THESE BASTARDS ARE TRYING TO KILL US .....

..... ALL IN THE NAME OF PROFIT.


Manufacturers are increasingly using additives in food and everyday products that are dangerous to consumers health and the environment.


They do this for several reasons including - profit (synthetic ingredients are cheaper than natural ones), longevity (supermarket distribution chains demand long shelf life of products so more and more preservatives are being used) and for cosmetic reasons (to dupe consumers into believing the colours and aromas denote freshness).

Governmental regulations put the onus on manufacturers to declare what ingredients are in a product and, to be fair, many do (depending on the country of origin). The problem is the descriptions are either non-scientific like ‘Fragrance’ or too scientific like ‘Cyclopentasiloxane’ both meaningless to the uninitiated.

There are many examples of additives causing problems. I’m going to highlight one. Methylisothiazolinone known as MI.

I have developed a dermatitis-like rash and was referred to a skin specialist. Some excellent topical medication cured the rash much quicker than the non-efficacious ‘over-the-counter’ remedies. I was very pleased but some weeks later the rash resurfaced necessitating more topical medicine application.

I considered going to an allergy specialist to see if I had any food allergies that could be causing this but recently I saw a news article about methylisothiazolinone. Apparently this additive, amongst other side effects can cause contact-dermititis.

“Methylisothiazolinone is commonly used in products in conjunction with methylchloroisothiazolinone, a mixture sold under the registered trade name Kathon CG. A common indication of sensitivity to Kathon CG is allergic contact dermatitis. Sensitization to this family of preservatives was observed as early as the late 1980s. Due to increased use of isothiazolinone-based preservatives in recent years, an increase in reported incidences of contact allergy to this product have been reported, and in 2013 it was dubbed the 2013 Contact Allergen of the Year.”

THE 2013 CONTACT ALLERGEN OF THE YEAR!

And they still put this shit in consumer products?

I checked the household products we have and found MI in shampoo, dishwashing liquid, hand cream and, the one causing my uncomfortable rash, Cottonelle wipes. I checked on the web and the wipes I used in New Zealand do not contain methylisothiazolinone. It is only since using this product in Canada that the problem has arisen.

A Perth Now Lifestyle article on the web (http://www.perthnow.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/baby-wipes-cause-rash-of-problems-for-parents/story-fnhlcy27-1226843153438) dated 2 March 2014 stated:

“A PRESERVATIVE used in baby wipes is causing a rash of skin complaints. The problem is an increasingly common allergic reaction to a preservative used in some brands.

But it’s parents’ hands, not babies’ bottoms, that are breaking out, according to a research letter published in the latest issue of the Medical Journal of Australia. But the rashes could also appear on other parts of the body because the preservative, Methylisothiazolinone (MI), is also used in make-up removal wipes, shampoos, conditioners, body washes, moisturisers, sunscreens and deodorants.

MI is now the most common cause of allergic contact dermatitis among our patient population,” write dermatologist Dr Jennifer Cahill and her colleagues.

The most common source of MI is disposable wet wipes, now commonly used in nappy changing.”

She and her colleagues at the Skin and Cancer Foundation in Melbourne routinely test people with rashes for the allergy.

The proportion of positive tests has soared from 3.5 per cent in 2011 to 11.3 per cent in 2013.

Ironically it is the parents who are consulting doctors with rashes on their hands,” co-author Associate Professor Rosemary Nixon said.

But there could be under-diagnosis among babies, partly because nappy rash is common and partly because they are unlikely to be tested.

People with concerns should look for MI among the ingredients on their product, she said.

The best thing was to try determine the cause of a rash through a process of elimination.

If it failed to go away or returned, people should see a GP.”

So it’s not just me overreacting.



Why do they use this stuff if, as reports suggest, problems have been known about since the 1980’s and certainly during 2013 have come to a head (or bottom as the case may be)?

Here’s what Wikipedia says:

“Methylisothiazolinone and other isothiazolinone-derived biocides are utilized for controlling microbial growth in water-containing solutions. Two of the most widely used isothiazolinone biocides are 5-chloro-2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one (chloromethylisothiazolinone or CMIT) and 2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one (methylisothiazolinone or MIT), which are the active ingredients in a 3:1 mixture (CMIT:MIT) sold commercially as Kathon. Kathon is supplied to manufacturers as a concentrated stock solution containing from 10-15% of CMIT/MIT. For applications the recommended use level is from 6 ppm to 75 ppm active isothiazolones. Biocidal applications range from industrial water storage tanks to cooling units, in processes as varied as mining, paper manufacturing, metalworking fluids and energy production. In addition, one isothiazolinone, Sea-Nine 211 (4,5-dichloro-2-n-octyl-4-isothiazolino-3-one, DCOI), has quickly replaced tributyltin as the antifouling agent of choice in ship hull paint. A recent study reported the presence of DCOI in both port water and sediment samples in Osaka, Japan, especially in weakly circulating mooring areas. Of environmental concern, DCOI levels predicted in marinas are now considered a threat to various marine invertebrate species. Isothiazolinones are also extremely toxic to fish. The widespread use of isothiazolinones in industrial settings has resulted in a very large number of reported cases of human occupational exposure, sometimes reaching epidemic proportions. This occurs primarily, but not exclusively, when workers are exposed to stock solutions during the dilution process, usually resulting in chemical burns, contact dermatitis, and allergic sensitization. Inhalation exposure is also very common.”

Well fuck me!

Do they think my bottom needs to be anti-fouled like a ship’s hull?

Bastards!

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