People use drugs, work with therapist, and reduce their productivity staying off center due to the failure to achieve emotional balance. The best tool I have used over the past 30 years is found inside the Taoist study of Chinese Medicine.

Thousands of years ago, the Chinese Taoist began to observe nature and associated what they perceived to be the “Five Elements” – Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal. Over time each element was correlated to an organ system, an emotion, color, taste, climate, body tissues, the time of day and even the seasons. This tool plays a significant role in Martial Arts, Acupuncture and Herbal medicine. This article will focus on understanding the 5 Elements as they refer to the emotions.

Look around at people you know. Observe our news stories and you’re your own feeling. The prevalent emotions in our society appear to be out of control – fear, anger, sadness, depression, excessive joy and ruminating. The Five Element Theory gives us a simple perspective to help understand and effectively cope with these imbalances.

There are practitioners that assist people using herbs, needles and other modalities. Yet the mere understanding and awareness of how this works can have a huge effect on your health and happiness. For example let’s look at how fear affects us from this perspective.

Fear creates an imbalance in the water element. When water is damaged, the wood element fails to be properly nourished and the fire element fails to be controlled. Just look at nature and this is very easy to understand – water makes wood grow and puts out fire.

When the wood element fails to be nourished the wood becomes brittle and inflexible. The fire element burns out of control. The emotion that corresponds to the wood being out of balance is anger and depression. When fire is out of control we see the need for immediate gratification. The fire element then fails to control the metal leading to excess sadness and also fails to nourish the earth properly leading to poor digestion and eating poor quality foods to fill the void.

One can see how all this correlates to the ills of our society. A fear based media, government, health care and religious systems dominate the information we receive. Anger, depression, sadness and overeating can be obviously observed. Greed and excess also are a result of our imbalanced need for immediate gratification. The good news is that this same tool can be used to generate solutions. It is simpler than one might think.

The earth element can control or dam the water element and nourish the Metal. A healthy Earth shows up when we take time to understand, nourish and be truthful. It is very giving and able to forgive and accept. Bottom line it is compassionate. When this is done fear does not exist. How different things can be with just one ancient tool.

This article introduces the use of Five Elements to make your life better. There are many books available on this subject. The author, Jacob Barrocas, lives in Western NC and will be having workshops in this and other useful subjects to help bring balance to your personal life as well as your business. Jacob has a unique background with a degree in Industrial Engineering and Chinese Medicine. His 35 years of experience includes being an Engineer, a Corporate Executive, an acupuncturist, a consultant and a home builder. For more info go to www.consultitgreen.com.

In Asheville, it is common to see hemp being sold as food and clothing. Using it as a building material has many benefits yet restrictions in the US make it costly to use. Historically hemp has been used for food, medicine, fuel, clothing, paint, cleaners, cosmetics, paper and building materials.

In the US the growing of hemp is understandably controversial due to the illegal use of one type of hemp used as a drug. Yet the history of hemp in the world is impressive. Dating back to 8000BC agriculture and hemp textile industries begin in Europe and Asia.

In 500BC Gautama Buddha survived by eating hempseed. Herodotus records in 4590 BC Scythians and Thracians as consuming cannabis and making fine linens of hemp. In 100BC paper was made from hemp and mulberry is invented in China. In 100 AD the Roman surgeon Dioscorides names the plant cannabis sativa and describes various medicinal uses. In 600AD the Germans, Franks and Vikings all use hemp fiber. In 1150 AD Moslems use hemp to start Europe’s first paper mill. Most paper was made from hemp for the next 700 years!

In 1492AD Hempen sails, caulking and rigging ignite age of discovery and helped Columbus and his ships reach America. In 1564 King Phillip of Spain orders hemp grown throughout his empire, from modern-day Argentina to Oregon. In 1619 the Virginia colony made hemp cultivation mandatory, followed by most other colonies. The history continues in the US.

In 1776 the American ‘Declaration of Independence’ was drafted on hemp paper. In 1791 President Washington set duties on hemp to encourage domestic industry; Jefferson calls hemp "a necessity", and urges farmers to grow hemp instead of tobacco.

In the 1800’s Australia survives two prolonged famines by eating virtually nothing but hemp seed for protein and hemp leaves for roughage. Then paper was invented.

In the 1850’s the petrochemical age begins. Toxic sulfite and chlorine processes makes paper from trees possible, while steamships replace sailboats and tropical fibers are introduced. Then during the 1930’s fears lead to the outcry for cannabis to be outlawed. In 1937 the Marijuana Tax Act forbids hemp farming in the US. During the same time DuPont files a patent for nylon. This is followed by Canada prohibiting production of hemp under the Opium and Narcotics Control Act.

Yet in the US the use of hemp continued and in 1941 Henry Ford builds a car fabricated and fueled by hemp. In 1943 the Hemp for Victory program urges farmers to grow hemp only to be followed in 1955 by Hemp farming being banned once again. Since then Canada and Australia have legalized the growing of hemp for commercial purposes. In the US it continues to be illegal to grow hemp yet products made from processed hemp are sold freely.

Presently two homes are being built in Asheville, NC using hemp. The hemp is imported from England (This import obviously reduces it’s green credentials) which doubles the cost of the material. The walls are raised two feet at a time as blocks are fabricated using 4 parts hemp, one part lime and one part water. There are many benefits to hemp as a building material as the list below shows.

• Eliminates the need for sheetrock, insulation and moisture barrier
• It is breathable
• It is mold and mildew free
• Carbon negative
• Deterrent to insects and fire retardant
• Requires less lumber for framing
• Reduces the cost of insurance due to fire resistant qualities

For more information about the Asheville project see the article in the local newspaper…

Along with the rest of our society I have been watching the evolution and creation of a health care system that can provide all US citizens affordable and attainable healthcare.

For the past 30 years, I have observed and experience the ups and downs of Western Medicine while comparing it to Oriental Medicine and other natural modalities.

I have many friends who are Surgeons, Cardiologists and MD’s. In 1993 at the age of 40 I chose to go back to school and add to my engineering degree and study Chinese Medicine to assist me in dealing with the most important equipment I ever managed – human beings. I received a degree in 1996.

My life experience has led me to see many things in the arena of medicine. My brother died at 44 of a heart attacks and my father lived a good life but died of pancreatic cancer at 82. I saw what lifestyle does, what prevention can and can’t do and what drugs work and what drugs kill.

Recently my questioning led me to evaluating scientific method as used in the decision making process for healing in our society. I realized something profound – “That scientific method, as it is being applied to the healing of people, is flawed”.

How could a health care system that bases itself on protocols inside a system of thinking and science that is flawed succeed? The protocols are set up by pharmaceutical companies whose first and most present need is to stay in business and make a profit. One huge flaw is that if the protocols are not followed the doctors and hospitals are subject to malpractice. This creates a fear based system that does not serve the patient but the pharmaceuticals.

There is an inherent fallacy in the system – “that science explains everything”. There are many elements that are not scientific and difficult to quantify yet help people towards their path to better health. For example- how we think, how we laugh, how we communicate, how we love. The present system also negates natural healing. The FDA regulations take methods that have worked for centuries and has restricted and controlled them to the point that those with experience and knowledge live in fear of consequences should they not follow “the imposed protocols”. Insurance companies either do not recognize natural healing or greatly limit and recognize the validity of their use.

Please understand this citizen’s opinion in whole. I do not believe all the protocol is bad – the existing protocol is just incomplete.

I have come up with a few suggestions that I believe would help reduce the cost of our healthcare system, provide better quality choices for people, provide affordable health care for more and actually create a healthier society.

These are my suggestion:

1. That the ban on health claims for natural remedies be changed to allow companies to make claims without having to spend millions upon millions of dollars to get approval from the FDA. Their claims would include disclaimers as to the limitations of the research done. This would mean that for example if goldenseal has been found over the centuries to fight infections then the claims should be allowed on the label. If there are claims that vitamin D prevents the flu then this claim should be allowed and not restricted until a pharmaceutical “scientifically” isolates the active ingredient and patents it.
2. Practitioners of natural medicine with systems of herbs and healing protocols that help people should not have to leave the country and open websites overseas to practice. They should be allowed and have disclaimers as to the extent of their research of experience and practice here.
3. That an individual seeing a doctor, other health care practitioner or natural healing modality be given choices as to using pharmaceutical protocols, natural herb protocols, lifestyle changes and dietary approaches. A signature form would be standard and everyone would need to sign it showing that they are at choice taking the responsibility away from the doctor and thus reducing or eliminating liability. It must be simple and to the point.
4. That the massive lobbying being done by insurance companies and pharmaceuticals be stopped and replaced by the hiring of a cross section of impartial experts in all healthcare modalities and insurance to provide our decision makers with accurate and unbiased information to make proper decisions as to what is best. This could be funded by the same companies paying the lobbyist for a fraction of what is being spent presently.

I constantly hear stories from Medical Practitioners, nurses and doctors as to the fear based protocols they must follow and how they cannot be sincere with patients. This must stop. We have taken the heart and spirit out of the art of healing. Let’s put it back.

Jacob Barrocas – Sustainability Consultant

Genetically Modified Food

It’s barely been a week since I wrote about the dangers of genetically modified (GM) foods and now the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has released a strongly-worded warning about the health dangers associated with Frankenfoods.

Calling for a moratorium on GM foods, the AAEM says these foods “pose serious health risk.”

Stay away from genetically modified foods

The AAEM calls for:

• A moratorium on GM food, implementation of immediate long-term safety testing and labeling of GM food.
• Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community and the public to avoid GM foods.
• Physicians to consider the role of GM foods in their patients’ disease processes.
• More independent long term scientific studies to begin gathering data to investigate the role of GM foods on human health.

Citing numerous animal studies that show that GM foods cause damage to various mammalian organ systems, “It is imperative to have a moratorium on GM foods for the safety of our patients and the public’s health,” said Dr. Amy Dean, AAEM board member.

Children at greatest risk from GM foods

Experts have warned that children are most likely to be adversely effected by toxins and other dietary problems related to GM foods.

Animal studies have shown that GM foods:

• Increase infant mortality
• Cause sex organ mutations
• Change DNA in emboyros of parents fed GM foods
• Cause infertility
• Cause immune system dysregulation, including increase in cytokines that are associated with asthma, allergy and inflammation
• Increase overall mortality and more

The only published human feeding study revealed what may be the most dangerous problem from GM foods: The gene inserted into GM soy transfers into the DNA of bacteria living inside our intestines and continues to function.

What consumers can do

None of us should wait to for our doctors’ recommendations. Those will be a looooong time coming.

Stay away from GM foods. Fruits and vegetables that are GM will have a sticker with a five-number code that begins with “8.” Don’t buy them.

The greatest sources of GM are in foods included in processed food. In those cases, it is virtually impossible to tell what types of foods have been used. For a large number of reasons avoid processed foods.

Avoid all foods that contain soy or corn derivatives (including high fructose corn syrup), cottonseed and canola oil and sugar from sugar beets since many, if not most, will come from GM sources.

If American consumers refuse to purchase GM foods, food processors will be forced to remove all GMs from the food supply as is the case in Europe.

Read more about the GM issue and the AAEM’s warning. Educate yourself and take action.

by Kathleen Barnes

Could cancer be fungus?

There is so much controversy around how to treat cancer and it is important to admit that, as much as there are people with strong opinions, there are many possible ways to deal with cancer. My father dealt with pancreatic cancer by using a combination of Chemo and natural medicine. He lasted for 9 months. In today’s reality everyone knows someone who has died of cancer: For most of us – someone dear to us. Statistics show that one out of every three persons will get some kind of cancer. These statistics are alarming to say the least.

President Nixon declared a war on cancer in 1970. Every president since then has confirmed this war. Yet after millions and billions of dollars spent on finding a cure things do not look much better. Sounds like a holographic parallel to Iraq. J

In researching, there are numerous claims that cancer can be cured. There are people who believe that we need to protect ourselves from chemicals in our air, water and food. Some people and even scientist claim that the treatments for cancer – radiation and chemo – cause cancer. Others say it is caused by electromagnetic fields. Some claim that eating organic vegetarian diets prevents cancer. Others say that it is based on our moods and that happy people are better off than sad, angry and depressed people. The other day, our washer was broken and the repair man told me about a person north of Asheville that claimed to be treating breast cancer with 100% success by getting rid of fungus in the mouth. Who knows?

It is important to remember that there are many false claims, false accusations and false cures out there. It is also good for our spiritual and personal growth to be open to what infinite possibilities may exist in the world. In researching there where three interesting videos on YouTube I found about cures for cancer. There were many more. I found one about dealing with chemo and radiation. I could not find an article or a video that spoke about how chemo and radiation cures cancer. If you can please let me know.

I recently heard of a naturopath I have known to be reputable in the past claiming he had the cure for cancer. Billy Best claims he cured himself from cancer with natural medicine and Daniel Hause is asking the courts to allow him the right to choose his own treatment. I found a few claims for cancer cures in my research.

DCA is a compound being sold in Canada and worldwide yet not in the US. It kills cancer cells in a test tube and leaves the healthy cells alone. Dr. Michelakis from Alberta warns that the patient should be very careful if taking other drugs since the side affects of combining DCA are risky. Although Glenn Beck is a bit on the right for me usually he reports on DCA on this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR38y2I5g5E&NR=1

The claim is made that a one minute cure for cancer and other diseases exist. The u-tube video captured my attention yet did not provide me with answers. In order to get specific answers you must buy their book. Although not my style and a definite red flag, given my openness to research and the fact that I have friends dealing with stage 4 cancers, my curiosity had me order the book. I will definitely update this article as soon as I get the book to review. If you want watch the video and judge for yourself.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3bAl9lSHg0&feature=related

A few weeks ago the appliance repair person who came to my house mentioned a doctor near Asheville that was curing breast cancer by dealing with it as a fungus. I found “Cancer is a fungus” by Dr. Simoncini. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQuODiMlUsc . I was left with a simple question – Is the evidence of white imply a fungus that causes cancer? In Chinese medicine a white coating on the tongue is excess damp in the body. The claim for a cancer cure appears to give optimism yet is it valid?

The most useful information I found was “Super Cure for Cancer, a great easy guide to overcome cancer and its tough treatment”. This video documents and shows how lifestyle and diet can significantly improve survival and reduce symptoms. I recommend you watch this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QS1LgqdP3E

Today, I was part of a radio interview with Dr. Stewart Lonky on the Frankie Boyer Show. His book Invisible Killers explains how toxins are affecting our health. He spoke about how his Medical Doctor associates are starting to see alarming rates of cancer and other diseases that are being correlated with environmental factors.

Maybe it’s hype – maybe it’s miracles in existence that are being marketed away from us by big money. Have your own perspective. Make your own conclusions. Take ownership of your free will.

For me, I am an idealistic optimist and believer in people. I have been accused of being naive to think that everyone has good intentions. Yet in my life I have personally known and socialized with MD’s, Acupuncturists, Naturopaths, Oncologists, Surgeons, Energy Healers and Pharmacists that all cared about their patients and wanted what was best for them. They all believed in what they were doing. This is not a conversation about right or wrong or accusing anyone of trying to hurt someone. That type of conflict and attitude will just keep us all sick – physically and emotionally. What we need is common ground and I believe that the caring is it.

The issues as I see them are “CHOICE” and “FREEDOM”. To heal, we must have free choice and access to information that gives us that choice. As much as conspiracy theorist say choices are being taken away, when I research, I find more and more information available to help me make choices. The internet gives each of us an endless access to information we could not dream of even 5 years ago. There are endless books available in book stores. I find immense caring from all medical practitioners including the herbalist I know and the doctor who gave my father chemo. They all care.

Is there a cure for cancer? I assume that somewhere in time the answer is yes. Maybe it’s here already. If it is in our destiny to heal, then for me it’s diet, lifestyle, belief, environment and a lack of fear. My suggestion is that while you wait and look for cures the thing to do is to:

• Be realistic
• Be an idealist
• Be open and flexible
• Be responsible
• Listen to your gut
• Listen to people who are educated and credentialed
• Take time to question. If someone gets defensive at your questions – I would assume that as a red flag.

When it comes to cures, the biggest thing that stands out for me is spiritual teachings around who we are and what works. Years ago I had two separate teachings that helped me heal and cope in my life. In 1981 Bo In Lee, from the Mahayana Yoga Center near Boston, explained to me that the one thing healthy people he knew had in common was laughter. Another special teacher explained to me that the root of all healing comes from the context and awareness that we are spiritual beings having a physical experience – - – - and what an experience it is.

Jacob Barrocas, Sustainability Consultant
www.ConsultITGreen.com

Rainforest Deforestation

Deforestation has become a growing concern amongst environmentalist. Forests are measured in hectares. Each hectare is 10,000 sq. meters or approximately 2.47 acres. As of 2005 there were approximately 1,442,819,000 hectares of forest on earth. The average deforestation rate from 2000 to 2005 was 6,855,997 hectares a year. At this rate of deforestation we could eliminate all natural Forest within 200 years. Eight thousand years ago 40% of the world’s land area was covered in forest or 6,000 million hectares. This was more four times the amount of remaining forest on earth today. The process of deforestation accelerated to alarming proportions in the last half of the 20th century.

In addition to deforestation reducing the earths ability to cool itself by converting CO2 to oxygen and their canopy effect, it is estimated that deforestation generates between 25 and 30% of the greenhouse gases on earth. This is greater than carbon emissions caused by planes and automobiles. Along with threatening the earths ability to heal and cleans itself, Deforestation also threatens our access to medicines.

According to some reports 70 to 80% of Brazil’s and Indonesia’s carbon emissions are caused by deforestation. From 2000-2005, almost half of the worlds deforestation happened in these two countries. What most people ignore is that the most notorious agents of deforestation were the ranchers taking advantage of government subsidies to expand the cattle industry. It makes one wonder what the effects of billions of people being introduced to fast food hamburgers will have on changing our world’s climate and ability to sustain the biodiversity of life as we know it today.

Some statistics show the US gaining 159,000 hectares of forest per year. These numbers are a bit deceiving since this includes plantations added to the picture. These are not natural forest. They are managed for growth and have environmental ramifications such as use of fertilizers, pesticides and destruction of balanced ecosystems.

Twenty five percent of prescription drugs are derived from plants. For example, Aspirin originally came from willow bark. One of the concerns of pharmaceutical drugs formulated in a laboratory is that they are mostly based on a single compound. Naturally occurring herbs and plants work in a different way and tend to have a low risk of side effects. As we unconsciously continue to exploit our natural environments we destroy cultures and with them hidden knowledge and wisdom which could be offer solutions to much of the suffering experienced by mankind.

A growing concern is that we no longer have wild forest but managed eco systems. Assuming that this is so, the question becomes how to manage our ecosystems in a sustainable way. There are many creative and hopeful approaches being taken by responsible conscious individuals. Below are three videos which address some of these methods.

Harvesting dead trees after forest fires:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSf5pwu-yEM

Full vigor forestry – growing trees intelligently – select timbering – sustainable forest management:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAwta5O2EAQ

Proper forest management for sustainability:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8o9ON9iSgQ

If the forests are the lungs of our planet, which I sincerely believe they are, then it is the source for maintaining a healthy heart because without the breath the heart fails. Maybe if we shift our perception just a little to be more holistic and see that just maybe there could be a message hidden in all of what nature does.

In the ancient Hindu culture Green was the color of the Heart energy. When the forest is healthy and flourishing it is very green and able to give to humanity naturally. When we are in our heart, we care and love. When we love and care we take care of that which we love. We can nourish and preserve forests. In other words the hidden message I see is to love the forest – it will love us back ten fold.

Compressed air powered car

Sounds a little strange right – an air powered car – why isn’t this big news I wonder…

There’s a great company in France operated by a former Formula 1 engineer now producing cars running on compressed air.

They’re not great to look at, super fast, or I’m guessing really comfortable, but they’re in production, and it seems to me this company has a great business model – they’ve just sold a batch of vehicles to the airline KLM who are now operating them at Amsterdam airport.

Not only do they have a great product which I believe could have dramatic effect on the future of car manufacturing in the ‘carbon reducing’ age, but their business model is also quite extraordinary. They’re proposing what they call ‘micro production factories’ where it is envisaged that vehicles are manufactured and sold in the same location, with numerous locations globally, dramatically reducing transportation costs, and benefiting local economies more effectively.

Instead of carbon fuels driving the pistons, they are driven by compressed air, stored in a tank. This tank is replenished by an air compressor similar to one found on a garage forecourt for pumping up vehicle tires. This compressor could be powered by wind or solar meaning that this could in reality be a emission free car. This, combined with the more ecologically friendly manufactoring process means that this car could have a truly small carbon footprint.

Read more about the company behind this great development here

I for one don’t get why they’re not having investment thrown at them for development – Tata in India – who recently bought up Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford are one of their major investors – this kind of technology has to be where at least some of the smart money is going…?

Compact Efficient Eco Houses

The company creator, Jay Shafer started off making a super small mobile home for himself measuring  just 89 square feet!

Their video is a testament to less being more – they’re now selling ready made mobile cabins and the plans for regular small and eco friendly houses through their website.

Most importantly, they’re showing that bigger is not better – most certainly not for the environment – and by getting creative with space, and creative our own ideas of what we want from life, we can reduce our impact on the planet, and increase our contentment – an experience with real value.

Toxins in Tap Water

Top 11 compounds in US drinking water

A comprehensive survey of the drinking water for more than 28 million Americans has detected the widespread but low-level presence of pharmaceuticals and hormonally active chemicals.

Little was known about people’s exposure to such compounds from drinking water, so Shane Snyder and colleagues at the Southern Nevada Water Authority in Las Vegas screened tap water from 19 US water utilities for 51 different compounds. The surveys were carried out between 2006 and 2007.

The 11 most frequently detected compounds – all found at extremely low concentrations – were:

• Atenolol, a beta-blocker used to treat cardiovascular disease
• Atrazine, an organic herbicide banned in the European Union, but still used in the US, which has been implicated in the decline of fish stocks and in changes in animal behavior
• Carbamazepine, a mood-stabilizing drug used to treat bipolar disorder, amongst other things
• Estrone, an estrogen hormone secreted by the ovaries and blamed for causing gender-bending changes in fish
• Gemfibrozil, an anti-cholesterol drug
• Meprobamate, a tranquilizer widely used in psychiatric treatment
• Naproxen, a painkiller and anti-inflammatory linked to increases in asthma incidence
• Phenytoin, an anticonvulsant that has been used to treat epilepsy
• Sulfamethoxazole, an antibiotic used against the Streptococcus bacteria, which is responsible for tonsillitis and other diseases
• TCEP, a reducing agent used in molecular biology
• Trimethoprim, another antibiotic

The concentrations of pharmaceuticals in drinking water were millions of times lower than in a medical dose, and Snyder emphasizes that they pose no public health threat. He cautions, though, that “if a person has a unique health condition, or is concerned about particular contaminants in public water systems, I strongly recommend they consult their physician”.

Christian Daughton of the EPA’s National Exposure Research Laboratory says that neither this nor other recent water assessments give cause for health concern. “But several point to the potential for risk – especially for the fetus and those with severely compromised health.”

Daughton says the contamination surveys help people realize how they are intimately and inseparably connected with their environment. “The occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the environment also serves to make us acutely aware of the chemical sea that surrounds us,” he says.

Modern life

While the US government regulates the levels of pathogens in US drinking water, there are no rules for pharmaceuticals and other compounds, apart from one: the herbicide atrazine. The atrazine levels measured by Snyder and colleagues were well within federal limits.

Snyder says water utilities could make drinking water purer. But the costs of “extreme purification” – far beyond what is needed for safety alone – are huge in terms of increased energy usage and carbon footprint. Ultra-pure water might not even be safe, adds Snyder.

The widespread occurrence of pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors reflects improved detection techniques, rather than greater pollution, says Snyder. Contamination is a fact of modern life, he adds.

“As we continue to populate and aggregate, our wastes will certainly accumulate where we live,” he says. “We as a species have decided to live a modern life, with pharmaceuticals, plastics, transportation – therefore we must accept that there will be a certain degree of contamination.”

Journal reference: Environmental Science and Technology, in press

Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16397-top-11-compounds-in-us-drinking-water.html

By Kathleen Barnes www.kathleenbarnes.com

Cotton is the most intensive pesticide-use crop in the world, accounting for approximately 25% of all insecticides used worldwide, although cotton is grown on only 3% of the world’s farmland.

Five of the top nine pesticides used on cotton in the U.S (cyanide, dicofol, naled, propargite and triflurin) are known cancer-causing chemicals. All nine of the top pesticides used on cotton crops in the U.S. are classified by the EPA as Category I or II, the most dangerous categories of chemicals.

Cotton weevils are resistant to pesticides

The reason for the intensive pesticide use on cotton is that weevils and other cotton pests develop immunity to these chemicals very quickly, in about five or six years. It takes 8 to 10 years and approximately $100 million to develop new pesticides for use on cotton, so the new chemicals are ever more toxic and quickly become obsolete.

The cotton toxic waste is everywhere

In California, it has become illegal to feed the leaves, stems, and short fibers of cotton known as ‘gin trash’ to livestock, because of the concentrated levels of pesticide residue. Instead, this gin trash is used to make furniture, mattresses, tampons, swabs, and cotton balls. The average American woman will use 11,000 tampons or sanitary pads during her lifetime.

According to the Organic Consumers Association (http://www.organicconsumers.org/clothes/224subsidies.cfm), about 80% of all the cottonseed and almost all the gin trash go right into feed for dairy cows and into our milk. The other 20% of the cottonseed is made into oil, meal and cake and winds up in many different junk foods.

Toxic substances are absorbed by skin

Cotton clothing places some of these pesticides right on your skin, which is the largest and most absorbent organ of your body. Not only is your skin in contact with that T-shirt, underwear or pants for most of the day, if you’re sweating, the increased body heat can accelerate absorption of the pesticide residues in the fabric.

The problems with clothing production don’t stop in the field. During the conversion of conventional cotton into clothing, numerous toxic chemicals are added at each stage— silicone waxes, harsh petroleum scours, softeners, heavy metals, flame and soil retardants, ammonia, and formaldehyde— to name just a few.

Other toxic clothing

Other common types of clothing aren’t much better. Clothing made from synthetic fibers like acrylic, nylon and polyester is coated with formaldehyde finishes that continuously give off minute plastic vapors as the fabric is warmed against your skin, causing unknown effects as well as known ones: allergies and breathing troubles.

It’s really no surprise that a recent study of the cord blood of 71% of newborn babies shows extensive exposure to toxic substances passed to the baby through the placenta, including some of those used in cotton production. Worse yet, the majority of these toxic substances are carcinogenic, 75% are toxic to the brain or nervous system and 72% cause birth defects or abnormal developments.

Healthy environmentally friendly clothing

It makes perfect sense to buy clothing that is made from 100% organic cotton, silk, linen, hemp, or tencel (made from natural cellulose found in wood pulp). You can also buy used clothing, which may outgas less and the continued washing may have removed some of the residues.  If none of these works for you, wash new clothing several times before you wear it.

Resources:

http://www.ecochoices.com/1/cotton_statistics.html

http://www.organicconsumers.org/clothes/224subsidies.cfm

http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/execsumm.php