Poison in the air, water, food, and uh, that baby lotion?

What do the lab of a mad scientist and your household cleaners have in common? What about those two things and cosmetics? Or all of those things and Johnson and Johnson’s last formulation of baby soaps and shampoos? You’d hope nothing, but unfortunately the truth is that they are all common sources of a known carcinogen and highly toxic chemical you are probably fairly familiar with: Formaldehyde. 

Have you ever been doing your nails or painting a room and thought to yourself that that burning sensation in your nose can’t be good for you? Whelp, you are right! Even a very low amount of formaldehyde is enough for an acute exposure. 0.03 ppm is enough to have a negative health impact on the body. Formaldehyde is toxic in nearly every form of exposure. In its gaseous form, it is toxic to inhale and can cause constriction and adhesion in the lungs. It’s heavier than air so inhaling it can even cause asphyxiation. Long term exposure can cause nasopharyngeal cancer and lung cancer. In its liquid form, it causes skin irritation and if you get it in your eyes, it can cause permanent blindness. This is something to consider when a number of hair products contain some amount of formaldehyde. It is found in larger amounts in products used to straighten or process hair. Some cosmetics also contain formaldehyde and you might remember the rather large stink that was made about Johnson & Johnson for having preservatives in their baby shampoo that released small amounts of formaldehyde when used. This was especially awful because it was in a product specific for babies who are more susceptible to most toxins, including formaldehyde. 

The EPA has taken some steps towards limiting the amount of exposure that is considered low risk but we are also seeing a significant amount of water contamination due to the use of formaldehyde in agricultural settings as well. One of the more efficient methods for removing formaldehyde is a combination of UV radiation and ferrate(VI). 

Formaldehyde is ubiquitous and some exposure is a given but there is no reason to be exposed beyond base environmental levels. Be a critical consumer and make sure that the products you are buying and using are doing their best to limit the amount of formaldehyde contained in their product. There are alternatives to almost every use of formaldehyde. Vote with your patronage and support products that prioritize safer components and ingredients. 

Resources: 

Personal Care Products with Formaldehyde

https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/formaldehyde.pdf 

Formaldehyde - WHO Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality: Selected Pollutants - NCBI Bookshelf

Formaldehyde (EPA Profile)

6. ANALYTICAL METHODS (CDC Profile)

Formaldehyde And Formaldehyde-Releasing Preservatives - Safe Cosmetics 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479716307551

Let’s talk about Bone Char.

Bone char is calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate and activated carbon. It’s also the bones of dead animals. Dead animal bones that are usually from Pakistan, Argentina, India and Afghanistan to be exact. That’s right. There is an international trade for the production of bone char. This is less surprising when you consider that it takes about 8,000 cows to produce enough bones for one commercial filter and the cattle used has to be BSE-free. Since we can’t quite claim to be 100% free of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in this country, we buy cattle bones from other places to use in the production of bone char. The char itself is created by cleaning the bones and then heating them at extremely high temperatures in a limited amount of air. In this almost-vacuum, the bones become charcoal.  Ok, so that’s the production of bone char, but what kind of commercial filter? What is a filter made of the bones of thousands of cows even good for? Surprisingly, sugar. 

Have you ever wondered how sugar processing resulted in that bleached white color we associate with basic sugar? If you’ve ever cut open a sugar cane or seen one cut wide on a documentary, you know that the inside is a pulpy light yellow-tan color and the juice is similarly colored. If you’ve ever gone to Panera and used their raw sugar packets in your coffee, you may have noticed that that sugar is also tan-brown, like the plant. How then do we get that ghostly white sugar we use to bake or make icing out of? By straining it through an 8,000 cow, cow scaffolding sieve. This process bleaches out the sugar as aminos and other components bond to the carbonate in the char and are leached away from the sugar, leaving it that well-known bright white color. 

You might already be wondering if brown sugar might be excluded from the process. After all, it’s brown, not white. While raw sugars that just happen to be brown may in fact be totally spared this process, typically brown sugar is just white sugar that has had some of the molasses removed during processing added back. So, to recap. Brown sugar is processed just as heavily as white sugar but then molasses, which is a by-product of the sugar producing process is added back giving it its color and slightly gooey texture. This is also good to know if you need brown sugar for a cookie recipe and are out. If you happen to have a little molasses in the back of the pantry, you can quickly wipe up your own. Anyway, unless it’s natural, organic, raw sugar, brown sugar gets the same char treatment as white. 

There are a number of sugars that don’t undergo this process at all. Beet sugar for example is bone char free. Raw and organic sugar as we mentioned are also char-free most of the time. Additionally, a number of companies have made the arguably expensive move to switch to other methods of processing that don’t require or include bone char. Even Domino, one of the most recognizable white sugar brands around, is making a slow crawl towards a bone-free future. Right now, lot numbers starting with 1, 4, or 6 are apparently bone char-free. 

Until they reach that goal, it’s good to be aware of where your sugar has been. Particularly for those who are vegan, knowing that thousands of cattle corpses were used in the production of the spoonful of sugar is pretty important. Included in the resource below is a list of sugar companies that are char-free. Enjoy!

Resources:

Bone Char - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics.

https://www.vrg.org/blog/?s=bone+char

Is Sugar Vegan? Bone Char Filtration, The Industry's Dirty Secret

bone black | Description & Components | Britannica

AP-42, Section 9.10.1.1: Sugarcane Processing

https://vegfaqs.com/bone-char-free-sugar-brands/

Are animal ingredients included in white sugar? | PETA.

What’s the deal with Chromium 6?

Chromium 6 was highlighted as a carcinogenic compound found in most of America’s tap water in the 90’s by Erin Brockovich, an activist and consumer advocate who inspired a film by the same name in 2000. The film and her work highlighted a major gap in the drinking water contaminant standards for Hinkley, a southern California town. She went on to win one of the largest settlements ever claimed in a direct-action lawsuit at that time, a whopping $333 million, and leveraged that platform to shine the light on this national blindspot. With all of this press and later an Oscar winning film you’d think that this issue would have been resolved more than two decades later. Unfortunately, despite the wealth of research that has established Chromium 6 as a carcinogen, the EPA has dragged its feet on setting a Chromium 6 specific standard. They have a “total chromium” standard which includes chromium 3 but the safety levels for these two versions of chromium are wildly different. 

Chromium 3, for reference, is an element necessary for healthy functioning and most individuals get a suitable amount in their diet without needing to supplement. It is thought to be effective in the metabolism of protein, carbohydrates and lipids and promoting insulin action. It is considered an essential nutrient and is found in fruits, veggies and whole grains. A lack may even be linked to glucose intolerance and diabetes. Bottom line, Chromium 3 is good for you in the amounts you receive within a balanced diet. 

In contrast, Chromium 6 is an industrial by-product that is known to cause a variety of cancers, ulcers, convulsions, and sometimes death. Why then would the EPA insist on lumping both types of chromium together when setting national standards for our drinking water? Why, indeed. By doing this, the EPA is essentially raising the standard for our drinking water from a research based standard held by some forward thinking communities of 0.02ppb to 100ppb. They are allowing companies and counties to serve up water polluted with a known carcinogen at 500 times the research grounded standard for safety. It’s easy to understand that having to regulate the thousands of companies and counties that are currently out of compliance with the safer standard is a big job but it’s also important to understand that doing so is precisely the EPA’s responsibility and the point of having such an organization at the federal level in the first place. Last year, federal legislation was passed(INVEST), including an amendment requiring the EPA to set a Chromium 6 specific standard. Only time will tell whether or not the EPA will follow through on an actionable and responsible standard closer to the research based safe levels we need.

As always, we want to address what we, the consumers, should do about this gap in our march towards clean water. Like with PFAS, it isn’t enough to simply find the best filter for your home and move on. Clean water is a resource that should be available to all. Additionally, we are all (hopefully) eating vegetation that is being grown with water that is likely at an even higher level of contamination. No matter what you do for your own home, this is something that we should all be pushing for and supporting accountability for in our own communities, towns and ultimately national government. The EPA may establish a standard in the next two years but it is incredibly important that we are all paying attention to whether or not it is a legitimately safe one.

Resources: 

EPA Fact Sheet

EWG’s Tap Water Database

Chromium 3 Fact Sheet

Cadmium: A Toxic Relationship

Cadmium is one of four major heavy metal contaminants prevalent in our food market today. Mercury, Lead, and Arsenic are much more well known and are frequently discussed. Cadmium, however, we seem to talk and maybe understand less about.

Cadmium can be found in a variety of products but is most commonly used in batteries, electroplating and solder. Soldering, even as a hobby, is actually one of the most common ways someone might be exposed to cadmium in the amounts necessary for poisoning. Other occupational sources of exposure include solar cells, plastic stabilizers,  pigments and nuclear reactors! Workers who manufacture any of these products or collect waste from the manufacture of these products are at the top of the list of those at risk of high levels of cadmium exposure. Even those who just sell or transport these products will most likely have a higher than average amount of exposure. Cigarette smokers also run the risk of cadmium poisoning and the additional lung damage caused by cadmium is permanent and can be deadly. 

Cadmium is extremely poisonous and while these workers are probably experiencing chronic exposure over long periods of time, it really doesn’t take very much to have a significant impact on one’s health. OSHA outlines a number of medically evaluated thresholds for Cadmium exposure and just one indicator out of three being slightly elevated is equated with a significant increase the probability of permanent renal damage. These thresholds are evaluated through a variety of tests including blood work and a urinalysis.

Cadmium damages the lungs, the renal system which includes the kidneys and by extension the bones as the uptake of calcium is greatly reduced with kidney and liver damage. Emphysema, bronchitis, chronic rhinitis and an increased risk of lung cancer are just a few of the ways that damage to the lungs can present. Kidney damage can vary causing an increase in kidney stone development to all out kidney failure. While the extended and regular exposure to cadmium is usually the culprit in cadmium related kidney failure, even an acute exposure can reduce the proper function of the kidneys. In turn, even small changes can decrease the effectiveness of the renal system in the reuptake of necessary nutrients, notably calcium, causing a number of other health complications such as osteoporosis.

While cadmium inhalation is probably the culprit in most acute but very high cadmium exposures, cadmium ingestion is probably the main way that the rest of the population is going to be regularly exposed. While you might not have the symptoms of an acute poisoning like a worker who gets sick after welding without proper ventilation, you are still at risk for developing the issues of chronic, long term exposure. Ingesting cadmium may still result in renal damage and it doesn’t take very much. Small amounts over a number of years will be more than enough to cause renal damage. This is why it is so important that we monitor and test our foods! This is especially important for foods and supplements that we take everyday as cadmium builds up in the body. Learning and knowing where your food is coming from is the first step in preventing cadmium exposure. Testing the foods you can’t personally source is the second. As always, if you have a questions about a particular product or line of food and would like to test that product, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Resources:

Cadmium toxicity and treatment: An update: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5596182/

https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/cadmium/Chronic-Effects.html# 

OSHA threshold guidelines for industrial workers : https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/OSHA_3675.pdf 

Biosolids: What You Need To Know

You may be familiar with the idea of wastewater, or water run off from the sewers and other human activities being treated for continued use. This includes storm runoff, industrial sewage, and water containing human waste. Urban areas are huge producers of this dirty water and contaminants such as bacteria, viruses and more thrive in it. Thus, treatment plants like the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant, treat wastewater everyday, removing the water and straining it of solid matter (about 80% of it anyway) before distributing it back into the ocean. The solid particulate matter is then pressed into a concentrated mass that is distributed and used in a variety of ways. This concentrated mass is called biosolid.

The approximately 7 million metric tons of biosolids are treated depending on what class they are categorized into. Class A biosolids are treated to reduce the number of pathogens but are used in parks, home lawns, golf courses, etc. Class B undergo a more stringent pathogen reduction process and are thought to have a lower level of pathogens than animal manure. Class B is used for fertilizers in agriculture and forestry.

Currently, there is a question about the chemicals that remain in biosolids, either before treatment or because of treatment. Things like PFAS which were not previously regulated may pose a significant issue as the currently processes used to make biosolids are not always tailored to reduce or remove PFAS.

Check out this video explanation or the filtration process:

Britannica Video

One thing to consider is the impact PFAS will have on this process. We’ve already seen some issues as we learn more about the issue of PFAS in our water supply. Since PFAS do not breakdown, we may need to approach the release of processed waste water back into our natural sources of water. Even the use of biosolids in general may have an unknown impact on our supplies of pure groundwater and thus eventual drinking water. It’s more important than ever that we stay well informed of what is being done to protect our ground water and pure water sources as well as what we are moving towards in the regulation of PFAS.

Resources:

PFAS and Waste: What to do with it?