rubs, hand lotions, after shave lotions, fragrances. Can cause nausea, vomiting, headaches, flushing, depression. Also, dries skin and hair and creates cracks and fissures in the skin which encourage bacterial growth.

Sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS)
Found in foaming products such as shampoos, hair conditioners, toothpastes and body washes. Strong detergent which can cause eye irritation and permanent damage to the eyes – especially in children, skin rashes, hair loss, flaking skin and mouth ulceration. When combined with other ingredients, can form nitrosamines, which are carcinogenic. Easily penetrates the skin and can lodge itself in the heart, lungs, liver and brain.

PVP/VA copolymer
A petroleum-based ingredient used in hair sprays.
Padimate-O, also known as octyl dimethyl, PABA is found mainly in sunscreens. Like DEA, a nitrosamine-forming agent. There is concern that the energy absorbed by this sunscreen is then turned into free radicals, which may actually increase the risk of skin cancer.
Methyl, propyl, butyl, and ethyl paraben used to extend shelf life and inhibit microbial growth. Can cause rashes and other allergic reactions.
Synthetic colours: coal-tar dyes are generally labelled as FD&C or D&C followed by a number. Carcinogenic.

Talc
Found in baby powders, face powders and body powders. A major cause of ovarian cancer when used in the genital area. Can also lodge in the lungs, causing respiratory disorders.

Synthetic fragrance
Usually petroleum based. Can cause headaches, dizziness, rashes, respiratory problems, vomiting, skin irritation and multiple chemical sensitivity.

Chemical products in the home also have a negative impact on the environment. When they are used and disposed of, they release chemicals into the ground and wastewater which may contaminate our groundwater and present a problem to wastewater treatment facilities. Most often, hazardous products are not disposed of properly and are landfilled or incinerated where they release their toxins to the environment.

Some of these toxins, such as the chemicals in household cleaners, pesticides and insecticides, persist in the environment and can concentrate as they go up the food chain. They have wiped out many species and produce stronger resistant strains of pests and insects. Phosphates, used to soften water and help detergents rinse better, are devastating to the environment, causing algae blooms that choke waterways. The toxic effects of chemicals in your home has serious short and long term repercussions for you, the environment and all its living entities.

What can you do?

(Remember that pregnant women and small children are most at risk.)

• PVC plastic frequently contains phthalates, which evidence has suggested could be hormone disrupters, so avoid goods and toys made from this material.
• Buy organic products and produce whenever possible and support local growers.
• Avoid using pesticides and chemicals in your garden and going near areas that have been freshly sprayed with pesticides.
• Reduce your use of plastics in general; use glass containers, wax paper, etc.
• Avoid ‘anti-bacterial’ products, which can contain risky chemicals such as alkyltins, persistent and bioaccumulative chemicals.
• Read your labels and choose a safer alternative. Lobby government to make it mandatory to include ALL ingredients on home cleaning products.
• Educate yourself so you can make informed decisions.

Do you ever think about the long term impact your daily use of toiletries and cosmetics may be having on your health? Scientific research has long shown that many ingredients in these products pose serious long-term health risks – and are even found in most well-known ethical brands currently in health food shops. According to Professor Samual Epstein, the evidence is overwhelming, and the negligence of government and industry to inform and protect the public is shocking.

In 1989, a US House subcommittee asked US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to analyse 2,983 chemicals used in personal care products. The results were as follows: 884 of the ingredients were found to be toxic. Of these, 778 can cause acute toxicity; 146 can cause tumours; 218 can cause reproductive complications; 314 can cause biological mutation, and 376 can cause skin and eye irritations.
Utusan Konsumer, Dec 1998

We are losing a winnable war against cancer. Over recent decades, particularly since 1950, the incidence of cancer in the US and Europe and the other major industrialized nations has escalated to epidemic proportions, with lifetime cancer risks reaching one in two for men and one in three for women. In the overall increase of all cancers in the US from 1950 to 1995, lung cancer, which is largely due to smoking, accounted for about a quarter of the increase. Over the same period a wide range of non-smoking cancers have increased. Let me give you some examples.

Prostrate cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple myeloma have increased by about 200%, testicular cancer by about 110%, brain and nervous system cancer in adults by 80%, childhood cancers particularly brain and nervous system cancers up by 40%. So we are talking about a very wide range of non-smoking cancers whose incidence has escalated to epidemic proportions since the 1950s.

The Boston Globe (6.9.97) reported that the US General Accounting Office (a non-partisan agency within the legislative branch of the US government) has identified more than 125 cosmetic ingredients suspected of causing cancer – and others that may cause birth defects.
Utusan Konsumer, Dec 1998

WHY THE CANCER RATE INCREASE?

First let me say that you can’t explain away the cancer epidemic on the basis of the fact that people are living longer, because the incidence and mortality rates in our cancer registries are adjusted to reflect the fact that people are getting older. So in this way we exclude longevity as the reason for the increased rates. Neither can you explain away the epidemic as due to faulty personal lifestyle because smoking is clearly the most important single cause of cancer, the incidence of lung cancer in men, but not in women, is declining sharply due to a reduction in smoking. And also the incidence of the non-smoking cancers which I have mentioned before is increasing at proportionally much greater rates.

Also you can’t explain away this massive escalation on the basis of high fat diets, In contrast to heart disease, there is no relation between the role of high fat diet and cancer. However, when you look at animal and dairy fats you find significant relationships due to the fact that animal and dairy fats act as sinks for the accumulation of environmental and industrial carcinogenic chemicals. It is these contaminants in the fat rather than the fat itself which cause cancer.

Finally, increasing cancer rates can’t be explained away on the basis of genetic factors: the genetics of human population can’t possibly have changed at such a rate within the last few decades.

While the incidence rates have been shooting up, our ability to treat and cure most cancers, with the notable exception of some relatively rare forms such as childhood and testicular cancers, has remained largely unchanged in spite of periodic misleading and exaggerated claims to the contrary. There has been a very modest improvement in survival rates for breast cancer, but in spite of the multi-billion dollar expenditures, our survival rates on an overall basis have not significantly improved for about the last five decades.

If lifestyle factors aren’t important causes of the modern cancer epidemic, what are the causes? The answer is based on a very strong body of scientific evidence incriminating a variety of industrial technologies which I call “runaway technologies” because they have basically escaped regulation. As a result our total environment – our air, our water, our workplace and consumer products (food, cosmetics and toiletries and household products) have become contaminated and permeated with a very wide range of industrial carcinogens.

This means that the public at large has been and continues to be unknowingly and involuntarily exposed to avoidable carcinogens from conception to death.

WHICH INGREDIENTS SHOULD WE AVOID?

It takes a book to cover all the carcinogenic ingredients in consumer products, so I am just going to focus here on the mainstream cosmetics and toiletries, often referred to as personal care products, and on those carcinogens which are clear cut, whose names are mentioned on the label but mean nothing to consumers because there is no warning that these are carcinogenic.

For example, take talc. Talc is used by some 20 million women in their reproductive years. We have at least three clear cut studies which have been published in the scientific literature that routine application of talc in the genital area is associated with a three-to fourfold increase in the development of ovarian cancer.

A second carcinogen is DEA, diethanolamine, and the related chemical TEA, triethanolamine. DEA and TEA are very common ingredients in mainstream cosmetics and toiletries found, for example, in cocamide DEA or TEA sodium lauryl sulphate or sodium laureth sulphate. In studies by the National Toxicology Program, when applied to the skin of mice, DEA was shown to readily absorb through the skin, to accumulate in the organs and induce cancer of the liver and kidney. After this clear-cut study, you would have expected the mainstream industry to have acted on it and to replace the chemicals. Not on your life! There has been a denial, an attempt to trivialize the risk. I will come back to DEA and TEA later in this article.

A third carcinogen is fluoride. There are several studies incriminating fluoride in bone cancer, but the public have been given no information on this. Fluoride in toothpaste is particularly dangerous because kids swallow a significant amount of the fluoride, especially when toothpaste contains saccharine, as many toothpastes do, a sweetening agent.

The evidence on the carcinogenicity of saccharine is overwhelming, with particularly great risks for children. There is another overt carcinogen, Crystalline silica, present in some personal care products and toiletries. It has been incriminated as a cause of lung cancer in both animal and human studies.

The paraphenylin diamine dyes are extensively used in permanent black and dark brown hair dyes. These have been incriminated in a variety of cancers including multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma – Jackie Kennedy died of this and she had her hair dyed regularly.

Finally, there are coal tar dyes, particularly Blue 1, Green 3, which are carcinogenic and often contaminated with arsenic and lead – here you have a mixture of carcinogens. These are listed on the label, but as there is no warning that these are carcinogens, it is of no value to the consumer.

HIDDEN CARCINOGENS

Let us move to the hidden carcinogens. Take lanolin: it is sheep’s wool, and you’d think that lanolin was as safe as mother’s milk. In fact most lanolin samples, at least 50 – 60%, are highly contaminated with chlorinated organo pesticides like DDT.

Then there are a whole group of other ingredients such as polythylene glycol, polysorbates, ethoxylated alcohols, which are contaminated with dioxane. This is a highly potent carcinogen which is readily absorbed through the skin. The best way to protect yourself is to recognise the ingredients most likely to be contaminated with dioxiane. These include ingredients with the prefix, word or syllable PEG, Polythylene, Polythylene glycol, Polyoxyethylene, eth (as in sodium laureth sulphate), Oxynol, Polysorbate 60 and Polysorbate 80.

The third carcinogen in this category of contaminants is amorphous silicate. This is “perfectly safe” – but a high percentage of samples are contaminated with crystalline silica which as I mentioned before is a clear carcinogenic ingredient.

NITROSAMINE PRECURSORS

The next group are precursors of a very potent class of carcinogens known as nitrosamines. I have already mentioned DEA and TEA. We’ve known since at least 1976 that these will react with nitrites, which are often present as preservatives or as contaminants in personal care products, to produce a carcinogen known as nitrosodyethalonamine. The FDA accepts that the presence of DEA and TEA in cosmetics can pose a significant consumer health threat. In 1979 the FDA warned the cosmetic industry that DEA was dangerous because of this. And what do you think happened in the US?

Nothing at all. The toiletry industry dug in their heels and ignored it.

An FDA report from the late 1980’s noted that some 37% of the products tested contained carcinogenic nitrosamine impurities. It is unfortunate that nitrosamine contamination is so prevalent, because this is a problem that could easily be eliminated. German cosmetics, for example, are unlikely to contain nitrosamines because official recommendations by the German Federal Health Office in 1987 discouraged manufacturers from using DEA and TEA.

What about consumers who are exposed without any guidance whatsoever to nitrosodyethalonamine in virtually any cosmetic that contains DEA or TEA?

There are two other nitrosamine precursors: Bronopol and Padimate O, which act by releasing nitrates which combine with DEA/TEA to form nitrosamines.

FORMALDEHYDE – RELEASING PRESERVATIVES

The third category of the hidden carcinogens are those which are themselves safe, but which break down in the bottle or tube or on the skin to release formaldehyde, for which the evidence of its carcinogenicity is overwhelming. These include Bronopol, Quaternium 15, Imidazolidinyl urea, and DMDM hydrantoin. In addition to being a carcinogen and neurotoxin, formaldehyde is an irritant and sensitizer, one of the leading causes of contact dermatitis and stinging eyes.

Remember that carcinogens in cosmetics and toiletries are substances to which people are exposed from infancy until death. As the skin is very highly permeable, they are very easily absorbed through the skin, especially as there are detergents present in the cosmetics and toiletries which improve skin absorption. Babies, children and older people are especially at risk.

DENIAL OF CONSUMER’S RIGHTS

The main agency concerned in the US is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In spite of the fact that there are laws permitting it to act, the FDA is acting as a reckless “runaway” regulatory agency that has abysmally failed the public. We are dealing with almost regulatory anarchy and with a fundamental denial of consumers’ right to know: not only is the public left exposed and unprotected, but also the FDA’s policies are like throwing a gauntlet in the teeth of democracy saying, you, the public, are not entitled to have information which lies buried in government or industry files or in relatively inaccessible scientific publications.

SAFE ALTERNATIVES

There are very few companies that do provide the public with safe alternatives. These are really taking over from the FDA where the FDA never really started. They are giving the public information which they are entitled to know, but which they are not getting from the government or the cancer establishment or from any other institution.

Samuel S Epstein, MD, D Path, DTM&H, is Professor of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the School of Public Health, University of Illinois Medical Centre, Chicago, He is an internationally recognised authority on the causes and prevention of cancer, and the toxic and carcinogenic effects of environmental pollutants in air, water, soil and household products. He has published 280 scientific articles and ten books including the prize-winning 1978 The Politics of Cancer and 1998 The Politics of Cancer Revisited. Dr Epstein is also the founder of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, one of whose primary goals is to expose consumer products that contain cancer causing ingredients.

This is an edited transcription of a talk given for Newways International in the US. For further reading, Dr Epstein’s book The Politics of Cancer Revisited (NY: East Ridge Press) is highly recommended.

Do you know there are potentially harmful ingredients in over 90% of the personal care products on the market, products you and your family probably use? You can find these in ingredients in toothpaste, shampoos, conditioners, moisturisers, sunscreens, deodorants, and the list goes on. Some especially potentially harmful ingredients you should check your labels for are: Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, Sodium Laureth Sulphate, Mineral oil, Glycerin, and Propylene Glycol.

First, let’s look at Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulphate (SLES). These ingredients are used as sudsing agents as well as solvents. They work so well that big industry use them as engine degreasers, garage floor cleaners and car wash soaps. You’ll find them in adult shampoo, toothpaste and even baby shampoo!

In a study conducted by Keith Green, Ph.D., formerly of the Medical College of Georgia, SLS and SLES retards healing and keeps children’s eyes from developing properly, can cause cataracts in adults, and delays in the healing of wounds in the surface of the cornea. They can build up in the heart, liver, lungs and brain, and SLS is such a caustic cleanser that it actually corrodes the hair follicle and impairs its ability to grow hair. So the shampoo you use could actually be causing your hair to fall out!

According to the Material Safety Data Sheet, SLS is harmful if inhaled or swallowed. If it is absorbed through the skin, it causes severe eye and skin irritation. Symptoms of exposure may include burning sensations, coughing, wheezing, laryngitis, shortness of breath, headache, nausea and vomiting.

SLS and SLES are systemic, which means they enter your body through the skin and penetrate to the deepest organs of your body and stay there. Sodium Lauryl Sulphate stays in your system for up to five days which means if you shower or brush your teeth more than once every five days it’s always in your system. And we wonder why so many people have degenerative diseases.

Here are some facts about SLS

• SLA is a mutagen and has been used to induce mutations in bacteria.
• SLS is routinely used in clinical studies to irritate skin tissue.
• SLS corrodes hair follicle and impairs the ability to grow hair.
• SLS enters and maintains residual levels in the heart, liver, lungs and brain from skin contact.
• SLS denatures protein, impairs proper structural formation of young eyes, which can cause permanent damage.
• SLS can damage the immune system, cause separation of skin layers and cause inflammation of the skin.

Resource:
Journal of the American College of Toxicology; Vol. #2, No. 7, 1983.

The best use for SLS is in concrete cleaners, engine degreasers and car wash detergents. So why do we have SLS in personal care products? Because it is a surfactant… it helps to break down the surface tension of water. It also happens to be cheap, and is legal for use in personal care products.

“Be the change in the world, you want to see.”
Ghandi

Ten years ago a consumer revolt against alar, a carcinogenic ripening agent used on apples, resulted in a government ban on the chemical largely due to concerns about its possible effects on children. According to the Environmental Working Group, a highly respected Washington D.C. based environmental organisation, “Nothing’s changed. Children’s foods are just as contaminated with unsafe levels of pesticides. The government knows this, and is dragging its heels, protecting chemicals instead of kids.”

Here are the facts, based on the American government’s own data about what kids eat and the levels of pesticides they are exposed to in their food.

More than 1/4 million children aged 1 through 5 consume as many as 20 different pesticides daily. More than one million preschool children consume levels of pesticides that the government considers unsafe, putting them at long-term risk of nerve damage, reproductive system failure, birth defects, and other chronic health problems,

Preschoolers are more heavily exposed to pesticides than adults because they eat more of certain foods that are sources of pesticides: 30 times more apple juice, 21 times more grape juice, 7 times more orange juice.

Government tests show that raspberries, strawberries, apples and peaches grown in the United States and cantaloupe from Mexico are the foods most contaminated with pesticides.

The least contaminated fruit are watermelon, bananas, kiwi, pineapple, and domestic canteloupe, but organic food, grown without the use of chemicals, is the safest choice of all.

Young children pick up pesticides not only in their food but also playing on the ground and floor – increasing their risks.

The special needs of children for protection against pesticide exposure was recognised in the passage of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996. The FQPA changed the standard by which the EPA determines pesticide tolerances, (the highest amounts of residues allowed in food). The most important changes were new requirements for the protection of infants and children from pesticide damage to their developing neurological and reproductive systems.

“The FQPA was a good law, but the EPA’s determination to enforce the law has withered under industry pressure,” says Todd Helterbach, of the Environmental Working Group (EWG). A report published by the EWG on pesticide abuse called “Attack of the Killer Weeds”, also states “the EPA has yet to implement the full children’s health requirements of FQPA for even one of the approximately 300 pesticides that are used in more than 20 000 products.

Even worse, use of a provision in the law, which allows EPA to grant an “emergency” exemption from pesticide health and safety standards, has doubled between 1993 and 1998. The EWG calls this “Little more than a loophole through which pesticide companies market their products while avoiding the children’s health and safety requirements of the law.”

Until the government does a better job of protecting children, here are some things you can do to reduce your child’s pesticide exposure:

• Buy organic food and products wherever possible.

• Don’t let your kids play on lawns treated with pesticides.

• Remove shoes, Japanese style, in your home. Pesticide residues cling to shoes and are transferred to your carpet where kids and pets play.

• Keep any pesticides used in and around your home in a safe place, or better yet, switch to non-chemical ways to handle household pests.

• Even the staid Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, has called for a ban on risky pesticides that are unsafe for children, whether used on food, in homes, at schools, or in other places where children are likely to be exposed.

As Rachel Carson noted 35 years ago in a passage that could have been written today:

“The choice, after all, is ours to make. If, after having endured so much, we have at least asserted our ‘right to know’, and knowing, we have concluded that we are being asked to take senseless and frightening risks, then we should no longer accept the counsel of those who tell us that we must fill our world with poisonous chemicals; we should look about and see what other courses are open to us.”
Silent Spring, 1962

For many years now it has been patently obvious that a state of emergency exists on the Earth and man’s lack of wisdom and respect for the unity of all things, is the cause. The Western culture seems to have lost the connection with the sacredness of life and as a result we view ourselves separate from each other, Earth, and all that live on her. Nature has become the enemy, as we have plundered and pillaged our way to a society run by fear, greed, separateness and competition.

Our schooling systems and what and how we teach our children need to be examined. Competition and fear have replaced cooperation and love. Children are expected to all behave and be the same and are taught that they have to “fit in” and if they don’t, they are punished or put on drugs to make sure they do. Winning is much more important then helping. The new children coming on Earth now are even more challenging to the antiquated systems and making it patently obvious that it is time to change.

Children need to be taught that they are magnificent multi-dimensional beings, part of God, not separate from him. As Christ himself said, “You can do what I do, AND MORE!” Religions that further indoctrinate their minds with limiting beliefs, a fearful, revenge seeking God and separatism are an anachronism that are in dire need of change. The “HeartLight” stand at the recent Art of Living festival was wonderful to see.

The schooling system they are developing focuses on…”Learning and Living…. consciously, compassionately, creatively, collaboratively and competently” (www.heartlightinternational.org another wonderful website to visit is http://www.nizhonischool.com/) The more people focus without fear and with faith on the wonder of the children the quicker group consciousness will change the thinking of the masses.

Farmers have lost touch with the sacredness and spirit of the Earth and the animals. They have become dependent on poisons to produce the crops. The treatment of animals, for the sake of money and in order to please the pallet is something I will never ever understand. If you think about it, cruelty to animals is another form of war on a microcosmic level. There can be no getting away from it, more often than not, farming animals on a large scale leads to misery and lack of reverence. The young are taken away from their mothers, without even a thought for the terrible feeling of loss and mourning felt from both sides. The animals are filled with toxic synthetic hormones so they get fat quickly, produce amounts of milk so they can hardly walk for the pain, and then they are pumped full of antibiotics so they wont get sick.

There are very few people on Earth who actually need to eat animals to survive, and those who do, usually do so with reverence and gratitude. According to the author, John Robbins in “Diet for a New America”, it takes one acre to feed a vegetarian and 20 to a meat eater. If we were supposed to eat meat we would have short smooth colons and sweat through out tongues like all the other carnivores. McDonalds have been one of the major contributors to the cutting down of the South American rain forests. They use the space for the cattle, and all for the sake of the 99c burger!

“Healers and Healing ” in all its forms, has become big business and in the microcosmic sense will help with the healing of the macrocosm. But as American genius, Thomas Berry says, “Human health is a subsystem of the Earth’s health. You cannot have well humans on a sick planet.” It is evident that one of the main causes of our sick planet is the unmonitored use of toxic chemicals. With total disregard for all life, this has exploded into every area of life since the beginning of the last century, gaining momentum in the 1950’s and is speeding up, with thousands more being added to the list every year. It is not new news that the petrochemical and pharmaceutical empires run the world.

The stories are horrendous. For instance, Green Peace released the horrifying evidence that every 90 days we are causing as much environmental damage to our coastline by using household detergents that are not bio-friendly, as a major oil spill would do from a tanker. Women in America, that work in the house have a 54% higher chance of getting cancer from the toxic cleaning products they use every day. Between 5 and 10 million cases of chemical poisoning are reported every year in America, most of them are fatal and most of them are children, and most of them are from the household products that are used on a daily basis.

It is hardly a wonder that cancer and other chronic diseases are epidemic; we are slowly poisoning our Earth, and ourselves. The saddest of all being our children, who bear the brunt of it, as birth defects and childhood diseases, mainly cancer and diabetes, rise out of all proportion. Their little organs are not developed enough to eliminate the toxins efficiently, sugar being one of the worst, and they fall prey to disease and suffering.

Up to now, Government and Industry have done very little to effectively test, or regulate the use of chemicals. In fact just recently the European Union announced that they were going to propose the tightening up the chemical rules. The unsuspecting consumer is constantly loured into buying the next and best thing – whether it is cosmetics, perfumes, household-cleaning products, pool chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, vaccines, or any of the other hundreds of chemical laden products out there. As the disease of greed and materialism spreads in our minds, so do the physical diseases, as our bodies struggle to eliminate the toxicity from the cocktail of chemicals consumed every day.

The more I delved into the chemical story, the more driven I became to find alternatives. I imported an organic range of body products, which I used for a year or so before acquiring the agency from the UK. I imported the range and distributed it via the Health Shops and some pharmacies. I also started to use a local range of chemical free cleaning products and no longer used artificial fertilizers or pesticides. I started to grow my own organic veggies. It gave me an immense feeling of peace and satisfaction knowing that I was no longer contributing to the demise of our precious Earth and that my family were “relatively” safe from the chemical onslaught. After using the cleaning products for a couple years and being so happy with them, I realized that the range didn’t cover the whole story and also that the public at large didn’t have access to it. I then decided that if I could, I would like to extend the range and make it available to as many people as possible.

About 2 years ago I discussed the idea with Wendy, the microbiologist, who started making the products in the beginning. She agreed, and so we started to work on the range. In the meantime I moved down from Jhb. to CT and so did she. My husband Andrew was recruited to finance the business, and run the financial side of things and so the vision started to become a reality!

It was never just a business; it is much much more than that. From the beginning it was much more an urgent call to heal the Earth and alert and educate the people, as well as start a successful business that would be an example to others. While the financial success of the business is obviously important we are putting into practice our beliefs of the interconnectedness of all things. We are doing away with the old traditional paradigm of fear-based, competition-driven management and business practices, and are moving into a space of trust and faith, where honesty, integrity and cooperation are unquestioned. We don’t intend to hoard the profits, but rather to use the money for projects that heal the Earth and help the children. We intend setting an example of the universal flow of abundance. As Gottfried Muller, the wonderful saintly man who started the Salem Villages for children worldwide, says, “If I have money in the bank, I know I am doing something wrong!”

And so our journey has begun and we are all inspired and excited about the thought of it. Swimming against the tide is always challenging, but we are a small, carefully chosen dedicated team with our hearts in the right place, each on our own healing journey and grateful for the opportunity to help heal our precious planet, Earth.

Two books that I believe have made a difference and would recommend to EVERYONE to read are by Thom Hartmann “The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight” and “The Prophet’s Way”.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you are too small to make a difference, if we all do our bit we can change the world and that is what we ultimately want. It’s not difficult and it’s immensely satisfying. Re-use, re-cycle, buy organic, don’t use toxic chemicals, support local and don’t waste. Live consciously viewing everything as sacred and connected. As Mother Theresa said “Don’t wait for leaders, do it alone, person to person” and remember small acts of mercy are what are what bring us close to God – Whether it is saving a worm or giving money to someone in need, every little bit helps to raise the vibration of our planet.