"Anybody who says saccharin is injurious to health is an idiot," said President Theodore Roosevelt at the turn of the century, when critics proposed banning it."

Use of Potentially Harmful Chemicals Kept Secret Under Law, 1/4/2009

"Of the 84,000 chemicals in commercial use in the United States -- from flame retardants in furniture to household cleaners -- nearly 20 percent are secret, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, their names and physical properties guarded from consumers and virtually all public officials under a little-known federal provision.

The policy was designed 33 years ago to protect trade secrets in a highly competitive industry. But critics -- including the Obama administration -- say the secrecy has grown out of control, making it impossible for regulators to control potential dangers or for consumers to know which toxic substances they might be exposed to."

Monsanto's Genetically Modified Corn, 1/12/2010

Cell Phone Safety: Danger

“The precautionary principle applies where scientific evidence is
insufficient, inconclusive or uncertain and preliminary scientific
evaluation indicates that there are reasonable grounds for concern that
the potentially dangerous effects on the environment, human, animal or
plant health may be inconsistent with the high level of protection
chosen.”- European Commission Communication on the Precautionary
Principle 2nd February 2000

- Cellphones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern, 8/25/2009
- FCC Equipment Authorization Search (Need to know the product code of your cell phone)

While the FCC's official position is that cell phones are safe under the current regulatory limits, they have stated that "...there is considerable and growing controversy concerning the safety of cell phones. According to the FCC, “Recent reports by some health and safety interest groups have suggested that wireless device use can be linked to cancer and other illnesses. These questions have become more pressing as more and more people are using these devices for longer periods of time.”

According to the FCC, these health and safety groups recommend the following steps:

- Use an earpiece or headset- or better- your speaker phone.
- If possible, keep wireless devices away from your body when they are on, mainly by not attaching them to belts or carrying them in pockets
- Consider texting rather than talking
- Buy a wireless device with a lower Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)

Also, from page 16 of, Cell phones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern, 8/25/2009

-The higher the cumulative hours of wireless phone use, the higher the risk
-The higher the number of years since first wireless phone use, the higher the risk
-The higher the radiated power from cell phone use, the higher the risk
-The higher the exposure (use on the same side of head as the brain tumor), the higher  the risk
-The younger the user, the higher the risk.

Added Considerations

- Even by current  accepted industry standards, cell phones should not be carried close to the body. Cell phone user manuals warn that cell phone radiation will exceed FCC SAR exposure limits if placed less than 5/8"- 1" (15 mm-25 mm) from the body. This is because this is the range of distance from the body at which the cell phone's are tested to comply with the FCC limit. It is interesting to note that this range is allowed, since a phone that achieves these limits at 25 mm versus 15 mm- may have the same SAR rating, but emit more radiation at the same power levels at the lesser distance. Also, the tests are performed by testing facilities hired by the cell phone manufacturer. In addition, there are never any spot checks of phones in the factory or field- if the test unit is within limits, it is assumed that all production units conform.

-  Avoid cell phone use in low signal areas since the cell phones must use higher power (emit more radiation) in lower signal areas.

- Phone Scoop has a great web site with detailed phone specifications and links to the FCC equipment test documents- including SAR/RF Reports. The SAR ratings that carrier's typically publish for a phone are at maximum power and the worst score based on carrier frequency and head/body position. My conclusion is that while the SAR rating is a useful (though incomplete) indicator of potential health effects, the actual radiation exposure varies considerably based on the phone position against the head/body, phone use (for example SMS versus outgoing call mode), the strength of the carrier signal and even the transmission technology (GSM or CDMA)- making it difficult to do a shopping comparison between phones/carriers. The general recommendation is to keep the cell phone as far away from the head and body as possible and not assume, for example, that a relatively lower SAR emitting phone can be safely used closer to the head/body than a higher emitting one. Radiation decreases exponentially, (one over the square root over the distance between you and you phone)- so significant decreases in radiation do occur with only short drops in distance.

- Children (ages 18 or less) should avoid cell phone use completely due to the fact that their brains are still developing and may be more sensitive to radiation. Furthermore, there may be variations in sensitivity for adults as well- depending on genetic and structural differences.

Finally, there may also be health issues with DECT phones. Avoiding these phones and moving back to corded technology may be prudent.

Purchasing a home water filtration system can be a confusing process. Manufacturers of such systems may work through independent distributers, manufacturer affiliated web sites that purport to make objective comparisons, or even multi-level marketers who make conflicting and unsubstantiated claims. There appears to be little government regulation concerning the quality of the filtration units or the veracity of manufacturer claims. There are however federal and state agencies that provide voluntary certification of some of the manufacturer's claims. There are also consumer magazines such as Consumers Digest and Consumers Report that provide testing on certain models.

Fortunately there is an excellent information resource from the Environmental Working Group that provides objective advice and assistance. The information provided applies to city/municipal water that has been tested as bacteriologically safe.

The steps I would recommend to select a filtration unit include:

The Center for Food Safety

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Chemical Hazards in the Workplace

An appeal for clean air in the workplace

Your health and safety at work: CHEMICALS IN THE WORKPLACE

Water
TRICHLOROETHYLENE
Dioxin
Agent Orange
carcinogenic
bladder cancer
Vioxx

Aspartame
"FDA used to keep records on consumer complaints on aspartame, accruing a minimum of 92 alleged symptoms from ingesting aspartame, ranging from headaches, blurred vision, skin rashes, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis to that ultimate symptom, DEATH.

Dr. Torti, this chemical has produced a massive mountain of medical and neurodengenerative evidence, which I believe would lead you to order it removed from the market. While it is too late to do this now as a "precaution"; it is even more imperative to do this as a means of preventing further medical harm to future victims.-New Mexico State Senators Gerald Ortiz y Pino's letter to Frank Torti, the FDA Acting Commissioner, 2/12/2009 

Sweet Poison
Nutrasweet
Equal
Synthetic Colors
high risk
diabetes

Calorie Control Council

"Recent research further demonstrates saccharin is unlikely to cause cancer in humans. Saccharin's effects on the rat bladder relate to the salt form (sodium saccharin), diet, urine pH and sodium levels, protein concentrations and types of proteins, and the sex, age and strain of the rats fed sodium saccharin... Other research indicates that the bladder tumors developed by male rats fed high doses of sodium saccharin are related to very high doses of the sodium salt and not saccharin per se. Sodium ascorbate (vitamin C) and sodium citrate, found in many foods and beverages, demonstrate similar effects." See also, The American Counsel on Science and Health

Who do you Believe?

See: Annie Berthold-Bond, author of, The Green Kitchen Handbook (HarperCollins, 1997, Foreword by Meryl Streep), Clean & Green: The Complete Guide to Nontoxic and Environmentally Safe Housekeeping (Ceres Press, 1990).

"In 1991, I was diagnosed with an ‘incurable’ case of Grave's Disease, a fatal thyroid disorder, I never really had Grave's Disease but my doctors were convinced I did. I had aspartame poisoning with symptoms of 'textbook‘ Grave's Disease caused by aspartame saturating my foods. Modern medicine kept me alive temporarily, but I ‘cured’ my disease using The Aspartame Detoxification Program©. Modern medicine has led us to the "take a pill or cut it out mentality" for almost every modern health symptom, but this approach alone cannot cure disease as more and more people are personally discovering.

Using the Aspartame Detoxification Program I designed at the time of my 'disease', I restored my health within 30 days. If you use sugar-free products with aspartame and suffer with health symptoms your medical doctor cannot 'cure', more than likely you have aspartame poisoning," Dr. Janet Starr Hull, sweetpoison.com

Our Food

Food, Inc is a documentary that graphically depicts the the death, disease and degradation to men, woman, children and workers caused by industrial farming the domination of government by corporate agri-interests. It clearly draws the connection between agribusiness and dramatic increases in food born illness, environmental destruction and factory worker and farmer oppression. The factories used to produce our meat go beyond inhumane into the realm of genocidal nightmare- of which the moral, let alone health implications- are fundamentally destructive to the human species. Yet this system is unsustainable in the era of peak oil and global warming- and when it finally self destructs there may be even more starvation and resulting wars and destruction. This madness must stop! See also: Animal Rights