Sunday, January 28, 2001		Article

WITH constant scientific researches being carried on worldwide, the market today is flooded with latest produce of daily use. Are these products, wrapped in all those flashy and bright packages, having any ill effect on our health?

Well, the answer is Yes! Unknowingly, we are using a large proportion of such products in our daily routine. Scent, perfume, deos and room fragrance that are commonly used in all houses pollute the atmosphere by releasing aerosols and are actually one of the main stimulants of diseases such as asthma and other respiratory problems. Many cosmetics used by ladies, e.g. lipstick, contain harmful skin allergens, even the advertised nail paints etc. cause varied type of health problems. We often keep naphthalene balls in between our clothes in closed trunks and cupboards. But the sudden exposure to the naphthalene rich air, when you open the cupboard is hazardous for your health.

Fumigants, antimosquito repellents, coils and fluids used indiscriminately in all homes, contain many toxic chemicals (although the odour may have been sweetened) that can trigger of problems in healthy adults, what to talk of children or chronic patients.

Studies have shown that the air inside your own house could very well be much more polluted than the outside air. A study conducted in the USA showed presence of chemicals banned 15-20 years ago in the carpets of residential houses (imagine your toddler playing the whole day on it); Back home, researchers have found that due to excessive use of fumigants and insecticides being sprayed on soil and vegetation in the northern region the soil of the vegetable-growing belt is rapidly losing its quality and fertility. The water bed and rivers are becoming highly enriched in toxic chemicals (normally considered extremely poisonous for humans) and all these chemicals are fully present in a concentrated form on the vegetables that we buy from market daily.

Aluminium foils and cans are not very body friendly, especially as food wrappings. The other very common food wrapping used by many is the

newspaper, which is even worse in quality and hygiene. It is constantly recycled and certainly not suitable for wrapping chappatis. The best way, therefore, is to wrap chappatis in a clean, white cotton cloth.

Plastic is already a well-publicised environmental hazard, but still hazardous plastic containers of a low quality are being used in every household for keeping edible items.

Another point worth mentioning here is of toothpastes. Medical experts tell that in countries deficient in minerals like fluoride - 1ppm (part per million) of fluoride is a must for healthy teeth. India already has fluoride in much more quantity in water and other natural sources and we do not need any other fluoride supplement. But still some toothpaste companies are marketing their products and clearly writing on it that it contains approximately

1000ppm! (and you use it twice!) which can be extremely bad for your health. Some people, especially for an occasion, tend to wear freshly dry cleaned clothes right out of a dry cleaners shop. Did you know that the dry cleaner uses Azo dyes for dry cleaning your clothes. These are highly temperature sensitive and breakdown into toxic and obnoxious Nitrogen compounds. When we wear them immediately after dry cleaning (as your body temperature is more than enough to cause their breakdown!) and therefore dry cleaned clothes must first be exposed to fresh air for at least three to four hours before wearing them.

Apart from these, we should also check the purity of products that we consume daily e.g. checking for adulteration in flour, pulses and spices etc. We must also keep a check on the type of milk we are getting because many of the local dairy owners add a thickener in milk or illegally inject oxytocin injection into dairy animals to increase their milk yield. This has an adverse effect on babies.

We should try to minimise the exposure of our bodies to all these preventable toxic substances by simple methods like treating and filtering tap water, using minimum synthetic sprays and chemicals in our houses etc. And of course by being much more aware about ourselves and the environment.