masked CANARY

MASKED CANARIES serves as a clearinghouse of useful information for those who suffer from environmental illness–or have a relationship with someone who does–so that they can deal with the issues that affect their daily lives in their homes, workplace, public places, and neighborhoods.  Health matters, the community matters, the environment matters.   

There is an awakening by many about this problem and are willing to spend their resources to make others aware as well.  This web site gives credit to such pioneers who are angels in canary form.  Bless us all.

 

 HOLIDAYS WILL BE SOON UPON US.  LEARN HOW TO HAVE A SAFE HOME ENVIRONMENT, STARTING WITH SCENTED CANDLES.

Historically, one of the coal miner’s earliest systems for warning of the presence of methane gas was the use of a canary that would fly into the coal mine. It was a low-tech, extremely effective way of knowing if the the coal mine was free of methane gas. If it was not free of methane gas (a volatile organic compound), the canary would die and the miners would get out of the shaft.  Today, we have a similar yellow canary situation, but they–humans–are becoming ill or dying due to the toxic fumes and chemicals entering our biosphere every second.  The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2013 reported that the major contribution to cancer is air pollution (the introduction into the atmosphere of chemicals, particulates, or biological materials that cause discomfort, disease, or death to humans, damage other living organisms such as food crops, or damage the natural environment or built environment).

Let’s take on the crusade to demand that Nature be toxic free.   Let’s strive to get unmasked!  Thus, the moniker MASKED CANARIES was adopted.  Share information that would permit the yellow canaries to unmask.

So, why CHANEL?

 

After viewing the video, scroll down to read how synthetic perfumes affect health and the environment.

Moreover, check out the RSS from the Environmental Working Group  and others located to on the right & left columns of this web site.

Having viewed the above video on Chanel’s Chanel No. 5, a Brief History, please read on.

PARFUM GRAND EXTRAIT from $2100.00, the fragrance was the first to carry synthetic scent ingredients

In substantial quantities, perfume ingredients, regardless of natural or synthetic origins, may all cause health or environmental problems.  The wisdom to be gained is “do not do anything too much or too little.”  In other words, “moderation in all things ‘good.’  The fragrance industry needs to take this proverb to heart, because even its lifespan may be at stake with more and more health-conscious people actively deciding not to indulge in the trappings of fragrances.

Much remains to be learned about the effects of fragrance on human health and the environment. Evidence in peer-reviewed journals shows that some fragrances can cause asthmatic reactions in some individuals, especially those with severe or atopic asthma. Many fragrance ingredients can also cause headaches, allergic skin reactions or nausea.  In some cases, an excessive use of perfumes may cause allergic reactions of the skin. For instance, acetophenone, ethyl acetate andacetone, while present in many perfumes, are also known or potential respiratory allergens.  Perhaps the findings will be that they are toxic to the immune system.   Since the harm presented by many of these natural or synthetic chemicals is dependent on environmental conditions and their concentrations in a perfume, it is better to error on the side of caution.  For instance, a finding by the IFRA (International Fragrance Association) claims that opoponax resin is too dangerous to be used in perfumery.  Opoponax does have medicinal properties in proper dosage.

We all have been lured by the presence of musk in perfumery.  Ah, to be laid in sweet embrace; but the poor deer has to be killed for its “musk pod.”

Creams and perfumes (Photo credit: kattebelletje)

Again, it is best to keep it in the realm of medicine–to be used in various cardiac, mental, and neurological disorders and in various compound formulations.  As for taking the synthetic route:  that is the ultimate horror for a sustainable existence.  While saving the male musk deer, we need to save ourselves as well.

There is scientific evidence that nitro-musks, such as musk xylene, can cause cancer while common ingredients, such as polycyclic synthetic musks, can disrupt the balance of hormones in the human bodies.  Even some natural aromatics, such as oakmoss absolutes, contain allergens and carcinogenic compounds.

Synthetic musks are pleasant in smell and relatively inexpensive; as such, they are employed in large quantities to cover the unpleasant scent of laundry detergents and many personal cleaning products. Due to their large-scale use, several types of synthetic musks have been found in human fat and milk as well as in the sediments and waters of the Great Lakes.

These pollutants tend to pose additional health and environmental problems when they enter human and animal diets.

We need to squelch our desires for aromatic materials.  Moreover, we are endangering many species–sandalwood, agar wood, musk, for example–causing even illegal trafficking and harvesting.

Primum nil nocere:  First, do no harm.

HOW ABOUT DETOXING FASHION?  CHECK OUT THIS NEW MOVEMENT!

Around the world a growing movement of people are using their creativity, design skills and purchasing power to demand fashion without pollution. United by a shared belief that the clothes we wear should carry a story we can be proud of, activists, bloggers, designers, scientists and models have been able to convince big brands including Zara, Mango, Valentino, UNIQLO and H&M to commit to toxic-free fashion. There is still a long way to go, but our successes so far prove that when we work together, big brands are forced to stand up and deliver.

Facebook discontinued Bitstrip; consequently, this will be the last of the cartoons.

Check out other Bitstrip cartoons in booklet format, ENTITLED THE CANARIES SPEAK.

BULLETIN:  CALL FOR AWARENESS AND ACTION BY THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF DOCTORS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT ON MCS AND EHS.   |   U.S.NewsHEALTH:  “Life with an ‘Invisible’ Illness”  |  Legislative Watch 

• Check out
• What was known in the 90’s about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (Remarks by the then Congressman Bernie Sanders of Vermont)
• Household Products Database and Toxicology Data Network of the NIH.  Compare with EWG, an independent environmental organization.
• Check out Dr. Molot’s 12,000 Canaries Cannot Be Wrong:  What’s Making Us Sick and What We Can Do about It.
•  Check out Tide, the Detergent.
• Check out Chemical Body Burden.
• Check out “Your Amazing Brain.”