The organizers of the green industry conference that took place this week at Tel Aviv University summarized some facts and figures about the risks around us
· Scientists say that our body carries hundreds of industrial chemicals that were not supposed to be in it. Not long ago, a rich American about 50 years old spent several tens of thousands of dollars for a chemical analysis of his body and accumulations of chemical substances that should not have remained (accumulated) in the tissues were found. They have nothing to do with normal life. Among other things, the fact that there is a large amount of flame retardants in his body - bromine compounds - stood out. It turned out that the man flew a lot and his body absorbed the bromine compounds from the airplane carpets or seat upholstery. These are volatile substances that his body absorbed. There is no dispute that this is a substance that is not beneficial to health.
In Europe, they recently came to the conclusion that the implementation of the new directive (from December 2006), according to which every chemical substance in use, in the amount of more than 1 ton per year, will be subject to an obligation to evaluate and report to the public the degree of its toxicity - will lead to an expected saving of a quarter of the costs currently falling on systems Public health due to the lack of treatment of the health consequences of toxic chemicals.
· Other economic surveys conducted in the USA indicated that the global market share of materials based on biological materials (such as corn and others) - all environmentally friendly - is expected to grow from 5% of the total materials market today to 12% percent in 2010 and 25 % in 2030. At the same time, the volume of chemical production in the world is expected to double, every 25 years.
· Of the approximately 3,000 substances that are produced or imported to the USA in quantities of over half a million kg per year, occupational exposure standards have been set for only 193 of them - that is, workers are exposed to most of the substances at levels that no one can say if they are dangerous or not.
Various studies have now revealed that even at very minimal levels of exposure to the synthetic chemical substances, there are health risks - especially when the exposure to these substances is still in the stage of fetal development. For example: according to estimates - 10%-35% of asthma cases among children are probably due to exposure to chemicals, 2%-10% of cancer cases, 5-20% of developmental disorders such as learning difficulties, autism and attention disorders.
Every month about 1,900 people in California are diagnosed with a fatal disease that is attributed to occupational exposure to chemicals (meaning they were exposed to them during their work) and another 540 die every month from chronic diseases due to the exact same exposure.
In the current situation, due to weak legislation (or none at all yet) in most countries of the world and Israel as a whole, chemical manufacturers and importers are not yet required to report the environmental and health effects of substances in use - therefore there is not yet enough knowledge to understand the effects of these substances on morbidity - So now efforts are being made in different directions to correct this defect/deficiency.
· The health effects of chemicals in daily use have far-reaching consequences for industries and manufacturers of consumer products. Among the big pushers to find alternative materials for the dangerous substances, there is also a group of large American investment funds that together hold 22 billion dollars. In May 2006 they announced that they would require the companies in which they (the funds) are invested to find within a short period of time alternatives to the dangerous substances currently produced or found in their products. Beyond a direct short-term health reason, the main reason for this move is the investors' fear of possible future lawsuits against the companies due to the use of substances that are known or only suspected to be dangerous to the environment or to humans.
5 תגובות
A good mattress, a good life
There is nothing like a good mattress for a good night's sleep!
There are several tips for quality and healthy sleep and the main tips are:
1. Physical activity increases the level of adrenaline in the blood, making it difficult to fall asleep. Finish the exercise at least
three hours before bed.
2. Go to sleep only when you feel tired, and not because you are bored or sad.
3. Take the clock out of the bedroom. Many tend to follow the slowly crawling hands during "nights".
"Bricks" - a stressful action, which makes it even more difficult to fall asleep.
4. Set aside the bedroom for sleeping only. Any other activity - such as reading or working - has its place in another room of
the house In addition, create optimal conditions for falling asleep: a comfortable bed, an appropriate temperature (neither hot nor cold
too much), pleasant dimness, adequate ventilation, etc.
5. Find out with a specialist whether taking the hormone melatonin, which regulates the biological clock in the brain - might help
to you, and use it if necessary (in the USA it can be purchased without a doctor's prescription, but in Israel it is prohibited
for use - except with special approval from the Ministry of Health).
6. Teach relaxation and relaxation exercises (including meditation). Contrary to popular belief - the exercises must be done
During the day, not before bed. Studies have found that insomnia is caused by a state of hypervigilance, and no
Actually a problem with sleep itself.
7. If you don't fall asleep after 15-20 minutes - get out of bed, do relaxation exercises, drink a relaxing drink (tea
passion fruit, for example), use relaxing essential oils - anything that will distract you from the fact that you are not
you fell asleep Return to bed only when you feel ready to sleep.
8. Before going to sleep, try to avoid asking yourself if you will be able to fall asleep. It keeps you from sleeping.
9. Any nutritional deficiency may impair sleep. Check, for example, whether you lack calcium (essential for normal activity of
the muscles and nerves) zinc or potassium; as well as vitamin 6B, magnesium and carbohydrates, which are related to the penetration of the acid
The amine tryptophan for the brain (from which it produces melatonin). Therefore, before going to bed, you should eat carbohydrates. 10. The recommended dinner will contain vegetables, cheese, egg, hummus or tuna and wholemeal bread. Also oats
may help. Avoid drinking stimulants such as tea, coffee or cola, the amount of food and the time of meal
Tonight the recommendations are personal. Check what helps you fall asleep, and stick to it.
11. And the most important thing is the mattress you sleep on, the mattress you sleep on is very important to the quality of your sleep
That is why you should pay attention that you are sleeping on an orthopedic health mattress
All of these will lead to an improvement in the quality of our sleep, a healthier sleep and a better life
Mickey
Correction - not experiments, tests.
WWF conducted such experiments. the results in http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/policy/toxics/problems/whats_in_your_blood/index.cfm