Showing posts with label xenoestrogen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label xenoestrogen. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Antifreeze in your store-bought baked goods

I was looking at some baked goods a patient brought in for us and decided to look this "ingredient" up.

PROPYLENE GLYCOL



Propylene glycol is used:
As a moisturizer in medicines, cosmetics, food, toothpaste, mouth wash, and tobacco products
In electronic cigarettes to make the produced vapor better resemble cigarette smoke
As a medical and sexual lubricant (A.K.A. "personal lubricant")
As an emulsification agent in Angostura and orange bitters
As a solvent for food colors and flavorings
As a humectant food additive, labeled as E number E1520
As a carrier in fragrance oils
As a less-toxic antifreeze
As a solvent used in mixing photographic chemicals, such as film developers
In smoke machines to make artificial smoke for use in firefighters' training and theatrical productions
In hand sanitizers, antibacterial lotions, and saline solutions
In cryonics
As a working fluid in hydraulic presses
As a coolant in liquid cooling systems
To regulate humidity in a cigar humidor
As the killing and preserving agent in pitfall traps, usually used to capture ground beetles
To treat livestock ketosis
As the main ingredient in deodorant sticks.
To deice aircraft.






Fragrance Ingredient; Humectant; Skin-Conditioning Agent - Humectant; Skin-ConditioningAgent - Miscellaneous; Solvent; Viscosity Decreasing Agent; SKIN CONDITIONING; VISCOSITY CONTROLLING


Given the incomplete information made available by companies and the government, EWG provides additional information on personal care product ingredients from the published scientific literature. The chart below indicates that research studies have found that exposure to this ingredient -- not the products containing it -- caused the indicated health effect(s) in the studies reviewed by Skin Deep researchers. Actual health risks, if any, will vary based on the level of exposure to the ingredient and individual susceptibility -- information not available in Skin Deep.
This ingredient:
Cancer
Developmental/reproductive toxicity
Violations, restrictions & warnings
Allergies/immunotoxicity
Contamination concerns
Other strong concerns for this ingredient: Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption
Other moderate concerns for this ingredient: Persistence and bioaccumulation, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)
Lesser or emerging concerns for this ingredient: Neurotoxicity, Endocrine disruption, Ecotoxicology, Data gaps, Biochemical or cellular level changes

See products containing PROPYLENE GLYCOL
About PROPYLENE GLYCOL: Propylene glycol is practically non-toxic when taken orally, i.e. added to food. However, it has been found to provoke skin irritation and sensitization in humans as low as 2% concentration, while the industry review panel recommends cosmetics can contain up to 50% of the substance.
PROPYLENE GLYCOL has reported used in the following product types: hair color and bleaching (1442); facial moisturizer/treatment (1089); moisturizer (935); conditioner (680); anti-aging (668); shampoo (597); styling gel/lotion (555); facial cleanser (541); body wash/cleanser (509); foundation (497)
Potential health effects
Eye
Causes mild eye irritation. Contact may cause irritation, tearing, and burning pain.
Skin
Causes moderate skin irritation. Contact with the skin may cause erythema, dryness, and defatting.
Ingestion
May cause gastrointestinal irritation with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Low hazard for usual industrial handling. May cause hemoglobinuric nephrosis. May cause changes in surface EEG.
Inhalation
Low hazard for usual industrial handling. May cause respiratory tract irritation.
Chronic
May cause reproductive and fetal effects. Laboratory experiments have resulted in mutagenic effects. Exposure to large doses may cause central nervous system depression. Chronic ingestion may cause lactic acidosis and possible seizures.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Accidental Discovery Leads To Breast Cancer Clues

Cancer prevention is something every doctor
wants to be up to speed on. We’re talking effective,
and we’re talking prevention of breast cancer,
ovarian cancer and prostrate cancer.

A few years ago, cell biologist Dr. Ana Soto was
working out the biochemical details of estrogen
sensitivity and its relationship to breast cancer
when something puzzling happened in her Tufts
University laboratory. Tissues growing in plastic
dishes containing no estrogens started proliferating
as if they contained estrogen. “This indicated that
some type of contamination had occurred," Soto
remembered. “We made an accidental discovery."
Soto traced the contamination to the plastic tubes
she was using to store blood serum.
Working with her colleague Carlos Sonnenschein,
Soto purified the contaminant and identified it as
nonylphenol, a chemical added during the manufacture
of plastic to prevent it from cracking. They discovered
molecules of nonylphenol were being shed
from the tubes into the serum. Soto and Sonnenschein
went on to prove that nonylphenol is estrogenic.
That is, it mimics the effect of estrogen
when added to tissues containing estrogen receptors.
In a series of experiments published in 1991, Soto
demonstrated that human breast tissue proliferates
in the presence of nonylphenol, possibly placing it
on the path to tumor formation.

This type of chemical and all other man-made chemicals that have
ability to mimic estrogen in the body are classified
with the name xenoestrogens. Many of these mimicking
hormones were previously thought to occur
only in pesticides; however, many of the "newly
discovered xenoestrogens” are found in materials
that were once thought to be inert.
Xenoestrogens are found in all kinds of plastics and
in the hormones used by stockmen and farmers to
fatten up animals for market—beef, chicken, turkey,
and pork. They are also found in detergents,
canned foods, and personal care products like
shampoos, sunscreens, and soaps. There are various
estimates stating that we are surrounded with
anywhere from 100,000 to 600,000 man-made
chemicals that belong to this group of xenoestrogens.
Xenoestrogens are linked to many forms of
cancer but mostly breast and ovarian cancer in
women and prostate cancer in men. They are also
responsible for premature sexual development of
boys and girls.
How can we protect ourselves from this onslaught
of xenoestrogens? Of course there are
some obvious choices we can make in our lifestyle:
avoid plastics, use natural health care products, and
eat organic especially when it comes to animal
products. Even with these changes there is a problem
with xenoestrogens being fat soluble, which
means they stay in the body for a long time. An
effective solution, one that can diminish the effects
of xenoestrogens, is the use of a natural progesterone
cream.
Both men and women need progesterone in levels
that the average person is not getting. Progesterone
effectively prevents the binding of xenoestrogens in our cells. It is the imbalance of estrogen to progesterone
ratio that sets up the breast cancer or
uterine cancer in the women. It is this imbalance
of estrogens to progesterone in the male that contributes
prostate problems. This imbalance can
also be a factor in heart disease and autoimmune
disorders in men AND women. But as with many
products, not all progesterone products are equal.
We spent considerable time researching this issue
and trying to find the best progesterone product
on the market. We realized that oral progesterone
tends to break down too fast, and it’s hard to get a
reliable dosage. The liquid forms are peaking too
fast thus not giving a steady release of progesterone
to the cells. Most of the creams we tried were
not very effective either. The research led us finally
to Broadmoore Labs, a company with a very
innovative product.
Broadmoore Labs has resolved that obstacle by a
unique two fold approach, which improve so
called transdermability. First, they use micronized
progesterone which is much easier to absorb.
However, if the oral implementation even micronized
is broken down too fast in the transdermal
application, it is absorbed much more efficiently.
The second approach relates to how the cells absorb
nutrients. Our cells exert constant specific
osmotic pressure. This partially prevents the toxins
from randomly entering the cell structure. The
cell lets in only substances that have “low surface
tension.”
All fresh plants, fruits and vegetables naturally
contain fluids with very low surface tension. Low
surface tension is critical to healthy cellular function,
absorption of nutrients, and the removal of
toxins. Broadmoore Labs uses a proprietary catalyst
to alter the surface tension, thus making progesterone
even more available than it would be
just by being micronized.

When we first received this product, we were
impressed by the results. Whereas before we
needed weeks or months to achieve results with
some patients, Broadmoore Labs NatraGest
Cream worked in days. One of the users of this
cream had this to say: “I used NatraGest regularly
for years, and though I felt good, I didn't
know just how good this product was until I
couldn't find it for over 3 years. My health declined
dramatically until I found it again, and
now everything is back on track!” We have
heard similar statements from patients many
times.
So, here’s the summary: We are surrounded by
literally 100’s of thousands of xenoestrogens
that have debilitating effects on our health by
disrupting our hormone function. Progesterone
is a natural way to keep these man-made xenoestrogens
from taking a hold of our cells’ mitochondria
and thus preventing cancer. Both
men and women can greatly benefit from applying
a small dose of natural progesterone.
Most products have unreliable dosing, peaking
too soon, or being trapped in the local tissue for
too long without providing true benefits to the
targeted cells. Broadmoore Labs have resolved
the problem by using micronized progesterone
and lowering the surface tension to
make the progesterone more available to all the
cells in the body.