Water | Resources
Eye Drops And Eyelid Cleaners
Question from Bri
Hi Debra,
Hi – do you know of any safe, non-toxic eye drops or eyelid cleansers? According to Good Guide the name brands contain ‘banned’ ingredients! Is there a safe way to clean eyelids and eyelashes (even baby shampoo was found to have formaldehyde years ago!)? Thanks very much, Debra – don’t know how these products can claim to give you healthy eyelids, etc. using toxic ingredients; sigh. Thanks for all you do.
Debra’s Answer
I’ve never researched a safe alternative to those products because I don’t use them at all.
I don’t think you need to use a cleanser for eyelashes or eyelids. Just plain water is fine for me.
Readers, any suggestions?
Patent Leather
Question from Stacey
Hi Debra,
Is patent leather the same as regular leather in terms of toxicity? I saw a pair of black patent leather shoes and regular leather shoes that I liked and wondered if the leather is the same in terms of treatment/toxicity. Does it matter which I wear?
Thank you!
Debra’s Answer
First, “patent leather” is a type of later that is coated with a very glossy, shiny finish.
The original patent leather created in the 1800s used a linseed-oil based lacquer coating that both protected the leather and made it more durable. But today, the shiny coating is usually plastic and may not even be real leather below.
It seems though, that most patent leather is leather, but check to be sure. I couldn’t find any information on what type of plastic is used for the finish or may be used for artificial leather.
I would say that patent leather may be more toxic, but what really matters is what was used to process the leather.
EMF Basics: Radio Frequencies
My guest today is Oram Miller, a Certified Building Biology Environmental Consultant based in Los Angeles. Today we’re starting a series of shows in which Oram will be explaining the basics of EMFs. Today we’re starting with radio frequencies: what they are, how they are different from other types of EMFs, where they come from, how they affect your health, and how you can protect yourself from harm. Oram received his certification from the International Institute for Bau-biology and Ecology. He provides healthy home and office evaluations for clients throughout Southern California who have electro-magnetic sensitivities, as well as those who just want a healthier home. Oram also consults on the healthy design and construction of new and remodeled homes. Oram specializes in the effects of EMFs from cell phones, cordless telephones, Wi-Fi, tablets and smart meters, as well as health effects caused by basic EMFs from house wiring, including wiring errors and unwanted current on water pipes and other parts of the grounding system. Oram is available for on-site EMF consultations in Southern California and provides telephone consultations for clients nationwide. He writes extensively on the health hazards of EMFs on his website,www.createhealthyhomes.com
TOXIC FREE TALK RADIO
EMF Basics: Radio Frequencies
Host: Debra Lynn Dadd
Guest: Oram Miller
Date of Broadcast: November 12, 2015
DEBRA: Hi, I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. And this is Toxic Free Talk Radio where we talk about how to thrive in a toxic world and live toxic free. It’s Thursday, November 12th, 2015, and I’m here in Clearwater, Florida, where the sun is shining and we have a beautiful autumn day.
Today, we’re going to be starting a series of shows on the subject of EMFs. We’re going to be talking about the basics because EMFs is such an important subject and it affects our health in so many ways.
I find it confusing and difficult. I don’t want to say that at the beginning of the show because I don’t want to sound like this show is going to be confusing and difficult. But the point here is that it’s a confusing and difficult subject and this show is going to make it easier to understand.
We just really need to understand because EMFs, that term encompasses a number of different things. And when we are trying to do things to protect ourselves from EMFs or choose products that have EMF dangers, we need to understand these things.
So my guest is Oram Miller. He’s a certified building biologist environmental consultant based on Los Angeles. We’ve done a couple of other shows together. He just explains things so clearly that I just said, “Would you just tell us all about EMFs? Can you just break this up and make it simple?”
So we’re going to be starting today with radio frequencies, the part of EMFs that is radio frequencies. We’re going to talk about what they are, how they’re different from other types of EMFs, where they come from, how they affect our health and how you can protect yourself from harm.
Hi, Oram.
ORAM MILLER: Hi, Debra.
DEBRA: Good to have you back.
ORAM MILLER: Thank you for inviting me.
DEBRA: You’re welcome. So where should we start?
ORAM MILLER: Well, to follow up on what you just said in the intro, it is true. You asked me in September to speak on a show that we called Wireless 101. That was on September 30th. And as you and I both know (and the listeners of that program found out), we just ended up getting drawn into – not side conversations, but important conversations on other aspects of EMFs because it’s so vast.
But we [inaudible 00:03:19] 10 minutes before the end of the hour, I realized we hadn’t really gotten to the basics because we were following other threads, which are equally important and which people need to know about.
So you very wisely sent an email to me afterwards and said, “Why don’t we just set up a series of these talks or these interviews so that we can just go through the basics. And then go into each of the aspects as you said?”
This is the typical thing that I do for a client when I go to their home. The first hour of the five, six, seven, eight hours that I’ll be spending at the home is spent going over what EMFs are, which ones we recognize in the building biology profession, where they’re found in a typical home, what the health effects are and what the safety exposure guidelines or levels are that we recognize based on European research and research from Israel and Russia and India and Australia and then what we do about them.
And then with that knowledge, the client knows what the importance is of the EMF levels that I find and I allay fears that they may have from misunderstandings that they have about EMFs. So, part of what I do is to tell people what they don’t have to worry about. And then I go focus also on what our profession, my profession says is important.
And as I say to people, if I have done my job right, you and your spouse will have a serious conversation after I leave, over the next few days, looking up this research yourself and not taking my word for it. But just really thinking about how – especially with wireless, especially with that particular type of EMF.
They’re going to be making a choice that a small percentage of the population already is, out of necessity, because they’ve linked their symptoms that they have with the use of wireless devices. And that’s well-known outside of the United States.
And here’s a fact to get us started that a lot of people don’t know. Did you know that France just voted in January of this year to ban Wi-Fi in nurseries and daycare centers for children under three?
DEBRA: Oh, that’s great!
ORAM MILLER: Well, it’s great, but it’s like, “Huh? Why would they do that? Isn’t it safe? Everyone in America says it’s safe, meaning industry and government regulatory agencies and academia and the news organization.” They all say it’s safe. And any time anyone questions that they say, “Oh, no. There’s no research to show that there is any evidence of harm,” which sounds very similar to what we heard in the 1950s and ‘60s about cigarettes.
Because industry, most know well, that it’s harmful. They actually have stashed away a lot of money in a war chest for the inevitable class action lawsuits that will come when it is accepted and/or when they can’t deny it any further because public pressure has grown to such a point that government regulatory agencies will step in just like the EPA and other agencies did to clean up the mess and to pay for the health care that results from the use of this like the cigarettes in the 80s, the class action lawsuits that were settled.
And it’s just the cost of doing business because they can’t say that there’s harm for these technologies.
If you can imagine you’re a CEO of Verizon and you say that there is some potential harm from cell phones and you should protect yourselves and there’s some risk, if you know about it like warnings on a cigarette label or just exactly what one of the main researchers said to the cell phone companies in the late 90s, George Carlo, what would happen to him in this day and age? He’d be yanked and sued by his shareholders for loss of market share because nobody else is saying that and it’s “not true.”
DEBRA: I think that a warning label is actually an important thing, but I don’t think that companies voluntarily put warning labels.
ORAM MILLER: Of course not. That’s what I’m saying.
DEBRA: There has to be somebody imposing warning labels.
ORAM MILLER: Right. So let’s look at the President here. Outside of the United States, industrialized nations outside United States all have national healthcare delivery systems. They have private insurance. You can buy that on the side. But that’s not the major way that people’s health gets taken care of.
And I’m not talking about mainstream medicine versus alternative medicine. I’m just talking about the main way that health is delivered.
And so if the government is responsible for that and if they see a looming health crisis as was the case three times in the past in the last 60 years that is with asbestos, tobacco and the use of lead in gasoline and they know what happened there where industry [inaudible 00:08:03] on all three cases, well, it’s happening all over again.
And what’s concerning is that people are showing up in health clinics in all over the world, not just there, but here too, but the difference there is because of all sorts of reasons, campaign financing and the way the government is set up, and the way they hold elections, there are government officials who are not beholden to corporations like is the case here with campaign financing and law BS and such.
In other countries, you don’t have the head of the FCC (or their equivalent of our FCC) that the President being told, “You’re going to appoint this gentleman” and it turns out he comes from Comcast and he was the former head of the Cell Phone Trade Association. So he has no agenda, Tom
Wheeler, I’m talking about, to protect health. His main objective is to make sure that industry’s needs are taken care of. I’m not going with other people had said.
And so the problem is it’s like a big façade. You can’t crack that. No one can crack it. If you say that there is any evidence of any harm, they’re immediately shot down by those who say, “No, that’s false. There is no evidence.”
Now, it turns out that Joe Moskowitz in Berkeley pointed out that for one week, there was a short piece on the CDC website, Centers for Disease Control, echoing what is already widely said in countries outside United States, particularly in Europe and the other countries I mentioned, which was that there is some question that cell phones are potentially harmful to certain people.
Well, that was yanked. That was actually removed from the website. And so you can’t tell me that our government regulatory agencies are independent. They are not.
So I don’t think anybody who listens to this network, to your show, is surprised by that. So let’s just move on.
So what it boils down to is you have to look outside United States and see what they’re doing in other countries.
So my profession, the building biology profession, comes from Germany. It was brought here by an architect who has passed away a few years ago.
But he brought this knowledge to America 27 or so years ago and founded the International Institute for Bau-Biology and Ecology. Bau is the German word for building, so we are building biologists. Our focus is the health of people within a built environment, their homes and their offices.
DEBRA: And we need to go to break. We need to go to break. But when we come back, let’s get started with talking about radio frequencies.
ORAM MILLER: Will do!
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Oram Miller. He’s a certified building biology and environmental consultant. We’re talking about a portion of EMFs known as radio frequencies, and his website is CreateHealthyHomes.com. We’ll be right back.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Oram Miller. He’s a certified building biology environmental consultant. I keep wanting to just say bau biology instead of building biology because I originally learned it as bau biology.
ORAM MILLER: But most people don’t know what that means.
DEBRA: I know but I’m tripping over these words.
We’re talking about radio frequencies today so that we can learn more about EMF basics.
So what is a radio frequency?
ORAM MILLER: Well, radio frequencies are – they’re invisible. They are transmitted from a wireless transmitter, and that could be, obviously, the radio station and television station transmitters, buildings in mountains for the broadcast we have. Although a lot of it is now through cable for television.
And then we also have the wireless. A lot of people stream their TV and radio listening and viewing through their smart phone and their iPad, which comes from Wi-Fi, which would be transmitted from your router in your home and various wireless access points in your home. Or from the cell tower itself, which is what’s called a 3G or 4G technology, which is third generation or fourth generation actually.
Basically, Wi-Fi and radio frequencies are one of four types of EMFs, the other three being electric fields and magnetic fields coming out of your house wiring and from outside power lines and then dirty electricity which a lot of people know about in this field.
So those are the four types of EMFs, electric fields and magnetic fields from your house wiring, radio frequencies including Wi-Fi, cell phones, and the like, and then dirty electricity.
So what we decided to do was to spend a few interviews, Debra, at your suggestion, focusing on one type of EMF at a time. So now we’re focusing on wireless.
So the radio frequency, radio waves, are the means by which data is transmitted under video or audio or both over the air from a transmitter. And we have these transmitters in our homes and right in front of us, our cell phones.
So you have to understand that there really isn’t any harm from having a receiver only, which is what a radio is. So you can have an AM or FM battery-powered radio right next to your ear all day long, and there’s a slight magnetic field from that but if you hold it in front of you, it can only extends out about an inch or so from that and it’s still [inaudible 00:16:29].
But now, in the last 15, 20 years, we have two-way communication devices, which are transmitters and receivers. So your cell phone, which is now our smart phone because we have now shifted the e-mailing and web browsing from computers to the device in our hand because it’s more convenient, and we can do it anywhere anytime.
And the problem is if you’re doing it outside the home, you have to use the wireless connection because you can’t connect wireless in a [inaudible 00:17:02]. But in the home, you can. And the problem is people are used to using their handheld devices, so they do that inside the home as well even though they have a computer over in the corner and they have a telephone sitting right there (although it’s cordless these days, but we it to be corded again) and they just continue to use their smart phone for all their computing.
And the problem is, there is – not a continuous, but a rather constant, intermittent transmission of a radio frequency that affects the health of cell for adults and children. And the problem is when we liken it or compare it to cigarettes, which is what it is, the problem is you can’t see or smell the radio frequencies, so you’re unaware of it unless you’re one of those unlucky few, and those numbers are increasing, who experience some symptoms, and you don’t know that they’re related to these devices in your hand.
So that’s what radio frequencies are.
DEBRA: I know that people do that, what you say, that they just use their cell phone for all their computing and their e-mail and everything. And I know people like that. They have a business that they’re working around, they’re not in the office, and so their whole business happens on their cell phone.
I’m so happy to not be one of those. And I can’t even imagine doing that because they’re so small that it’s hard to see all those things on the screen, and I just would never do that. I have to have a big screen so that I can have big letters.
ORAM MILLER: Well, yes, but each cell phone has five transmitters in it that operates at five different frequencies. And so the problem comes – and they have different power density.
So some of them, like Bluetooth, are lower power density, lower strength because they only have to send and receive signals from a transmitter basically in your – Bluetooth is very close. For instance, the device that you put in your ear connects to the cell phone which is on a table in the same room, and then cell phone on the counter is what connects to the cell tower which could be two to three miles away, or one to two miles away.
Then there’s also a Wi-Fi transmitter inside of your cell phone which connects to the Wi-Fi router in your house, which could be in another room.
There are two usually antennas that connect to the cell tower to either 3G or 4G route – I’m sorry, for voice. That’s the direct connection for voice.
But there’s also something called 3G, 4G data. So that’s happening, I think, at the same frequency. It might be a different frequency.
And these are all up in the hundreds of megahertz range, which means – megahertz means millions of cycles per second. So we’re looking at 800 or 900 million cycles per second.
So the problem is when the transmission occurs from the device in your hand or at the side of your head, or in your lap, if you’re texting or looking at the screen, that goes into our bodies, and it affects the cells.
I think we have the whole talk or interview that we’ve set aside to go over the research on what that does for our health. So we’re going to talk about that, I think, the next time actually.
So here we’re just giving an introduction.
So I mentioned that there are four types of EMFs, and this is one of them, and I mentioned that radio frequencies come from a transmitter. And here’s an interesting thing. When the phone is sitting on your table, or in your pocket, and a text message comes or an update from the company, from the cell tower for the plan that you’re with, whatever the carrier is, there is a signal sent by the cell tower that says, “I have a message for you.”
Now, the phone has to establish what they call an electronic handshake. And the phone sends back a transmission that says, “I’m ready.” That’s a transmission.
Then the receiving occurs, the message is downloaded, and there’s no harm from that. But then the phone is programmed to send back a signal saying, “I got it” which means the tower now knows that the message has been successful delivered and removes it from its queue to send because if your phone is not –
DEBRA: I have to interrupt you just because the commercial is going to come on in a second. You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Oram Miller. And we’ll be right back after this to hear more about radio frequencies.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Oram Miller. We’re talking about radio frequencies as part of the whole package of EMFs.
So Oram, could you say what you said before the break again?
ORAM MILLER: I just wanted to point out that there are hidden transmissions – I just realized that opens up a whole possibility of the snooping or surveillance that these devices can do, but it’s a whole another topic.
DEBRA: I think what you were trying to say is –
ORAM MILLER: I know.
DEBRA: That there are obvious transmissions like when you’re speaking, that’s a transmission. But there are other transmissions –
ORAM MILLER: Well, not necessarily. It doesn’t break even that way. Basically, the cell phones do not transmit continuously. Now, routers do. The Wi-Fi signal from your router is continuous. The radio frequency transmission from your cordless phone base unit is continuous, and when you have a cordless phone next to your head, that’s a continuous transmission. Cell phones are intermittent. Just bear that in mind.
If you have a radio frequency detector, and you can buy them, then you’ll see, and you’ll be puzzled by the fact that you’re talking but there’s no signal detected on your radio frequency detector.
Well, there’s something called caching, and people who know computers know about this. That there’s caching of data and that is transmitted in a big burst every second or two, or every few seconds. So that’s how it’s transmitted back and forth.
And also it’s transmitted at a very low level for a certain time. So some of the seconds where you don’t really see anything on your meter, it’s still connecting at a very, very low level because these devices have very sophisticated technology.
For instance, I’ll have someone say to me – I live in my home here, especially in an apartment or condo, and I’ve got eight Wi-Fi routers, that I could connect to if I had the password, because that shows up on their smart phone or their tablet.
And they’ll say things like – I’m getting blasted, right? And I say, well, actually no. Not from the majority of them. If you look at the signal strength to the right, that little icon there only one bar is showing instead of four, maybe two of them are four, one in their house obviously, and maybe the most immediate neighbor.
But even then if we shut off the router in their home, and we measure, and turn their phone off, the signal strength can be relatively low, below 10 microwatts from your square, which we consider to be a safe level.
Arguably, people who are electrically hypersensitive, even that’s too high for them, and I understand that. I work with people who can’t go into a coffee shop, that can’t go into a library. They can’t go anywhere where there’s Wi-Fi because they develop headaches.
We’ll get into that.
So the signal strength from a distant router is below relative to the meters that we have. So you’re relatively safe in most homes, provided you don’t have that blasting continuously that signal from the device in your own home.
DEBRA: I just want to make sure I understood what you said. So if somebody has a router, a Wi-Fi router in their home, then that’s relatively safe?
ORAM MILLER: No. I’m saying if you – no. You got to turn that off. And you can – I haven’t even gotten into this yet. But we can and do go to great lengths to help people find ways to recreate it because they had this in the past hardwired Ethernet cable networks in their home.
DEBRA: That’s what I have right now. I don’t have a Wi-Fi router.
ORAM MILLER: Right. So you can have your router on, and yet turn off – disable the Wi-Fi but have the router still on as a hardwired network because it does both. It does both –
DEBRA: So I have a router but I use cables. I don’t have it set for Wi-Fi.
ORAM MILLER: That’s right. So every router automatically when you plug it in and boot it up, and you get the data signal from the internet service provider, it is a hardwired hub with four jacks on the back.
Now, the Wi-Fi is a separate network that you can either enable or disable. And most of the routers that you get out of the box has a default mode where the Wi-Fi comes on, or when the guy comes from the geek squad and sets it up for you. They’ll always turn it on.
So you have to say, “No, I don’t want that. Please disable it.”
And even then, unfortunately, our radio frequency detectors still detect a signal in some models. And that’s because they’re still sending out a signal even though the network is not on and the light for the Wi-Fi is off in the front panel of the router, and you can’t see it as a network that’s available when you’re trying to connect to it from a smart phone or a tablet or a laptop.
So in that case, we have to go deeper and it’s called bridge mode. We have to disable the bridge mode in the LAN, the local area network settings.
And I’m getting technical here now.
And then there’s another thing with Xfinity, which is from Comcast, where they’re now establishing – they’re making your router in your home as a public Wi-Fi hotspot for their network so that it passes by in cars and walking outside your home can connect as they walk down the sidewalk, connecting from one house’s Xfinity public network hotspot to another.
DEBRA: And they’re just doing that? They’re making your router a public router without you knowing it?
ORAM MILLER: No, actually they do tell you. And they say, “Isn’t this great?” And they’re letting you know because you already have it on, so what’s the problem?
Now, it is a separate transmitter, a separate antenna, and it’s a higher strength, by the way, stronger than the signal that’s in your house. And when we go in, those of us who know how to do this with our client, or client do it for themselves, and they go in and they disable the personal – they call it the personal network, then you can’t access that anymore because it’s not on, but our radio frequency detectors still detect a very strong signal, and I’ve encountered this now and called Comcast on behalf of my clients. And they say, “Oh, yes. That’s in a separate department.”
They went through all these steps. The call was very nice. They said, “Yes, if your client doesn’t want it, we can turn it off.”
So he did. And it turns out, it’s still transmitting. We’ve run into this on a colleague who spent several hours with the tech, finally getting to the point where my colleague, who’s electrically sensitive himself, had a meter, and said, “Now, it’s off.”
But prior to that it wasn’t.
And so even though the guy said it was based on what he saw in his computer screen in the office in another state.
So it gets tricky now with these public hotspots. But you have to understand, Debra, it’s all based on the assumption that these technologies are safe.
DEBRA: Yes. There is an assumption that the technologies are safe. And we’re not going to talk a lot about that today but we are going to be talking about that in the future so that everybody can have that information.
ORAM MILLER: Let me just finish what we started at the beginning of the segment. So when your cell phone gets a text, it does send a second signal saying, “I got it” so that the cell tower releases that and knows that you got it, and doesn’t have to re-send it, which would be the case if your cell phone was off.
Now, my point with that was in the act of receiving a signal or a transmission, your cell phone send that two signals in their process.
So you’re exposed all the time.
Now, when I’m sitting here talking to my clients and going over the basics before we get up and go around the house and take measurements, and I work with people long distance by the way. They get meters of their own –
DEBRA: I have to interrupt you again because the commercial is going to come on just in a second.
You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. My guest today is Oram Miller. He’s a certified building biology environmental consultant in Los Angeles, and we’ll be right back. We’ll talk more.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Oram Miller. He’s a certified building biology environmental consultant in Los Angeles. And his website which has a ton of information on it, lots of articles and resources all about this subject is CreateHealthHomes.com.
Oram, continue with what you were saying. I’m sorry I keep interrupting you but we’re in the last segment now, so we only just have about 10 minutes left.
ORAM MILLER: So since this is an introduction to the topic, I would like to expand a little bit on what you just did that this information, the information that you’re hearing can be – you can learn a lot more about it by going to my website, and then the others that I linked to, and that are out there.
But my website is www.CreateHealthyHomes.com. It’s plural. It’s all one word. CreateHealthyHomes.com.
On that website, I would particularly recommend that your listeners go to Comments from Clients, and also Articles on EMFs. And on that page, you’ll see not only articles on each of the four types of EMFs, and the one we’re talking about is an article on radio frequency EMF. But I just wrote and added an introduction to EMFs which explains them in more typical detail.
It’s written for the lay person.
And then there’s also another page which is EMF Lecture Slides. And that has a PowerPoint, in PDF form that you can download. I’m looking at it right now as I’m talking to you just to follow the points here. And this is from a talk that I gave at the Cancer Control Society just two months ago.
So you can see a lot of this information there. The other thing is the whole issue of what is a safe level, that’s’ covered there, and where these come from.
So let’s review where EMFs come from. They come from the transmitters that we know about like our cell phones, the tablets that we now have, from routers and from cordless telephone base units and the handset that you walk around with.
And people need to understand that when they hang up the phone, hang up the call with cordless handsets, and put it in the base unit, that base unit today in the last few years, those models that had been sold in the last few years, continue to emit radio frequencies 24/7. It’s like an ashtray with four or five brand of cigarettes filling the kitchen with smoke, wherever that router is located.
Do not have the cordless phone facing it. The one that has the telephone line that goes from the back of a base unit to the telephone jack in the wall, or the telephone jack on your router. Do not have that base unit in your bedroom because when you hang up the phone, the base unit continues to emit frequencies 24/7, and it doesn’t stop.
DEBRA: I used to have one of those sitting right next to my desk where I work all day. It was three feet away. And I had an inspection where some building biologist came in and with all their instruments and took the EMF readings. And that was the worst spot in the entire house. And I immediately, immediately took it out, and got a corded phone.
ORAM MILLER: So then you replaced it with a corded one.
In Europe they the ECO DECT model from Siemens that is at a particular frequency that they use over there, and that does shut off the transmitter to save energy. That’s why they call it the ECO smart.
But we don’t have that in this country because it uses a frequency – that model uses a frequency that the military uses to interfere – so it’s allowed in the country. You can’t buy it. You can import it, and it would work, but they don’t sell it in America.
So people need to understand that that’s happening. It’s an invisible, continuous emission. Now, it does not happen, by the way, from your handset that’s the extension handset in its own charging cradle just to charge the battery and that extension has it.
When you press the off button then that goes dead.
But it’s still not a good idea to use it because when you take a call, you’re exposed to that frequency, very high frequency, 200, 300, 400,000 microwatts which is less than the level that the FCC says is safe, which is 10-million or 1-milliwatt per square centimeter, which is 10-million microwatts per square meter. And I’m going to talk about that in the next segment, next interview.
So those are some hidden sources and also when you put a tablet in your baby’s hands or an infant – not an infant but toddlers, child’s lap to watch a movie while you’re making dinner, you have to put it in airplane mode because the typical cell phone, the typical tablet puts out radio frequencies – and laptop, all three of them, every 8 to 12 seconds roughly, looking for a router, connecting to a router, even if you don’t have one.
So if you have a laptop and you plug and use the cable, and you plug that, using a cable into the router, people make the mistaken assumption that that shuts off the Wi-Fi in the tablet, and it does not. You have to do that manually. And I can over that in the next segment.
So those are the typical radio transmitters that we know about but there are more. Your thermostat, if it’s a new model from Ecobee, E-C-O-B-E-E or Nest, wonderful technology for the Nest thermostat but it sends out a radio frequency, a Wi-Fi signal every five seconds in one model, and every 15 seconds in another.
There’s more. These devices, Roku and Apple TV send out Wi-Fi continuously from the unit that’s on top of your TV or underneath it. It used to be the case with the models 1 and 2 that when you plug it an Ethernet cable, which you can, it shuts off the Wi-Fi but not with Apple 3 or the Roku 3.
You can disable Airplay on Apple 3 on screen, but you can’t do that with a Roku. You have to use a play station.
And then, let’s see. What else? There’s the [inaudible 00:45:18]. I went to a home and the lady didn’t – she was sensitive to all of this and didn’t want the frequencies, and we were converting her back to hardwired, which everyone is going to go back to in the next 10 years or so.
And I kept picking up a signal at the three home entertainment centers she had. It’s a big house, had some money, but I kept unplugging things one by one, which is what you have to do. And then finally, the signal went away on my meter. And I said this cord goes to this device, and I picked up and it said red eye. And I said, “What’s that?”
She said, “Well, that enables my boyfriend and I to sit on our couch while we’re watching TV and use our iPad to change the channels instead of the remote.”
And I said, “Okay, but it’s continuously sending out a signal.”
So she just continues to use it because she didn’t want to be exposed to these frequencies.
DEBRA: Why would somebody want to do that? Why not just the remote?
ORAM MILLER: Well, because – I don’t know. Everyone’s so wedded to their tablets and their smart phones. I don’t know. They want to do everything – they’re trying to make it seamless so that you can do everything from your smart phone.
The Consumer Electronics Show is held in Nevada in Las Vegas every January. And where I live here in Los Angeles, the LA Times, and other newspapers cover this every day of the four-day conference. There’s a big splashy article about what’s the latest thing.
Last year, they started using a phrase that is being copied and picked up in the media. We have now entered what they call the internet era, the age of the internet of everything, the internet everything.
DEBRA: I saw that.
ORAM MILLER: So we’re trying to seamlessly incorporate everything you do with a smart home concept. There are ads on TV for a particular internet service provider with a service that links to your security system, and thermostat, and lighting, and everything, so that you can monitor this in your cameras, your surveillance cameras within your home.
You can see what your dog is doing, and what your son is doing in the house from your office. And when you’re driving home you can turn the thermostat up before you get there, things like that.
But that can only happen if everything is controlled wirelessly throughout the house because it’s all considered to be safe.
And for the majority of the population, they don’t feel this. Two thirds of the population does have DNA damage because 100% of people do. But they can repair the damage to the cell, to the mitochondria, and all these other very precious physiological processes biologically occurring at low levels in our cells 24/7.
But that’s affected by these technologies, but two thirds of the population can repair the damage and not feel a symptom. That doesn’t mean that they’re healthy but FYI, not everyone has symptoms. It’s a little –
DEBRA: Well, that’s a whole other segment in itself, it’s what is healthy. And we won’t start talking about that today. But I just want to say most of the people that I see around me, not in my immediate circle because we take pretty good care of ourselves, but out in the world, a lot of people are not feeling well, and a lot of people are taking over-the-counter drugs, they’re taking natural remedies, all of these things to make it appear as if they’re healthy, but they actually aren’t.
ORAM MILLER: [inaudible 00:48:40] we’re having symptoms.
DEBRA: Well, we have less than a minute left. So I just want us to wrap up here. Any final things you’d like to say quickly?
ORAM MILLER: There’s so much to say.
DEBRA: I know.
ORAM MILLER: We won’t say more, but people can go to my website, www.CreateHealthHomes.com. Go to Articles on EMFs and then click on the article on radiofrequency EMFs, and you’ll see a lot of this.
Also look at the EMF Lecture Slides. And also on the homepage, at the top, there are references or links there too, very important initiatives – there’s a whole group of scientists, 200 of them, that are petitioning – led by Martin Bank, from Columbia who did the DNA research and wrote Overpowered, a popular book, that whole appeal was sent to [inaudible 00:49:31], Secretary General of the UN and the head of the World Health Organization. And every member country of the UN appealing to them and saying, “This is a health crisis.”
There’s an epic proportion that you need to know about and act on just like we did with tobacco, asbestos and lead in gasoline. It’s the fourth health crisis in 60 years because it’s affecting human health and future generations.
DEBRA: And I have to say thank you because the music is going to come on in about two seconds. Thank you so much and we’ll talk to you again.
That was Oram Miller. His website is CreateHealthyHomes.com. And you’ve been listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. Be well.
Toxics as a Right-To-Access Issue
My guest today is Adrian Ballou, a writer, artist, activist, and educator who focuses on advocacy around disability justice and transgender rights. I found Adrian when I discovered Get Mad When Folks Ask You to be Scent-Free? Here are 8 Things to Consider , which is helping to shape a mainstream conversation on chemical/fragrance sensitivities and access to public spaces. Adrian particularly enjoys writing and facilitating social justice education and youth organizing curriculum. www.adrianballou.com
TOXIC FREE TALK RADIO
Toxics as a Right-To-Access Issue
Host: Debra Lynn Dadd
Guest: Adrian Ballou
Date of Broadcast: November 11, 2015
DEBRA: Hi. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd and this is Toxic Free Talk Radio where we talk about how to thrive in a toxic world and live toxic free.
It’s Wednesday, November 11th, 2015. Today we are going to talk about toxics from an angle that we haven’t ever discussed on this show and I think most people aren’t discussing or even thinking. I know that I wasn’t even thinking in these terms until I read an article called ‘Get Mad When Folks Ask You to Be Scent-Free? Here Are 8 Things to Consider.’ This article was talking about how people should be considering other people’s needs as well as their own, particularly, other people’s needs to not be exposed to toxic chemicals.
There is a whole group of people who have multiple chemical sensitivities. Many years ago, I was in that group but I recovered from that. Those people are in the same kind of situation of not having access to public places as somebody who is in a wheelchair doesn’t have access to a building if there isn’t a ramp. The larger picture is, don’t all of us have the right to access a place that isn’t toxic?
We’re going to be talking about these questions and more as we look at toxics from the viewpoint of a right to access issue. My guest is the author of this article, Adrian Ballou. She is a writer, artist, activist and educator who focuses on advocacy around disability, justice and transgender rights.
Hi Adrian.
ADRIAN BALLOU: Hi. How is it going?
DEBRA: Good. How are you?
ADRIAN BALLOU: I’m doing well.
DEBRA: Good. How did you get interested in access rights?
ADRIAN BALLOU: A lot of my friends are involved in disability justice work and a whole variety of ways. I’ve had chemical sensitivities and fragrance sensitivities for a couple of years now. At one point, one of my friends pointed out to me that this actually is an access issue. It shifted my whole perspective thinking about disability, justice and access and helped me realized that there are different ways that people face a border in accessibility issues in our society. Limitations and privileges that people have might vary depending on different kinds of disabilities that they have.
This definitely falls into that category. It helps me change the community work I was doing and think about accessibility in a new way.
DEBRA: Yeah. After reading your article made me think about accessibility in a new way also. Many years ago, when I had limitations on environments that I could in because of my chemical sensitivities, I think I took the attitude that “Well, I’m not going to sit in my house. I need to figure out what I need to do so that I can safely go into those places.” I used to wear a raw silk scarf around my neck. A big, long, raw, silk scarf so that no matter where I was, I could put it over my nose and be able to breathe without so much exposure to the chemicals.
I wasn’t going into a lot of places where there were a lot of chemicals. It did limit my access. It limited what I could do. When I went to work, (I had to work in an office building) I took an air filter with me. I’m always trying to figure out. “How can I do that?” It comes down to nobody should be exposed to toxic chemicals.
ADRIAN BALLOU: Yeah, definitely not.
DEBRA: Everyone is being poisoned. There should actually be signs up saying “There’s poisons in this building.”
ADRIAN BALLOU: Yeah, for sure. Nobody should have to be exposed to. It’s really debilitating to folks who have higher sensitivity. I think it’s really important for people to be more aware of it.
I did a [inaudible 00:05:18] CPR online training recently. There is one slide that was about toxins in the air. Basically, it’s just talking about – maybe you’re working in a place that has exposed paint, [inaudible 00:05:34] or something like that. First aid scenario is somebody is getting really dizzy and out of it [inaudible 00:05:40], “Oh, make sure that you call 911. Be careful.” I was like, “Yeah.” but those symptoms that people experience from chemicals that folks do recognize, they are definitely toxic like [inaudible 00:05:51]. Folks that have multiple chemical sensitivities experience with stuff that other people necessary notice a reaction to even if that’s still hurting their health.
DEBRA: Right. That’s absolutely true. I would say though that what they should’ve said was if somebody (whether they have MCS or is just a person who doesn’t yet know that they’re sensitive to chemicals) is exhibiting symptoms in a situation where there’s fresh paint, the first thing, the number one thing you do in that situation is take them outside. Take them away from that toxic chemical. The number one rule with toxicology in Poison Control Center is you take the person away from the poison.
ADRIAN BALLOU: Yeah.
DEBRA: Maybe you should call 911 but you need to get the person out of the building first.
ADRIAN BALLOU: I think they did say that.
DEBRA: Okay.
ADRIAN BALLOU: I didn’t remember the whole slide. [inaudible 00:06:58]
DEBRA: I just wanted to make sure that our listeners know that if you see somebody is being made ill by a toxic chemical in a building, the first thing you should do is take them out of the building and then call 911 if they need more help.
ADRIAN BALLOU: Yeah.
DEBRA: It’s interesting to me that they’re talking about this because that shows that there’s more awareness and that it’s a problem.
ADRIAN BALLOU: Yeah, definitely. Especially in workplaces that people are exposed to chemicals on a part of their job. It comes up a lot I think. It comes up in so many different situations depending on what folks’ sensitivity level is. I know for me, it’s easy sometimes to switch either from self about writing about this and talking about this issue. It’s easy to believe what folks in general say around the chemical and fragrance sensitivity. “Oh, you’re just sensitive. It’s not that big of a deal.”
When I actually look at the issues that are involved and the barriers that folks with multiple chemical sensitivity are facing, it actually is a real problem. It’s just easy, I think, for people that, “Oh, I [inaudible 00:08:13] my deodorant matter.” The kind of cleaning solution I use not for somebody else but – some people get seizures even with multiple chemicals sensitivities. They can’t even leave their house. I know for myself it’s affected my workplace environment. When I was working in a school as [inaudible 00:08:36] perfume that was really difficult. It even affected my house [inaudible 00:08:41]. At one point, I had a landlord that sprayed her house with chemicals and I couldn’t live there anymore.
DEBRA: Yeah, that is a problem. I keep wanting to say that it’s a problem for everyone. It’s especially a problem for people with multiple chemical frvsensitivities but it really is a problem for everyone because everyone is being poisoned. That was a shift that I went through. I used to think that I was in this little isolated sub group of people who are particularly sensitive and that there was something wrong with me. What’s wrong is that we’re being exposed to poisons that are poisons to everyone on a daily basis. That’s the problem. It’s not that my body is saying “Wait. Don’t expose me to these toxic chemicals.” It’s that everybody else who isn’t having a symptom, they’re not aware that these poisons are there. Still these poisons are damaging to them. We shouldn’t be exposed to them.
We’re coming up on the break but I just want to say this before we go and then we’ll come back and talk more. I was thinking about the show, what we were going to talk about today. I realized that there’s an acknowledgement now of – cigarette smoke is not allowed in public buildings. It used to be that everybody was smoking. Nobody knows it caused cancer. Now they know it caused cancer so it became illegal to smoke in buildings. That’s only one toxic chemical. That’s only one pollutant. If people were to realize that perfume causes cancer, then we can have perfume not allowed in buildings too. We can just go down the list until we actually apply the same logic behind cigarette smoke to all toxics.
ADRIAN BALLOU: Yeah, definitely.
DEBRA: Wouldn’t that be great?
ADRIAN BALLOU: That would be really nice.
DEBRA: We need to go to break but we’ll be right back. You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd and my guest today is Adrian Ballou. She is the author of an article called ‘Get Mad When Folks Ask You to Be Scent-Free? Here Are 8 Things to Consider.’ If you go to ToxicFreeTalkRadio.com and look for this show, there’s a link to the article. You can see it right there or you can google it and take a look. We’re going to be talking about it when we come back. We’ll be right back.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. My guest today is Adrian Ballou, author of the article ‘Get Mad When Folks Ask You to Be Scent-Free? Here Are 8 Things to Consider.’ Adrian, what is the problem here? Why should people not be mad?
ADRIAN BALLOU: People can have whatever feeling they want to about anything I suppose. Ultimately, the issue here is that a lot of folks have really sensitivities to scents and chemicals. If people are asking you to be scent-free then they’re trying to be in a space where they can breathe. Or they’re trying to be in a space that won’t make them sick. A lot of times, people have reactions to chemical and fragrances that include vomiting and headaches, [inaudible 00:14:34] with breathing, hives, even seizures. It’s actually a very serious problem to people that have multiple chemical and fragrance sensitivities. As we were talking about in the earlier segment, these kind of chemicals and fragrances are toxins that do affect everyone but they affect some people to really extreme areas that they can’t even necessarily go to work or go out in public or even leave their houses.
DEBRA: Yes, that’s right. Okay. There’s eight things that you mentioned in the article so I just like us to take some time and go through those eight points because those are the points.
ADRIAN BALLOU: Yeah.
DEBRA: Yeah. So let me just start with the first one. I have the article in front of me, do you?
ADRIAN BALLOU: Yeah.
DEBRA: Okay. So start with the first one. ‘This Is for My Self-Expression’
ADRIAN BALLOU: Yeah. [inaudible 00:15:31] article, technically somebody who get a lot of work within the transgender community. Self expression is something that we have trouble accessing a lot of the time. I consider to get the conversation that I think it’s really important. It can be really charged depending on who you’re talking to. For some people, they think nail polish, hair styling products – for different persons, it’s a really important part of their identity. I’m not [inaudible 00:16:03] self-expression at all. It’s not my goal by having chemical or fragrant sensitivities. Whem
I’m asking folks to be scent-free or to not use chemicals in their environment, I’m actually expecting that I’ll be able to be around them.
There are a lot of alternatives that you can use instead of mainstream fragrance products. They may or may not work for everybody but I’d be one that’d be able to sit beside with people that maybe using these products. That’s why I’m asking them to make a change.
DEBRA: Well, I would say that I’m not trying to change anyone’s self-expression either. But I’m a person that everybody thinks should be able to express their selves. I love to be my own individual self and I want everyone else to be their own individual self too.
I think that a lot of times, people don’t realize the toxic effect that they’re having. I think it’s always a good idea to speak up and educate people in any situation whether it’s in a building or – a lot of people are concerned about scents in fabric softeners that people are using next door and down the street. A lot of times people just don’t know.
I remember years ago when cigarette smoking was banned in public places. Prior to that, I would ask people not to smoke. If they were courteous, they would say, “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that it bothered you.” and they would put out the cigarette. Most of the times I had no problems. Then I would run into somebody and they would say, “Rumble, rumble, rumble.” and they sneer at me and turn around and walk away. But I got rid of the cigarette.
ADRIAN BALLOU: Right.
DEBRA: I think it always pays to ask. I know for myself that my self-expression is to be toxic free. I think that it would be a good idea for many, many more people in the world. I think there are many people listening today. Well, that is our self expression. We have a right to have that in the world as much as they have a right to be toxic, I suppose.
ADRIAN BALLOU: Yeah. Ultimately, I want to be able to breathe when I’m in public. That must really be what the issue is here. If folks are going to use toxic self care, self-expression products, ideally folks should use when they’re at home. Especially nail polish can take even a couple of days to [inaudible 00:18:49] so you really can’t have a no scent base when wearing nail polish. That makes me really sad because even though I have chemical and fragrant sensitivity, I still like wearing nail polish sometimes. I think it’s awesome even though it’s toxic. At the same time, I want to be respectful of other folks that have even more intense sensitivities than I do. So when I go to public place, I make sure that I’m not wearing nail polish or that I’ve taken my nails a couple of days in advance.
DEBRA: That’s just such a refreshing thing to hear for me because even though I have the viewpoint and you have that viewpoint, many people are only thinking of themselves. They’re not thinking about the effect that they’re having on other people or the effect on the environment. I think, if everybody were to think, “How do my actions affect others?” that the world would be a very different place in a lot of ways.
ADRIAN BALLOU: Yeah, for sure. I think most people aren’t necessarily being selfish, they’re just not really aware. I think too in the past couple of decades, the second of 1900s, there’s been such an increase in fragrancy chemically products. It seems really natural but actually – it seems very normal that this is the state of affairs today, but it’s actually a pretty recent occurrence that there’s so much toxicity in the products that we’re buying and using. It seems normal to us these days but it actually isn’t.
DEBRA: That’s absolutely right. Many years ago, a man wanted to date me. I said, “I’d loved to go out with you but I can’t be around you because of the scented products you’re using.” I offered to give him some unscented products that he could use. If he was willing to use them I would go out with him. He said yes. So I put together a bag of soap, shaving cream, deodorant, and shampoo. It was unscented and he used them and we went out. We had a lovely relationship for two years. It always pays to let people know.
ADRIAN BALLOU:Yeah, it does. I think part of what’s hard is a lot of these personal care products are personal. You don’t necessarily want to go around telling people about their deodorant or their shampoo. It feels like personal invasion which are the reason for number two on my article about ruining someone’s personal space.
DEBRA: When we come back from the break, we’ll talk about ‘You’re ruining my personal space’.
ADRIAN BALLOU: Sounds good.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd and my guest today is Adrian Ballou. She is the author of an article we’re discussing called ‘Get Mad When Folks Ask You to Be Scent-Free? Here Are 8 Things to Consider.’ All of it has to do with access, people being allowed to go into a building without being poisoned. We’ll be right back.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd.My guest today is Adrian Ballou, author of the article ‘Get Mad When Folks Ask You to Be Scent-Free? Here Are 8 Things to Consider’ which is about access issues for the people who are sensitive to scents.
Adrian, before we go on to the next – ‘You’re Ruining My Personal Space’, that’s where we were on. Before we go on there, I want to ask you about something that you said in number one. I know that you work with social justice issues so I’m assuming that there’s a whole field of social justice that has its various viewpoints, terminology and things to apply to various different situations. One of those that you mentioned in the article is ableism.
On your website (which is AdrianBallou.com) you have a whole list of lectures that you give that have all these ‘isms’, ‘phobias’ and everything. I was just interested to know, what is ableism?
ADRIAN BALOU: That’s a really good question and definitely important to define for the show.
Ableism is basically a wonderful passion that affects people with disabilities. Just like people not just add on the same way but raises them as a passion that affects people of color or a sexism is a passion of affects people who aren’t men. Ableism is something that affects people with disabilities. It’s not the part where somebody might actually have a disability that’s necessarily the ableist but how society treats it. Very simple, it’s not ableist that somebody is in a wheelchair but it is ableist that somebody maybe can’t get into an event that doesn’t have enough space for their wheelchair to move around. It’s not ableist that somebody has sensitivities to chemicals but it is ableist if they can’t access a space that has chemicals in it. Does that make sense?
DEBRA: Alright! Yeah, I understand what you mean now by that. That makes sense because you’re looking at the degree of ability that somebody has and if there is disability, how is that disability respected.
ADRIAN BALOU: Right.
DEBRA: It gets down to we’re basically human beings and even if our bodies are disabled or our skin has a different color we’re still human beings.
We still have all the rights of human beings.
ADRIAN BALOU: Right. Exactly. Disability is also partly just kind of designed by society to a certain degree. Society has decided that there’s certain things they should and shouldn’t be able to do. People who can’t do those things are decided that they’re disabled. For example, if we don’t necessarily think those most people who use glasses as disabled because of their glasses but people who are wearing glasses use a device that helps them be able to see. In some ways it is a device that’s correcting a disability but it’s so common maybe we don’t necessarily see it as a disability.
DEBRA: It’s also less of a – I can see that there’s degrees of these because it’s much – you don’t have to build a ramp for somebody who wears glasses. It’s something that is more individual on something that – a person with glasses can go out in the world and nobody has to accommodate their glasses. With other disabilities, like somebody in a wheelchair, in order for them to get access then the building has to be constructed in a certain way.
ADRIAN BALOU: Right.
DEBRA: They have that right to that access just as everybody who’s sensitive to chemicals has the right to be in any building and they –
ADRIAN BALOU: Definitely. A lot of disability activist could say that – I think you hit the nail in the head in terms of why some things are seen as disabilities and some things aren’t. Is our society is built for some people over other people? If folks with wheelchairs had more power in our society, we automatically would have buildings set up for them to be able to get into them.
DEBRA: Right.
ADRIAN BALOU: I think that’s part of wider differences there. It’s probably just how society sees us. It seems like some needs are being really hard to accommodate or a burden to accommodate and other needs as [Inaudible 00:30:58.05]. Like everybody needs some kind of help sometimes.
Some help is seen as being related to disability and some help is seen completely normal.
DEBRA: That’s right! Another thing that you say that I think – you said it but I want to say it again because you have it here in the article. You say for the most part wearing perfume is something that’s best worn and used in the privacy of your own home. I totally agree with that because of the fact – what I’m about to say is something that I struggle with for a long time before I understood it. This is why I want to say it.
I used to want to have my own personal individual expression everywhere. If somebody didn’t like my personal expression, then they didn’t like me.
That was how I felt and I think a lot of people feel that way. They’re trying to be who they are in every situation. What I learned was that I am myself and at home, I can do whatever it is I want to do in the privacy of my own home. Including not to have toxic chemicals but when I go out in the world, then I’m part of a group. There’s a group, where group of human beings – we’re living all together and the ecosystem of the earth. Once you stepped out of your own private space, you need to consider everybody else that’s there and what is the good for everyone not just yourself. It’s at the same time we are both ourselves and we’re part of these groups.
ADRIAN BALOU: Definitely.
DEBRA: And that we need to act accordingly depending on the situation. I think that’s a really good thing that is not widely known in our society.
ADRIAN BALOU: Yeah. It can be really hard to not be able to express yourself in different ways. Obviously I have chemical and fragrance sensitivities. I don’t know how to use them, to put chemicals on my [00:33:01.14] self-expressions. [00:33:02.20] nail polish like what we’re talking about earlier. Sometimes I really want to wear really sparkling nail polish but that is not going to happen because I want to make sure I’m respecting other folks.
DEBRA: That’s the keyword I think, respecting other folks. I see all throughout this article that we’re discussing. That’s what I see. The thread of how can we respect other people instead of saying “Me, me, me, it’s all about me”. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be ourselves. We should be ourselves and we should respect other people.
ADRIAN BALOU: Yeah, definitely.
DEBRA: Okay, are we now on number two?
ADRIAN BALOU: Yes, I think we are.
DEBRA: We are not obviously going to get through the whole thing.
ADRIAN BALOU: No.
DEBRA: We’ll give the listeners a taste of what’s going on here and they can look up and read the rest. Number two is “You’re ruining my personal space”. Tell us about –
ADRIAN BALOU: Yeah. I think a lot of the numbers on this poster are really about people not understanding the severity of the impact that they have. I don’t think people would be saying that if they understood that actually these chemical is making it hard for somebody else to breathe. They say it can be hard to make that change but ultimately, folks with chemical and fragrance sensitivities are really struggling to have any personal space if they can’t be well in a space that has fragrances in it.
DEBRA: Yeah, that sounds so true. Another thing is that it’s not that there’s something – I’ll just say this again. It’s not that there’s something wrong with the person that they have chemical sensitivities. It’s that they’ve been exposed to ordinary everyday chemicals and they’ve been made sick from it and especially with fragrances. If they come to a person, it’s not that the person with the sensitivity doesn’t like that person. It’s not a personal thing at all. it’s just that the person who’s wearing a scent that is making them sick.
ADRIAN BALOU: Yes, exactly.
DEBRA: We have to take a break again. You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd and my guest is Adrian Balou and we’re talking about her article “Get Mad When Folks Ask You to Be Scent-Free? Here Are 8 Things to Consider” We’ll be right back.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. My guest today is Adrian Ballou, author of the article “Get Mad When Folks Ask You to Be Scent-Free? Here Are 8 Things to Consider”. You can just go to ToxicFreeTalkRadio.com, look for this show and there’ll be a link to that article or you can look it up in your favorite search engine.
Adrian, instead of talking about more points on the article, (we’re in the last segment now) I like to just talk about what things people can do to reduce their use of fragrances that might bother other people. In particular you have a link which I just was looking for and I’ve lost about how the meeting that’s fragrance free. So other people who can’t tolerate fragrances can come to have access to come to the meeting. Let’s talk about those things a little bit.
ADRIAN BALOU: Yeah, definitely. You can check out the article to see some really common products that can cause reaction to people with multiple chemical and fragrance sensitivities. I think the biggest thing to do is if you know somebody who has multiple chemical and fragrance sensitivities to check in with them and to ask them what they need from any given situation. Some people have higher sensitivities. Some people have less sensitivity. Try to figure out the best way to support what they’re asking you to do.
Sometimes, I for example experienced reaction to essential oils which other people think they’re like a natural scent and maybe nobody will have a reaction to it, but I react to it. Sometimes, other people will “Oh, I have a friend who doesn’t have that reaction at all. [00:40:39] chemical sensitivities. You’re probably making it up.” That obviously validates what people are saying to you and how to figure out a way to make it work for them.
When you’re going out in public really try to think about ways to reduce the chemicals or fragrances that you’re wearing or to stop wearing them entirely. I think those are two really huge ways to do that.
I guess one thing to do in terms of limiting chemicals and fragrances is – some people think that it’s only about wearing perfumes and cologne. They aren’t thinking about other fragrances that might be in the air or on their body. So they think, “Oh, I’m not wearing scented deodorant” maybe or “I’m not wearing perfume so it must be fine” In reality there’s so many things that can cause a reaction to people.
DEBRA: I just wanted to pin on that one because I have recently been in some public places where the problem really was the scent of the detergent on their clothes. It had nothing to do with wearing any kind of scented product. It was their clothes. You could smell it all the way across the room.
ADRIAN BALOU: It’s really hard to get scents out of clothes. It’s important to know that if you’re trying to be fragrant free for a public event or a conference that flow scent or scent free, you’re going to need to wash your clothes in advance but not just the unscented detergent. It’s best to add some baking soda into your clothes or into the washing machine because that’s really what’s going to help to reduce the odor but it’s still probably going to take a couple of washes for it to get entirely washed out. That’s a really big one people aren’t thinking about that much. Sometimes, I make over and stay at a friend’s house or my family who aren’t necessarily thinking about that. I [inaudible 00:42:33] sleep on the sheets and blanket they have there because they have scented detergents
DEBRA: Yeah. It’s really a problem. It’s the scent of the detergent It seems like it’s getting worse and worse.
ADRIAN BALOU: Yeah. It definitely is. It’s important to know too that if you’re trying to be in solidarity with folks with chemical and fragrant sensitivities on because it’s [00:42:55.27] to continually list all the things that could [inaudible 00:42:59] them and ask people whether they’re really fragrance free.
For me, I’m lucky enough that I can go out to a lot of place and not experience too much of a reaction so I don’t have to continually have this conversation. For folks who are more sensitive, it’s very exhausting to try to make that happen. I’ve noticed a lot of times, people are starting to become more aware of fragrance issue. They go put on their event description on facebook or something that you should not wear fragrances to this event but they don’t talk about what that actually means.
DEBRA: I think it’s important to talk about what that actually means. Otherwise, people will come in and it won’t really be a fragrance free event because they don’t understand all the possibilities. The groups that want to have fragrance free events should take the time to define what that means for them.
ADRIAN BALOU: Yeah, exactly. I can’t really go into all the products that can have fragrance sensitivities right now but I might just list some so people have an idea of how much to think about. We got air freshener. We got cigarette, marijuana smoke or other drug smoke, cleaning products, deodorants, essential oils, hair products, laundry detergents, drier sheets, fabric softeners, make up, nail polish, nail polish remover, (can be even worse sometimes) soap, aftershave, bubble solution, dish soap, incense, insect repellent, lotion, paint, perfume, obviously and cologne, scented candles, spray paint, sunscreen, varnish, those markers that are used in white boards, the permanent markers. There’s just so many other things that have scents and fragrances but those are really common products that cause reaction. I know that scented candles can be a big one. Sometimes people have them [inaudible 00:44:46] in their room or showing in the closet and they don’t have it lit but the scent is still really strong and causes a big reaction.
DEBRA: Yeah.
ADRIAN BALOU: Another really common things is if you’re out in public – I’m not so sensitive that I can’t use hand in soap bathroom and that kind of thing but some folks really are. A lot of soaps are extremely scented. Even the ones that are unscented can be bad for some people. So please make sure that you have unscented soap in your bathrooms at home, and at your job or school. That would be such a huge help.
DEBRA: I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear you saying all these things because it really is so unusual for anyone to be talking about these things in terms of being courteous for others in public places.
ADRIAN BALOU: It is. The other thing I would say – I know we don’t have a lot of time left but it’s really important. I know sometimes people really want to be scent free. I feel they’re shy or maybe a little bit ashamed if they aren’t sure that they’re entirely scent free. Or they’re not sure but they think that maybe they [inaudible 00:46:02] close enough. For somebody like me who has minimal sensitivity – maybe depending on what the scents are that that person is wearing. For other people close enough really isn’t enough. It’s just really important, if somebody is in the process or trying to become scent free to just be honest with the people around them about where they might be wearing scents for that person who has chemical/fragrance sensitivity can make a choice about what to do with their body.
Unfortunately, they may have a reaction right there. Some chemicals and fragrances, you can’t necessarily smell so you don’t necessarily notice right off the bat. You may have a reaction much later and you may not know where it’s coming from. It’s much more [inaudible 00:46:51]. So it’s really important to just be honest in that friend. Even if “I’m not really sure if it’s unscented or not. It has unscented but it had a weird smell.” That’s the other thing. Some products that say they’re unscented actually are still scented. I’m not really sure about that. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I went to a friend’s house and they have scented soap. I’m not sure what to do about it but I just wanted to let you know so that you can stay safe.” It’s ultimately a safety issue even to people that are less sensitive. They may not be thinking about it in those terms.
DEBRA: Yeah. Once, I had a situation where a friend got together with me at a time that we had determined we were going to get together. He was coming straight from getting a massage. The massage oil had scent in it. It’s was funny because he never is scented. Never never never is scented and here he walks in this scent all over his body.
ADRIAN BALOU: Right.
DEBRA: I said, “Oh my God. What did you just do?” He said, “Oh, it’s the massage oil.” He went straight to the bathroom and washed his body so that he would not be offending me with the odor. I think that that is how everyone should be. He’s an exceptional person. He’s very conscious of how he affects everybody in every way. I think that the more the society in general could think about the different ways that people might be affected by the toxic exposures that they produce, I think that would be an interesting thing.
ADRIAN BALOU: Yeah, it’s really important. Ultimately, it’s about everyone being able to consent to living in a world that is going to be safe and good for them.
DEBRA: Yes.
ADRIAN BALOU: I’m not going to tell other people what’s good for their bodies or what’s not. I can only really feel what’s good for mine. I know that this is something that’s going to create a space where more people can be and that’s really important. It’s also important to know that sometimes, there’s aroma therapy to there are other times where people use scents as part of [inaudible 00:49:13] for other disabilities they might have or for other parts of their mental health care. It’s not my goal to police anybody else’s needs. Sometimes people are addicted to cigarettes or maybe they just like smoking even if they aren’t addicted, I’m not here to judge any of that. Even if they just want to wear scents. It’s just folks who have chemical and fragrance sensitivity, we also need to be able to be in public places. That’s really important too.
DEBRA: It is. Both need to be important. The ideas to figure out how everyone can have what it is they need and all be happy, healthy and stay in life on earth.
Thank you so much. We’re at the end of the show. Again, my guest is Adrian Ballou. You can go to her website, AdrianBallou.com. You can go to ToxicFreeTalkRadio.com and get a link to her article that was the session today. you’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. Be well.
The Life-Giving Qualities of Linen and Other Natural and Not-So-Natural Fibers
My guest today is Melanie Ellison a young entrepreneur who established Life-giving Linen to provide affordable GOTS certified organic linen bedding and garments to individuals seeking better health. Today we’ll be talking about how different types of fibers can affect your health for better or for worse, and what you can do to incorporate the health benefits of natural fibers into your everyday life. Melanie has researched natural remedies all her life, so starting a business was a natural next step after learning about the linen frequency study. Based in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Life-giving Linen has happy customers in 50 states and 10 countries. Testimonies of improved quality of life are the heart throb motivation of the business. www.lifegivinglinen.com
TOXIC FREE TALK RADIO
The Life-Giving Qualities of Linen and Other Natural and Not-So-Natural Fibers
Host: Debra Lynn Dadd
Guest: Melanie Ellison
Date of Broadcast: November 10, 2015
DEBRA: Hi, I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. This is Toxic Free Talk Radio where we talk about how to thrive in a toxic world and live toxic-free.
It’s Tuesday, November 10th. It’s November 10th already. I looked at that and I went, “I can’t be November 10th. I thought it was November 1st.” It’s Thanksgiving and then it’s Christmas and then it’s going to be New Year. So we’re almost there. Wow! It went by so fast.
Anyway, it’s Tuesday, November 10th, 2015. I’m here in Clearwater, Florida and we’re having a lovely autumn day. We’re going to talk about a subject that is – well, there are times when I want to say, “This is a really interesting subject,” but all of the subjects are really interesting. This one is unique. This is more unique than what we usually talk about.
We’re going to be talking about fabrics – fibers, natural fibers and other kinds of fibers – and specifically, how they can contribute or not contribute to our healthy. This is a subject that when I read this website, I went, “Oh, I understand this.”
One of the first things that I ever said about natural fibers was my body feels better when I wear them. What you’re going to hear today kind of explains that. I notice that the highest ranking fibers in terms of health benefits are the fibers that are my favorite fibers.
So anyway, my guest today is Melanie Ellison. She’s a young entrepreneur who established a business called Life-Giving Linen in order to provide affordable GOTS-certified organic linen bedding and garments and other miscellaneous products to individuals seeking better health.
Hi Melanie!
MELANIE ELLISON: Thank you for having me.
DEBRA: Thank you for being here. So, one of the things that I find most interesting is people who do something so completely different that the idea came from within themselves because nobody else is doing it. So, obviously, you’re one of these people where you’re doing something so different.
So how did this come to happen, you doing what you’re doing?
MELANIE ELLISON: Well, all throughout my life, we have found as a family that there are many more solutions going the natural route and from allopathic medicine. For instance, you can have $2000 of blood work done and come out of there and they’d say that you’re fine and you just don’t know that there’s something wrong. You just don’t feel up to snuff.
And so we’ve been excited to find that there are natural solutions that go on a deeper level than allopathic medicine would find. They’re great for acute conditions and emergencies, but some of the chronic things can be better treated and avoided doing natural means.
So that was the foundation that went into when I heard about the linen frequency study five years ago – I’ll just explain that real quick here. It’s an explaining study where Dr. Heidi Yellen (she’s a Jewish doctor and she performed the study) and she found that everything has a frequency.
DEBRA: So what does that mean, everything has a frequency? We might as well talk about this now.
MELANIE ELLISON: We might as well. They used a farmer’s device where he measures the frequency of crops to know when they are at their ideal stage to harvest. And so that is the same device they used to measure the fabrics.
So according to the study, the signature frequency of the human body is a hundred. Polyester and silk are down at 15 like a nearly dead person. The lower the number, the more it puts a strain on the body. Cotton is about 40-70. And if it’s organic, then it’s a hundred. So it’s neutral. But the exciting thing about linen is it’s a supercharged frequency of 5000 units. So it gives the body extra energy to heal and just to have a better quality of life.
So I was really excited to learn about this study. And regardless whether or not the listeners believe in frequencies and that kind of thing, linen is one of the most ancient fabrics. Throughout the Bible, we read about linen all the time. Every time an angel is mentioned, they’re just in linen. And then, the [inaudible 00:05:39] is wrapped in linen’s swaddling cloth and He was buried in a linen clothing. And the priests in the temple and the tabernacle were, which was interesting because it’s an antibacterial fabric, so it would’ve protected them from all the dead animals and the blood around them and all that.
And also, Alexander the Great, he had something called linothorax as an armor. So it’s an ancient fabric and it survived through the course of time.
It’s a wonderful fabric.
DEBRA: It is interesting how ancient some of these things are. When we just look around in the modern world today, we’re surrounded with things that are both ancient and modern. And unless we study a little bit, we don’t really know which is which. And linen is one of those things that is probably one of the first fabrics.
MELANIE ELLISON: Yes, I believe so, along with wool probably.
DEBRA: Probably older than wool.
MELANIE ELLISON: Yeah. And the interesting thing is that linen is made from flax. A lot of people don’t know that right off. But if you think about it, you eat flax seeds and they lower your cholesterol and they’re great to your health. But we don’t so much eat cotton foods.
DEBRA: But we do, we do. We eat cottonseed oil.
MELANIE ELLISON: Yes, and it’s not the best for our health.
DEBRA: It’s used in junk food.
MELANIE ELLISON: Yeah, exactly.
DEBRA: Yeah.
MELANIE ELLISON: So it would make sense that a fabric made out of plants that the seeds are good for us would also be good for us.
DEBRA: It seems like talking on a frequency level that (and you can correct me if I’m wrong) everything has its own frequency. That’s one of the things that they’re finding from the study.
MELANIE ELLISON: Yes, everything living.
DEBRA: Everything living has its own frequency. And things that aren’t living don’t have frequencies at all. The frequency is measuring, we could say ‘life force’ for lack of a better term.
MELANIE ELLISON: And it’s a very scientific thing. It’s not a New Age type of thing. It can be measured scientifically [inaudible 00:07:45] listeners.
DEBRA: Yeah, thank you. Because I know this is something different. We talk about toxic chemicals in terms of man-made industrial chemicals. But to me, all these other things also can be toxic. They can also affect our health in negative ways and positive ways. So it’s not just toxic chemicals that are manmade. I think what we’re going to find here, as we’ve already said, the man-made fibers are practically dead.
MELANIE ELLISON: And not only that, but they put a drain on the human body.
DEBRA: Right, right. That’s another way to be toxic.
But I was trying to get to explain in all this was I think the way it works is that every living thing or type of thing has its own frequency. Linen would be different from cotton would be different from pine trees would be different from human bodies. And some of them are more frequency-compatible than other ones.
MELANIE ELLISON: Yes. And it’s also interesting to note that there are available health benefits from linens. For instance, it’s used for internal sutures because the body accepts it. And then in another case, Japanese hospital use it for linen sheets because they found that their patients don’t have bedsores when they sleep in linen.
And also, it’s antibacterial. It’s hypoallergenic. That’s recommend for sensitive skin. For people who can’t handle other fabrics, they’re often just [inaudible 00:09:24] linen. It doesn’t accumulate static electricity. It causes 1.5 times less perspiration than cotton. And it’s also effective in reducing fevers and inflammation.
So it has all these observable health benefits that people have written about in testimonials and things like that that confirm the frequencies.
DEBRA: Wow! I can’t even express what I’m feeling right now. It always amazes me how nature can be healing and how, if we do the natural thing, then our bodies are supported, greatly supported by natural materials whether they’re foods or fibers or whatever it is, just being out in nature.
And what we do in our culture is that we do exactly the opposite. We don’t respect nature. And instead, we [inaudible 00:10:24] man-made things because it costs less or it’s more abundant or whatever it is. We just ignore all the good things that nature is giving us and then wear dead clothes and things like that – eat dead food, wear dead clothes.
MELANIE ELLISON: Right! And I also find it interesting that science confirm the Bible on this, things we read and we think, “That’s an interesting story” or whatever. But the science, again, confirm that there’s a reason behind the Creator something for our benefit.
DEBRA: I have to interrupt because we need to go to break. And we’re supposed to be hearing a little music and I don’t. So we’re going to go to break anyway.
This is Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. My guest today is Melanie Ellison. We’re talking about the life-giving qualities of linen. We’ll be right back.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. My guest today is Melanie Ellison. She is the founder, entrepreneur founder of Life-Giving Linen at the LifeGivingLinen.com. She’s got a lot of information that she’d like to share with us about linen.
So Melanie, you talk for a bit.
MELANIE ELLISON: Okay! Sounds good. Well, let’s go in a little bit more to the fact that you were talking about other fabrics other than linen being not as good for us. A lot of people know already that polyester is not the best for us and have gotten rid of polyester out of their closet. That’s actually where I recommend starting. Just go through your closet and get rid of the synthetic materials. That’s a good start.
DEBRA: I recommend that too. That’s the first that I did. What I’m seeing here is that you and I have a parallel. It’s all parallel because if I’m approaching it from a toxic chemicals viewpoint, I’m going to say, “Get rid of all your synthetics,” and you’re talking about it from your health-giving perspective and you’re saying, “Get rid of the synthetics.”
And I know the first thing that I did when I wanted to remove toxic chemicals was get all my synthetic things out of the closet.
MELANIE ELLISON: Yes. Then you’re usually left with cotton, which a lot of us thought is as good as they can get. But what we’re finding now is that much of our modern-day cotton is genetically modified. So eventually, you want to gradually switch over to some linen in place of your cotton.
I would at least recommend using linen undergarments (everything that’s touching your body) and then, also, bedding because that is where you’re spending many hours of your day and it’s an easy way to just change the sheets and the pillowcases over to linen.
But I want to go in a little bit more to these genetically modified things in the specific category of feminine products. And guys, don’t tune out here because you all have a mother, a sister, a wife or some woman in your life who needs to hear this information.
So what we are finding is that the plastic in feminine products increases women’s estrogen which actually causes them to bleed more, so that they buy more of these disposable products.
DEBRA: Oh, that’s horrible!
MELANIE ELLISON: Isn’t that horrible? Yeah! And when I first heard that, I thought, “Well, there’s no way.” But then I started hearing it from women after women that when they switched over to a more natural, reusable type of feminine products, that their periods were shorter and lighter flow and less cramping. So the disposable feminine products, they’re also made chemicals that have dioxins in them which is a cancer-causing agent.
And there was actually an article written posted on the 22nd of October, just recently, here in NaturalNews.com. I’m going to quote it here because it’s so good to know this information. The article said:
“Monsanto’s toxic herbicide has been found in 80% of feminine hygiene products. It is a chemical found in RoundUph herbicide used on genetically-modified cotton crops. Glyphosates,” that’s the name of the chemical, “Is a known cancer-causing chemical. The World’s Health Organization has classified it as ‘probably carcinogenic’ and many other studies clearly link it to an endocrine disruption process that leads to cancer.”
So it was just through knowing some of these information and then also through my own struggles with yeast infection that I created the Linen Pleasant Pads. Many of my friends switched over and they started just reporting an incredible change in their quality of life and their time of month.
It’s just going much easier and less cramping. And so I’m really excited about that.
And again, you can read more about this on my website, LifeGivingLinen.com about the specifics.
DEBRA: I totally agree with you about this. I mean, I no longer need that product being the age that I’m at at this moment, but that was one of the first things to go for me when I started living in a non-toxic way. I just used cotton. And nobody was even making them then, these pads. And so I just started ripping up cotton, flannel sheets and making my own because it just didn’t make sense to me to be using all those chemicals.
MELANIE ELLISON: And linen takes it one step further because linen is antibacterial. And also, it’s stain-resistant, so it’s the perfect fabric.
DEBRA: Yes, yes. I agree with you. That’s great. That’s great.
MELANIE ELLISON: And a lot of women don’t know that they even have options as far as alternative menstrual products. But it’s exciting to research and to see the testimonials of changes lives in that regard.
DEBRA: Well, because I know that there are several different options for women besides using the standard products, but I do see what you’re saying about why linen is the best alternative just from its health-giving characteristics.
MELANIE ELLISON: And for the men too with yeast infections, we do offer linen underwear for both men and women and that can be helpful as well. So it’s not just a women’s site here.
DEBRA: Good! Alright! So, we just have a couple of minutes before we need to go to break again. So where would you like to go from here?
MELANIE ELLISON: Well, I’d like share some testimonials. We have customers in 50 states at 10 countries who have been benefited through the health benefits of linens. I don’t know if we have time to share one of those now.
DEBRA: Why don’t you share one of those now?
MELANIE ELLISON: Okay! Here’s from a lady named Darlene Myrn. She was in Colorado and she said:
“I had an unfortunate injury last year which resulted in a severe, enlarged rotator cuff tear. The end result was surgery. I could not sleep well for months on end before and especially after the surgery. I would lie awake all through the night. I had to discontinue the pain pills because they made me sick and nauseous.
During this time , a co-worker told me about Life Giving Linen, its healing properties and how it might help. So I tried linen bedding – first the pillowcase and then I ordered a sheet set.
I fell in love since to my surprise and delight, my pain decreased and I slept better. To this day, they are the only sheets that I sleep in.”
So it’s interesting to me that the healing benefits of linen are actually causing a reduction in pain. For a lot of people, it’s chronic pain. We see this time and again.
DEBRA: I think that that is very interesting. I’ve been sleeping on your pillowcases. Melanie sent me one, listeners and I’ve been sleeping on it for about a week. It just feels very calming.
I guess the first time that I ever saw a big sheet of linen that I was around, I saw it in a store, it was purple linen. I just wanted to wrap it all around my body and never take it off. And that was just the feeling that I had from it.
I think I need to get myself a set of linen sheets because I’ve been wanting linen sheets for about 35 years. And now, you’re explaining why. The pillowcase just kind of clinched the deal for me.
We’re going to go to break. But when we come back, we’ll talk more with Melanie Ellison about the life-giving benefits of linen. You can go to her website, LifeGivingLinen.com and there’s a lot of information to read there. We’ll be right back.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. My guest today is Melanie Ellison. She’s established Life Giving Linen to provide affordable, GOTS-certified organic linen bedding and garments and other miscellaneous things to people who are interested in improving their health.
So Melanie, I want to talk about linen itself and the different kinds of linen fabrics that are available. You have a very special linen fabric. You can’t just go down to a fabric store and buy what you have, what you’re oferring. So tell us, first of all, does it have to be organic linen?
MELANIE ELLISON: Any linen is going to be better off for you than the other fabrics. But for those who have health issues and who really want the ultimate as far as having health improvements, I recommend unbleached, undyed. Bleach and dyes are also toxic chemicals. And also, the organic means that it is grown without pesticides. Basically, you’re getting the ultimate as far as health benefits. You’re getting the linen frequencies plus also, not adding any toxins on top of that.
So my fabric are all of those. It’s unbleached, undyed, organic. That’s what we make all of our products out of. It’s a lovely off-white. And it’s…
DEBRA: Yeah, I wanted to ask you. How come it’s white and not what I think is natural linen color?
MELANIE ELLISON: Yes. It does go through a natural hydrogen peroxide whitening treatment, but it’s not bleach. So a lot of people who are coming from regular white sheets, they still want kind of that look of the off-white. They may not be ready to plunge into the flax color.
DEBRA: So is everything that is off-white, everything that you sell, is it that same, off-white fabric?
MELANIE ELLISON: Yes.
DEBRA: So are you going to be offering just the regular linen color too?
MELANIE ELLISON: No, because this is the only organics that I have been able to find. So that’s really important to us to keep the quality up.
DEBRA: And also, your fabric is GOTS-certified. So would you explain to us what that means?
MELANIE ELLISON: Yes. And you have a wonderful archived show on your site that I actually listened to you this week explaining the GOTS process of how it goes through certification. So for any listeners who are curious and going in-depth on that, you have your archived show on that.
But it’s certified through the whole process of manufacturing to be according to the international standards.
DEBRA: And I want to clarify this just because this is an important point for listeners. You are using a GOTS-certified fabric but you, yourself, are not a GOTS-certified business. So that’s not a criticism of you. I just want to point out that a lot of times people are confusing, different businesses are confusing about the difference between the fact that they are using a GOTS-certified material and that they’ll say something like, “They have GOTS-certified products” in some confusing way, but the product itself is not GOTS-certified. So GOTS hasn’t come and inspected you. That doesn’t mean that you’re not making your products in a way that GOTS would approve of.
MELANIE ELLISON: But we do no dying or anything like that that could [inaudible 00:30:23] the organic quality.
DEBRA: Yeah! Yeah, yeah. I mean, you obviously understand the issues and obviously are wanting to make it as humanly possible as natural as possible.
MELANIE ELLISON: I want to share one more story if I may. And this is my story of coming into actually believing in linen. I heard about it and thought, “I don’t know about this…”
DEBRA: Yeah, that was what I asked you at the beginning, but we got off track.
MELANIE ELLISON: Yes, it’s interesting. So I started sleeping on linen sheets – but let me back up. Before that…
DEBRA: But why? How did you get from the toxic world into linen sheets?
MELANIE ELLISON: Oh, I heard the linen study. And that was what made me want to try it out. But I grew up as a concert cellist and I’m really goal-oriented and I thought of that as a good thing. But at this music camp, I ended up practicing six hours a day some really intense music and I ended up being in severe pain.
So for 18 months, I tried 20 different therapies. I couldn’t drive. I couldn’t open the freezer to get the ice out. I was in severe pain. Nothing was working for me, acupunture, physical therapy, chiropractic. Nothing was working.
And at that same time, I switched to sleeping on linen sheets just for the general house benefit. I wasn’t expecting anything at all. I was at a convention at this point and the day before switching to the linen sheets, I had tried to take notes all day and I was in pain and I couldn’t write. That night, I slept on linen sheets and then the next day, I was taking notes hour after hour and there was no pain at all. I thought, “What is the only thing that I’ve changed?” And it was sleeping on the linen sheets.
So that made a believer out of me because I was not expecting anything to change. And that changed my health journey with my arm.
DEBRA: Wow! Wow! As you’re saying this, I’m thinking there are so many things that I’ve done to help my health. I’m so much healthier than I’ve been probably most other times in my life. Most people says, “I’m getting older, but my body is getting heavier.” And I don’t look anywhere near my age and yet there are still things that I’d like to improve about my body. So I’m moving now from functional to optimum.
And so I’m just thinking about if I were to sleep in this life-giving cocoon of linen every night, how much would that help my body? Oh, my God! Just doing that one thing.
MELANIE ELLISON: Yeah, everybody’s story is different. It’s interesting to see how everybody’s bodies respond differently. But there seems to be a confirmed thing that many people have experienced with chronic pain being reduced or totally healed. So that’s exciting to me.
DEBRA: That’s exciting to me too.
So we have another minute or so, about one minute until the break, so why don’t you read another testimonial?
MELANIE ELLISON: Another one of the ones that I have is that a lot of my customers experience poor sleep. This woman was no exception and she said she had a “lifetime of poor sleep. It started in childhood before I even had a word to put to what was wrong. A noise, a flicker of lights from the TV in the living room, a breeze all conspired to keep me awake.
I can say I knew that every hour of the night was passing as the years went by.” She tried drinking milk before bedtime, even sleeping pills until she found out about Life-Giving Linen. So she tried to purchase. She said:
“I didn’t quite believe they would make any difference at all. But I bought a set of linen pillowcases and put them on my pillows right away. Then I walked away and forgot about them until the next morning. At 5 a.m., I opened my eyes and thought, ‘What? What happened to the night? Where did it go? Did I really sleep through the night?’ Yes, I had. I slept through the night. And then, I remembered the linen pillowcases. I’m sure that’s what did the trick.”
So people are finding that they sleep deeper as well with linen.
DEBRA: Yeah, yeah. Okay! We’re going to go to break. You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. My guest today is Melanie Ellison who has put all these information together about linen and has taken it upon herself to provide us with wonderful products made from the best and purest linen possible, the most life-giving linen that there is on the planet. And so you can go see her website at LifeGivingLinen.com.
We’ll be right back.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. My guest today is Melanie Ellison and we’re talking about the life-giving properties of linen.
Melanie, I just realized during the break that when I had my sofa recovered (actually, this was maybe 20 years ago now), and I didn’t want a toxic sofa, I actually got a very old sofa, ripped everything off, so I only just had a frame and then I had an upholsterer kind of rebuild the cushions and stuff. It’s all covered with 100% linen in this beautiful plaid fabric.
MELANIE ELLISON: Oh, how wonderful!
DEBRA: It’s 20 years old and the fabric, it’s brand new. It lasts so long and it feels so comfortable. And again, it’s like I’ve always gravitated to linen.
And I was just thinking also during the break that I had a bit of an epiphany over the weekend about how I want to dress. I think that early in my life,
I was very fashion-oriented because our culture is fashion-oriented, so I was raised to be fashion-oriented and my mother was fashion-oriented. And as I went through life, I became less fashion-oriented because I didn’t want to be wearing all those plastics, the polyester and all the finishes and everything.
And so as I looked for natural fibers, I made the switch to natural fibers, but I was still looking at my natural fibers like with this fashion eye. How could I get something that look like fashion made out of natural clothes?
And so that kind of went away, but I can see where I still – all of a sudden, I saw where I’m still thinking that way. And what I wanted, all of a sudden, was just to have very plain clothes.
There was a period in my life where I had these cotton pants and shirts from India. They were just very, very plain. And I had them in every color. I could buy these sets at the [inaudible 00:41:02] flea market. They were really baggy. But I had to own every color, so whatever color of the rainbow I felt like wearing that day, I could.
But what I was feeling was I just wanted to have beautifully draped clothes that were very simple – and solid color – which I mostly have now anyway. I buy like 10 tops and capri pants and stuff. I just wanted to have like linen clothing that I’d love to just have a set of linen clothing in our basic colors and then wear beautiful scarves and beautiful necklaces and have the accessories make the look, but that I have flowing linen clothing next to my body all the time.
MELANIE ELLISON: And next to your body parts, that’s the key. And that’s what I recommend to people in colder climates (like I am up here in Colorado), just making sure that you have a layer of linen next to your skin, that’s the most important, the underwear and then the bedding. You can do your [inaudible 00:42:13] that way and still have pretty clothes on the outside if you’re not quite to the point where you are, Debra.
DEBRA: It is a process. It’s a proces to go through these stuff. And I was even thinking, I have on my bed cotton, flannel sheets, but one of the things that I like is the “fashion” of them. And as I go through the year, in the spring, I have flowered sheets. And then in the winter, I have plaid sheets, all these. I have a certain aesthetic joy out of doing that.
But I went through a shift during the break where, “Well, okay, good. But there’s cottons and there’s dyes. And even though it’s not toxic on my user end, it’s GMO cotton and all these stuff.” I just really thought about taking all the sheets away and just getting a set of white, linen sheet and that would just be my sheets. The thought of that, it’s like my whole body relaxed. Just the thought of it, my whole body relaxed because it’s the optimum environment for sleep and it’s based on, “How can I get my body what it needs rather than what color are the sheets?”
MELANIE ELLISON: Yes. And I think with all natural health remedies, you go through a switch. Whether it’s eating more healthy when you’re craving delicacies and the things that make you feel bad, you go through a switch of wanting to feel good more than wanting something that tastes good or look pretty. And I think once you experience that, that’s what really makes the change. You have to experience it. And then you’re sold.
DEBRA: It is! And it’s also like a step towards nature, which is really important to me, that I went through a whole thing of moving out of consumerism into viewing myself as being of nature.
And so then I wanted to do what nature does. The more that I live that way, the more I keep peeling away the industrialism and eat natural foods and wear natural fibers and use natural things on my body and see howi it can fit into my ecosystem, then the healthier I get and the happier I get and the more relaxed I get.
So here, I live in Florida, so linen is my ideal bioregional…
MELANIE ELLISON: It is! It’s perfect.
DEBRA: That’s what people historically have worn in hot climates – linen, linen, linen, linen.
MELANIE ELLISON: Yes, it causes less perspiration than cotton even.
And I just want to talk a little bit about the production side of thing since you’re mentioning consumers. All of our Life-Giving Linen products are made individually. In the U.S.A. here (and it’s often the GOTS-certified organic linen), we try to have high quality and then also undercut cost of competitors to make them as affordable as we can. The sheets are an investment. But for those who are starting out with a pillowcase, that’s the most affordable organic linen pillowcase that you can find. They’re on our website.
And then, also, with the feminine products, you actually save quite a bit of money by using a washable product.
So our goal is to individually make here in the U.S.A. high quality and affordable.
DEBRA: Well, you’re doing an excellent job. And I can tell. I mean, one of the other things, one of those intangible things that I know people can feel is that when something is made with a caring viewpoint, that you feel that in the product. The bed that I sleep on, it’s from Shepherd’s Dream in California. Where I got it at the time, I could go visit the sheep. I have slept in the showroom and their workroom where they make the mattresses.
MELANIE ELLISON: Wow!
DEBRA: And so when I have this bed, I think about, “Talk about counting sheep.” I really know where those sheeps were. I knew where in the world they came from. I knew the women who were sewing it. It’sj ust such a different thing to have a hand-made thing like that with a caring person rather than having something made on an assembly by a factory.
MELANIE ELLISON: Yes! I so agree. We seamstresses love to know about who we’re sewing for and [inaudible 00:46:49] what the linen might help them with with their health. And even for people who don’t have health issues, it helps with deeper sleep and just a better quality of life even if you don’t feel it directly. Some people aren’t as sensitive, but it’s still better.
DEBRA: Well, I’m so glad that you came across the study and that you put together a business. So this is just giving us another layer of understand of how we can help our health. I’m just so pleased that you’re doing what you’re doing and that you came to be on the show today.
MELANIE ELLISON: Thank you.
DEBRA: So we have just a few minutes left, about two minutes. Is there anything you’d like to say in closing?
MELANIE ELLISON: I’d just like to encourage people to not get overwhelmed, not think that you have to go out and get a whole new closet overnight. A good idea of how to change over is just one item at a time. So, you find a white linen shirt or something, then change out the white cotton shirts, get rid of that one. So just one at a time to veer north. Switch over and start with the pillowcases. That’s the easiest way.
So I just encourage you to take one step at a time and not feel overwhelmed about having to do everything at once.
DEBRA: Let me just ask you very briefly because we do only have about a minute left. What about ironing because I know that’s the first thing that comes to my mind. It’s like, “You have to iron everything that’s linen?” Do you really have to iron it?
MELANIE ELLISON: A good answer is line drying helps a lot with that. The weight of the fabric pulls out some of the wrinkles. And for things like your undergarments or your bedding, you don’t really care as much if they’re really wrinkly, so…
DEBRA: No. But I know I have a pile of linen shirts sitting on a chair waiting for me to iron them. I think that that just needs to become part of my life, to iron my linen shirts.
MELANIE ELLISON: The other easy thing to do is to spray them with a spray bottle as they’re hanging on a hanger. And again, the weight pulls out the wrinkle.
DEBRA: Oh! Good, good. That’s good to know. Good, good. Okay, so we still have a minute left, so…
MELANIE ELLISON: For those who are interested in reading the details of the scientific linen study, that is also on my website, LifeGivingLinen.com. I got in touch with the doctor who did this study. I wanted to found out more details and I published them there on my website for those who want to read more about how that actually took place.
DEBRA: Good! And it’s very interesting. I read it! Yeah, I guess the last thought that I would like to leave people with is just really, it made an impression on me to read this study and see what a low frequency the synthetics fibers have and the different frequencies of the natural fibers and that it does make a difference to us. It just added another layer of understand for me and a confirmation of seeing, once again, in another way, how synthetic things, toxic things, petrochemical things are sapping life away from our bodies rather than contributing to it.
So once again, thank you so much. You can go to Melanie’s website at LifeGivingLinen.com. You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. Be well!
Earthpaint
Created by a professional painter who was poisoned by the paints and wood finishes he was told were safe, Earthpaint has a deep commitment to making safe paints and finishes. “Our biodegradable paint and wood finish contain non-toxic and natural ingredients derived from plants, vegetables, trees, minerals and elements. Nearly all of these finishing components are gathered locally (within a day’s drive of Asheville, NC) and are domestically produced and harvested… Earthpaint will not poison the earth for profit and that is our promise. You get long lasting finishes without the poison. Locally sourced and manufactured our finishes have the lowest ecological footprint possible. We demand long life cycle and sustainability, from manufacture to landfill. Most of our products can be grown back, forever! We do not use vinyl, mineral spirits or any other toxic petrochemical. ”
The Woodshaper Shop of Maine
“Where wood is shaped into treasured creations for the home and garden.” Their “refined rustic furniture” for the garden is durable and affordable, made of “native white cedar and are true Maine Made quality.” Their classic wooden toys give a creative alternative to video games. “Made of pine and finished with a beeswax and citrus sealer, Woodshaper Shop toys are safe and durable.”
Highland Organics
Organic Wild Maine Blueberries made into unique products. Their “Blueberry Barque” is “the sweet blueberry fruit harvested at the peak of summer and dehydrated into a yummy blueberry chip.” No sweeteners, sulfites or preservatives. Pureed and dehydrated blueberries are also made into sprinkles and placed into steeping bags to make a blueberry drink. And blueberry leaf tea. Now if you are wondering how blueberries can be both “wild” and “organic”…They are certified organic, but the blueberry bushes are not planted. The plants are wild and the farmer “clears the forest” around them, bringing more light and air and pollination. It’s that cleared space around the plants that is maintained as the “field” and is certified organic because it meets organic requirements.
Mercury Glass
Question from Stacey
Hi Debra,
I was shopping at Pottery Barn and noticed that they have many decorative items made of “mercury glass.” One mercury glass item has an “antiqued silver finish,” and another item states that it is made with a “silver nitrate finish.” Would you say these items are safe?
Thank you!
Debra’s Answer
This brings up something we always need to keep in mind when evaluating toxics: exposure.
I don’t know which items you are considering purchasing, but I took a look and chose a few to analyze.
The description says “blown-glass shapes with antique mercury finish. The mercury glass trees say “Hollow glass tree is mouth blown and has a mercury-glass finish on its interior.”
So it appears that the finish, whatever it is, is on the inside and you would be exposed to the outside glass, so even if it was toxic mercury, you wouldn’t be exposed to it.
However, mercury glass isn’t mercury at all, it’s simply silver applied to glass, in the same way that mirrors are made. At one time in the very distant past, mercury was used for this purpose, hence the name “mercury glass.” But today silver is used instead. You would have to search for an antique piece for it to be mercury.
I don’t see any harm in these decorations, and they would not outgas anything harmful into the air.
De-Cat Apartment
Question from Corrina
Hi Debra,
We have tenants who are the most wonderful people and would be so disappointed if they had to move. One of them has a cat allergy. The previous tenant had a cat and we have a cat in our apartment dowstairs. All summer he had no symptoms even when the AC was on and windows were closed. Once the heat came up he had significant sneezing, congestion, wheezing, and headaches. Each apartmentapartment has it’s own hot water heat system however they connect to the same furnace in the basement. What can we do to decrease his symptoms and why are they coming out now?
Debra’s Answer
If you have hot water heat then the furnace should only be producing hot water to send up to the radiators. There shouldn’t be any transfer of air between units because of that. It would be more likely with the AC.
I don’t know why they are coming out now.
Readers, any suggestions for how he can control his cat allergy?
One thing I can tell you is if he is being exposed to any toxic chemicals, they can be overwhelming his immune system, making his allergies worse. Over and over I’ve seen allergies disappear when people remove toxic chemicals from their homes.