DIOXIN CONTAMINATION

A couple of days ago I received a forwarded email on a cancer update from John Hopkins University. Some people admitted that it was a hoax and that the University had never circulated such an email:

1. No plastic containers in micro.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

A dioxin! Chemical causes cancer, especially breast cancer.

Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don’t freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto (Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital) was on a TV program to explain this health hazard.

He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat.

He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body.

Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corningware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food.

You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So things such as TV dinners, instant Ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn’t bad but you don’t know what is in the paper. It’s just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

This prompted me to find out more about this substance, dioxin, and I shall attempt to record in as simple terms about what we need to know in order to keep our family safe.

Dioxin, is a class of super-toxic chemicals which are bi-products of the manufacture , moulding or burning of organic chemicals and plastics containing chlorine. It is the nastiest and most toxic of man-made contamination, second only to that of radioactive contamination!

In some countries, exposure to it is now at a serious level promising serious health effects. Exposure to it are mostly in the form of use of and contact with chemicals and plastics.

1. Chemicals such as insecticides and herbicides.
2. Plastics, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) such as in bottles, handbags, seat covers, wallpaper, plumbing pipes, coffee filters where most products are chlorine bleached.

How To Avoid Dioxin

1. Some dairy feed may be contaminated through the use of chemical insecticides. As such avoid beef.

2. Avoid bleaching products that have "chloro" as part of their name i.e. sodium hypochloride as in chlorine bleach. It looks like I would have to discontinue my Kao bleach whose active ingredient is sodium hypochloride. Use oxygen bleach instead. They release oxygen for cleaning. There are three (3) types of oxygen bleach:
- hydrogen peroxide (liquid form)
- sodium percarbonate (powder form)
- sodium perbotate (powder form)
It may cost more though and take a little more time to work.

3. Use unbleached paper products such as brown coffee filters.

4. Avoid "cling" plastic wraps unless identified as polyethlene.(So, my Giant cling wraps is alright then. However it still has a warning against use with fatty food and food with high sugar content).

5. Avoid toys made or packed in PVC labeled V or #3 plastic.

6. Wash fruits and vegetables carefully to avoid chlorophenol pesticide residue. Avoid grapes and rasins unless labled as "organic".

7. Avoid products with cottonseed oil as an ingredient e.g. potato chips as cotton is sprayed with chlorophenol insecticide.

8. Avoid soap with tallow (most soap) as it is from animal fat and deodorant with "triclosan" as it is a chlorophenol