Thursday, September 18, 2008

Test

1.) The Consumer Product Safety Commission says that 150 common household chemicals have been linked to :
A. Allergies
B. Childhood cancers
C. Learning disorders
D. Birth defects
E. All of the above

**ALL OF THE ABOVE** The Centers for Disease Control advises that there is a suspected link between the environment and the astonishing increase in birth defects, childhood cancer, learning disorders and childhood asthma in the last 40 years. According to the March of Dimes, birth defects are the leading cause of death among children ages one to four. One in twelve children is born with a congenital defect. Environmental factors, including exposure to toxic chemicals, cause 7% to 11% of these defects.


2.) The US/Canadian Commission (International Joint Commission – IJC – 1991) is attempting to ban this substance due to health risks:
A. gasoline
B. silver cleaner
C. bleach
D. nail polish remover

**Bleach has been linked to the rising rates of breast cancer in women, reproductive problems in men and learning and behavioral problems in children. There has been a 26% increase in breast cancer since 1982 and it is the number one killer of women age 35-54. Primary suspects are laundry detergents, household cleaners and pesticides. According to a 15 year study, women who work at home had a 54 % higher death rate from cancer than women who work outside the home.

3.) What is the leading cause of poisonings in the home for children under the age of 6?

A. Drain cleaner
B. Liquid dish soap
C. Arsenic

** LIQUID DISH SOAP ** is the leading cause of poisonings in the home for children under the age of 6 (over 2.1 million accidental poisonings per year). Most brands contain ammonia and formaldehyde. 4.) Name 3 ways harmful chemicals can enter the human body? ** INGESTION, INHALATION, ABSORBTION THROUGH THE SKIN **

5.) Which of these ways do you believe is the most common form of poisoning?

** INHALATION ** Most people think of "ingestion" when they think of poisoning. Although this is common, poisoning by inhalation is actually more common. When something harmful is swallowed, the stomach actually begins breaking down and neutralizing the poison before it is absorbed through the blood stream. But when you inhale toxic fumes, the poisons go directly into the bloodstream and quickly travel to organs like the brain, heart, liver, and kidneys. Many products give off toxic vapors, which can irritate your eyes, nose, throat, and lungs, and can cause headaches, muscle aches, and sinus infections. Even tightly sealed containers releasing vapors which we can smell when we go down the cleaning aisle at the grocery store. The process of releasing vapors into the air is called outgassing. According to EPA, North American's worst Air Pollution is inside our homes. Absorption through the skin is also dangerous. Many medicines work by being absorbed into the bloodstream through the skin like the Nicotine patch. Any chemical that touches the skin can be absorbed and spread throughout the body. This can even happen when you come in contact with a surface that was treated with a chemical days, or even weeks earlier. Some cleaning products leave a dangerous lingering toxicity and can affect a young child crawling across a floor that was mopped with cleaner even days earlier.



6.) Formaldehyde is a cheap preservative used in:

A. Johnson’s Baby Shampoo
B. Dove Soap
C. Toothpastes
D. All or the above

**ALL OF THE ABOVE It is a cheap preservative but also listed as a possible carcinogen and suspected in causing birth defects and genetic damage. The MSDS for formaldehyde warns that it may be fatal if inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through skin; causes burns, inhalation can cause spasms, fluid buildup of the larynx and bronchi, and extremely destructive to tissue of the mucous membrane. OSHA regulates formaldehyde as a carcinogen. If you look at labels you will not find the word "formaldehyde" on the label. It can be hidden under 27 different names (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health). For example... Quaternium 15 is a formaldehyde releasing agent and you will find this listed as the actual name on the ingredient label.

7.)The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that we don’t get all the vitamins we need from our diet, and that we need multi-vitamins every day.

A. True
B. False

**TRUE - The food we eat does not contain the nutrients necessary for optimum health. Fruits and vegetables do not have the same nutrients as in the past. Produce shipped around the world loses nutrients due to the time it takes to get to your grocer. Consuming low levels of some vitamins may increase the risk of several chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease.

8.) We can be assured that the products we buy in the grocery store are safe.

True/False

* FALSE ** When we pick up a product at the local grocery store, most of us would like to think we are getting something that has been tested and proven to be safe. There is no law that requires manufacturers to list the exact ingredients on the package labels of consumer products . In fact, chemical names are often disguised by using harmless sounding "trade names" or "trade secret laws" like Coca Cola. So even if the chemical IS on the label, you may not recognize it for what it is. Active ingredients in products such as Lysol, Tide, and Cascade can be very harmful. However in some products the inactive ingredients can actually be more hazardous to your health then the active ingredients. You may never know from the label! Some companies claim to use all natural ingredients but in today's marketing the term "natural" is often misused. Natural doesn't necessarily mean "healthy" or even "safe". After all "arsenic" is natural.

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