Question from sissy

As an african American female it is very hard to find natural products that suit our hair type. Do you have any recommendations of hair products?

I am trying to stay away from hair relaxers and want to grow my hair natural. What is an alternative for relaxers?

Debra’s Answer

I found a website called nappturality.com that says it is a “resource for the style and beauty of Natural Black Hair…the place to find photographs, Black natural hair journals, websites, forums, information and links about the care, maintenance and politics of natural hair. Natural napptural hair.” You have to sign up as a member (free) to get into the site, so I didn’t check it out, but you may find what you are looking for there.

You also might take a look at Carol’s Daughter. Their tag line is “beauty by nature” and the product descriptions give a lot of natural and even organic ingredients that the product contains, but there is no full ingredient list, so I can’t tell you if the products contain any unnatural ingredients. Therer’s also African Wonders, which is similarly uninformative about their ingredients on their website.

There are also a number of books on the subject at amazon.com. Textured Tresses is one of them, other will come up under “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought”.

I have no personal experience with this, so this is the best I can do. Could you respond and let us know if any of these give you what you need?

Readers, any suggestions?

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Question from Lindsey

Hi Debra,

I have a few related plastic questions/frustrations! But first I want to say your blog is a blessing and I cannot thank you enough! All the pyrex and glass containers I am able to find have plastic lids. From what I have learned on your site, this would be bad because I would continually be rewashing those lids. Any suggestions? I know there are canning jars, but the pyex square long shape works better for a lot of products.

Lastly, in an effort to get rid of plastic, I am at a lost for what to freeze things in. I use to use freezer bags beucase it saved so much space. Since pyrex isn’t good to freeze in is corningware the next best thing? I know corningware has a glaze type finish which you also warn against. Plus the lids I have for corningware are plastic as well.

What confuses me is that I read that not all tuperware containers are the plastics to avoid. Does that mean if it is not #3 or 7, Tupperware is safe to use as long as its not old? I am scared to eat of plastic utensils, drink out of water bottles, but I am just not sure if that is plastic is fine for one time use and I only have to fear it when used multiple times. Sorry for the long list of questions- life would be much simpler if our gov’t had more stringent standards!

Debra’s Answer

First, remember there are many types of plastics, and not all have the same toxicity. See Q&A: The Toxicity of Plastic for a refresher on which are less toxic and OK to use. But in the long run, it’s best to phase out plastics made from petrochemicals because they are made from nonrenewable ingredients that do not biodegrade.

As for the lids on pyrex containers, I don’t know what plastic they are made from. I’m guessing it is polyethylene or one of the safer plastics. You could call them and find out. The rewashing of polyethylene is fine. It is the washing of polycarbonate that releases more Bisphenol-A.

Also, I think it makes environmental sense to use a product once it’s made, rather than discard it to a landfill without getting some kind of benefit from all the resources that went into its manufacture. So if it’s not toxic, I’d say use it.

Freezer bags is another similar thing. Since the plastic of freezer bags is not toxic, putting more food into a freezer that’s already running makes more efficient use of the energy that’s already being used to run the freezer.

Corningware does not, to my knowledge have the type of glaze that I warn against (which contains lead and is usually a bright color imported from another country). I personally use Corningware all the time.

If the Tupperware or any other plastic product is a 1,2,4 or 5 plastic, it is OK.

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Question from John Cochell

This is the way to go everyone get rid of your Analon, Teflon, Circulon and all other on’s.

Check it out. Google Green Pan With Thermalon

John jrcochell@sbcglobal.net

Debra’s Answer

I did check it out. I went to http://www.thermolon.com, and they didn’t have any information on what the coating is made from, so I emailed the company.

They emailed me CompositionofThermolon.pdf, which states that the composition of Thermolon is a trade secret, but it “is based on silica, which of course originates from sand.” This is basically glass. Other raw materials in the coating are oxygen and carbon. During the process of making Thermolon, the carbon is eliminated. So it’s basically some type of glass.

I’ve not examined a pan with this coating, but from the description, it seems fine to me.

It is sold on many websites. Not hard to find.

The company also wrote to me: “Thermolon has been thoroughly tested by independent Labs in the US, UK and Germany – it has even been tested by the Swiss government. All have certified it to be completely safe, with no toxins or anything harmful to man or beast.”

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Question from Laura

Debra, I have eliminated foil and saran wrap from my kitchen, however, I have been unable to find a good replacement for those products. What do you recommend for example when baking a chicken or roasting vegetables in the oven to cover baking dishes with when no longer using foil? The foil kept everything so moist. I feel like a heavy corning ware lid wouldn’t keep things as moist.

Similarly, what do you recommend wrapping things in instead of saran wrap. I have thought of wax paper, but to hold that together I would need to use tape and am worried tape has some other chemical in it that is not better. Thanks!

Debra’s Answer

In my kitchen I do use foil (made from recycled aluminum), and unbleached parchment paper.

I don’t use foil to cook food on or wrap food, but I will occasionally place a sheet loosely over food that needs a cover but still needs some air circulation (like when I make roasted beets–yum!)

If I need to wrap something, like a sandwich, I wrap it in unbleached parchment paper. There are ways to wrap things that hold together pretty well. Before there were plastic sandwich bags, we used to wrap sandwiches like this (no, I’m not THAT old…we’ve only had sandwich bags since 1957):

I rarely wrap sandwiches, but this is how I wrap anything.

I’m more inclined to use resuable containers than wrap, or wrap something in a clean cotton towel. But I’m not packing lunches.

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Question from R.M.

Hi Debra,

I was bored today, and, remembering the recipe I saw for sugared nuts on your Web site, decided to cook. The recipe is yummy. I used pecan halves and organic brown sugar (evaporated cane juice).

I added a step, though. I lightly toasted the nuts (until they were slightly fragrant) in a dry skillet before preparing the sugar butter mixture. I was then able to put the sugar and butter right into the hot skillet (after removing the nuts, which I added back later).

Very yummy, thoughthe result was a little more buttery than expected.

I look forward to experimenting more with this technique, and trying the Quick Sweet and Salty Nut recipe.

Thanks for being such a “green” and culinary inspiration.

Debra’s Answer

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Question from L.M.

Debra,

After hearing about how bad aluminum is, I switched from using aluminum foil to parchment paper. However, from your site I am now learning that the reynolds white/bleached parchment paper is no better, although I am not clear as to why. Is it for environmental reasons or health reasons? I also use the national brand paper towels and toilette that are white, and therefore, I will assume are bleached as well. I tried to search on your website and found information about chlorine and fluoridation in relation to these products. But I am still confused as to why these things are bad, I actually thought fluoride was good for your teeth. I am just learning to cook and trying to be as healthy as possible in the process, but it’s confusing/overwhelming!

Is there something I should look for other than unbleached. That is, I don’t want to find out I bought unbleached, but the unbleached product contains a worse chemical in it too(I can’t afford to spend money on the name brand health brands right now, so I will probably go with the store brand name ie Trader Joe’s brand). Thanks so much, I have learned a lot through your website and now understand the saying “ignorance is bliss” 🙂

Debra’s Answer

The problem with bleached products is that the chlorine bleaching process interacts with the paper to form dioxin, which is one of the most toxic substances in the world. This has been known for many years, which is why we now have unbleached paper products, and paper products bleached with substances other than chlorine (you might see the notation on a product that it was bleached with a chlorine-free process).

So the answer is that you want to stay away from bleached paper products primarily for health reasons, as it does leach into food, although it isn’t good to put dioxin in the environment either.

Any brand of unbleached parchment paper is fine.

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Question from CC

Hello,

I am a long time fan of your books and greatly appreciate the blog.

We recently obtained a short haired dog from a rescue organization. She is probably about 1 1/2 to 2 years old. It is my understanding that when she was recued from a shelter in March, that she had no skin/coat issues. This evidently began to develop in late summer and she was diagnosed with Demodetic Mange, which is not contagious….being an overgrowth of the skin mites, usually due to stress or other health issues….rather like I would think of a yeast infection for us. We adopted her around Christmas, and she was still being treated with a good degree of success. They were doing an alternate method of Ivermectin and Mitiban dip. Our vet has continued the treatment with Ivermectin but not the toxic dip. However, Ivermectin, which is a heartworm/parasite type treatment, is not something I care to give long term.

We have her on a premium dog food, and I am adding some cooked chicken and rice and carrots, to help try to build her up. Do you have any natural, non-toxic suggestions for skin ointments or dips or other supplements that might help? Our vet has suggested fish oil, which I am about to purchase.

Thank you very much for any assistance.

CC

Debra’s Answer

I don’t have any experience with dogs.

Readers? Any suggestions?

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Question from joyce newkirk

I am considering installing a jacuzzi tub to ease my back problems, but wonder about soaking in hot water in a new plastic tub. Does the plastic outgas, especially when filled with hot water? I also wonder if they are prone to mold and/or bacterial build-up in the jets?

Joyce, NC

Debra’s Answer

I don’t know what type of plastic is used, however, I do know that hot water tends to release plastic, whether it is in a plastic cup, plastic food storage container, or a jacuzzi.

As to it remaining free of mold and bacteria, I’m assuming you are talking about a jacuzzi spa where you would leave the water in it, and not a jacuzzi bathtub that you would fill and empty with each use.

For the spa, you would need to maintain it as you would any spa, for bacteria will collect and mold will grow.

There are less toxic methods of controlling the water in spas without chlorine. You might want to look into those.

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Question from Mike

There has been a lot written lately about plastic water containers and their affect on the endocrine/hormonal system.

I have been unable to find a water filter that does not contain plastic. Does such a product exist or is the plastic that houses filtration substances safe and free of any harmful chemicals, at least ones that might leach into the water being filtered?

thanks,

mike

Debra’s Answer

The Berkey Water Filter we have been discussing elsewhere on this blog has a model with a stainless steel housing.

I just typed “stainless steel water filter” into my favorite search engine and got a whole list of filters with stainless steel housings.

Is the plastic harmful? It’s generally thought that there isn’t much leaching from the plastic and if there is, it is removed by the carbon in the filter. I don’t know which plastic is used for water filters. But it’s not the same as say, water sitting in a plastic bottle for an extended period of time on a shelf in a store and maybe out in the sun on a truck or in front of the store for sale. Water goes through filters pretty quickly.

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Question from TZ

I recently purchased a Wein Personal Air purifier because of my chemical sensitivity, my smell balance is way off. While I am working on getting this back in line, I find that walking into a room with any odor to be distressing. I have started using this personal air purifier. It is an ionic purifier. The booklet says that it gives off less than .028 ppm ozone output. Does anyone know about the safety of this device?

Debra’s Answer

I have no experience with this product, but I would like to point out that the Wein website says:

Note that it says the device “can substantially reduce the inhalation of toxic particles such as smoke, dust, pollens, molds, many allergens, fungi, germs and the most dangerous particles…” None of these are chemical vapors.

If what you are wanting to do is protect yourself from the toxic chemicals you are reacting to, this won’t do it.

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