Chapter 7 Environmental hazzards for women

1. How safe is the environment to your health as a woman?

2. Breathing is not the only way the environment can hurt women Toxins that are harmful to a woman’s health can be found in their food. Because of the hormones that animals are being fed are becoming a debate whether or not it’s affecting our young girls’ to develop earlier than previous generations. Does too much fat in your diet cause cancer? Let’s look at other ways the environment is or could be affecting women……………….

3. Ways that the environment is hurting women Environmental contaminants can be found in breast milk. Some women are wondering whether this means they should avoid breastfeeding their babies. Do you know if your breast milk will be safe for your baby when the time comes?

4. Do you know? The workplace can be more hazardous than any other place where women spend their time. Working in nail salons, dry cleaning establishments and factories or as janitors and many other blue-collar and pink-collar jobs entails serious health risks due to toxic materials that are used.

5. And that……. Some plastics/vinyls can cause changes in our hormonal Systems. Shower curtains Water bottles Styrofoam containers

6. Cosmetics Skin and hair products may be harming you each time you use them. Are you aware of what is been added to your water supply & where it comes from? Chlorine may cause breast cancer…..so how safe is your drinking water to your health?

7. Do you know that stress could affect a woman’s health? Long term stress can affect women’s health problems by: impairing fertility Hormones can be affected Depression is possible

8. The Sun

9. We are taught that too much sun exposure can harm our bodies but as women it’s important to get enough Vitamin D. Women need to learn how much is too much sun. When does it go from beneficial to harmful?

10. Everything that surrounds a woman is their environment… and if any of it is negative it will take a negative toll on their health. Women’s health can be and is affected by where they work and live. Their health can be affected by what products they use. Food, water and air quality can all affect their health.

11. My Personal Experience I worked in a manufacturing setting for 25 years. After 19 years I was becoming sicker by the day. It took 4 years of research and documentation to prove that there was a chemical in the material I was “becoming” allergic to. The chemical…glycol ether. Did the company help me with this problem….NO! Did “their” doctors help me…NO! I, as a woman, had to take control of my own situation and find the problem. Today I don’t work in that setting but every time someone strips a floor of it’s wax, or antifreeze is added to my car or someone cleans something with the product called Simple Green….My brain freezes (affects my central nervous system) and I have no idea where I am and I go into a breathing frenzy. I know the warning signs now like red hands and feet and a wheezing when I breath. When I find myself unable to focus and have to second guess my actions I know that fresh air or oxygen is needed.

12. What you do today will definitely affect you later. As my personal story tells you that it took 19 years for this chemical to become a problem in my life. Since then cleaning agents such as Mr. Clean Ultra no longer have this chemical in it. Many women use to get sick while cleaning their houses and this was the reason. This chemical could be deadly simply by inhaling it. This chemical is so bad that the Workmen’s Comp doctors wouldn’t even test me for the allergy because it could have killed me and they would’ve been responsible for ordering this test. AND this chemical was found in many household cleaners, inks, antifreeze, and not just in manufacturing products. Back in 1996 it was like opening a “hornet’s nest” is how one doctor put it. Today new regulations have been put in place because of everyday people like myself. Yes the cleaners don’t work as well but the women aren’t getting sick after cleaning their bathrooms and kitchen floors as much.

13. How quickly chemicals move One example on how a chemical can move from one place to another is if someone uses a product that is harmful to clean a rug in an area that has air vents / air conditioning; it takes about 10 seconds for that air to be sent to another duct and affect someone in totally different room. This happened to me….I was in my office and three offices down from me the janitor poured an industrial strength rug cleaner. My boss saw this and immediately ran to my office and found me in a full blown attack. Will a doctor say this can happen…..NO! Will you be able to prove this to a company or institute that their building or product is making you sick? YES….with determination and lots of documentation.

14. Women Take control and Be aware what’s happening around you!!! I chose this subject of environment issues and women because after all this experience we were able to take some of it back to a miscarriage I had 9 years earlier. There was 7 of us that lost our babies that year. Was it the way the building was vented or was it the type of material that the company chose to use that year? My warning to all who use products they are unsure of is to ask for a MSDA information sheet on any product. You can contact the manufacturer of any product to get this information. You can contact your health/safety person and ask them for information too.

15. You worry about what is tested on animals but do you think about what is being tested on YOU????? Do you realize that other countries have different regulations for what is allowed in their products? Do you realize that the building supplies used in your home can be poisoning you? Do you know that those toys that your little girl is playing with today could possible affect her later because the paint “might” have lead in it? Do you know that when you spray that perfume on you that there is a possibility that there’s a chemical in it that later on in life will make you sick? Do you know what cigarette smoking is going to do to your health as a woman later in years?

16. Women’s Health and the Environment I end this presentation with a few things I have learned in life As women we must be aware of our environment. As women we must take care of our bodies because a future child may want to grow within your body someday. As women we must stand up to the medical world and make them listen to us. As women we must question medical ethics and be treated as a woman and not a man. As women we must respect our bodies. (what does that tattoo ink do to your body?) I hope you all enjoyed this presentation and if I can “save” one young lady from going through an environmental illness then I feel this presentation did more than getting a grade. Thank you…………Joanne Harder

17. References: www.acereport.org/chlorine.html www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/environmentalhealth.html