Butterflies - There are many kinds of butterflies but these are two that fly close to the ground where little children can find them. The hard part is not chasing them but in stead, waiting for their wings to open and snapping a photo.
The Karner Blue, (Lycaeides melissa samuelis), is a small, blue butterfly which is endangered "because of its restrictive habitat that has been dwindling due to such things as land development." The size of a postage stamp and rounded wings.
Clouded Yellow or Sulphurs they have rounded wings and often are in shades of yellow, orange, burnt orange and sulphur. Unlike the Karner Blue butterflies, Sulphurs are abundant.
Ways you can help butterflies are by supplying food, water and shelter. Shelter is usually in the form of a butterfly box which is similar to a bird house though with smaller openings for entry. Growing plants that are native to your state will also provide food and a healthy resting place.
Showing posts with label Water. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Water. Show all posts
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Why are males developing eggs in their testes?
Why are males developing eggs in their testes?
Intersex, endocrine disruptor, thyroid glands, eggs found in testicles, fishing, rivers, lakes, soaps, deodorants, farm run off, lawn care....These are a few components that are part of the web of problems causing male animals to develop female eggs in their testicles and female like behavior. Some females exposed to these chemicals are producing male reproduction organs too.
Endocrine disruptors, found in everything from household cleaning agents to farms, are being found in toxic levels in many of the U.S. water supplies; Chesapeake bay (Virginia and Maryland) and Puget Sound (Washington) are two examples. The sources for the high levels of endocrine disruptor have been traced and tested. The sources are run off from lawns, farms and impervious surfaces such as parking lots and roads. When there is rain (or driveway washed car) the water washes all the chemicals from lawns, farms, parking lots and roads into sewers pipes and drainage ditches. These pipes and ditches empty into rivers, bays and lakes. Then we the people drink and swim in the contaminated water along with fish, lobster, salmon, deer, orcas, seals, dogs, etc. These chemicals cause a host of issues one of the major illnesses is reproduction organ damage. The results can range from undescending testicles, low sperm count, as found in human males to eggs in testes in fish and frogs to stillborn babies. An addition blow is premature onset of breast cancer.
What is even scarier is that when some of these chemicals are mixed together they can work in synergy against humans and other creatures drinking and swimming in the contaminated water.
Here is a definition from Wikipedia
"Endocrine disruptor (sometimes also referred to as hormonally active agents)[1] are exogenous substances that act like hormones in the endocrine system and disrupt the physiologic function of endogenous hormones. Studies have linked endocrine disruptor to adverse biological effects in animals, giving rise to concerns that low-level exposure might cause similar effects in human beings.[2]"
"Food is a major source of pollutant exposure. Diet is thought to account for up to 90% of a person's PCB and DDT body burden.[35] In a study of 32 different common food products from three grocery stores in Dallas, fish and other animal products were found to be contaminated with PBDE.[36] Since these compounds are fat soluble, it is likely they are accumulating from the environment in the fatty tissue of animals we eat. Some suspect fish consumption is a major source of many environmental contaminates. Indeed, both wild and farmed salmon from all over the world have been shown to contain a variety of man-made organic compounds.[37]"
Endocrine disruptor include some of the following chemicals
"Chemicals commonly detected in people include DDT, Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's), Bisphenol A, Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE's), and a variety of Phthalates.[46]"
"Some examples of putative EDCs are vinclozolin, zearalenone, 17-alpha ethinylestradiol, Dioxins, PCBs, PAHs, furans, phenols and several pesticides (most prominent being organochlorine insecticides like endosulfan, DDT and its derivatives). Substances with estrogenic effects include the xenoestrogens and phytoestrogens."
Though, Wikipedia sites food as people's closest point of contamination besides water, this is a chain event. The food and water would not be contaminated if storm water was not allowed into pipes and ditches that empty into drinking water sources. The pipes and ditches would not be contaminated if farms were organically farmed, and parking spaces, along with roads, were built to be permeable allowing water to seep through the cement or paving and into the ground where it can be filtered.
I am lucky. I found a water filter that takes out all the major contaminants up to 98-99% efficiency per contaminant. I have access to organically grown food. And I am educated on the health issues. But many people, neighbors, parents, sons and daughters are not aware, or have access to defend their health. Our water ways, our lakes, our bays do not have giant filters to clean them. Chesapeake bay has loss its fishing industry, its fish, its life. Puget Bay is losing its orcas, 7 died last year. There is no fishing allowed. Remember this is where many get their drinking water too. Mother's nurse their children can pass these contaminant on.
How do we stop this?
In the home you can buy organic when possible (endocrine disruptor are fat soluble), get a farm share (you save money here too), get a good water filter, refinish old wood floors (remodeled in the 1960's with PCB varnish) with a modern low VOC finish, avoid wild and farmed salmon, increase indoor home air ventilation and avoid house dust.
In your community you can encourage new housing/business developments to use permeable parking space (allows water to seep into the ground under paving), do not wash your car in the driveway take it to a car wash which filters and cleans the water, get a farm share also called Community Supported Farming, be involved in water way clean-ups and vote ! This is your community, family and your own health at stake here.
And always remember "Land use is key to protecting our drinking water and children".
You can watch the Front Line special on "Poisoned Waters" where I got much of the information for this post.
Intersex, endocrine disruptor, thyroid glands, eggs found in testicles, fishing, rivers, lakes, soaps, deodorants, farm run off, lawn care....These are a few components that are part of the web of problems causing male animals to develop female eggs in their testicles and female like behavior. Some females exposed to these chemicals are producing male reproduction organs too.
Endocrine disruptors, found in everything from household cleaning agents to farms, are being found in toxic levels in many of the U.S. water supplies; Chesapeake bay (Virginia and Maryland) and Puget Sound (Washington) are two examples. The sources for the high levels of endocrine disruptor have been traced and tested. The sources are run off from lawns, farms and impervious surfaces such as parking lots and roads. When there is rain (or driveway washed car) the water washes all the chemicals from lawns, farms, parking lots and roads into sewers pipes and drainage ditches. These pipes and ditches empty into rivers, bays and lakes. Then we the people drink and swim in the contaminated water along with fish, lobster, salmon, deer, orcas, seals, dogs, etc. These chemicals cause a host of issues one of the major illnesses is reproduction organ damage. The results can range from undescending testicles, low sperm count, as found in human males to eggs in testes in fish and frogs to stillborn babies. An addition blow is premature onset of breast cancer.
What is even scarier is that when some of these chemicals are mixed together they can work in synergy against humans and other creatures drinking and swimming in the contaminated water.
Here is a definition from Wikipedia
"Endocrine disruptor (sometimes also referred to as hormonally active agents)[1] are exogenous substances that act like hormones in the endocrine system and disrupt the physiologic function of endogenous hormones. Studies have linked endocrine disruptor to adverse biological effects in animals, giving rise to concerns that low-level exposure might cause similar effects in human beings.[2]"
"Food is a major source of pollutant exposure. Diet is thought to account for up to 90% of a person's PCB and DDT body burden.[35] In a study of 32 different common food products from three grocery stores in Dallas, fish and other animal products were found to be contaminated with PBDE.[36] Since these compounds are fat soluble, it is likely they are accumulating from the environment in the fatty tissue of animals we eat. Some suspect fish consumption is a major source of many environmental contaminates. Indeed, both wild and farmed salmon from all over the world have been shown to contain a variety of man-made organic compounds.[37]"
Endocrine disruptor include some of the following chemicals
"Chemicals commonly detected in people include DDT, Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's), Bisphenol A, Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE's), and a variety of Phthalates.[46]"
"Some examples of putative EDCs are vinclozolin, zearalenone, 17-alpha ethinylestradiol, Dioxins, PCBs, PAHs, furans, phenols and several pesticides (most prominent being organochlorine insecticides like endosulfan, DDT and its derivatives). Substances with estrogenic effects include the xenoestrogens and phytoestrogens."
Though, Wikipedia sites food as people's closest point of contamination besides water, this is a chain event. The food and water would not be contaminated if storm water was not allowed into pipes and ditches that empty into drinking water sources. The pipes and ditches would not be contaminated if farms were organically farmed, and parking spaces, along with roads, were built to be permeable allowing water to seep through the cement or paving and into the ground where it can be filtered.
I am lucky. I found a water filter that takes out all the major contaminants up to 98-99% efficiency per contaminant. I have access to organically grown food. And I am educated on the health issues. But many people, neighbors, parents, sons and daughters are not aware, or have access to defend their health. Our water ways, our lakes, our bays do not have giant filters to clean them. Chesapeake bay has loss its fishing industry, its fish, its life. Puget Bay is losing its orcas, 7 died last year. There is no fishing allowed. Remember this is where many get their drinking water too. Mother's nurse their children can pass these contaminant on.
How do we stop this?
In the home you can buy organic when possible (endocrine disruptor are fat soluble), get a farm share (you save money here too), get a good water filter, refinish old wood floors (remodeled in the 1960's with PCB varnish) with a modern low VOC finish, avoid wild and farmed salmon, increase indoor home air ventilation and avoid house dust.
In your community you can encourage new housing/business developments to use permeable parking space (allows water to seep into the ground under paving), do not wash your car in the driveway take it to a car wash which filters and cleans the water, get a farm share also called Community Supported Farming, be involved in water way clean-ups and vote ! This is your community, family and your own health at stake here.
And always remember "Land use is key to protecting our drinking water and children".
You can watch the Front Line special on "Poisoned Waters" where I got much of the information for this post.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
"I only turned away for a minute"
This question caught my attention, "When can my child bathe alone?" Many caregivers asked this question because the cleaning of the child often lasted only 5 minutes and the play time last another 30. Many caregivers often want to attend to other "chores" while the child plays.
The first thing I will mentioned is that, the Consumer Federation of America and 8 other group petitioned, in 2000, to the Consumer Product Safety Commission for a ban on "Bath Seats" citing that it leads to a false seance of security and has lead to 8 deaths a year and over a 100 injuries. These were easily preventable.
In another report I found this information. "Unintentional drownings cause over 600 deaths annually among children 5 years old and younger. Bathtubs are one of the leading sites for such drownings for children 2 years of age and especially for children 1 year or younger." When these parents were questioned 31% of the respondents admitted to leaving their child alone in the bathtub. The mean age of the child was 37.5 months (3 yrs 1 mo. old). The most common excuse given for leaving the child was to retrieve a towel, diaper, answer the phone or cook dinner. Five of these injured children were left alone with another child under 10 years old. The less then 10 year old was meant to be the supervisor.
Conclusion: The children, at 5 years or younger, who had parents that left the bathroom were deemed "inadequately supervised". Th parents were then labeled as those who should "be advised concerning proper supervision in early anticipatory guidance." In other words these parents lacked the education and understanding that a five year old has not developed enough to navigate in and around water, in problem situations. "Reported Level of Supervision of Young Children While in the Bathtub"
Ambulatory Pediatrics, Volume 3
Third, According to the Committee on Injury, Violence and Poison prevention, Studies have shown that a 0-4 year old child can not navigate water environments well enough to be left alone. Citing that parents will leave a child to answer the phone, door, or retrieve a towel. It has been determined that these and other reasons will not be excepted as excuses for leaving a child four and under in or near water of 5 gallons or more. American Academy of Pediatric
The above is what I found on the internet. Often, I think, caregivers do not want to "just sit and watch" their child in the tub when they feel like other works "needs" to be done. Instead of thinking that bathing your child is a "chore" consider playing with the child and their toys. Or if you do not want to do that you can clean the bathroom while your child plays. You could bring in a magazine or read.
But think of it this way, all the work you are doing is mostly for your family, right? All the cooking, cleaning, and toweling off of wet bodies. If your child slips, that 30 seconds it takes you to run into the bathroom to assess what happened, then another minute goes by while you try to find your phone so you can call 911 could take too long, then you will no longer have a family to worry about. Was that extra cleaning you did worth it?
The first thing I will mentioned is that, the Consumer Federation of America and 8 other group petitioned, in 2000, to the Consumer Product Safety Commission for a ban on "Bath Seats" citing that it leads to a false seance of security and has lead to 8 deaths a year and over a 100 injuries. These were easily preventable.
In another report I found this information. "Unintentional drownings cause over 600 deaths annually among children 5 years old and younger. Bathtubs are one of the leading sites for such drownings for children 2 years of age and especially for children 1 year or younger." When these parents were questioned 31% of the respondents admitted to leaving their child alone in the bathtub. The mean age of the child was 37.5 months (3 yrs 1 mo. old). The most common excuse given for leaving the child was to retrieve a towel, diaper, answer the phone or cook dinner. Five of these injured children were left alone with another child under 10 years old. The less then 10 year old was meant to be the supervisor.
Conclusion: The children, at 5 years or younger, who had parents that left the bathroom were deemed "inadequately supervised". Th parents were then labeled as those who should "be advised concerning proper supervision in early anticipatory guidance." In other words these parents lacked the education and understanding that a five year old has not developed enough to navigate in and around water, in problem situations. "Reported Level of Supervision of Young Children While in the Bathtub"
Ambulatory Pediatrics, Volume 3
Third, According to the Committee on Injury, Violence and Poison prevention, Studies have shown that a 0-4 year old child can not navigate water environments well enough to be left alone. Citing that parents will leave a child to answer the phone, door, or retrieve a towel. It has been determined that these and other reasons will not be excepted as excuses for leaving a child four and under in or near water of 5 gallons or more. American Academy of Pediatric
The above is what I found on the internet. Often, I think, caregivers do not want to "just sit and watch" their child in the tub when they feel like other works "needs" to be done. Instead of thinking that bathing your child is a "chore" consider playing with the child and their toys. Or if you do not want to do that you can clean the bathroom while your child plays. You could bring in a magazine or read.
But think of it this way, all the work you are doing is mostly for your family, right? All the cooking, cleaning, and toweling off of wet bodies. If your child slips, that 30 seconds it takes you to run into the bathroom to assess what happened, then another minute goes by while you try to find your phone so you can call 911 could take too long, then you will no longer have a family to worry about. Was that extra cleaning you did worth it?
Friday, January 2, 2009
Water Contaminants
Many of us have bought or plan to buy a water filtration system. A few things to educate yourself on before buying are as followed.
1. All systems are not created equal; Distillation, carbon filter, reverse osmosis, ionization and a combination there of, all produce different levels of clean water.
2. Many municipal water systems have up-dated their systems and are much more effective and consistent then 20 years ago. Wells and non-municipal waters need special treatment.
3. Read the EPA Website to see what contaminants are mandated to be tested by your municipality and their limits.
4. Cheaper filters are designed to improve taste and reduce turbidity (soil contamination) so the filtered water looks and smells better.
5. If you have old pipes in your house, you may have lead contamination. It is up to you to replace the pipes or filter the lead out of your water.
6. Learn the abbreviation; MCL = Maximum Contaminant level, MCLG = Maximum Contaminant Level Goal, TT = Treatment Technique
Example of what a filter can do.
Note: For those readers who don't like looking at numbers, the more zeros the less the contamination. e.g. 0.002 has more contamination and is a larger number then 0.0005.
Chemical in mg/L...........Municipal Water.............Carbon filter+Ionization Commercial Product
Alachlor.............................0.002....................................0.0005
Atrazine.............................0.003....................................0.0005
Benzene.............................0.005....................................0.0005
Carbon Tetrachloride.........0.005....................................0.0005
O-Dichlorobenzene............0.6........................................0.0005
P-Dichlorobenzene............0.075....................................0.0005
Some of these contaminants, in high concentrations, can cause kidney or liver "problems". Others can cause cancer. Every few years the EPA, due to new studies, adjust the quantity of the MCL. Usually the study shows that there needs to be tighter controls.
My thinking is that...
1. Why wait for the EPA to realize that there should not be any PCBs, Pesticides, Herbicides, etc in our water? I want clean water now. Even if some of the natural "good" minerals are taken out. Because I can get the same minerals in the food I eat, like Broccoli and other greens.
2. If I want to optimize my physical, mental and emotional capacities then this requires a balanced, diverse, and natural diet with clean water. A student can not get good grades if they can't concentrate or are constantly sick and home from school due to contaminated water or poor nutrition. An Olympic athlete can not win a gold metal if their livers and kidneys are not processing the water they intake at optimum levels. See book "Optimum Sports Nutrition".
3. And if clean water is good for those people who are above average then the average kid could derive benefits too. Everyone should have optimally cleaned water.
1. All systems are not created equal; Distillation, carbon filter, reverse osmosis, ionization and a combination there of, all produce different levels of clean water.
2. Many municipal water systems have up-dated their systems and are much more effective and consistent then 20 years ago. Wells and non-municipal waters need special treatment.
3. Read the EPA Website to see what contaminants are mandated to be tested by your municipality and their limits.
4. Cheaper filters are designed to improve taste and reduce turbidity (soil contamination) so the filtered water looks and smells better.
5. If you have old pipes in your house, you may have lead contamination. It is up to you to replace the pipes or filter the lead out of your water.
6. Learn the abbreviation; MCL = Maximum Contaminant level, MCLG = Maximum Contaminant Level Goal, TT = Treatment Technique
Example of what a filter can do.
Note: For those readers who don't like looking at numbers, the more zeros the less the contamination. e.g. 0.002 has more contamination and is a larger number then 0.0005.
Chemical in mg/L...........Municipal Water.............Carbon filter+Ionization Commercial Product
Alachlor.............................0.002....................................0.0005
Atrazine.............................0.003....................................0.0005
Benzene.............................0.005....................................0.0005
Carbon Tetrachloride.........0.005....................................0.0005
O-Dichlorobenzene............0.6........................................0.0005
P-Dichlorobenzene............0.075....................................0.0005
Some of these contaminants, in high concentrations, can cause kidney or liver "problems". Others can cause cancer. Every few years the EPA, due to new studies, adjust the quantity of the MCL. Usually the study shows that there needs to be tighter controls.
My thinking is that...
1. Why wait for the EPA to realize that there should not be any PCBs, Pesticides, Herbicides, etc in our water? I want clean water now. Even if some of the natural "good" minerals are taken out. Because I can get the same minerals in the food I eat, like Broccoli and other greens.
2. If I want to optimize my physical, mental and emotional capacities then this requires a balanced, diverse, and natural diet with clean water. A student can not get good grades if they can't concentrate or are constantly sick and home from school due to contaminated water or poor nutrition. An Olympic athlete can not win a gold metal if their livers and kidneys are not processing the water they intake at optimum levels. See book "Optimum Sports Nutrition".
3. And if clean water is good for those people who are above average then the average kid could derive benefits too. Everyone should have optimally cleaned water.
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