As winter settles in and temperatures drop many families opt for cozying up next to a real fire in their homes. Most people will "recycle" wood and burn scraps from old fences, children's swingsets, decks and picnic tables. This is a very toxic practice.
Pressure-treated wood is treated with a chemical called CCA (chromated copper arsenate) to protect it from damage from sun. mould, insects, and water. CCA leaches from the pressure-treated wood and has shown to be present as a residue on the surface of the wood, in the soil and ground water around the structure, and in the ash from previously burning household fires. Note that pressure-treated wood manufacturers must now claim whether or not their product has been treated with CCA and whether or not it contains arsenic.
Arsenic is a known human carcinogen and is frequently associated with lung, skin and bladder cancer. Symptoms of arsenic exposure can include stomach ache, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. It can also result in decreased production of red and white blood cells which may cause fatigue, abnormal heart rhythm, blood-vessel damage resulting in bruising, and impaired nerve function. One of the early warning signs of arsenic poisoning is a "pins and needles" sensation in hands and feet. Other signs and symptoms include skin thickening, fluid accumulation (resulting in puffiness) especially around the lower eyelids, face and ankles, diarrhea, garlic breath, perspiration, excessive salivation, generalized itching, oral inflammation, sore throat, runny nose, excessive tearing, numbness, skin inflammation, hair loss, weakness, and loss of appetite. Arsenic can also cause a range of neurological effects, including headaches and vision problems. It can cause noticeable behavioral changes, most commonly aggression or depression.
Early treatment of arsenic poisoning whether acute or chronic low-grade exposure is critical. Arsenic levels can be safely assessed in patients aged 2-102 years old at Ocean Wellness by Dr. Jolene Kennett, ND through a urine sample following a treatment called chelation provocation. For more information call 604.986.9355.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
An addendum to Cushing's and Lead blog
The following information is from another website blog and relates to my previous post.
http://www.olyblog.com/f/06/HiddenCostsF06192006.shtml
Ground Contamination False Creek - published March 2006
page 228- LeverageOlympicMomentum.com ...
Here is what we do know regarding ground contamination in Vancouver as of early April 2006; the soil where the Olympic Village is to be built has been extensively tested. According to Jody Andrews, Project Manager for the Southeast False Creek project, they drilled hundreds of core samples throughout the site. The samples revealed a wide variety of contaminants spread in a variety of areas on the property, like hydrocarbons (derivative of petroleum), waste from a smelter, by-products from a wood mill, and other miscellaneous industrial waste. The contamination reaches down in some places to a depth of nine meters, almost three stories deep. The land was used industrially from the early 1800's, so you can image what has been dumped there over the last 100 years before environmental regulations were in place, plus from unscrupulous companies that made midnight runs to the deserted property in order to illegally empty their tanker trucks of poisons like lead, arsenic, or who knows what else. It happens every night in all big cities and this area is an easy target. Over the last 100 years there have been "sawmills, foundries, shipbuilding, metalworking, salt distribution, warehousing, and a municipal public works yard" on the land at different times. In order to build out the Olympic Village area, approximately fifty acres, nine meters deep has to be excavated, and either treated onsite, or hauled to another location for safe disposal. Would you want to live on this land? In Sydney when they undertook a similar soil remediation task in the Homebush Bay Olympic site area, costs escalated out of control, plus, it created untold health problems for people living and working in the vicinity. Digging up fifty acres of contaminated soil three stories deep puts an incredible amount of dust in the air. Plus, the property borders the Pacific Ocean, which means not only is there an impact to air quality, but to water too. Residents in the Homebush Bay area complained of increased asthma, bronchitis and skin rashes, plus there was evidence of chromosomal damage. Health care costs increased proportionately, which meant another hidden cost. The city did not take the concerns of residents seriously until international media started reporting the information. Andrews freely admitted we would not know what lies in the ground until the entire site is excavated. Quite literally, it is anybody's guess what it will cost to make the site safe for residents. This particular piece of land also has a very unique microclimate, which contributes to the dispersal of air contaminants. Prevailing winds in the summer are from the west, off the ocean. During the day as the air over the land heats up it rises and the cooler ocean air moves in to displace it. When this happens the contaminants in the air are pushed up and into the valley. In the evening the cycle is reversed, but to a considerably lesser extent. Basically, the microclimate sets up an ebb and flow system that will spread the contaminated dust among millions of residents. Homebush Bay had a very similar challenge. During a public forum, when I asked Andrews if he knew about Homebush Bay, he looked puzzled and said, "No. Never heard of it." (cv1;cf1)
http://www.olyblog.com/f/06/HiddenCostsF06192006.shtml
Ground Contamination False Creek - published March 2006
page 228- LeverageOlympicMomentum.com ...
Here is what we do know regarding ground contamination in Vancouver as of early April 2006; the soil where the Olympic Village is to be built has been extensively tested. According to Jody Andrews, Project Manager for the Southeast False Creek project, they drilled hundreds of core samples throughout the site. The samples revealed a wide variety of contaminants spread in a variety of areas on the property, like hydrocarbons (derivative of petroleum), waste from a smelter, by-products from a wood mill, and other miscellaneous industrial waste. The contamination reaches down in some places to a depth of nine meters, almost three stories deep. The land was used industrially from the early 1800's, so you can image what has been dumped there over the last 100 years before environmental regulations were in place, plus from unscrupulous companies that made midnight runs to the deserted property in order to illegally empty their tanker trucks of poisons like lead, arsenic, or who knows what else. It happens every night in all big cities and this area is an easy target. Over the last 100 years there have been "sawmills, foundries, shipbuilding, metalworking, salt distribution, warehousing, and a municipal public works yard" on the land at different times. In order to build out the Olympic Village area, approximately fifty acres, nine meters deep has to be excavated, and either treated onsite, or hauled to another location for safe disposal. Would you want to live on this land? In Sydney when they undertook a similar soil remediation task in the Homebush Bay Olympic site area, costs escalated out of control, plus, it created untold health problems for people living and working in the vicinity. Digging up fifty acres of contaminated soil three stories deep puts an incredible amount of dust in the air. Plus, the property borders the Pacific Ocean, which means not only is there an impact to air quality, but to water too. Residents in the Homebush Bay area complained of increased asthma, bronchitis and skin rashes, plus there was evidence of chromosomal damage. Health care costs increased proportionately, which meant another hidden cost. The city did not take the concerns of residents seriously until international media started reporting the information. Andrews freely admitted we would not know what lies in the ground until the entire site is excavated. Quite literally, it is anybody's guess what it will cost to make the site safe for residents. This particular piece of land also has a very unique microclimate, which contributes to the dispersal of air contaminants. Prevailing winds in the summer are from the west, off the ocean. During the day as the air over the land heats up it rises and the cooler ocean air moves in to displace it. When this happens the contaminants in the air are pushed up and into the valley. In the evening the cycle is reversed, but to a considerably lesser extent. Basically, the microclimate sets up an ebb and flow system that will spread the contaminated dust among millions of residents. Homebush Bay had a very similar challenge. During a public forum, when I asked Andrews if he knew about Homebush Bay, he looked puzzled and said, "No. Never heard of it." (cv1;cf1)
Lead exposure and Cushing's symptoms... A coincidence?
The other day I had a patient present in my office:
43 male, working at the site of the Olympic Village (South East False Creek) since 2007. Over the past 6 months this patient has developed softening of his muscles, emotional lability, abnormal bruising, puffiness of the face, reddening of the face, elevated blood pressure and elevated blood sugar levels. Prior to the development of these symptoms the patient's health was unremarkable.
Research indicates that soil samples taken from the development site of the Olympic Village are contaminated with numerous petroleum by-products, chemicals, and LEAD AND ARSENIC. There was demand that 50+ acres 9 meters deep be removed from the Olympic Village site and either disposed of safely in a different location, or processed (i.e. cleaned) and replaced. This would have risen costs tremendously! Sadly I could not find any reports of the soil being "cleaned"...
Lead exposure, whether chronic or acute, may present as Cushing-like signs and symptoms. The work-up for this patient involves various lab tests at the local hospital as per an internal medicine specialist and heavy metal investigation by his naturopathic doctor.
I used Ca-EDTA and DMPS to provoke the removal of metals from this patient's body and am eagerly awaiting the urine toxic metals report.
Stay tuned for more information on this case. Also, I would appreciate any comments or questions.
43 male, working at the site of the Olympic Village (South East False Creek) since 2007. Over the past 6 months this patient has developed softening of his muscles, emotional lability, abnormal bruising, puffiness of the face, reddening of the face, elevated blood pressure and elevated blood sugar levels. Prior to the development of these symptoms the patient's health was unremarkable.
Research indicates that soil samples taken from the development site of the Olympic Village are contaminated with numerous petroleum by-products, chemicals, and LEAD AND ARSENIC. There was demand that 50+ acres 9 meters deep be removed from the Olympic Village site and either disposed of safely in a different location, or processed (i.e. cleaned) and replaced. This would have risen costs tremendously! Sadly I could not find any reports of the soil being "cleaned"...
Lead exposure, whether chronic or acute, may present as Cushing-like signs and symptoms. The work-up for this patient involves various lab tests at the local hospital as per an internal medicine specialist and heavy metal investigation by his naturopathic doctor.
I used Ca-EDTA and DMPS to provoke the removal of metals from this patient's body and am eagerly awaiting the urine toxic metals report.
Stay tuned for more information on this case. Also, I would appreciate any comments or questions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
