Dead Sea Herbs

The new Earthjustice/EIP/Sierra Club report (PDF, 6MB) shows that at every one of the coal ash dump sites equipped with

Coal ash contamination

groundwater monitoring wells concentrations of heavy metals such as arsenic or lead exceed federal health-based standards for drinking water, with concentrations at Hatfield’s Ferry site in Pennsylvania reaching as high as 341 times the federal standard for arsenic.

A February 2010 EIP/Earthjustice report documented 31 coal ash dump sites in 14 states. The 39 additional sites in today’s report along with the 67 already identified by the EPA bring the total number of known toxic contamination sites from coal ash pollution to 137 sites in 34 states.

Together, the independent reports and the EPA’s own findings make clear the growing number of waters known to be poisoned by poor management of the toxic ash left over after coal is burned for electricity.

“There is no greater reason for coal ash regulation than preventing the poisoning of our water. We now have 39 more good reasons for a national coal ash rule,” said Lisa Evans, Senior Legislative Counsel at Earthjustice. “The mounting number of contaminated sites demonstrates that the states are unable or unwilling to solve this problem.”

“The contamination of water supplies, threats to people, and damage to the environment documented in this report illustrate very real and dangerous harms that are prohibited by federal law but are going on in a largely unchecked fashion at today’s coal ash dump sites,” said Jeff Stant, director, Coal Combustion Waste Initiative, Environmental Integrity Project.

“The health risks from exposure to this toxic waste are real and we cannot afford to ignore them any longer,” said Lyndsay Moseley, Federal Policy Representative with Sierra Club. “It is clear from this report that the closer we look the worse this problem becomes. The only real solution is for the EPA to adopt federally enforceable protections as part of its push to improve public health.”

Report Highlights:

Coal ash pollution poses serious health risks. People living near unlined coal ash ponds can have an extremely high 1 in 50 risk of cancer. That’s more than 2,000 times higher than what the EPA considers acceptable by coal ash (including scrubber sludge) now is at least 137 in 34 states.

Coal ash is putting drinking water from private wells at risk. Contaminated groundwater underneath at least 15 of the 39 sites is moving toward private water wells within two miles of site boundaries, according to monitoring data and public information on private well locations.

Coal ash threatens public water wells and intakes. At least 18 of the 39 contaminated sites are located within five miles of a public groundwater well that could potentially be affected by pollutants from these sites. At nine of those sites, there are at least five public water wells within a five-mile radius.

Coal ash toxins are threatening surface waters. In several cases coal ash dump sites are leaking their toxic cargo into rivers just upstream from the intakes for public water systems. Often, metals like arsenic are discharged to rivers through adjacent groundwater.

Most damaged sites are still active and virtually all show recent evidence of contamination. The damaged sites identified cannot be dismissed as a legacy of past practices that are no longer allowed today. Almost all of the facilities described in the report are active disposal sites.

Nearly 40 years after coal ash disposal stopped at the Montville site (CT), average concentrations of arsenic in groundwater collected in 2007-2009 still exceed the MCL by 21 times and are higher than measurements taken ten years ago.

Very good reasons for stricter regulations!

Meanwhile you need to take care of your health!

Chicago Tribune

Ann MeyerMinding Your Business

Wellness is health care

As companies increasingly get creative about holding the line on health care costs, more are turning to inexpensive wellness programs. Events that promise to get workers moving and thinking about preventive health care are paying off in increased job attendance and smaller annual health care cost increases.

Beauty of Nature

Vitamin D has risen to the ranks of nutritional superstardom. Research suggests this nutrient will perform best if you take it during your biggest meal of the day — be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Table 1: Selected food sources of vitamin D^10-12

Here is the Vitamin D in isotonic form

What is Acupressure?

Healing touch

Acupressure is an ancient healing art using the fingers and other parts of the body to skillfully press key points, which stimulate the body’s natural self-curing abilities. When these trigger points are pressed, they release muscular tension, and promote circulation of blood, and the body’s life force energy (Qi or Chi or Prana) to aid healing. Acupuncture and acupressure use the same pressure points and meridians, but acupuncture employs needles, while acupressure uses gentle to firm pressure and integrates bodywork therapies, therapeutic touch, somatic work, healing imagery, energy psychology, and massage therapy techniques.

The Chinese scriptures which date back more than 4000 years tell us about treatments with nails to balance body and mind. No one knows for sure when the bed of nails was first used to heal the body and raise consciousness. An approximate estimate is at least several thousand years

Channeling Ki or Chi or Reiki energy through the acupressure points can enable you to tap into Traditional Chinese or Indian Medicine’s tremendous wealth of ancient healing knowledge – that’s point specific.

Advantages of Using Acupressure include relieving pain, balancing the body, and maintaining good health. Acupressure’s healing touch reduces tension, increases circulation, and enables the body to relax deeply. By relieving stress, acupressure therapy strengthens resistance to disease and promotes wellness.  Learn self-acupressure point formulas for various energy imbalances and healing applications.

Shakti acupressure mat

Our modern day acupressure spike mat is designed to relieve pain and stress, and produce relaxation through acupressure therapy. Lying on the 6,200 plastic spikes assembled on the Shakti Mat helps increase blood flow and stimulate nerve endings. The result is an effective tool to resolve tension, relieve pain and provide deep relaxation.

If you haven’t already seen one, tried one, or at least heard about the Shakti mat – be prepared. This mat sold 300.000 pieces last year in Sweden alone. And now the inventor is ready for a world-wide launch.

The Shakti Mat’s distinctive design is reminiscent of the Indian bed of nails, an ancient healing practice used by mystics to achieve deep meditative states. Our Shakti mat combines thousands of years of Indian tradition with modern technology to aid in the healing process and help release emotional, physical and mental blockages.

When you lie on the Shakti Mat, it prompts the body to produce good hormones such as endorphins and oxytocin. Endorphins are normally released during physical movement and exercise, and help support body against pain. Oxytocin helps you relax and allows you to fall asleep more easily.

Antibiotics: Misuse puts you and others at risk

By Mayo Clinic stuff

Antibiotics overuse

If you think antibiotic resistance isn’t a problem or doesn’t affect you, think again. A prominent example of the dangers of antibiotic resistance is the spread of MRSA — or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA was once a concern only for people in the hospital, but a newer form of MRSA is causing infections in healthy people in the community.

Antibiotic resistance occurs when antibiotics no longer work against disease-causing bacteria. These infections are difficult to treat and can mean longer lasting illnesses, more doctor visits or extended hospital stays, and the need for more expensive and toxic medications. Some resistant infections can even cause death.

Dispute over rules for approving new drugs stalls production even as concern rises over deadly resistant bacteria

August 06, 2010|By Trine Tsouderos, Tribune reporter

Drug companies are abandoning the antibacterial business, citing high development costs, low return on investment and, increasingly, a nearly decade-long stalemate with the Food and Drug Administration over how to bring new antibiotics to market.

Soon, doctors fear, we could be defenseless against bacteria that can resist all existing antibiotics, which would mean more victims like Simon, dead from a staph infection that drugs used to conquer easily.

Dr. Brad Spellberg, an expert on antibiotic resistance, called the situation “catastrophic.”

The debate over setting new guidelines for antibiotic clinical trials has lasted almost a decade. In two years there have been at least nine meetings among the FDA, pharmaceutical industry scientists and physicians, academics and infectious-disease doctors, but the group has agreed on little besides the dire need for new antibiotics.

For years, new antibiotics often were approved based on clinical trials that didn’t have to show the new drug was better than an old one. Instead it had to fall within an acceptable margin of efficacy, which meant it could test somewhat worse and still be considered a success.

Some are suggesting that for community-acquired pneumonia, antibiotics trials might require as many as 10,000 patients at a cost of about $50,000 a patient, or $500 million. “Cubist barely makes that much a year,” he said.

“Nobody can run those trials,” said Shlaes. “They live in a different world. Their world is numbers and logic. It is not patients and life.”

And in my opinin that is the root of the problem. Big Pharma concerned about profits, not patients and life.

When is it appropriate to use antibiotics?

Antibiotics are effective against bacterial infections, certain fungal infections and some kinds of parasites. Antibiotics don’t work against viruses. Taking an antibiotic when you have a viral infection won’t make you feel better — and can contribute to antibiotic resistance.

Ways to avoid antibiotic resistance

Wash the right way. There is some concern that the triclosan in antibacterial soaps could lead to resistance, and it’s not clear whether they’re any more effective than scrubbing for 30 seconds with regular soap and water. Alcohol is also effective surface cleaner that don’t create resistance.

Buy organic. The antibiotics in the feed of some nonorganic farm animals may contribute to antibiotic resistance. Check your local farmers’ markets

Don’t take an antibiotic unless you absolutely have to. “We could probably cut our antibiotic use by 70% if people only took them when they are absolutely necessary,” says Louis Rice, MD, an expert on resistant bugs and chief of medical service at Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center. With some illnesses that typically go away on their own, like ear infections and sinus infections, you can practice “watchful waiting”—get the prescription, but don’t fill it unless the condition persists.

Ask for the shortest course of antibiotics. “The optimal length of antibiotic use for most illnesses may be much less than the current recommendations,” Dr. Rice says. “There might be a three-day course or a seven-day course that is equally effective as a longer one.” For example, when doctors studied treatments for urinary-tract infections, they found that 87% cleared up with a single dose of antibiotics and 94% were cured with a three-day course.

Strengthen your immune sysytem wit proper food and natural supplements.

Teach others how to avoid antibiotics

Published with permission of http://www.skinrejuvenex.com/skin-care/646/#more-646

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