Question from Elaine

Hi Debra, I have your Toxic Free book and have been using your site the past 4 months and totally redoing everything I have ever done or used to try and heal my MCS body! So thankful as I never would have known what was wrong with me without stumbling onto your site.

We wanted to move to a less toxic home…unfortunately I think we may have to stay in our 1994 home which even though isnt very new u know has nothing natural in it.

I am clueless as which project to start with. What do I do with this drywall? I was thinking of sealing with AFM safeseal. Do I take out and replace linoleum first or the carpet? I am replacing with ceramic and REAL wood for flooring.

Basically what is the biggest mass of synthetic junk I need to focus on removing first??

Thank you!

Debra’s Answer

Can you do both at the same time? It’s kind of a toss-up as to which is more toxic.

I’m not sure you need to do anything with the drywall. It depends on the drywall. I’ve never had any problem with drywall, but some drywall can contain toxic substances. AFM Safeseal would seal it, if it needs sealing.

Other “big” items would be your sofa and getting a water filter.

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Question from Bonnie Gary

Hello,

I recently bought some towels at a garage sale and just today noticed that one has a Martha Stewart label and says “Anti-Microbial Treatment”. I assumed this meant triclosan and was about to throw it and any others like it in the trash when I decided to check www.marthastewart.com, and I find various articles on the site about green living, including warnings against using triclosan. Do you think it’s possible some more natural anti-microbial was used on this line of towels?

Debra’s Answer

Well, the antimicrobial used on towels IS triclosan.

Martha may have discontinued this item, as it seems to be out of stock at Macy’s.

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Question from Bonnie Johnson

What is the best way to go about shampooing house rugs?

What type of products would you recommend utilizing to clean house carpet?

Debra’s Answer

Well, first, I don’t recommend carpet because it’s too toxic.

But if you have one and need to clean it, I recommend just steam cleaning it with a Rug Doctor steam cleaner, which you can rent. Just steam clean it, no rug shampoo.

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Question from Bonnie Annette

Hi Debra,

Would you know of any hair straighteners that are non toxic for people with MCS? Thank you

Debra’s Answer

I don’t know of any.

Readers? Any recommendations?

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Question from Bonnie Erik

Hi Debra,

I am a longtime follower & have had wonderful & informative consultations with you in the past.

I love to eat sardines- can you please tell me if the aluminum from the BPA free can could leach into the fish. Of course I would not buy it in acidic tomato sauce- only olive oil or water.

Thank you very much

Debra’s Answer

Well, the consensus seems to be that aluminum does not leach into sardines, but I’m not sure I agree.

If aluminum leaches into food from aluminum pots and pans, and aluminum foil, it would also leach from an aluminum can, particularly if there is no lining on the inside of the can, which seems to be the case.

Here’s an article from one of my favorite trusted websites The World’s Healthiest Foods. According to Is it Safe to Eat Fish Packaged in Cans, Like Salmon and Sardines?:

With canned food, the risk is greater if the food inside the can is either watery and acidic (like canned tomatoes or canned tomato sauce) or if it is oily (like canned sardines and salmon). The risk is also greater when heating is involved. In general, we would place oily, canned fish like canned sardines and salmon in a higher-than-average risk category since there is often “double-cooking” involved (cooking prior to canning, and then heating in the can for sterilization purposes), and oils in and surrounding the fish can allow contaminants in the packaging to migrate from the can into the food.

But the article then goes on to say what I was about to say, which is one always needs to consider if the benefits outweigh the risks.

Will you get more positive benefit from the food than harm from the contaminants?

It all comes down to balance: balancing the good and the harm, and the toxic substances coming into and moving out of your body.

I always try to err on the side of caution.

Only you can make those decisions.

We’ve known for a while that there is BPA in cash register receipts and that it can transfer to your fingers and on to paper money and credit cards.

Now a new study shows that clerks who handle receipts all day long are absorbing the chemical through their skin.

“researchers measured the levels of BPA in the volunteers’ urine. Roughly four in five of the participants had BPA in the blood before the trial; once they had handled receipts, all of the volunteers showed levels of BPA. In addition, the volunteers’ levels of BPA continued to rise for eight hours once they had stopped handling the receipts.”

Source: CINCINNATi,COM: Study: Receipts may expose clerks to chemical

* * * * *

“”almost all” commercially available plastics that were tested leached synthetic estrogens—even when they weren’t exposed to conditions known to unlock potentially harmful chemicals, such as the heat of a microwave, the steam of a dishwasher, or the sun’s ultraviolet rays. According to Bittner’s research, some BPA-free products actually released synthetic estrogens that were more potent than BPA.”

Read this very long and detailed article about Tritan, a so-called BPA-free plastic.

Source: MOTHER JONES: The Scary New Evidence on BPA-Free Plastics

* * * * *

“A pair of new studies…suggest bisphenol A (BPA)…is causing serious bodily harm—even at very tiny doses such as those commonly detected in the human body.

“This study, published in the journal PLOS One, is just the latest case suggesting BPA can travel from a pregnant mother into her unborn child. Emerging science is finding that when this chemical transfer occurs during critical windows of fetal development, it could lead to irreversible effects that may only show up in diseases that strike years or decades down the line.

“The scientists fed pregnant animals BPA-laced fruit once a day for 50 days, bringing their bodily BPA levels to those commonly seen in humans. While BPA was only detectable in their babies’ fetal blood for a brief, several-hour period, scientists observed some devastating changes in the babies—abnormalities in the fetal brains, lungs, mammary glands, uterus, and ovaries. These changes were not seen in unexposed monkey fetuses.

“Since BPA is a hormone-disrupting chemical that acts like fake estrogen in the body, it’s able to get into all of the developing organs, damaging the body’s natural control system, potentially throwing off those systems forever, and leading to diseases like cancer, behavioral problems, and infertility—among other things—many scientists believe.

• “Avoid canned food. Instead, opt for fresh or frozen.
• Avoid eating and drinking out of plastic, particularly #7 polycarbonate plastic.
• Don’t heat plastics in the microwave—ever.
• Say no to cash-register receipt. Most are loaded with BPA that is readily absorbed through your skin and likely poorly metabolized.”

Source: RODALE NEWS: BPA and Heart Problems: New Primate Study Suggests Canned Food Chemical Could Cause Cardiovascular Damage

* * * * *

Here are just a few things BPA is doing to your body:

• Eroding teeth
• Misfiring hearts
• Lowering sex drive
• Making you fat
• Affecting future generations

Source: 5 Weird Things BPA is Doing to Your Body

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Question from Bonnie Johnson

Someone mentioned Snapstone porcelain floor tiles as being MCS safe. Any word on if they are better than most laminate or vinyl tiles?

Debra’s Answer

I’ve never used this product, but there is a red flag for me.

It’s porcelain tile, which is great, but the grout is made up of sand mixed with polyurethane. The [MSDS]=http://www.snapstone.com/pdfs/SS_flexiblegrout_MSDS.pdf says “This product may cause dizziness, headache, or nausea if used in a poorly ventilated area due to the evaporation of the polyurethane bonding agent as the product dries/cures.”

It may be fine when cured, but I don’t know how long that takes. I wouldn’t say it was safe for someone with MCS to install.

I personally wouldn’t install this in my house. I have a lot of standard tile that I’ve installed myself.

Readers, any experience?

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Question from kris

Hi Debra,

Was wondering if you’ve come across an article by Healthy Child Healthy World regarding the safety of silicone?

healthychild.org/easy-steps/from-bottle-nipples-to-baked-goods-is-silicone-safe/

Was wondering what your thoughts were on this. I was planning of purchasing a few silicone items for baking but am now not sure what to do.
Would plan B be aluminum with parchment paper?

Thank you for your help.

* * * * *

Question from kris

Debra,

Would “silicone jacketed handles” on a double boiler or steamer be of any health concern? Would the food absorb fumes from them?

Thanks!

Debra’s Answer

With all due respect to Healthy Child Healthy World, I can’t consider an article by them to be a “source” document. Im consider scientific writings about studies to be source documents, and I don’t see any mention of a source document for this article. Did I miss it?

I couldn’t find a source document to back up what they are saying.

I did find an abstract of a paper called “Determination of siloxanes in silicone products and potential migration to milk, formula and liquid simulants.“ which says “Migration tests were performed by exposing milk, infant formula and the liquid simulants to silicone baking sheets with known concentrations of the six siloxanes at 40°C. No siloxanes were detected in milk or infant formula after 6 h of direct contact with the silicone baking sheet plaques, indicating insignificant migration of the siloxanes to milk or
infant formula.”

My personal policy for using silicone is I use silicone baking sheets and spatulas, and just bought a muffin tin coated with silicone. I also use parchment paper, which is paper coated with silicone (I use the unbleached brown parchment paper). To me, these are safer than standard nonstick finish or absorption of metals from metal baking sheets.

I don’t use any colored silicone because I am uncertain about the colorants and their migration.

I don’t see any problem with silicone handles. Silicone does not ourgas, to the best of my knowledge and experience.

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Question from kris

Debra, I am having a heck of a time finding some BPA-free spray bottles to use around the house for cleaning solution like vinegar water. Do you know of anywhere I can find them?

Mostly I’ve been looking on amazon. I don’t know if they have BPA or not, but I can’t find any that say they DONT have BPA.

Terry

Debra’s Answer

Plastic bottles won’t necessarily say BPA free, but just because they don’t, doesn’t mean they do.

Most of these types of bottles are made from PET, which doesn’t have BPA, but it does leach other things. Best would be a bottle made of polyethylene.

Here’s one on amazon:

www.amazon.com/Dynalon-Density-Polyethylene-Dispensing-Bottle/dp/B004O6NCSI

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Question from MW

Hi Debra,

Thank you very much for your terrific site! I am in the process of setting up a bed for my daughter who just graduated from a crib and want to make sure I am getting things right:

First, we purchased a natural latex mattress for her from the Clean Bedroom, it is the Naturally Organic Little Sprout Mattress (which I understand is manufactured by Sleeptek of Canada). I expected it to have a latex odor when it arrived but it does not. Should I be concerned that it is not natural latex inside? Or is it possible that some latex would not have an odor?

Second, I am looking for barrier pillow protectors for her pillows. At Target I found an Organic Cotton Pillow Encasement by Allerease. This is a much cheaper protector than I have found elsewhere. The package says that it is “made with 100% organic cotton that is naturally finished and chemical free.” I am not sure what “naturally finished” means. Does this mean that there is some type of coating on the fabric that they regard as “natural.”? I would love to be able to use these but don’t want to if they have anything on the surface. I would appreciate any insight you might have here!

Thank you very much,
MW

Debra’s Answer

It’s possible that some latex might not have an odor.

About the pillow protectors, yes, that would mean there is some kind of finish on the fabric that is made from natural ingredients. Often fabrics have some kind of finish on them that washes right out. If you have a concern, call the company for more information.

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