A study by the Environmental Working Group, found that unborn babies may be affected the most by the more than 85,000 chemicals registered for use in the US today, and most are found to be inadequately tested.Researchers tested the umbilical cord blood of several babies. They found over 270 industrial chemicals and pollutants in each cord. Of the over 270 chemicals, 180 are known to cause cancer, 219 are toxic to the brain and nervous system and 210 cause birth defects in animals. We are overdosing on harmful chemicals from before birth!
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), studies today show Dioxins, PCBs, DDT, and other organochlorines are among over 210 chemicals found in samples of human breast milk. Chemicals are a fact of life. It's sad and most alarming.
There's nothing better for babies than breast milk for all the benefits nutritionally and
emotionally they receive. What we have to do is to keep mommy and baby's environment as chemically free as possible. And, there's so much people can do individually.
When we first moved to our state, Donna was breast feeding our youngest. Nursing mothers were advised to have their milk sampled. It turned out that
Heptachlor sprayed on feed was found to be excreted into cow's milk at higher levels than normal and was showing up in the milk sold in stores which was most alarming.
Why was it alarming? Here is a quote from an article about this:
"Heptachlor causes cancer in animals, may cause cancer in humans, and, in fact, is of sufficient health concern that it's banned from all uses except killing termites. In breast milk, heptachlor poses a special risk because the body absorbs it rapidly and can store it in fatty tissue for a year or more. Breast milk, like cow's milk, is rich in fat, so it becomes a major route for elimination of heptachlor from the mother's body.
A baby fed heptachlor-contaminated breast milk could, in fact, have heptachlor levels greater than the mother. " Article
You can, also, read about it HERE from the NY Times. It was quite a newsworthy event at the time.
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Donna submitted a sample; however, her results came back so low that they were minuscule. The state phoned her and asked if they could use her sample results as part of the data that had to be submitted to the national data base for the study since several states were involved. She was told that they were the lowest numbers they'd seen. She declined because she wasn't the typical lactating woman. She told the person that it really wouldn't give an honest entry for their averages into the study because she didn't drink milk, and that was probably why her numbers were almost non-existent.
Donna was primarily a vegetarian, and had been for years. She and the family ate a lot of green leafy vegetables, as well as, organic whole grains. She produced more than enough milk for our little ones, but she didn't consume much cow's milk per se, or a lot other dairy products for that matter. Whatever little cow's milk she consumed on cereal and such, she always made first into yogurt or kefir milk, and that was all she really used. The person said something that we'll always remember, "But you have to drink a lot of milk in order to nurse."
I saw her hesitate for a moment before she answered, and then she replied, something to the effect as best as I can recall, "Why would I have to drink milk to produce milk? Cow's don't drink milk to make milk. Isn't it interesting that no other mammal on earth drinks the milk of another species in order to produce enough milk for its own young? And, yet, humans feel that it is necessary to do so. And, now I'm so glad I don't, for I would, indeed, be worrying about my precious little boy as, I'm sure, the other mothers are about their little ones right now whose numbers are so much more significant than mine. I can well imagine what they must be going through."
Here was a chemical that entered the lives of totally unsuspecting parents in several states, this time through something so seemingly innocent as milk consumption, store bought milk, that didn't give a clue as to what it contained. What a traumatic thing to discover when no one would have even suspected!
What is hepatchlor? In a very brief synopsis... Heptachlor was introduced in the 1946 and banned in 1988. It was originally only to be used to control termites, from what I understand. However, it was additionally used as insecticide on seed grains. It's an organochlorine and became extensively used in the 1960s and 1970s in household and agricultural settings. Studies link heptachlor to cancer, endocrine disruption, and developmental toxicity, but the full extent of heptachlor's health effects are currently unknown. It is a very persistent chemical, and it's even found throughout the United States nearly twenty years after being banned!
Now it officially should only be used, according to the EPA, to exterminate fire ants in and around underground, buried transformers. It has been banned in numerous other countries; however, so many countries do not have any restrictions. We really don't know how supplies are being used in those areas of the world.
It makes one wonder: What will be the next commonly used agri-chemical, herbicide, or insecticide to be banned because it's eventually deemed too dangerous to use or there's an "accident" that causes harm? Heptachlor was once used around the home and in agriculture. Will some chemical that is now commonly being used around homes, yards, and in agriculture across this nation be banned sometime in the future? Will it then be too late for it will already be in our soil, our bodies, and the environment? Do you take that chance? It's something to at least think about, isn't it?
Chemicals are in our lives, Friend, and they are not going to go away. The corporate giants and the agri-business world will see to that. We can, however, do some things individually, and perhaps join together within our communities, to avoid chemicals as much as humanly possible especially since they can be accumulative in our bodies.
After that, all we can do is simply do the best we can for ourselves and our loved ones, and then leave the rest to God.
Take care, and thanks for visiting...
Stephen
The defoliant and herbicide agent orange, used extensively throughout the Vietnam War, contained 2,4-D. The controversies associated with the use of Agent Orange were associated with a contaminant (dioxin) in the 2,4,5-T component.[9]
2,4-D is primarily used as a herbicide.[10] It is sold in various formulations under a wide variety of brand names. 2,4-D can be found in lawn herbicide mixtures such as "Weed B Gon MAX", "PAR III", "Trillion", "Tri-Kil", "Killex" and "Weedaway Premium 3-Way XP Turf Herbicide". All of these mixtures typically contain three active ingredients: 2,4-D,mecoprop and dicamba. Over 1,500 herbicide products contain 2,4-D as an active ingredient.
2,4-D is most commonly used for:
§ Weed control in lawns and other turf
§ No-till burndown
§ Control of weeds and brush along fences and highway and railroad rights of way
§ Conifer release (control of broad-leaf trees in conifer plantings)
§ Grass hayfields and pastures
§ Cereal grains
§ Corn and sorghum (occasionally)
§ As a synthetic auxin analogue
2,4-D continues to be used, where legal, for its low cost. However, where municipal lawn pesticide bylaws exist, such as in Canada,[11] alternatives such as corn gluten meal andvinegar-based products are increasingly being used to combat weeds.
"Most interesting quotes: Click HERE since this subject, also, affects our forests!"
