Mold Checking & Chemicals

[Guest guest]

From interesting related site http://hhi.org/

<< To get your home checked for mold, contact the American Industrial Hygiene Association for a referral to a certified industrial hygienist (703-849-8888, or http://www.aihi.org). Testing costs $200 - $500. For more information about household mold, visit the Environmental Protection Agency's Indoor Air Quality site, http://www.epa.gov/iaq.

GROUNDWATER AND CHEMICAL TESTING The mixture of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers commonly found in America's groundwater may be harming children's developing brains and increasing their aggression, according to a report by researchers Warren P. Porter and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin. The five year study tested the effects of an agricultural chemical mixture on behavior, immune system function, and endocrine hormone levels of mice, and focused on three most commonly used chemicals: the insecticide aldicarb, the herbicide atrazine, and nitrate, a chemical fertilizer) at levels commonly detected in groundwater. Researchers found that a mixture of chemicals altered the thyroid hormone levels and immune system functioning of mice. Exposure to either a nitrate/altrazine mixture or a mixture of all three chemicals changed the mice's patterns of aggression toward intruder mice. Results showed significant seasonal variation. Thyroid hormone levels can cause increased irritability, learning problems, altered sensitivity to stimuli, and even disrupted development in utero. Thyroid hormone levels also affect corticosteriod levels which implies altered aggression levels and immune properties. In an earlier study reported in Crime Times (vol. 4, no. 3, 1998, p.1) researcher Guillette reported increased aggression, motor control problems, memory, and eye-hand coordination problems in Mexican children regularly exposed to agricultural pesticides. She further commented, "overall, disruptive behavior was the norm with exposed children." EPA's testing standard does not study chemicals in combination. Common mixtures, not the standard one-chemical-at-a-time experiments, can show biological effects at current concentrations in groundwater.  (Editor's comment: FDA's food andr cosmetic additive testing does not study chemicals in combination.) Source: Crime Times, Vol. 5. No. 3, 1999

http://hhi.org/health-items.html >>