What IS that Stuff ... Checking Suspicious Chemicals

There are tons of strange chemicals, drugs and other suspicious materials around you; how do you find out if they are hazardous? I'm a great advocate for looking up health effects of the food additives listed on packaging labels, your prescription drugs and other chemicals around you, but you may not know where to start. Here are a few clues:

• Check out the Material Safety Data Sheet or MSDS. Any chemical used in manufacturing must have an MSDS so workers and employers know how to handle it safely. A quick google search for 'chemname' MSDS will usually get a few hits with material data safety sheets for the chemical. If not, dig deeper and expect to find problems.
• Contact the manufacturer and ask about published information and health studies.
• Search on-line, or better still, get help from a librarian. (Yes, there really are still librarians out there)

If you find WAY too much contradictory information to draw a conclusion, dig deeper; you may find books on the stuff, and you may be inspired to do some serious reading. I promise you this- research a few food additives or household chemicals this way, and you'll learn far more than just the answers than you were looking for. You will start to understand the stuff you put in your body. There's a powerful education waiting for you, and it can change your life!

mmmm, A Slice of Toxic Pie

My wife bought me a piece of pie, yesterday. It looked good, and it was a nice gesture. After dinner I dug right into it.

It was ok, but the taste was just a little off. She asked me how it was, and I said " Good, but it has a little too much propylene glycol in it" ... I was half kidding, as I recalled the early concerns about propylene glycol in pet food from China; still, I did think I tasted something a little like antifreeze smells. "Is there something wrong with it?" she asked. I said it was fine, and continued to eat.

Later, out of curiosity, I checked the label to see what WAS in it, in the off chance there was some glycol or something. I was surprised to find propylene glycol right on the ingredients list. While I was concerned, I decided the toxic effects of one slice of pie were not as risky as the potential toxic impact on my marriage, so I finished eating it.

Afterward, I studied the label more closely, then did some research. Here is what I found out about propylene glycol:

Propylene glycol – toxic by ingestion, inhalation or skin absorption (neurotoxin); it is approved for use in foods in the EU up to 0.1%, but approved for general use in foods in the US (except cat food), even though it is known to cause multiple organ failure if used above a “safe level”

In addition I found many more chemicals in my slice of berry pie, including:

Sodium benzoate – decomposes and produces benzene, a known carcinogen
Calcium propionate – Toxic preservative, too many known health effects to list
Xanthan gum – Viscosity additive – fermentation product – allergy risk, possible irritant
Red 40 (2-Naphthalenesulfonic acid) – Dye, not considered toxic in small quantities, but known to cause adverse behavioral effects in children, acute allergic reactions in some adults and other problems
Sodium caseinate – considered hazardous in case of ingestion – biodegrades into more toxic products, generally a problem for people with dairy allergies
Methylparaben – preservative, hazardous ingested in quantity, suspected carcinogen
Propylparaben - preservative, hazardous ingested in quantity, lethal toxin <1%>

Sodium hexametaphosphate – emulsifier, toxic below 0.5% ingested – organ failure, neurotoxic
Carrageenan – thickener from seaweed – suspected carcinogen, toxic inhaled, slightly hazardous ingested

Beta carotene – for color, non-toxic, but implicated as a carcinogen at high doses in smokers

Amazing how hard they work to keep my pie pretty and fresh for me, even after it spends time on the shelf ... seems a shame to eat it quickly, before all the toxins have done their thing on fungi, bacteria and other bugs.

It's all legal, and I didn't get sick. At least, not so far. A diet full of this stuff DOES damage some people, though, and eating it regularly could easily take a toll on sensitive or weak organs. Many of the ingredients could be lethal with a slip up in production, and they might not change the taste or look enough to tip me off. I'll check closer next time.

A good lesson, though. If you eat prepared foods, expect lots of toxic stuff in them, unless you go to some trouble to get brands that leave it out. I was particularly interested in the education I got on Red dye 40. Check it out, especially if you have kids.