Tag: United States Environmental Protection Agency

Lugh of the Long Arm (Poem)

“O Lugh of the Long Arm:
You arch over earth
To kiss the corn,
To call it forth,
To see it born.
Your hillslopes flaunt,
breathe golden bees.
From parched fields
Scant dewfall flees.
Your chest is opened
Your heart exposed
Your blood like bronze
And amber flows.
Sun sears your flesh
Asprawl in thistles
Through your wound
Your life’s breath whistles.
You laid you down
In fragrant thyme,
To bleed the sun’s
Entranced decline.
You wrestled harvest,
Corn to capture –
Now we see at sunfall
Your face of rapture.”

– Lughnasadh Ritual by Llwyn y Ser, The Grove of the Stars

Protecting Grandparents From Mercury

by Dominique Browning

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Laura Michelle Burns, Moms Clean Air Force

If you’re anything like me, you fall into the category of women who are caring for their children and their parents or grandparents. My aunt and my grandmother are both in their 70s. I’m grateful that they are in good health and are active. But I will confess that I worry about them the most when they are up visiting Lake Erie with their friends. It may sound silly, but I worry because they always tell me about the wonderful local, fresh caught fish they had each trip.

Growing up, I spent a lot of my summers visiting Port Clinton and Marblehead on the Lake Erie coast. Even as I type this, I can see myself sitting in a corner booth of a small Ohio diner watching the fishing boats pull up to the dock to sell their morning’s catch. I ate a lot of fresh caught fish sandwiches with my aunt and grandmother. I know they taste amazing! But what I know now is that those fish are tainted with mercury. Lake Erie is surrounded by coal-fired plants that spew mercury into our air. Mercury in the air doesn’t stay in one place, it is absorbed into the water droplets in the air and circulated through the clouds, and eventually rains down into our lake.

We know what mercury does our our children. Today though, I’d like to highlight what mercury does to our children’s grandparents. Since mercury is a neurotoxin, it functions in the degradation of the brain. A child’s brain is impacted by mercury in a way that can hinder the child from reaching their full potential. An adult’s brain has already developed and is now used to maintain the information necessary for everyday life and beyond.

6 Facts About Mercury:

  • Mercury can have an effect on the Central Nervous System, specifically the brain, by concentrating in the cerebral spinal fluid.
  • It can also inhibit the microtubules in the brain which then reduce the nerves’ function and their communication.
  • Our brains rely on the communication between the nerves to do things like remembering what it felt like to hold our baby for the first time, or how to sing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.”
  • As we age and these memories aren’t so recent, we rely more and more on our brains to retain them.
  • Alzheimer’s disease was reported to affect an estimated 5.4 million Americans in 2011.
  • Research has shown that mercury can be a causal factor in Alzheimer’s disease…even more so than the concerns of thimerosal being a leading factor in autism!

Of course, I want my family to be able to enjoy their summer visiting Lake Erie. I want them to eat and be as carefree as the day allows. But I also don’t want to worry that their memories could be affected by their unwitting consumption of mercury. This summer, as excited as I am to share my days with family, I’ll be encouraging them to skip the fish and order a burger instead. I know that memories can fade in time, but I’d hate to hurry it along with a side of mercury to accompany their catch of the day!

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Are We Cleaning Ourselves to Death?

Are We Cleaning Ourselves to Death?

  • Eden, selected from AllThingsHealing.com

by Victoria Bender, All Things Healing contributor to Aromatherapy

We buy products to clean, deodorize and freshen our homes that have ingredients also used as pesticides and fertilizers among other things. Many of these chemicals are known and classified as poisons, carcinogens and toxins, but are not even required to be listed as ingredients on product labels since they are not considered consumables.

In fact, neither the state nor federal government regulates indoor air pollution, only outdoor. This means that common household products are not tested for whether or how much they degrade the air inside. We know that the olfactory nerve in the sinus cavity is the only opening on the body directly connected to the central nervous system and yet the FDA does not consider what we inhale or smell as a consumable. According to the National Research Council, “no toxic information is available for more than 80 percent of the chemicals in OTC household products. Less than 20 percent have been tested for acute effects and less than 10 percent have been tested for chronic, reproductive or mutagenic effects, and most have not been tested for their effects on unborn children.”

It is not uncommon to feel tense, tired and exasperated after cleaning even though you may be satisfied with the appearance of cleanliness. Have you ever considered the dangerous amounts of toxic chemicals that you may have been inhaling and even absorbing transdermally throughout the process? According to the article written by Deborah Halverson, BA RA in the 2006.2 Issue of Aromatherapy Journal, “The chemicals and synthetic fragrances in commercial household cleaners contribute to a myriad of health problems, including multiple chemical sensitivity, headaches, allergies, and asthma; and studies done by the EPA show that indoor air may be anywhere between three and seventy times more toxic than outdoor air.” She goes on to expose that EPA studies contribute a major factor as the volatile organic chemicals found in cleaning products, and that pesticides and herbicides used in the home and garden are even linked with higher incidences of childhood leukemia.

My great grandmother was not only a dedicated farmer, gardener and lover of animals; she was also a fanatic about cleaning the house, after all – cleanliness was next to Godliness. She used vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda like there was no tomorrow, and I can remember her saying that she just didn’t trust those store bought cleaners and that when she smelled them she felt that, “They are trying to steal my breath away.” There were many things about the modern world that she did not seem to trust. At that time I saw her as an old fashioned and lovable eccentric. It wasn’t until several years later when I had my own home and set up an environment for my new Cockatiel parrot that I began to wonder whether my wise old grandmother might have been on to something. She had been in the habit of trusting her instincts and relying on her own innate responses to the natural environment rather than by being seduced by marketing techniques that eluded her by virtue of her media refusal.

The wonderful “Bird Lady” at the avian sanctuary where I rescued my new feathered pet warned that I be very careful about the use of household cleaners around my bird. She was very specific that I never spray air fresheners and especially to avoid carpet powders and cleaners around my bird cage or the results could be devastating. I am happy to report that I took her advice and many years later, I still enjoy not only the company of a very happy healthy bird, but many other vigorous plants, animals and extremely healthy children too.

And now as an Aromatherapist, I know that there is no limit to the simple, natural and effective recipes that I can concoct within minutes that not only save me money, but also serve to protect the environment and the health and well-being of my loved ones. I may have to scrub a bit more for some of the tough stuff, but isn’t it worth that?

With the use of essential oils that have proven antibacterial, anti-fungal, antiviral, and antiseptic properties, I can make my environment clean, my home and business smell fabulous and I can also rest easy knowing that I am avoiding the harsh chemicals and toxic synthetics that can lead to not only nausea and headache, but could also very well be contributing to other devastating health issues.