Could your job literally be poisoning you? Well, that's what happened to many years ago! Ever since, personal health and environmental issues are very near and dear to me.
I'm especially interested in toxins because I am what some medical professionals call "chemically sensitive." But I generally refer to this as just being sensitive to toxins. Basically, this means that I have *much less* of an ability than most people to deal with (or filter) toxins.
How did I get this way? Arts & Crafts would be a correct answer... About 20 years ago I worked with a highly toxic substance -- which back then wasn't considered so bad..... I did a lot of leather work and it was my intensive and ongoing use of *leather dye* that led me to my condition. Others I know and have heard of have become sensitive to toxins by other means. One person I know know became this way from working prolonged hours for many years in her art studio working with *oil paints.*
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Despite all this though I really am very healthy -- this is very much because of healthy choices and habits that I now live but also always somewhat by chance or luck -- avoiding toxins isn't always easy.....
Very important to my health and survival is simply knowing what is toxic. What I've found has sometimes been surprising!
As you can see, many of these toxins are very common place items. So you might give a better idea of what I meant when I said that my being healthy isn't all just a matter of healthy choices and habits. Some days it's very much the luck of the draw..... and some days can be very unlucky
PERFUME -- I was having a lot of ongoing problems and just couldn't figure out why. Finally someone said to me (thanks goodness) "maybe it's your perfume" --they were very right. Amazingly, most perfumes are comprised of some form of toxins.
HAIR SPRAY -- Three weeks ago today, I walked into the women's restroom exactly at the wrong time... I literally get a mouthful of someone's hairspray. It not ruined that day but also the next few -- I had a very severe reaction (as if I were poisoned).... By the way, beauticians are very prone to being "chemically sensitive" -- a result of their "hazardous occupation."
SOME FOODS -- can contain more toxins than others --in particular some of the seafoods, and, of course some foods are sprayed with pesticides more than others. I also stay away from fat as much as possible because fat captures toxins, keeping them in our body to due harm.
MEDICINE -- When I was hospitalized with the food poisoning about 6 years ago, I very much struggled with my medication, ending up in the emergency room a few times due to reactions to the medicine itself -- why? believe it or not, many medicines are toxic!
MAGAZINES & CATALOGS --it's the ink! -- especially when it's still fresh, is generally highly toxic.
NEWSPAPERS -- I had to stop reading newspapers. Remember the artist I mentioned earlier who got this condition from oil paints? She and I would compare notes.... she loved to read the paper so she would leave her newspapers outside for 3-4 days to let the ink dry so that she could read it. Good news though! Most newspapers are now printed with a non-toxic soybean ink.
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Of course there are lots of toxic substances I have to watch out for that are not surprises at all (at least not to me...). Some of these are.....
CAR EXHAUST -- one of the reasons why I will never live in a big city...
CIGARETTES -- If you smoke that's fine by me -- but just please not around me!
RUBBER CEMENT -- if you ever want to kill me -- put me a small room with an open jar, throw away the lid, and lock me in! Or, just use it in the cube just next to me
TOXIC MAGIC MARKERS -- unfortunately the only kind there are around here
GASOLINE -- I can fill my own tank but I'm very careful to catch the wind blowing in the right direction.
LIGHTER FLUID/GRILLS FOR COOK OUTS -- well.... I consider this one of the primary hazards of living in suburbia!
CHEMLAWN -- ChemLawn, Emerald Green.... whatever you call it... this actually was almost the topic of my entire speech today -- suffice it to say for now, I believe chemlawn is harmful and toxic and that I think people who use it are fooling themselves about it.... In that (sometimes enlightened place) California, many neighborhoods are now banning ChemLawn, citing that it is unsafe for children and other living things.....
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You know..... Toxins and poison affect all of us --just some more than others -- particularly the very young and of course, people like me, of which there is definitely an increasing number.
In closing I urge you to "not just think" about what I've said today about toxins and poison.. and most of all.. I wish you all a very healthy & happy life!