naturalspungold

Did You Know.....

There are 3 ways toxic chemicals get into your body:

1) Ingestion by eating or drinking the substance. This is the most immediate form of poisonings that lead to death and our children are most vulnerable with their natural curiosity.

2) Breathing it in, this is more common and can be much more harmful than ingesting poisons. This is gradual poisoning, that happens over a period of time. Toxic fumes can be released even if it is in a tightly sealed container, just take a walk down the cleaning isle at the local supermarket. Now when you inhale toxic fumes, the poisons go directly into the bloodstream and quickly travel to organs like the brain, heart, liver and kidneys. And many products give off toxic vapors that can irritate your nose, throat, and lungs. Things like laundry products also leave toxic residues, that we then lie in and breath in the fumes over night while we are asleep.

3) Absorption through the skin is an often unsuspected route of exposure. Our skin absorbs everything that it comes into contact with, so when you are applying creams and  cosmetics it can happen even when you are washing your self in the shower, washing your hair or cleaning the dishes. Your skin can also absorb chemicals or residue left behind on surfaces that were cleaned with chemicals days or even weeks earlier. This is especially a concern for our children who are crawling around and touching everything.

There has been an increase of over 72,000 new chemicals introduced into our homes since the 1950’s and of those 72,000 new chemicals less than 2% have actually been tested for their toxicity levels.

people think that it is just cleaning products that we have to worry about, but unfortunately our personal care products are just as bad. There was some research conducted, The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health found that after analyzing 2,983 Chemicals used in personal care products
 P884 were found to be toxic, and of these
 P778 can cause acute toxicity
 P146 can cause tumors
 P218 can cause reproductive complications
 P314 can cause biological mutations 
    P376 can cause skin and eye irritations.

THE HEALTH OF CHILDREN

In June 2006, there were 4 million children aged under 15 years in Australia, representing one-fifth (19%) of the total population (ABS 2006a). Health gains brought about by better living conditions, education, medical care and vaccination would suggest that this generation of children should be the healthiest ever (Patton et al. 2005). However, there are emerging concerns related to rapid social change and the associated new morbidities such as increasing levels of behavioural, developmental, mental health and social problems (AIHW 2006). Early childhood in particular has become a key priority for Australian government and non-government organisations (AIHW 2006).

 

HEALTH CONDITIONS

  • In 2004-05, 41% of children aged under 15 years had a long-term health condition compared with 44% in 2001 (footnote 1) (ABS 2006 & ABS 2002).
  • Boys (44%) were more likely than girls (38%) to have a long term health condition.
  • Diseases of the respiratory system were reported for 19% of children - the main conditions were asthma (12%), hayfever and allergic rhinitis (8%) and chronic sinusitis (3%) (footnote 2).
  • Diseases of the eye and adnexa were reported for 10% of children - the main conditions were long sightedness (4%) and short sightedness (4%).
  • Mental and behavioural problems were reported for 7% of children overall - these main conditions were behavioural & emotional problems with usual onset in childhood or adolescence (3%) and problems of psychological development (3%).

ASTHMA

  • In 2004-05, one in eight children aged under 15 years (12%) were reported as having asthma as a long-term health condition, which was similar to the rate in 2001 (ABS 2006 & ABS 2002).
  • Among children aged under 15 years, rates of asthma were 13% for boys and 10% for girls.
  • Higher rates of asthma were reported for children aged five years and over than for children aged under five years.

CHILD MORTALITY (1-14 years of age)

  • In 2004, there were 569 deaths of children aged 1-14 years. The death rate for children was 15 per 100,000 children (footnote 8) (ABS 2006c).
  • Of the total deaths of children aged 1-14 years, 60% were male and 40% were female resulting in death rates of 18 per 100,000 boys and 13 per 100,000 girls, respectively (ABS 2006c).
  • The difference between death rates for boys and girls aged 1-14 years has been decreasing since the 1980s (AIHW 2005a).
  • The major causes of death in children were from external causes (36%), cancer (19%), and diseases of the nervous system (11%) (ABS 2006c).
  • External causes of death among children included traffic accidents (15% of total deaths) and accidental drowning (7% of total deaths) (ABS 2006c).
  • Assault accounted for 9% of childhood deaths between 1999 and 2003 (128 childhood deaths). Of these deaths, two thirds (65%) occurred for children aged under five years (ABS 2005a).

 Australian Bureau of Statistics 

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mf/4829.0.55.001/#1.%20A%20long%20term%20health%20condition%20i

FOOTNOTES

1. A long term health condition is a current condition which has lasted or is expected to last for six months or more.
2. People may have more than one long term health condition; therefore the same child may be represented in more than one condition category.

8. The child mortality indicator is defined as the number of deaths of children aged 1-14 years of age per 100,000 children of the same age group.

LIST OF REFERENCES

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006a, Population by Age and Sex, Australian States and Territories, cat. no. 3201.0, ABS, Canberra.

 

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2006, Australia's Health 2006, AIHW Cat. No. AUS 73, AIHW, Canberra.

 

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006, National Health Survey: Summary of Results, Australia, 2004-05, cat. no. 4364.0, ABS, Canberra.

 

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2002, National Health Survey: Summary of Results, Australia, 2001, cat. no. 4364.0, ABS, Canberra

 

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006c, Causes of Death, 2004, cat. no. 3303.0, ABS, Canberra.

 

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2005a, A Picture of Australia's Children, AIHW Cat. No. PHE 58, AIHW, Canberra.

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005a, Australian Social Trends, 2005, cat. no. 4102.0, ABS, Canberra

Denise Marsh

P02 66862250                                                                                                                   P0416 341 340                                                                                              Pdm615756@bigpond.net.au