DweezelJazz Art Blog » fatigue

Breathing One Breath At A Time

DweezelJazz — Wed, 21 May 2008 07:00:00 +0000

I’m aware of almost every breath I take – and that’s because most of the time it hurts to breathe. This discomfort increases or lessens with variations in the air quality in my environment. There are some positive aspects to this: I’m great to have around as an air quality monitor. Unfortunately there are rather too many inconveniences that arise from this situation to balance out the positive, and no one has yet offered me a job as an air quality meter!Our town is expanding in size at a phenomenal rate, perhaps doubling or tripling in the number of apartment buildings in just the last year alone. In a two-block radius from where we live the number of cranes that can be seen actively involved in constructing new apartments is astonishing. Rapid expansion is the norm almost everywhere today, bringing with it increased activity of all types.Traffic locally has increased dramatically as the number of households increases. And there are more cars per household because more people need to go to work to sustain the family unit in the face of increased cost of living. Our apartment block car-park is now filled to overflowing, whereas a year ago spaces were easily found at all times.We live a block away from a large school which is at the end of a dead end road. Four times a day school buses and long lines of cars wait in line to drop children off at the school and then turn around and wait in line to exit the cul-de-sac. Diesel fumes in our neighborhood continue to rise.Many people still choose to burn their garden refuse outside in small or large bonfires, rather than take it to the dump where it can often be disposed of in a more environmentally friendly manner. The result is that most days, usually for an hour or so, the strong acrid smell of smoke and particles of ash drifts by our apartment building.The sky blue becomes remote and is filled instead with a brown-orange haze. Trees become less distinct, blurred by haze of pollution. Reflections no longer show bright and dazzling, instead they glow dull yellow.When the rain and wind comes it clears the air and the sparkling brilliance and wonder of our earth is clear to see again. But with each passing year, the length of time this lasts after a rainfall is becoming less before it builds up and becomes murky from our activities again.With every breath I take I’m aware of this progression, acutely aware because I’m forced to notice it. As a kid I traveled with my family to many places, experienced many different environmental conditions and inadvertently was exposed to a good number of toxic substances – things that are now coming to be recognized as problematic to the health.The prolific number of articles being published these days about all kinds of substances used in products that are now being discovered to be harmful to our health is hard to miss. Here’s a few about pollution:1. “Pneumonia ‘linked’ to Pollution” BBC News, April 14, 2008. Professor George Knox, of the University of Birmingham, wrote in a research report that there were high mortality rates observed in areas with elevated ambient pollution levels. The strongest single effect was an increase in pneumonia deaths, but there were also higher rates of some cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and rheumatic heart disease. Richard Hubbard of the British Lung Foundation said: “What this paper does show, is that there is clear geographical variation in deaths from pneumonia, lung cancer and COPD.”2. “Pollution ‘alters brain function’” BBC News, March 11, 2008. A team at Zuyd University in the Netherlands studied the effects of diesel exhaust on humans. They found that after about 30 minutes exposure to diesel fumes the brain displayed (via EEG readings, electrical signals of the brain) a stress response that indicates a change in the way information is being processed in the brain cortex. This effect continued after the people were removed from exposure to the diesel fumes.The lead researcher, Paul Borm, said “We can only speculate what these effects may mean for the chronic exposure to air pollution encountered in busy cities where the levels of such soot particles can be very high.”The article ends with this startling statement: “But a study of dogs in Mexico found those who lived in highly-polluted Mexico City had brain lesions similar to those seen in Alzheimer’s patients, while those who lived in much less-polluted rural areas showed a much lower rate of damage to the brain.”3. “Smog Can Make People Sick, Even Indoors” Scientific American, January 29, 2008. Environmental health scientist Michael Apte of Lawrance Berkeley National Laboratory in California said: “We found that outdoor air pollution, ozone, is associated with symptoms of lower-respiratory and upper-respiratory stress that occur in buildings to workers.” Ozone is an air-polluting oxygen molecule O3 which is formed when sunlight interacts with car exhaust.The article explains: “Sick building syndrome is a term used to describe a broad range of ailments, including dry eye, congestion, difficulty breathing, fatigue and headaches that strike workers inside office buildings but disappear when they leave the premises.”The results from a study of indoor air quality data from 1994-1998 and a survey of office workers in 100 buildings in 37 cities (ranging from the most smog to the cleanest) showed that of the workers surveyed on average, even in buildings with no special history of sickness:nearly 19% complained of dry eye21% felt congested on the job4% complained of difficulty breathingmore than 19% felt fatiguedmore than 15% reported having headaches while at work.These figures are astounding and illustrate the damage occurring to many people in our society. In this article Michael Apte speculates that the symptoms experienced by people are due to unstable ozone molecules chemically interacting with the wide range of materials found in buildings. Ozone reacts with all types of materials from polyester, plastics, carpet fibres, the skin’s natural oil, and many more, to produce toxic chemicals like formaldehyde and other irritants that are far worse than the ozone itself.The article continues: “In other words, ozone seeping into buildings combines with other chemicals to produce more noxious air.”In addition to the outside air becoming more polluted with traffic, smoke, pesticides and many other substances, the general population is using more and more household chemicals in increasingly higher concentrations.As it’s getting warmer with summer approaching it’s becoming tremendously difficult to effectively keep higher concentrations of household chemicals out of our apartment. If our neighbors have their laundry drying on their balconies (and this is a daily common occurrence) then I cannot open our balcony windows without experiencing great difficulty and discomfort breathing due to the laundry detergent and fabric softener chemicals exuding from the clothes.If our neighbors have their windows open, the strong chemical fumes of laundry detergent with fabric softeners, household cleaning agents and personal grooming products such as perfume are so strong that it’s necessary to close the windows to prevent the strong mixture from swamping our apartment.The following article about the “Health Risks of Fabric Softeners” on the Allergy and Environmental Health Association web site has some disturbing information. They state that fabric softener is the most toxic product sold for daily household use and give the following information about it:”…a user becomes ‘chronically maladapted’ to it. The exposure is so constant that it can be difficult to connect the product with the signs of reactivity it causes. Neurostimulant / irritants and central nervous system toxins used in these products are known to produce an addictive-type response that may cause the user to experience a feeling of pleasure when the product is directly inhaled. Regular users of fabric softeners (and perfumes) also often claim they ‘can hardly smell it’. This too is an effect of chemical ingredients on neural receptors.”"The product is designed to impregnate fibers and slowly re-release for an extended period of time. That re-releasing affects the health not only of users, but those around them.”On the subject of “Risks of Perfumes and Scented Products” it continues: “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) collected samples of every perfume sold in North America in 1993. Every sample contained toluene…”. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health lists toluene in their Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards, and the link can be followed to see this in more detail.There is a list of some of the chemical ingredients found in fabric softeners and of the disorders each of these substances is known to cause. The list is worth reading.When we first moved into this apartment building just over a year ago the stairwell was cleaned once a week with a relatively mild-scented cleaning detergent. The cleaning detergent has been changed to a more highly scented product which smells very much like the antibacterial strongly scented products that are routinely used in toilets. The stairwell is now cleaned 3 or 4 times a week with an increasingly more concentrated solution of this product.It’s becoming impossible to prevent large amounts of household cleaning chemicals from entering our apartment airflow. Even with large air filters working 24 hours a day the adverse effects are becoming worse and I’m becoming increasingly unable to function in this environment. When driving or walking in the vicinity of our apartments it’s possible to smell that the area is encompassed by a cloud of chemicals.As soon as I leave the area and enter the clean air of the foothills 20 minutes’ walk behind where we live my breathing returns to normal and after a while I no longer feel lung pain. When I return to places where there are houses or apartment buildings, the fumes emanating from them cause a return of the burning pain in the lungs. Our apartment building is no exception to the norm, even passing cars leave a trail of scent from perfumes and scented products of their owners behind them.As the intensity of the chemicals increases with the oncoming summer heat, I’m becoming more and more unwell at home. I’ll have to spend much of my day outside in the cleaner air in the hills away from my home in order to reduce my exposures to these chemicals, to avoid becoming ill all the time and to try to prevent becoming even more sensitive to them.If I’m not at home I can’t paint egg tempera paintings as a full-time occupation. I had been hoping to create enough paintings to set up for an exhibition, and in time, earn enough money to be able to afford to live in a small house where I wouldn’t be at the mercy of others’ choices in cleaning habits.It’s frustrating beyond expression to be perfectly well in clean fresh air, but to essentially find myself poisoned in my home environment. I was hoping to get ahead with the artwork before our environment became prohibitive to my ability to function. I haven’t given up, but it’s becoming more and more difficult.I wish, by sharing this information, that maybe more people can perhaps benefit from my experience and avoid having to reach this point. Even eliminating a few of these products from our daily lives can make a huge difference in how energetic and good we feel.The cumulative impact of our choices can have a very high price in the future quality of our lives and those of our children. I wonder what it will take for us as a society to really understand the extent of the damage we’re inflicting on ourselves and the wildlife around us. If you’d like to see more on chemical sensitivity, pollution, cleaning agents and the effects they’re having, click here to see previous DweezelJazz posts on these topics.

Cleaning With Non-Toxic Substances

DweezelJazz — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:00:00 +0000

Do you ever get a headache, a sore throat, or feel dizzy after you clean the house, or after doing the laundry? Many conventional cleaning products are extremely powerful and contain many untested and toxic chemicals. For further information about the chemical content of commercially available products see previous post “Chemical Sensitivity and the New EU Chemical Law”.If you want to clean with non-toxic substances, white vinegar and baking soda can get you a long way. These two substances have many uses, both in cleaning a home and in dealing with laundry.White vinegar diluted with water can be used around the home to clean windows, glass, floors, and to remove odors and grease from walls. The concentration of vinegar to water can be varied according to the strength needed for the job. After working with it for a while, it becomes easier to determine what ratio is required, but a good place to start for these tasks would be approximately 1 part vinegar to 10 parts water. More vinegar can always be added as needed.White vinegar is also good for removing calcium deposits from taps, sinks and shower heads. A shower head can be soaked directly in the vinegar, while for taps and sinks a cloth can be soaked in full strength vinegar and placed over the calcium deposits.A very dilute solution of vinegar and water is useful for softening clothes and even hair. Rinsing the hair, after shampooing, with a weak vinegar solution makes the hair shiny and soft. A small amount added to the rinse water will also soften laundry. In both cases, if a dilute enough vinegar-water solution is used, it won’t leave either the hair or the laundry smelling of vinegar.Baking soda can be used as a mild scrubbing agent that won’t scratch surfaces and it’s also a good odor remover and a fairly good whitener.White vinegar and baking soda together can be used to remove odors and some chemical substances from fabrics. Many new clothes have been treated with fire retardant chemicals and often clothes made out of cotton have a strong pesticide content. People with chemical sensitivities often find that wearing such garments can cause them to react. To learn more about chemical sensitivities see “What Is Multiple Chemical Sensitivity?”. A very effective way to remove these substances is to soak the fabric in water along with vinegar and baking soda.The vinegar to water ratio that works best is approximately 2 or 3 parts vinegar to 4 water. Four to five cups of baking soda is effective for the equivalent of a small to medium load of laundry. These are approximate measures and they can be varied according to need. Using either vinegar or baking soda alone, without the other, doesn’t usually work successfully. Once the fabric has been left to soak for several hours it can then be washed and rinsed as normal.For most new items it’s best to do this at least twice, and usually three times is necessary, in order to fully remove the pesticides and other chemicals. In my experience, after soaking fabric this way four times, it’s unlikely that further treatment will be effective if there’s still residue that causes a reaction in the user.This process doesn’t remove fabric softeners or strong laundry detergents from fabrics. I’ve never found a way to do that. If anyone knows a way, please tell me. I’d be very grateful to know how.Vinegar and baking soda are easily available and economical. They provide a simple solution to using non-toxic substances for many cleaning tasks.

Becoming More Aware of Toxins In Our Environment

DweezelJazz — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 07:00:00 +0000

There are many sources of toxins that are not within our immediate ability to control. The Independent published an article today entitled “Toxic fumes on planes ‘threaten thousands of passengers each year’”. The article reports that scientific research has shown that fumes present in planes have rendered pilots incapable of flying their aircraft safely.A technology is used in which hot air is taken from the engine, cooled down and then fed, without being filtered, into the plane’s cabin and cockpit. Sometimes it becomes contaminated with engine oils containing many different chemicals. These enter the air in the entire plane and are breathed by passengers and crew alike.At University College London in a study of 27 affected pilots, 26 of them were found to suffer chronic health problems, including fatigue, sleep difficulties, fluctuating gastrointestinal problems, numbness and tingling in fingers and toes, memory loss and word-finding difficulties. Some of them reported cognitive failures, such as the inability to retain numerical data, confusing information provided by air traffic control, and being unable to remember events such as whether the undercarriage had been raised or lowered.These symptoms are typical of those experienced by many people with chemical sensitivity. In this case, it has taken the discovery of pilot illness, and their consequent inability to fly an airplane safely, to induce studies which, it would seem, should be a routine requirement before flight. As increasing numbers of people report health difficulties with the large numbers of chemicals we encounter daily, hopefully much more will be done proactively, by industry and regulatory organizations, to monitor environments and products more rigorously.There are many circumstances that result in exposures to chemicals we are unaware of. Many of these, as yet, have not been officially deemed unsatisfactory for our health and well-being. Our society leads us to take for granted that our welfare is factored into the sale and creation of technologies and products that we use. Air quality during routine and repeated flights is not something we would generally question or doubt.Many people with MCS are unable to travel by plane. For someone suffering from the symptoms of multiple chemical sensitivity, it isn’t possible to ignore the effects on their bodies that they experience in different environments. It’s a natural result to question much more frequently whether the official standards are being set appropriately.For someone who doesn’t experience chemical sensitivities, reading such an article might seem less compelling from a personal viewpoint with regard to exposure to toxins. However, there are other factors it does well to consider. What happens to the pilots when they are no longer able to fly, even as passengers, without becoming ill? What if this happens to frequent flyers? What happens to people who live close to busy airports where such emissions into the environment are routine? What if the cumulative exposure to other chemicals of a similar nature makes a person more susceptible to problems in the future? What if that person is you or someone you love?The pilot mentioned in this article, who now becomes ill even when traveling as a passenger, can no longer go to work as a pilot in these circumstances. Like the airplane where passengers and employees are forced to breathe the air that is piped in, there are many environments we come across where the air quality cannot be controlled by the individual. Many people who are affected by chemicals drop off the radar screen of society because they become ill in many public places, including their workplaces.Just as being aware of the effect of human activity on the environment is vitally important to the future welfare of our planet, so is the need for our society to become aware of what is happening to a sector of its population. As long as we remain ignorant of it, it’s not possible to take action to better protect ourselves, and our loved ones, by making informed choices.