Safe Shopper's Bible: A consumer's guide to nontoxic household products, cosmetics and food

I am lucky to have discovered this knowledge packed book about the poisons causing asthma, dermatitis, cancer, etc. in many products we use in every day.

The book is written by a prize-winning investigative journalist David Steinman and professor of occupational and environmental medicine Samuel S. Epstein, author of the prize-winning The politics of Cancer and Hazardous Waste in America.

Here are a few excerpts from a consumer's guide to nontoxic household products, cosmetics and food:

“Many major cosmetic brands that you see advertised in fashion magazines contain fragrances derived from mixtures of six hundred or more raw materials and synthetic chemicals. Few have been tested for their safety. A recent government report targeted fragrances as one of the six categories of chemicals that should be given highest priority for neurotoxicity testing – along with insecticides, heavy metals, solvents, food additives and air pollutants. In fact, some 84 percent of the ingredients used in fragrances have never been tested for human toxicity, or tested only minimally. Meanwhile, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health reports that 884 toxic substances were identified in a list of 2,983 chemicals used in the fragrance industry as capable of causing breathing difficulty, allergic reactions, multiple chemical sensitivities, and other serious maladies, including neurotoxicity. The FDA acknowledges …, yet has decided to take any action, in part because it claims “the number of people experiencing adverse reactions to perfume is still very small and consumers not adversely affected by these fragrances should not be deprived other enjoyment.”

Asthma

Scents may be particularly troubling for the nations’s ten million asthmatics. For example, toluene was detected in every fragrance sample collected by the EPA for a report in 1991. Toluene not only triggers asthma attacks, but it is also known to cause asthma in previously healthy people. Toluene , is used not only in perfumes, but also in furnitures waxes, plastic garbage bags, inks, hair gel, hair spray, and cat litter.

Coffee.

Methylene chloride, used to decaffeinate coffee, is carcinogenic.

National Cancer institute

NCI CONTINUES TO LEAD THE PUBLIC AND Congress into believing that “we are winning the war against cancer” with “victory” possible only given more time and money.”

posted on http://www.preventcancer.com/about/epstein.htm