Tom's Blog on Life

I received a caution in the mail and, unfortunately, it checks out as true. I have reworded it here and provided a handling that was not in the original post.

Be cautious when picking up sealed, empty containers, specifically discarded plastic or glass bottles.

Miscreants are putting Drano (a substance that unblocks drains), tin foil and a little water in plastic drink bottles and capping it up – leaving it on lawns, in mail boxes, in gardens, on driveways etc. just waiting for you to pick it up intending to put it in the rubbish.

If the bottle is picked up and shaken even just a little – in about 30 seconds or less it builds up enough gas to explodes the bottle with sufficient force to cause harm. The liquid that comes out is boiling hot as well.

Now what the alarmist who wrote this does not mention is that these bottle bombs can be instantly defused by unscrewing the cap slightly to prevent a pressure build up. Of course they still need to be handled with care so you do not spill the contents over yourself. http://www.hoax-slayer.com/drano-bottle-bomb.shtml

Hidden inside the typical western diet of highly-toxic processed foods are gems of natural medicine that you’d never suspect are really health foods http://www.naturalnews.com/033695_health_foods_mustard.html#ixzz1Z2mYFBqV

“Mammograms increase the risk for developing breast cancer and raise the risk of spreading or metastasizing an existing growth,” says Dr. Charles B. Simone, a former clinical associate in immunology and pharmacology at the National Cancer Institute. Safer and even more effective diagnostic techniques like infrared thermography, has been vigorously attacked by the Breast Cancer Awareness organizations.

Routine screening for depression in primary care, as recommended by organizations in the United States and Canada, has not been shown to be beneficial, and may even be harmful, according to new research published online September 19 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. http://www.psychsearch.net/psych_news/?p=1873

Compact Fluorescent contain the deadly poison mercury. Mercury is more poisonous than lead or arsenic and can cause disorientation, migraine, imbalance and severe skin disorders just by touching or inhaling it. So if a compact fluorescent breaks, special care needs to be taken in the handling and cleanup of the mess to ensure minimal risk to the cleaner and others in the environment. Please follow the following procedure to minimise risk to yourself and others. I recommend printing this out and placing it with your cleaning gear so it is readily available when required.

• If and when a compact fluorescent breaks, take very special care not to cut yourself on the glass (I have seen the pictures of people who have, it is REALLY ugly what mercury poisoning can do to a body) or walk through the debris, thus increasing the cleanup job.
• To prevent you from breathing in vapours, hold your breath while you open a window or door to ventilate the area.
• Immediately leave the room for 15 minutes to allow the dust to settle before attempting a clean up.
• Put on rubber gloves.
• If you have a mask, don it. If not, tie an old handkerchief or other disposable cloth around your nose and mouth while you are cleaning up the debris so you do not inhale mercury laden dust.
• If you have disposable plastic overalls, don them to prevent particles lodging in your clothes.
• If on a hard surface, DO NOT VACUUM the debris. That will stir and circulate mercury particles. If the compact fluorescent broke on carpet there may be no other choice than to vacuum.
• Take to the cleanup area a damp cloth, dustpan, brush, stiff card or paper, some duct or sticky tape and a covered receptacle (can be a glass jar) and large sealable plastic bag into which to place the debris. This is so the dust does not get blown from the debris while you are transporting it.
• Carefully pick up the large pieces of glass and place them in the glass jar.
• If on a hard surface, use the stiff paper or card to scoop up the remaining powder and glass particles and place these in the debris receptacle.
• Apply the duct or sticky tape to the remaining dust and glass particles to remove them and place the used tape into the debris receptacle.
• If necessary, use a dustpan and brush to slowly and gently sweep up the remaining debris and place it into the covered receptacle.
• Wipe the area with a damp cloth then place that cloth in the debris bag.
• If the bulb was broken on carpet, vacuum the area and place the dust bag from the vacuum cleaner in the debris bag.
• Once you are sure that the area is clean, remove your protective gear and place that in the debris bag.
• Seal the debris bag and store outside.
• DO NOT place the debris bag in your normal waste collection bins.
• Contact your local council or garbage disposal provider to find out how to safely get rid of the debris bag.
• The next several times you vacuum the area where the bulb was broken, first turn off any air conditioning or central heating and leave windows open to ventilate for 15 minutes after you vacuum. Then restart the AC or central heating.

Take to the cleanup area a damp cloth, dustpan, brush, stiff card or paper, some duct or sticky tape and a covered receptacle (can be a glass jar) and large sealable plastic bag into which to place the debris. This is so the dust does not get blown from the debris while you are transporting it.

Carefully pick up the large pieces of glass and place them in the glass jar.

If on a hard surface, use the stiff paper or card to scoop up the remaining powder and glass particles and place these in the debris receptacle.

Apply the duct or sticky tape to the remaining dust and glass particles to remove them and place the used tape into the debris receptacle.

If necessary, use a dustpan and brush to slowly and gently sweep up the remaining debris and place it into the covered receptacle.

Wipe the area with a damp cloth then place that cloth in the debris bag.

If the bulb was broken on carpet, vacuum the area and place the dust bag from the vacuum cleaner in the debris bag.

Once you are sure that the area is clean, remove your protective gear and place that in the debris bag.

Seal the debris bag and store outside.

DO NOT place the debris bag in your normal waste collection bins.

Contact your local council or garbage disposal provider to find out how to safely get rid of the debris bag.

The next several times you vacuum the area where the bulb was broken, first turn off any air conditioning or central heating and leave windows open to ventilate for 15 minutes after you vacuum. Then restart the AC or central heating.

The average American now takes close to 12 prescription drugs yearly but a new study shows that increased drug spending does not translate to better Medicare. Let’s see, 12 prescription drugs, each with an average of 70 side effects, that’s 12 x 70 = 840 side effect possibilities. Can’t see that being good for a body. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/12/11/more-drugs-do-not-mean-better-care.aspx?np=true

Canadian researchers found that children with substantially higher levels of a certain type of pesticide were twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44260583/ns/health-childrens_health/

With almost 100 million people in developing countries exposed to dangerously high levels of arsenic in their drinking water, and unable to afford complex purification technology, scientists have now described a simple, inexpensive method for removing arsenic based on chopped up pieces of ordinary plastic beverage bottles coated with a nutrient found in many foods and dietary supplements. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110831205923.htm