MSG - SLOW POISONING OF OUR HEALTH
I wondered if there could be an actual chemical
causing the massive obesity
epidemic, so did John Erb from Canada. He was a
research assistant at the
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
and spent years working
for the government. He made an amazing discovery while
going through
scientific journals for a book he was writing called
The Slow Poisoning of America.
In hundreds of studies around the world, scientists
were creating obese mice
and rats to use in diet or diabetes test studies. No
strain of rat or mice
is naturally obese, so the scientists have to create
them. They make these
morbidly obese creatures by injecting them with MSG
when they are first born.
The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas
creates, causing rats (and
humans?) to become obese they even have a title for
the race of fat rodents
they create: "MSG-Treated Rats" MSG?
I was shocked too. I went to my kitchen, checking the
cupboards and the
fridge. MSG was in everything! The Campbell's soups,
the Hostess Doritos, the
Lays flavored potato chips, Top Ramen, Betty Crocker
Hamburger Helper, Heinz
canned gravy, Swanson frozen prepared meals, Kraft
salad dressings, especially
the 'healthy low fat' ones. The items that didn't have
MSG had something
called Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, which is just
another name for Monosodium
Glutamate. It was shocking to see just how many of the
foods we feed our
children everyday are filled with this stuff. They
hide MSG under many different
names in order to fool those who catch on.
But it didn't stop there. When our family went out to
eat, we started asking
at the restaurants what menu items had MSG. Many
employees, even the
managers, swore they didn't use MSG. But when we ask
for the ingredient list, which
they grudgingly provided, sure enough MSG and
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
were everywhere. Burger King, McDonald's, Wendy's,
Taco Bell, every restaurant,
even the sit down ones like TGIF, Chilis', Applebees
and Denny's use MSG in
abundance. Kentucky Fried Chicken seemed to be the
WORST offender: MSG as in
every chicken dish, salad dressing and gravy. No
wonder I loved to eat that
coating on the skin, their secret spice was MSG!
So why is MSG in so may of the foods we eat? Is it a
preservative or a
vitamin? Not according to my friend John. In the book
he wrote, an expose of the
food additive industry called The Slow Poisoning of
America,
www.spofamerica.com , he said that MSG is added to
food for the addictive effect it has on the
human body. Even the propaganda website sponsored by
the food manufacturers
lobby group supporting MSG at:
http://www.msgfacts.com/facts/msgfact12.html
explains that the reason they add it to food is to
make people eat more.
A study of elderly people showed that people eat more
of the foods that it
is added to. The Glutamate Association lobby group
says eating more benefits
the elderly, but what does it do to the rest of us?
'Betcha can't eat just
one', takes on a whole new meaning where MSG is
concerned! And we wonder why the
nation is overweight?
The MSG manufacturers themselves admit that it
addicts people to their
products. It makes people choose their product over
others, and makes people eat
more of it than they would if MSG wasn't added. Not
only is MSG scientifically
proven to cause obesity, it is an addictive
substance!
Since its introduction into the American food supply
fifty years ago, MSG
has been added in larger and larger doses to the
prepackaged meals, soups,
snacks and fast foods we are tempted to eat every day.
The FDA has set no limits
on how much of it can be added to food. They claim
it's safe to eat in any
amount.
How can they claim it is safe when there are hundreds
of scientific studies
with titles like these?
The monosodium glutamate (MSG) obese rat as a model
for the study of
exercise in obesity. Gobatto CA, Mello MA, Souza CT,
Ribeiro IA. Res Commun Mol
Pathol Pharmacol. 2002
Adrenalectomy abolishes the food-induced hypothalamic
serotonin release in
both normal and monosodium glutamate-obese rats.
Guimaraes RB, Telles MM,
Coelho VB, Mori RC, Nascimento CM, Ribeiro Brain Res
Bull. 2002 Aug
Obesity induced by neonatal monosodium glutamate
treatment in spontaneously
hypertensive rats: an animal model of multiple risk
factors.
Yamamoto M, Iino K, Ichikawa K, Shinohara N,
Yoshinari Fujishima Hypertens
Res. 1998 Mar
Hypothalamic lesion induced by injection of monosodium
glutamate in suckling
period and subsequent development of obesity. Tanaka
K,
Shimada M, Nakao K, Kusunoki Exp Neurol. 1978 Oct
Yes, that last study was not a typo, it WAS written
in 1978. Both the
medical research community and food "manufacturers"
have known MSG's side effects
for decades! Many more studies mentioned in John
Erb's book link MSG to
Diabetes, Migraines and headaches, Autism, ADHD and
even Alzheimer's. But what can
we do to stop the food manufactures from dumping
fattening and addictive MSG
into our food supply and causing the obesity epidemic
we now see? Even as you
read this, George W. Bush and his corporate
supporters are pushing a Bill
through Congress. Called the "Personal Responsibility
in Food Consumption Act"
also known as the "Cheeseburger Bill "this sweeping
law bans anyone from
suing food manufacturers, sellers and distributors.
Even if it comes out that
they purposely added an addictive chemical to their
foods."
Read about it for yourself at:
www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8458081.htm
"Last month the House of Representatives passed the
"Personal Responsibility
in Food Consumption Act" to protect the food and
beverage industry from
civil lawsuits. Under the measure, known as the
"Cheeseburger Bill," people who
buy food or drinks couldn't sue the companies that
made them, the stores that
sold them or the restaurants that served them if they
got fat from the
products, so long as the products met existing laws.
The Senate is expected to take
up a similar bill later this year."
The Bill has already been rushed through the House of
Representatives, and
is due for the same rubber stamp at Senate level. It
is important that Bush
and his corporate supporters get it through before
the media lets everyone know
about MSG, the intentional Nicotine for food.
Several months ago, John Erb took his book and his
concerns to one of the
highest government health officials in Canada. While
sitting in the Government
office, the official told him "Sure I know how bad MSG
is, I wouldn't touch
the stuff!" But this top-level government official
refused to tell the public
what he knew. The big media doesn't want to tell the
public either, fearing
legal issues with their advertisers. It seems that the
fallout on the fast
food industry may hurt their profit margin.
So what do we do? The food producers and restaurants
have been addicting us
to their products for years, and now we are paying the
price for it. Our
children should not be cursed with obesity caused by
an addictive food additive.
But what can I do about it? I'm just one voice, what
can I do to stop the
poisoning of our children, while guys like Bush are
insuring financial
protection for the industry that is poisoning us.
I for one am doing something about it. I am sending
this email out to
everyone I know in an attempt to show you the truth
that the corporate owned
politicians and media won't tell you. The best way you
can help save yourself and
your children from this drug-induced epidemic, is to
forward this email to
everyone. With any luck, it will circle the globe
before Bush can pass the Bill
protecting those who poisoned us. The food industry
learned a lot from the
tobacco industry. Imagine if big tobacco had a bill
like this in place before
someone blew the whistle on Nicotine? Blow the whistle
on MSG. If you are one
of the few who can still believe that MSG is good for
us, and you don't
believe what John Erb has to say, see for yourself. Go
to the National Library of
Medicine, at www.pubmed.com. Type in the words "MSG
Obese", and read a few of
the 115 medical studies that appear.
We do not want to be rats in one giant experiment, and
we do not approve of
food that makes us into a nation of obese, lethargic,
addicted sheep, waiting
for the slaughter. With your help we can put an end to
this, and stop the
Slow Poisoning of America. Let's save our children
says (John Erb) ...
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Monday, July 25, 2005
Is Your Teflon Pan Causing Health Problems?
More Troubles With Teflon Toxicity
It appears DuPont Co. has cooked up some trouble, for a federal grand jury has slapped the company with a subpoena -- via a request from the U.S. Justice Department's Environmental Crimes Section -- regarding the use of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a controversial chemical used to make Teflon non-stick coatings.
And the subpoena comes only a month after Dupont agreed to a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it failed to disclose health safety information about PFOA for 20 years.
Further, while a DuPont spokesman claimed no specific charges have been spelled out yet, the federal grand jury requested documents that were previously turned over to the EPA. The company must turn over the materials by late June.
According to the EPA:
PFOA remains in humans for years; small amounts of the chemical are believed to be present in a large proportion of the American public.
Evidence has shown the chemical can cause cancers in rats; the report said PFOA targets the liver in rats and could increase cholesterol and triglyceride levels in humans.
A small ray of hope: DuPont has previously announced plans to replace PFOA in some products by late 2006.
Reuters May 19, 2005
---------------------------------
Dr. Mercola's Comment:
Teflon-coated cookware does offer a certain level of convenience that is difficult to find elsewhere. But are you willing to sacrifice your health for ease in kitchen cleanup? I know I certainly am not, and there are many practical tricks you can use to achieve virtually the same benefit as you do with non-stick cookware.
In case you weren't aware, those non-stick finishes vaporize when you turn up the heat and can cause some very serious health symptoms. I am surprised to tell you that this Web site was one of the first to report the health consequences of this.
It has been known for some time that volatile gases were released when the non-stick pans were heated, but it wasn't until earlier this year that energy psychology pioneer Gary Craig identified that it had not been previously documented. Since this article ran in February, we have received dozens of reports of people's bizarre symptoms that have completely resolved once they stopped using the Teflon non-stick pans.
So, obviously, my strong recommendation is to ditch the pans and avoid non-stick finishes.
If you plan to continue using these products, please at least refrain from cooking with them at high heat, or continuing to use them if they been scratched, as both situations can liberate the toxic chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) into your food.
The best and safest cookware you can use is ceramic-coated metal, as ceramic is virtually inert and will not transfer any metal ions to your food. I am actually researching specific brands to recommend and may have some shortly.
For safe cooking, it is also important to use a stable oil like coconut oil -- vegetable oils are easily damaged by the heat -- and not overcook your food.
It appears DuPont Co. has cooked up some trouble, for a federal grand jury has slapped the company with a subpoena -- via a request from the U.S. Justice Department's Environmental Crimes Section -- regarding the use of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a controversial chemical used to make Teflon non-stick coatings.
And the subpoena comes only a month after Dupont agreed to a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it failed to disclose health safety information about PFOA for 20 years.
Further, while a DuPont spokesman claimed no specific charges have been spelled out yet, the federal grand jury requested documents that were previously turned over to the EPA. The company must turn over the materials by late June.
According to the EPA:
PFOA remains in humans for years; small amounts of the chemical are believed to be present in a large proportion of the American public.
Evidence has shown the chemical can cause cancers in rats; the report said PFOA targets the liver in rats and could increase cholesterol and triglyceride levels in humans.
A small ray of hope: DuPont has previously announced plans to replace PFOA in some products by late 2006.
Reuters May 19, 2005
---------------------------------
Dr. Mercola's Comment:
Teflon-coated cookware does offer a certain level of convenience that is difficult to find elsewhere. But are you willing to sacrifice your health for ease in kitchen cleanup? I know I certainly am not, and there are many practical tricks you can use to achieve virtually the same benefit as you do with non-stick cookware.
In case you weren't aware, those non-stick finishes vaporize when you turn up the heat and can cause some very serious health symptoms. I am surprised to tell you that this Web site was one of the first to report the health consequences of this.
It has been known for some time that volatile gases were released when the non-stick pans were heated, but it wasn't until earlier this year that energy psychology pioneer Gary Craig identified that it had not been previously documented. Since this article ran in February, we have received dozens of reports of people's bizarre symptoms that have completely resolved once they stopped using the Teflon non-stick pans.
So, obviously, my strong recommendation is to ditch the pans and avoid non-stick finishes.
If you plan to continue using these products, please at least refrain from cooking with them at high heat, or continuing to use them if they been scratched, as both situations can liberate the toxic chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) into your food.
The best and safest cookware you can use is ceramic-coated metal, as ceramic is virtually inert and will not transfer any metal ions to your food. I am actually researching specific brands to recommend and may have some shortly.
For safe cooking, it is also important to use a stable oil like coconut oil -- vegetable oils are easily damaged by the heat -- and not overcook your food.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
All Purpose H uses you might not know about
Hi,
A note to add to this because I know there are a lot of new people in Barefoot Secret Biz today that when they read this, might wonder HOW this stuff is possible with All Purpose H. I know when I was brand new, I had a hard time understanding how.
All Purpose H is 100% non-toxic and it makes water appx. 300 times wetter. When used as a soil conditioner on plants, lawns, and crops, All Purpose H helps plants grow because water goes deeper and stays in the soil longer, and water transports nutrients from the soil to the plant roots. More water + more nutrients = stronger, healthier plants. Back in the 1980's, studies showed nearly 1 ton more potatoes per acre with crops treated with All Purpose H for example. If you want to test it, just try it on a portion of your lawn and compare treated vs. untreated after a couple of weeks or so. You will see the difference.
When it comes to insects--- they do not like All Purpose H! If you ever got any All Purpose H in your tongue, you probablly didn't like it either. Flies especially seem to hate All Purpose H and it is about the best fly spray I've ever used on myself, or on my pets. I have had farners use it with great success on horses, dairy cows, etc. It's terrific! They usually will purchase All Purpose H in the 5 gal bucket, or 30 gal drum.
When it comes to ants, earwigs, beetles, and the like--- Basic H and water kills by drowning the insects. All Purpose H allows the water to penetrate the protective outside coating of the insect and they drown.
I know you will see different ratio mixtures sometimes for using All Puropse H and that's because people often come up with their own formulas. For general lawn and garden use--- 1 oz. All Purpose H per gallon of water is the norm. For fly spray-- 1 part All Purpose H to 1 part water and 1 pare white vinegar is the way we use it of course, can be made stronger or weaker if needed.
And I can not ever leave this one out when talking about All Purpose H--- it is the best thing you will find for putting on burns. All Purpose H is Rod Larkins #1 burn treatment.
_________________________________
All Purpose H for Gardens, Nurseries, Barns, Greenhouses, Crops, Yards, Trees
If you live in areas with the deer flies .. you will be very interested in how All Purpose H saved this poor dog's ears... as well as the owners...
All Purpose H Testimony:
I was just thinking about how hot it is for our German shepherd/malamute mix and remembered to check her ears (when it gets hot the biting flies are fierce for her).
I notice that she doesn't have any flies around her....that's good but odd I thought, they bite us every time we get out of the pool! Her ears are almost completely healed!
Then I remembered, just before we went on vacation (June 20th), I sprayed her with my mixture of laundry pre-spotter of All Purpose H and saw flies FALL off of her body....that was scary....but then I remembered this stuff is non-toxic so I shouldn't worry.
I left some out for my parents to take care of her with while we were gone on vacation (week of June 27th). My dad sprayed our dog, doghouse and her pen while we were gone.
I also noticed she doesn't roll like a mad dog around the yard trying to get All Purpose H off of her fur. With bitter apple, baby oil and bag balm she would become a rolling, flailing dog for at least a good 10-15 minutes trying to get it off. With All Purpose H I cover her eyes, spray her body and get some on my hand to put some on her head and then when I let her go she will go lay down and she might rub her head once on the ground. With all of the other stuff it didn't matter how long I tried to distract her she was doing a full body roll all over the yard.
I use 1 cup of All Purpose H and 3/4 cup of water to put in my spray bottle and use as a laundry pre-spotter. I haven't encountered a stain I couldn't get out with this mixture....... and now it's a really good fly repellant/killer.
Thanks Barefoot Secret Biz!
Mary
A note to add to this because I know there are a lot of new people in Barefoot Secret Biz today that when they read this, might wonder HOW this stuff is possible with All Purpose H. I know when I was brand new, I had a hard time understanding how.
All Purpose H is 100% non-toxic and it makes water appx. 300 times wetter. When used as a soil conditioner on plants, lawns, and crops, All Purpose H helps plants grow because water goes deeper and stays in the soil longer, and water transports nutrients from the soil to the plant roots. More water + more nutrients = stronger, healthier plants. Back in the 1980's, studies showed nearly 1 ton more potatoes per acre with crops treated with All Purpose H for example. If you want to test it, just try it on a portion of your lawn and compare treated vs. untreated after a couple of weeks or so. You will see the difference.
When it comes to insects--- they do not like All Purpose H! If you ever got any All Purpose H in your tongue, you probablly didn't like it either. Flies especially seem to hate All Purpose H and it is about the best fly spray I've ever used on myself, or on my pets. I have had farners use it with great success on horses, dairy cows, etc. It's terrific! They usually will purchase All Purpose H in the 5 gal bucket, or 30 gal drum.
When it comes to ants, earwigs, beetles, and the like--- Basic H and water kills by drowning the insects. All Purpose H allows the water to penetrate the protective outside coating of the insect and they drown.
I know you will see different ratio mixtures sometimes for using All Puropse H and that's because people often come up with their own formulas. For general lawn and garden use--- 1 oz. All Purpose H per gallon of water is the norm. For fly spray-- 1 part All Purpose H to 1 part water and 1 pare white vinegar is the way we use it of course, can be made stronger or weaker if needed.
And I can not ever leave this one out when talking about All Purpose H--- it is the best thing you will find for putting on burns. All Purpose H is Rod Larkins #1 burn treatment.
_________________________________
All Purpose H for Gardens, Nurseries, Barns, Greenhouses, Crops, Yards, Trees
If you live in areas with the deer flies .. you will be very interested in how All Purpose H saved this poor dog's ears... as well as the owners...
All Purpose H Testimony:
I was just thinking about how hot it is for our German shepherd/malamute mix and remembered to check her ears (when it gets hot the biting flies are fierce for her).
I notice that she doesn't have any flies around her....that's good but odd I thought, they bite us every time we get out of the pool! Her ears are almost completely healed!
Then I remembered, just before we went on vacation (June 20th), I sprayed her with my mixture of laundry pre-spotter of All Purpose H and saw flies FALL off of her body....that was scary....but then I remembered this stuff is non-toxic so I shouldn't worry.
I left some out for my parents to take care of her with while we were gone on vacation (week of June 27th). My dad sprayed our dog, doghouse and her pen while we were gone.
I also noticed she doesn't roll like a mad dog around the yard trying to get All Purpose H off of her fur. With bitter apple, baby oil and bag balm she would become a rolling, flailing dog for at least a good 10-15 minutes trying to get it off. With All Purpose H I cover her eyes, spray her body and get some on my hand to put some on her head and then when I let her go she will go lay down and she might rub her head once on the ground. With all of the other stuff it didn't matter how long I tried to distract her she was doing a full body roll all over the yard.
I use 1 cup of All Purpose H and 3/4 cup of water to put in my spray bottle and use as a laundry pre-spotter. I haven't encountered a stain I couldn't get out with this mixture....... and now it's a really good fly repellant/killer.
Thanks Barefoot Secret Biz!
Mary
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Do you have a computer product called "Dust Off" in your house?
Summary:
Email from a grieving father outlines the danger of inhaling Dust-Off computer cleaner, after his son died as a result of "huffing" the product.
Dust Off- A Serious Fatal Hazard
First IM going to tell you a little about me and my family. My name is Jeff. I am a Police Officer for a city which is known nationwide for its crime rate. We have a lot of gangs and drugs. At one point we were # 2 in the nation in homicides per capita. I also have a police K-9 named Thor . He was certified in drugs and general duty. He retired at 3 years old because he was shot in the line of duty. He lives with us now and I still train with him because he likes it. I always liked the fact that there was no way to bring drugs into my house. Thor wouldn't allow it. He would tell on you. The reason I say this is so you understand that I know about drugs. I have taught in schools about drugs. My wife asks all our kids at least once a week if they used any drugs. Makes them promise they won't.
I like building computers occasionally and started building a new one in February 2005. I also was working on some of my older computers. They were full of dust so on one of my trips to the computer store I bought a 3 pack of DUST OFF. Dust Off is a can of compressed air to blow dust off a computer. A few weeks later when I went to use them they were all used. I talked to my kids and my 2 sons both said they had used them on their computer and messing around with them. I yelled at them for wasting the 10 dollars I paid for them. On February 28 I went back to the computer store. They didn't have the 3 pack which I had bought on sale so I bought a single jumbo can of Dust Off. I went home and set it down beside my computer.
On March 1st I left for work at 10 PM. At 11 PM my wife went down and kissed Kyle goodnight. At 530 AM the next morning Kathy went downstairs to wake Kyle up for school, before she left for work. He was sitting up in bed with his legs crossed and his head leaning over. She called to him a few times to get up. He didn't move. He would sometimes tease her like this and pretend he fell back asleep. He was never easy to get up. She went in and shook his arm. He fell over. He was pale white and had the straw from the Dust Off can coming out of his mouth. He had the new can of Dust Off in his hands. Kyle was dead.
I am a police officer and I had never heard of this. My wife is a nurse and she had never heard of this. We later found out from the coroner, after the autopsy, that only the propellant from the can of Dust off was in his system. No other drugs. Kyle had died between midnight and 1 Am.
I found out that using Dust Off is being done mostly by kids ages 9 through 15. They even have a name for it. It's called dusting. A take off from the Dust Off name. It gives them a slight high for about 10 seconds. It makes them dizzy. A boy who lives down the street from us showed Kyle how to do this about a month before. Kyle showed his best friend. Told him it was cool and it couldn't hurt you. It's just compressed air. It can't hurt you. His best friend said no.
Kyle's death
Kyle was wrong. It's not just compresses air. It also contains a propellant. I think its R2. It's a refrigerant like what is used in your refrigerator. It is a heavy gas.-Heavier than air. When you inhale it, it fills your lungs and keeps the good air, with oxygen, out. That's why you feel dizzy, buzzed. It decreases the oxygen to your brain, to your heart. Kyle was right. It can't hurt you. IT KILLS YOU. The horrible part about this is there is no warning. There is no level that kills you. It's not cumulative or an overdose; it can just go randomly, terribly wrong. Roll the dice and if your number comes up you die. IT'S NOT AN OVERDOSE. It's Russian roulette. You don't die later. Or not feel good and say I've had too much. You usually die as your breathing it in. If not you die within 2 seconds of finishing "the hit." That's why the straw was still in Kyle's mouth when he died. Why his eyes were still open.
The experts want to call this huffing. The kids don't believe its huffing. As adults we tend to lump many things together. But it doesn't fit here. And that's why it's more accepted. There is no chemical reaction. no strong odor. It doesn't follow the huffing signals. Kyle complained a few days before he died of his tongue hurting. It probably did. The propellant causes frostbite. If I had only known.
It's easy to say hay, it's my life and I'll do what I want. But it isn't. Others are always affected. This has forever changed our family's life. I have a hole in my heart and soul that can never be fixed. The pain is so immense I can't describe it. There's nowhere to run from it. I cry all the time and I don't ever cry. I do what I'm supposed to do but I don't really care. My kids are messed up. One won't talk about it. The other will only sleep in our room at night. And my wife, I can't even describe how bad she is taking this. I thought we were safe because of Thor. I thought we were safe because we knew about drugs and talked to our kids about them.
After Kyle died another story came out. A Probation Officer went to the school system next to ours to speak with a student. While there he found a student using Dust Off in the bathroom. This student told him about another student who also had some in his locker. This is a rather affluent school system. They will tell you they don't have a drug problem there. They don't even have a dare or plus program there. So rather than tell everyone about this "new" way of getting high they found, they hid it. The probation officer told the media after Kyle's death and they, the school, then admitted to it. I know that if they would have told the media and I had heard, it wouldn't have been in my house.
We need to get this out of our homes and school computer labs.
Using Dust Off isn't new and some "professionals" do know about. It just isn't talked about much, except by the kids. They know about it.
April 2nd was 1 month since Kyle died. April 5th would have been his 15th birthday. And every weekday I catch myself sitting on the living room couch at 2:30 in the afternoon and waiting to see him get off the bus. I know Kyle is in heaven but I can't help but wonder If I died and went to Hell.
Commentary:
Sadly, the information outlined in this email forward is true. On the 2nd March 2005, 14-year-old Kyle Williams of Painesville Township, Ohio died after inhaling Dust-Off. As outlined in the email, Dust-Off is a product that contains a compressed gas used for removing the dust from computers. Kyle's father, Jeff is indeed a police officer in Cleveland, Ohio.
Unfortunately, many consumers are under the mistaken impression that Dust-Off and similar products contain a seemingly harmless product - compressed air. In fact, such products are commonly referred to as "canned air". However, the products actually contain a compressed gas, NOT compressed air. Because of this misconception, parents and children may not realize how dangerous inhaling them can be. This is an important issue, as such seemingly trivial misconceptions can have a quite powerful influence on the way consumers conceive of and use a product. In fact, a representative from Falcon, the company that manufactures Dust-Off, has contacted me after reading an earlier version of this article. He states that:
We are hoping you can help clarify a misconception about our product. As you noted, most people refer to our product as "canned air", when in reality the product is filled with a compressed-gas. Our company makes it a practice to never refer to the product in such a manner as it is misleading to consumers. We believe that referring to our product as "canned air" gives individuals a false sense of comfort and, therefore, they believe it to be harmless if directly inhaled.
An article on the Falcon website discusses this topic more thoroughly.
Falcon also has the following information on its website:
As a leading manufacturer of one of the world's most versatile aerosol products, Falcon recognizes that among the issues surrounding aerosol product distribution and usage is that of inhalant abuse or "huffing". It is imperative that consumers of aerosol products, parents and children all understand the seriousness of this practice.
Dust-Off cans also carry the following warning:
A cleaning duster is a serious product. Inhalant abuse is illegal and can cause permanent injury or be fatal. Please use our product responsibly.
Inhalant abuse, or "huffing", is a serious problem that has killed and maimed many children and young adults around the world. It is important that parents and guardians educate themselves and their children about inhalant abuse. The National Inhalant Prevention Coalition website is an excellent resource on the subject.
As a parent, my heart goes out to Kyle's grieving family. Perhaps we can help to prevent similar tragedies by taking steps to let others know about the dangers of inhalant abuse.
References:
Falcon Website: Issues Surrounding Inhalant Abuse and Huffing
Falcon Website: What Are The Health Hazards Associated With Abuse?
Falcon Website: Making The Right Choice
The Plain Dealer: A dire warning from a grieving dad
The News-Herald: Riverside High School continues to grieve
Write-up by Brett M.Christensen
Email from a grieving father outlines the danger of inhaling Dust-Off computer cleaner, after his son died as a result of "huffing" the product.
Dust Off- A Serious Fatal Hazard
First IM going to tell you a little about me and my family. My name is Jeff. I am a Police Officer for a city which is known nationwide for its crime rate. We have a lot of gangs and drugs. At one point we were # 2 in the nation in homicides per capita. I also have a police K-9 named Thor . He was certified in drugs and general duty. He retired at 3 years old because he was shot in the line of duty. He lives with us now and I still train with him because he likes it. I always liked the fact that there was no way to bring drugs into my house. Thor wouldn't allow it. He would tell on you. The reason I say this is so you understand that I know about drugs. I have taught in schools about drugs. My wife asks all our kids at least once a week if they used any drugs. Makes them promise they won't.
I like building computers occasionally and started building a new one in February 2005. I also was working on some of my older computers. They were full of dust so on one of my trips to the computer store I bought a 3 pack of DUST OFF. Dust Off is a can of compressed air to blow dust off a computer. A few weeks later when I went to use them they were all used. I talked to my kids and my 2 sons both said they had used them on their computer and messing around with them. I yelled at them for wasting the 10 dollars I paid for them. On February 28 I went back to the computer store. They didn't have the 3 pack which I had bought on sale so I bought a single jumbo can of Dust Off. I went home and set it down beside my computer.
On March 1st I left for work at 10 PM. At 11 PM my wife went down and kissed Kyle goodnight. At 530 AM the next morning Kathy went downstairs to wake Kyle up for school, before she left for work. He was sitting up in bed with his legs crossed and his head leaning over. She called to him a few times to get up. He didn't move. He would sometimes tease her like this and pretend he fell back asleep. He was never easy to get up. She went in and shook his arm. He fell over. He was pale white and had the straw from the Dust Off can coming out of his mouth. He had the new can of Dust Off in his hands. Kyle was dead.
I am a police officer and I had never heard of this. My wife is a nurse and she had never heard of this. We later found out from the coroner, after the autopsy, that only the propellant from the can of Dust off was in his system. No other drugs. Kyle had died between midnight and 1 Am.
I found out that using Dust Off is being done mostly by kids ages 9 through 15. They even have a name for it. It's called dusting. A take off from the Dust Off name. It gives them a slight high for about 10 seconds. It makes them dizzy. A boy who lives down the street from us showed Kyle how to do this about a month before. Kyle showed his best friend. Told him it was cool and it couldn't hurt you. It's just compressed air. It can't hurt you. His best friend said no.
Kyle's death
Kyle was wrong. It's not just compresses air. It also contains a propellant. I think its R2. It's a refrigerant like what is used in your refrigerator. It is a heavy gas.-Heavier than air. When you inhale it, it fills your lungs and keeps the good air, with oxygen, out. That's why you feel dizzy, buzzed. It decreases the oxygen to your brain, to your heart. Kyle was right. It can't hurt you. IT KILLS YOU. The horrible part about this is there is no warning. There is no level that kills you. It's not cumulative or an overdose; it can just go randomly, terribly wrong. Roll the dice and if your number comes up you die. IT'S NOT AN OVERDOSE. It's Russian roulette. You don't die later. Or not feel good and say I've had too much. You usually die as your breathing it in. If not you die within 2 seconds of finishing "the hit." That's why the straw was still in Kyle's mouth when he died. Why his eyes were still open.
The experts want to call this huffing. The kids don't believe its huffing. As adults we tend to lump many things together. But it doesn't fit here. And that's why it's more accepted. There is no chemical reaction. no strong odor. It doesn't follow the huffing signals. Kyle complained a few days before he died of his tongue hurting. It probably did. The propellant causes frostbite. If I had only known.
It's easy to say hay, it's my life and I'll do what I want. But it isn't. Others are always affected. This has forever changed our family's life. I have a hole in my heart and soul that can never be fixed. The pain is so immense I can't describe it. There's nowhere to run from it. I cry all the time and I don't ever cry. I do what I'm supposed to do but I don't really care. My kids are messed up. One won't talk about it. The other will only sleep in our room at night. And my wife, I can't even describe how bad she is taking this. I thought we were safe because of Thor. I thought we were safe because we knew about drugs and talked to our kids about them.
After Kyle died another story came out. A Probation Officer went to the school system next to ours to speak with a student. While there he found a student using Dust Off in the bathroom. This student told him about another student who also had some in his locker. This is a rather affluent school system. They will tell you they don't have a drug problem there. They don't even have a dare or plus program there. So rather than tell everyone about this "new" way of getting high they found, they hid it. The probation officer told the media after Kyle's death and they, the school, then admitted to it. I know that if they would have told the media and I had heard, it wouldn't have been in my house.
We need to get this out of our homes and school computer labs.
Using Dust Off isn't new and some "professionals" do know about. It just isn't talked about much, except by the kids. They know about it.
April 2nd was 1 month since Kyle died. April 5th would have been his 15th birthday. And every weekday I catch myself sitting on the living room couch at 2:30 in the afternoon and waiting to see him get off the bus. I know Kyle is in heaven but I can't help but wonder If I died and went to Hell.
Commentary:
Sadly, the information outlined in this email forward is true. On the 2nd March 2005, 14-year-old Kyle Williams of Painesville Township, Ohio died after inhaling Dust-Off. As outlined in the email, Dust-Off is a product that contains a compressed gas used for removing the dust from computers. Kyle's father, Jeff is indeed a police officer in Cleveland, Ohio.
Unfortunately, many consumers are under the mistaken impression that Dust-Off and similar products contain a seemingly harmless product - compressed air. In fact, such products are commonly referred to as "canned air". However, the products actually contain a compressed gas, NOT compressed air. Because of this misconception, parents and children may not realize how dangerous inhaling them can be. This is an important issue, as such seemingly trivial misconceptions can have a quite powerful influence on the way consumers conceive of and use a product. In fact, a representative from Falcon, the company that manufactures Dust-Off, has contacted me after reading an earlier version of this article. He states that:
We are hoping you can help clarify a misconception about our product. As you noted, most people refer to our product as "canned air", when in reality the product is filled with a compressed-gas. Our company makes it a practice to never refer to the product in such a manner as it is misleading to consumers. We believe that referring to our product as "canned air" gives individuals a false sense of comfort and, therefore, they believe it to be harmless if directly inhaled.
An article on the Falcon website discusses this topic more thoroughly.
Falcon also has the following information on its website:
As a leading manufacturer of one of the world's most versatile aerosol products, Falcon recognizes that among the issues surrounding aerosol product distribution and usage is that of inhalant abuse or "huffing". It is imperative that consumers of aerosol products, parents and children all understand the seriousness of this practice.
Dust-Off cans also carry the following warning:
A cleaning duster is a serious product. Inhalant abuse is illegal and can cause permanent injury or be fatal. Please use our product responsibly.
Inhalant abuse, or "huffing", is a serious problem that has killed and maimed many children and young adults around the world. It is important that parents and guardians educate themselves and their children about inhalant abuse. The National Inhalant Prevention Coalition website is an excellent resource on the subject.
As a parent, my heart goes out to Kyle's grieving family. Perhaps we can help to prevent similar tragedies by taking steps to let others know about the dangers of inhalant abuse.
References:
Falcon Website: Issues Surrounding Inhalant Abuse and Huffing
Falcon Website: What Are The Health Hazards Associated With Abuse?
Falcon Website: Making The Right Choice
The Plain Dealer: A dire warning from a grieving dad
The News-Herald: Riverside High School continues to grieve
Write-up by Brett M.Christensen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)