1.Much of the clothing people wear today is made with polyester, acrylic, rayon, and various other synthetic textile materials. And a new study published in the American Chemical Society (ACS) journal Environmental Science & Technology has found that, when washed, such garments release high amounts of "microplastic" fibers that end up polluting the world's oceans.
Scientist Mark Browne and a team of researchers from Ireland, Canada, the UK, and Australia discovered that thousands of tiny fiber bits are shed from clothes every time they are washed. In tests, a single garment released as much as 1,900 polyester or acrylic threads, which are typically smaller than a pinhead. And eventually, these fibers ended up washing out to sea.
After poring 18 different coastlines around the world, Browne and his team learned that masses of these microplastic fibers are collecting on shores, particularly on those near densely-populated urban areas. Fish and other sea creatures end up eating these fibers, many of which are harmful, and passing them on to humans through the food chain.
"Designers of clothing and washing machines should consider the need to reduce the release of fibers into wastewater," wrote the study authors in their paper. "Research is needed to develop methods for removing microplastic from sewage."
All clothing items, no matter what they are made of, are prone to release fibers and other bits of material into the wash. But it is the synthetic materials that are the most harmful. In addition to those mentioned above, these include materials like acetate, triacetate, nylon, and some static- and wrinkle-resistant materials.
Preferable alternatives include organic cotton, linen, wool, silk, and hemp, which are all natural fibers with far less of an environmental impact. They also tend not to be treated with harmful chemicals like formaldehyde, teflon, and various perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), which are known to disrupt proper hormonal balance and cause neurological problems.
Another way to help reduce your impact on the environment when washing clothes is to use laundry detergents that are free of petrochemicals, dyes, 1,4-dioxane, and other harmful chemicals. Many of these toxins end up escaping from water treatment plants and getting dumped into oceans along with the fibers.
2.As the editor of NaturalNews, I have an obligation to keep my ear to the ground and pay attention to what's going on in the natural health industry. In the past, I have exposed the deceptive marketing practices of companies like General Mills, which sells "blueberry - pomegranate" cereal that contains no blueberries or pomegranates!
I have helped expose dangers of vaccines and the aluminum contaminants in those vaccines, which many people believe help explain why vaccines may cause autism and other neurological disorders. Day after day, we here at NaturalNews seek to share information about health-enhancing products that are safe and effective while exposing dangerous chemicals in foods, cosmetics, medicines and environmental products that threaten human health.
In my years as NaturalNews editor, I have seen it all: The good guys who really offer remarkable health solutions, and the con artists who are selling quack products just to make a quick buck. I've seen products hyped way beyond their true merit and sold with outrageous claims that simply have no basis in fact, and at the same time I've seen humble nutrients like vitamin D -- which are truly miraculous -- never get the real publicity they deserve as truly amazing cures.
When I talk to people and start getting evasive answers about their products, red flags start to pop up in my head. An honest company selling a mineral complex like Adya, I believe, would have been happy to provide me with an official MSDS and some documentation supporting the safety of their product when ingested. An honest company would have honestly labeled their product to achieve full disclosure and not resorted to hiding one element by burying it in the "trace minerals" section of their label.
I personally did not find Adya, Inc. to be forthright in providing answers to my reasonable questions, nor in providing any reliable evidence whatsoever to support the idea that their product may be safely ingested on a regular basis.
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