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Tag Archives: California
Happy Birthday Stevie Wonder ~ Black History Month
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USA.gov … Beware of Skin Lotions Tainted with Mercury
a repost… mercury poisoning via skin care products and food is still a real issue
A Mysterious chemical found in dead cat’s brain reopens debate over mercury poisoning disaster
In February 2020, The Minamata poisoning has been considered a textbook example of how inorganic mercury turns into organic mercury, and how a toxic substance propagates up the food chain to humans. by Victoria Dinh, University of Saskatchewan
AND in January of 2019
The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is warning the public of skin creams containing mercury. Mercury has been found in some skin creams made, altered, or sold in Mexico and other countries.
In one case, an individual in Texas was diagnosed with mercury poisoning after using a product purchased in Mexico that was labeled as Pond’s skin cream. The mercury was not added by the original manufacturer but by a third party, presumably in Mexico. A similar case of mercury poisoning through skin cream has recently been identified in California, and Texas has had others in the past. Skin creams containing mercury claim to lighten the skin, treat acne, or fade freckles, blemishes, and age spots.
Mercury is dangerous and can cause adverse health effects in both adults and children. Products containing mercury are especially of concern for pregnant women or nursing mothers, because mercury may be passed on to fetuses and infants.
Clinical Presentation:
The symptoms associated with mercury poisoning are often non-specific, and thus, pose difficulties for diagnosis. Due to this, it is often misdiagnosed and leads to clinical treatments that do not address the underlying mercury poisoning.
General symptoms of mercury poisoning may include shaking, tremors, impaired balance or coordination, headaches, hypertension, depression, insomnia, weight loss, fatigue, nervousness, irritability, anxiety, memory loss, difficulty concentrating, or numbness or tingling in hands, feet, lips.
In children, prolonged exposure to mercury poisoning may present as excessive salivation or thirst, gingivitis, irritability, anorexia, poor muscle tone, leg cramps, hypertension, rash, peeling or flaking skin, or pink extremities (e.g. hands and feet).
Long term exposure to mercury may cause damage to the gastrointestinal tract, nervous system and kidneys. Symptoms may present as extreme fatigue, muscle aches, weakness, and sores in the mouth, in addition to the symptoms listed above.
Recommendations for Clinicians:
Health care providers should:
- Ask patients suspected of mercury poisoning if they use skin creams purchased in Mexico or other countries.
- If the product was not purchased from a major retailer in these countries, or was unsealed upon purchase, urge patients to stop use immediately.
- Ensure the skin cream container is tightly closed, isolated in a sealed bag, and labeled, “Mercury: Do Not Touch”.
- Contact the Texas Poison Center Network at 1-800-222-1222 for queries about mercury poisoning medical management.
If a patient is suspected of using skin creams containing mercury, DSHS recommends healthcare providers conduct mercury analysis on blood and urine specimens.
Recommendations for Public:
People should only purchase skin care products in original, sealed containers sold by reputable retailers.
Individuals who believe they may have been exposed to mercury through skin creams should contact their healthcare provider, or the Texas Poison Center Network at 1-800-222-1222.
If individuals have skin cream products containing mercury in their home, then the closed containers should be discarded at a household hazardous waste facility. If there is not a household hazardous waste facility available in their community, then the product may be tightly closed, placed in a sealed and labeled bag, and discarded with household garbage.
To find a household hazardous waste facility near you, please visit: https://www.tceq.texas.gov/assets/public/assistance/hhw/hhw_contacts.pdf
For More Information:
To report cases, questions about proper disposal of products containing mercury, or for questions about medical management related to mercury poisoning, please contact:
Texas Poison Center Network
1-800-222-1222
or
DSHS Environmental Surveillance and Toxicology Branch
512-776-7268
epitox@dshs.texas.gov
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Meet Republican Tom Cotton … a repost &reminder
Yes, this man was given a seat in Congress … the man and his Republican crew in Congress seem more dangerous to our very democracy now …
U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, you may remember, was a co-sponsor of the “Life at Conception Act,” a so-called personhood measure which would give full constitutional rights to each “preborn human person” at the “moment of fertilization. In addition to being a frontal assault on Roe v. Wade, the bill (likely unconstitutional) could ban certain forms of birth control such as IUDs or the morning-after pill. (It could also potentially force women into dangerous pregnancies and to deliver babies that can’t survive outside the womb, or force families in situations like this to keep a braindead woman on life support). Click the graphic for the complete article 
I know no candidate is perfect but if they are running to represent you as a Public Servant there are certain mandatory things they should all live up to … like the oath they take, which is seemingly being tossed aside by Republicans
I am sure there must be more information about where Tom Cotton stands on the issues …. do your research
I have to say that having spent a few minutes looking for actual comments from Mr.Cotton about the issues facing our 21st Century lives is not readily available. I went to plenty of sites, but one that claims they are a factcheck site seemed somewhat biased against mark pryor though they did divulge that Rep tom cotton did have an association or worked with the insurance industry at one time stating, “Cotton’s insurance experience is limited to consulting work for a federal agency.” This seems significant to me, but I am no expert. The article does not think his consulting work is important, but seems to use the potato paatato meme quite often in their fact checking when his constituents deserve to know what part he played as an insurance consultant. I have a problem with the bottom line! That Rep.Tom Cotton seems to back stripping seniors of Medicare, assuming women have no common sense, backing any budget coming from Rep.Paul Ryan – Those are just a few of many issues that seems buried in a lot of the surface articles concerning Mr. Cotton. So, it would be in the best interest of the People in Arkansas to ask questions of Tom Cotton … Where do you stand in this 21st Century life? Climate Change, Reproductive Rights, Immigration, ACA and tell your constituents why the GOP has no viable replacement bills plans to replace anything they may want to repeal ? I think the lack of plans offered up proves just how unqualified the 113th Republican members of Congress are
So, there is more information …. of course and for the complete article ~ search for the2013 headline in huffingtonpost.com
Tom Cotton In 1997: Women’s ‘Greatest Fear’ Is Men Leaving Them
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More States and Countries are choosing to Ban and or Reduce access to Plastic Bags
a repost … and more posts to follow on what is As the years go by Washington state is slowing banning plastic bags ..
happening now 2017 … Tacoma, WA plastic ordinance starts 7/12/2017 and 2012 seems like eons ago
I have to include an 2015 update to what seemingly was a ban in 2012, was in reality. a choice to pay .5 – .10cents for plastic bags if you want them? The good news is that the transition to an actual ban on plastic as a choice is happening in some parts of Washington state! YAY I have been shaking my head for the last 2yrs when more often than not the checker goes into auto-reaction mode and grabs the plastic if the consumer didn’t bring their own. I am not sure what I expected, but having forgotten my own bags on several occasions the response or offer for a reusable bag was seldom or none and makes me wonder just how much of an impact is being made since the statistics are probably tainted with how many plastic bags are given out each day versus paper or offering a reusable bag. Now, in this year of 2015, no plastic bags are available at more grocery stores and if you don’t have your reusable some of the clerks actually say paper or you can buy one of ours …. finally.
In March of 2012, I heard that Alameda County California voted to implement their “ban” on single use bags not regulate them sometime around January 2013. It just so happens that at or around the same time things were being finalized in different parts of our beautiful state of Washington. Though it has been a long struggle for Washington State to move towards an ordinance that would “ban” bags at retail outlets due to big MONEY in the plastics industry. However, in late December, word was that the City Councils Zero Waste Initiative to “ban” plastic bags in limited and in graduated way realized after four years. In 2008, the Council banned Styrofoam and though they tried to regulate plastic bags they got serious push back from the industry, which spent about $1.4 million, collected signatures with rumors of leaving out some info … then had the ordinance repealed. It was nice to read about Council Bill 117345, a bill to protect Puget Sound, our marine wildlife and our Environment in general joining about twelve states and up to twenty nations. The Seattle City Council voted 9-0 to implement the ban on plastic carry out bags.
After years of pulling out my small recycled bags for the checker to shove my groceries into, Washington State is joining the global movement to protect marine wildlife; the ordinance will take effect on July 1, 2012. It may be a cliché, but this ordinance is a change we can all believe in. I have to say, at first; in my experiences; checkers seemed a little annoyed at having to fight with the reusable bags. The word from most Checkers back in the day was, that plastic is just easier. Yes, the first reusable bags were too small, the dye ran the material was unforgiving, but as folks found better ways to make them; the cost came down and more people bought them including me.
Now, the bags not only cost a little bit more, they are bigger more stylish, last forever are definitely more flexible, and a highly recommended investment. The move to switch from plastic to” bring your own bag” will be difficult for some at first; I intend to carry a few extra to give away or sell; on my website because documented studies show that birds, sea turtles and other wildlife eat plastic bags and some are made with toxic chemicals that could be harmful. The time for a behavior change is now. We all know change is tough, but here we are in the 21st Century and that floating garbage circle, called the ” Great Pacific Garbage Patch“ discovered in the 90′s by Charles Moore, is only getting bigger. There will always be push back from the plastics industry, their supporters as well as environmental activists who all feel the government does not go far enough and they may be right, but we have to start somewhere.
It baffles me at how complicated people have made the effort to clean up our environment; we all know the need to reduce TRASH as a whole and it starts at home, although Seattle is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the nation, only 13 percent of plastic bags are recycled or re-used.
We owe it to our next generation…
Grocery stores, as well as food service outlets owe it to consumers and the environment.
It took quite sometime and we’ve come a long way from fighting the plastic industry to now finding that Indeed some Grocers feel the same way by eliminating plastic bags period ~ 2015
stay tuned in … who are the enforcers?
repost from 2013
Be a Seed for Change 
Posted: 08/09/2013 1:48 pm EDT | Updated: 08/13/2013
among other things …below
Cotton, a freshman congressman who is running for Senate in 2014, warned feminists in a 1997 article for the Harvard Crimson that no-fault divorce will backfire on them by enabling their husbands to leave them for trophy wives.
“Feminists say no fault divorce was a large hurdle on the path to female liberation,” Cotton wrote. “They apparently don’t consult the deepest hopes or greatest fears of young women.”