- Welcome to Food Allergy Support.
Posted by eragon
- February 11, 2016, 07:20:14 AMinteresting conversation. Am sure its production is a cause for allergic disease, e.g asthma. However homes, buildings are made in different ways around the world due climate, and global rise in allergies can not be firmly pinpointed on just this I suspect.
Cancer is another thing, was looking at ingredients in cleaning products like room sprays and fabric fresheners. limonene is perfectly safe in the can, but once in the air turns in to formaldehyde. Naturally in small amounts it isn't going to harm us. it is often on new clothes as well. But as consumers we may use a lot of them at once in our homes, increasing exposure. So, its worth reading labels on your cleaning products as well as food in my opinion.
heavy metals are quite commonly found in our homes, certainly old paint and wall paper will be heavy with lead, and in UK certainly in old homes lead water pipes may be found. Its one of those things to check for if you buy a old house.
I think lead in paint wasn't totally removed until the 1960s and lots of old wooden cots were repainted for each new addition to the family.
Wish I was nearby to join in this conversation you had, would have been fun!
Cancer is another thing, was looking at ingredients in cleaning products like room sprays and fabric fresheners. limonene is perfectly safe in the can, but once in the air turns in to formaldehyde. Naturally in small amounts it isn't going to harm us. it is often on new clothes as well. But as consumers we may use a lot of them at once in our homes, increasing exposure. So, its worth reading labels on your cleaning products as well as food in my opinion.
heavy metals are quite commonly found in our homes, certainly old paint and wall paper will be heavy with lead, and in UK certainly in old homes lead water pipes may be found. Its one of those things to check for if you buy a old house.
I think lead in paint wasn't totally removed until the 1960s and lots of old wooden cots were repainted for each new addition to the family.
Wish I was nearby to join in this conversation you had, would have been fun!
Posted by CMdeux
- February 10, 2016, 07:42:19 PMThis by-product is also produced in coal-burning energy production and industry-- it's termed "fly ash."
Fly ash contains variable amounts of heavy metals, but yes-- it definitely CAN be quite high in nickel, cadmium, lead, and other heavy metals.
I have no idea whether or not it is accurate to state that it is being used in gypsum manufacturing for consumer products. It's certainly plausible that it could be used as a filler, since that would be "green" as a way to re-claim an otherwise problematic waste product of coal-fired energy production.
Also far more likely that this kind of thing would go unregulated in China than in the US. IMO.
Not clear that it has much bearing on atopic disease rates-- but it's probably not the greatest for health for a whole host of reasons, in any event.
Fly ash contains variable amounts of heavy metals, but yes-- it definitely CAN be quite high in nickel, cadmium, lead, and other heavy metals.
I have no idea whether or not it is accurate to state that it is being used in gypsum manufacturing for consumer products. It's certainly plausible that it could be used as a filler, since that would be "green" as a way to re-claim an otherwise problematic waste product of coal-fired energy production.
Also far more likely that this kind of thing would go unregulated in China than in the US. IMO.
Not clear that it has much bearing on atopic disease rates-- but it's probably not the greatest for health for a whole host of reasons, in any event.
Posted by Craig Langelier
- February 10, 2016, 06:08:59 PMI realize this is outside the box thinking, but could it be environmental factors add to the epidemic of allergies? I'd like to tell you a very brief and interesting story that will reveal things that few people are aware of.
Flying home a few years back, the person sitting next to me in first class (who was also flying home), was the top chemist for a large global company that manufacturers smokestack scrubbers for trash burning facilities.
I've produced hundreds of TV commercial, and after we talked about my commercials he'd seen... he told me his story.
He explained that the scrubbers extract particles from the smoke, including heavy metals, and create a sludge. And that the sludge was used as the filler in sheetrock (or drywall), instead of gypsum.
He also named a sheetrock manufacturing plant in the midwest, that was being built specifically in the middle of several large new trash burning facilities. And stated that he suspected the heavy metals in the sheetrock, might be the cause of the epidemic of allergies in children. He also warned against cutting sheetrock, without wearing a quality mask.
Being a chemist, he went into detail about the heavy metals, but it was way over my head. He also state that using sludge in sheetrock was something relatively new. I think he indicated it had been happening for only 20 or 30 years.
As far as the dangers of sheetrock, I know that many homes built in the Naples, Florida area, built between 2005 to 2010 have had to have all their sheetrock (and plumbing and wiring) removed, because the material in the sheetrock was toxic, destroying wiring and plumbing, and causing serious health issues.
Any real estate broker in the area can tell you about it. They refer to it as Chinese sheetrock. But I suspect the sheetrock may not really be so Chinese.
In any event, hope this helps.
Flying home a few years back, the person sitting next to me in first class (who was also flying home), was the top chemist for a large global company that manufacturers smokestack scrubbers for trash burning facilities.
I've produced hundreds of TV commercial, and after we talked about my commercials he'd seen... he told me his story.
He explained that the scrubbers extract particles from the smoke, including heavy metals, and create a sludge. And that the sludge was used as the filler in sheetrock (or drywall), instead of gypsum.
He also named a sheetrock manufacturing plant in the midwest, that was being built specifically in the middle of several large new trash burning facilities. And stated that he suspected the heavy metals in the sheetrock, might be the cause of the epidemic of allergies in children. He also warned against cutting sheetrock, without wearing a quality mask.
Being a chemist, he went into detail about the heavy metals, but it was way over my head. He also state that using sludge in sheetrock was something relatively new. I think he indicated it had been happening for only 20 or 30 years.
As far as the dangers of sheetrock, I know that many homes built in the Naples, Florida area, built between 2005 to 2010 have had to have all their sheetrock (and plumbing and wiring) removed, because the material in the sheetrock was toxic, destroying wiring and plumbing, and causing serious health issues.
Any real estate broker in the area can tell you about it. They refer to it as Chinese sheetrock. But I suspect the sheetrock may not really be so Chinese.
In any event, hope this helps.