More campaigning: this time on chemicals & the environment

[SenoraPostrophe]

Anyone who cares about having a clean environment free of toxic chemicals to live in, please sign this

wwf petition

More info (copied and pasted from an email they sent me): As a result of the poor regulation of the chemicals industry, there is not one person, or animal, on Earth that has not been exposed to a cocktail of man-made chemicals - from a polar bear in the Arctic, to a tree-frog in the tropical rainforest, to a new born baby in Britain.

Within the next five months the EU, led by the UK Government, will decide how effective the new chemicals regulation (known as REACH) will be at protecting the environment and the health of our children and wildlife for generations to come.

Please join WWF in asking the Prime Minister to persuade other European politicians to stop exposing us and our environment to toxic chemicals.

Ok. Signed it.

Results thus far

9 - ´am´ signee

2 - ´pm´signee

in this poll I have generously allocated both spidermama and our hostess SenoraPostrophe to the ´pm´section purely because afternoon/evening is performing poorly thus far I did contemplate a 3rd ´not applicable´category to the poll, as SP you are the instigator and SM has posted in both the ´am´ and ´pm´ timeframes, but who eventually signed in the ´pm´. Bravo SM

Signed...in the pm too!

Now, have you all signed the endometriosis petition?

Sorry I work in the chemical industry & hate the over dramatising of facts on all the Eco-Websites. I'm not normally a controversial MNer but felt I have to stand up & say no.
We do a hell of a lot to ensure our products & waste products are safe for the environment & for people.

< Gets down off sopbox & runs for cover >

No doubt Whizzz like lots of sprays and products in the chemical industry things have improved - but vinegar is not as toxic as bleach and when pregnant I know which one I would rather be sniffing

whizz - your company may have done a lot, but in that case tighter legislation won't affect you will it? The petition refers to toxic chemicals, not chemicals per se.

Many companies are not as stringent as they could be, both in terms of accidental spillage prevention and the products themselves and legislation is needed to cover that.

Agree totally Whizz. If only they knew...

Vinegar - small environmental impact, eh?

Where do you lot get your vinegar from - is it all wine that has gone off?

If not, then it is just as much a chemical as any other. Lots of it in this country comes from a rather large BP/Amoco petrochemicals plant near Hull.

but it's not toxic like bleach is it? Like I say, this is not a diatribe against chemicals in general, but in favour of more regulation to minimise accidents and remove certain chemicals from certain products.

But bleach isn't toxic unless you drink large amounts of it, or mix it with other chemicals.

So AmeriScot seeing as you assume so much of us then lets assume you are advocating drinking bleach on a regular basis except if its mixed with Jif of course!

And if only we knew what exactly? Come on spill those precious beans, or are you (and potentially Whizzz) paid such large amounts to keep hush? Or are you such enlightened beings that you consider us ignormous, or just perhaps you are biased in your own right? Lets all be abit more self-observant please!

I see that Vanish Oxi Action Max was voted in the UK as Product of the Year 2005, what is in that stuff? I got some on my hands and it felt like a chemical burn.

I prefer to use more eco-labelled products personally. It does not feel like the hairs in my nostrils are frying. If consumer preferences and pressure did not exist the removal of chemicals from certain products, as this petition advocates would be less likely. The chemicals they wish to have removed must be suspect for a reason? WWF mentions in the link that ´a significant proportion of which have never been tested for safety´. Are you able to respond directly to that statement AmeriScot or Whizzz?

Do you who work in the agrochemical industry not agree that all species on this planet have not been exposed to man-made chemicals in the ocean to the rainforest and so forth?

This thread is for people wishing to sign the petition. This is both a personal and an environement gesture. If you have any further information that would be educational regarding chemicals then we are all ears. But I for one am not interested in being slighted by employees of chemical industries on a bias level alone.

well it won't kill you unless you drink quite a bit, no, but its effects are far far more toxic than those of vinegar. Burning chlorinated products in incinerators produces dioxins (very harmful gasses); other carcinogenic chemicals are produced when it's mixed with other chemicals or organic molecules and it's generally quite nasty stuff.

I don't get your logic, Papillon. What did I assume about you that would want to make me advocated drinking bleach?

/scratches head

But if you are not burning bleach in your house, what dangers does it pose to you personally?

Everything is dangerous, including water, in certain quantities and certain situations.

totally agree papillion
chemical cleaning products are only the tip of the iceberg theres lots of stuff in skincare products that is only there for the sake of the chemical formula or its chemical properties and not because it is good for skin (some of it is actually harmful to us

i know id rather inhale (when im spraying it ) neways disinfectant or something like flash bleach spray its a simple honest tset-which sticks in the back of your throat and makes you feel ill which doesnt

carcinocens and pollutants are everywher im not overly paranoid but i prefer to use household products (and skincare ) which i believe to be the safest i can buy not the most toxic because it is effective (or only toxic in large quantities)
if somethoing is toxic it is toxic .

bleached paper products that you buy and throw away might be burned in incinerators though. bleach you put down the loo will react with other chemicals in the sewer. You do also breathe in a certain amount of chlorine when using bleach, and we do not know what the long term effects of that are.

"theres lots of stuff in skincare products that is only there for the sake of the chemical formula or its chemical properties and not because it is good for skin (some of it is actually harmful to us "

Eh?

ameriscot: eg preservatives & "emulsifiers"

try and get over the first sentence and concentrate on the rest of what I wrote AmeriScot... it was not logic, rather an indication of flippant statements because unless one is loco drinking bleach is not the usual beverage of choice.

How long-term is long term, SA?

Bleach and chlorine have been around for a long, long time...

eg propylene glycol(dehumidicant)
sodium laurel sulphate(foaming agent)

But I didn't say anything about drinking bleach being a good thing. I said that bleach was only toxic if were to drink it - in other words, it's non-toxic.

Sorry, I don't see why I should take the rest of your post seriously when you accuse me of being flippant.

hres a list

Sodium laurel sulphate is a cleaning agent - ie it is functional in the product, so not an imagery ingredient.

Propylene glycol is a humectant - it's there for its moisturising properties, therefore functional.