M9.2: Six Chemical Classes

Highly Fluorinated

Highly fluorinated chemicals are found in some of the most common items we use every single day. It’s hard to avoid using products that contain these highly fluorinated chemicals. I think since we are exposed to these chemicals via contaminated food, drinking water, and dust, perhaps the best things we can do is avoid using non-stick cookware. But most importantly, we have to make sure these chemicals are being disposed properly in ways that it will not harms the environment and contaminate our soil, drinking water sources, and air. This requires policy changes and stricter regulations with serous penalty if the responsible parties violate the policy.

Antimicrobials

The use of antimicrobials in personal care products and in hand soaps is unnecessary because I think we eliminate more bacteria on our body through the rubbing motion while washing our hands. I personally don’t think we need that much products that we use on the daily basis to be antibacterial. Human needs to be exposed to bacteria in order to build stronger immune system, especially for newborns and young children in this case. I think we should raise the alarm in trying to eliminate antimicrobials from personal care products and hand soaps.

Flame Retardants

There are effective ways that we can at the individual level to reduce our exposures to flame retardants such as buying furniture without the chemicals, washing our hands before we eat, vacuum or mop the floor to reduce dust levels in the house especially for household with newborns and young children. Therefore, it’s important that everyone is aware of these facts and methods to help reduce their exposure to the chemical. This might requires significant efforts of public health providers in educating the general public.

Bisphenols and phthalates

It’s good to know that these chemicals don’t stay too long in our bodies if we aware of the exposure and stop using products that might cause the exposure. The importance of hand washing before eating is really highlighted through the whole series of 6 classes that washing your hands not only help get rid of the bacteria but also the harmful chemicals that might somehow got onto your skin. This also underscored the importance and benefits of using glass, porcelain or stainless steel items in cooking and storing of food. Everyone should know that we should use plastic items for any food or drink that it’s hot.

Solvents

I think it’s less expensive and more cost-effective when we opt for professional wet cleaning for our clothes. However, keep in mind that not all clothes are created equal and some requires to be dry cleaned in order to not harm the fabric or material. One way that we can reduce the use of dry cleaning is perhaps to specifically shop for clothing items that don’t require dry cleaning or limit the amount of dry cleaning for those items that are labeled dry clean only. Try our best to keep those clothing items clean for a long time or avoid buying dry-clean only clothing that we most likely would wear on a weekly or daily basis in order to reduce our demand for dry cleaning.

Certain Metals

It’s well known that exposure to all of these metals can lead to harmful health effects. However, not everyone is aware of what kinds of products or in this case, the types of fish, which would increase their risk for exposure. I think it’s important that manufacturers create visible, easy-to-understand warning labels for all products on the market that can increase the consumer’s risk of exposure. This would requires again policy changes and strict enforcement from the government and policy makers in order to make this happen.