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Unsafe Products and Foods Discussed in Q & A With Author of a Breakthrough Health Book!

Posted: 31 Jul 2018 06:51 AM PDT




What if the "safe" products you use every day are actually making you sicker? If you have an autoimmune condition, get migraines, or have breast abnormalities, that might just be the case.

Keep Away From GRAS: Generally Regarded As Safeis a compilation of empirical and anecdotal evidence that leads to one inevitable conclusion: Many of the products we encounter and consume on a daily basis, substances considered "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS), may have serious consequences for our health and well-being.

As an internal medicine physician, author Marcela Magda Popa, MD, has seen the effect that repeated, low-dose exposure to certain common chemicals and environmental factors has had on her health and on some of her patients, who reported similar complaints.  As a patient with autoimmune arthritis – that forced her into early retirement – as well as breast abnormalities and migraine headaches, she sought to find answers as to why she was so sick. She discovered there were numerous environmental contributors to her disorders and now is on the road to recovery.

I am so proud to be promoting her book for Media Connect.

Here is an interesting Q and A with the author:

1.      Dr. Popa, what inspired you to write Keep Away from GRAS? It really has to do with my personal medical journey. As a patient suffering with autoimmune arthritis, breast abnormalities and migraine headaches, I was able to analyze some associations, research and learn more in depth information about substances deemed safe (GRAS), after I noticed that certain chemicals I was exposed to multiple times a day through numerous products I routinely used, were aggravating my symptoms. Avoiding them brought some steady improvements, while inadvertent or overlooked re-exposure triggered worsening numerous times. Through my experience I figured out these GRAS substances are not necessarily safe, inert, or inactive and our chronic but constant exposure, even at low doses, can have an as yet unidentified or not fully accepted impact on our health.

2.      Why did you stop practicing medicine?                                                                                           My autoimmune arthritic disorder never responded properly to any treatments or I developed serious side-effects that required to discontinue the medications. The disease was very active, every day became a struggle and I was overwhelmed physically and emotionally. I was strongly recommended to try rituximab, and not knowing how I would react and how much it would affect my capacity to fight infections, I decided to stop seeing patients for a while, in order to protect myself from exposure to infections, which was unavoidable when I worked in a busy private office combined with urgent care. The idea was that if rituximab worked for my arthritis, I would eventually return to work. Unfortunately, this medication made my joint symptoms much, much worse.

3.      How did you come to discover which cosmetics, foods, medications, and household items were doing harm to you and others? It all started when I noticed that my elbows were getting swollen and painful after applying a moisturizer cream on them. Many times I dismissed the idea, but the pattern was repetitive. Moreover, the same cream affected, although less pronounced, my mom and my mother in law. Later on, I came to realize that my other joints were also influenced, and not only by moisturizers but also by prescription creams occasionally applied in their vicinity. Investigating their ingredients, I noticed they contained polyethylene glycols or other ethylene oxide derivatives.  I learned that PEGs were included in the majority of the medications. Polysorbates are another class of related ingredients derived from ethylene oxide, and like PEGs, were incorporated in numerous products that were worsening my joints, while those without them were not. Additionally, propylene glycol and other propylene oxide derivatives also seemed bothersome, although not less pronounced.

4.      What measures have you taken to stop the damage to your body and to begin your recovery from various ailments? Once I reached a suspicion about what made my joints worse, I started an elimination process of the products containing these components. I also understood these were present, often in a cocktail in cosmetics, cleaning products and detergents, foods, medications, therefore the cleansing process was a lot more extensive than I originally anticipated, but well worth it because I noticed steady improvements. I also eliminated products containing propylene oxide derivatives, including propylene glycol.  Investigating the additional ingredients, I learned about the numerous estrogen-mimicking chemicals we're exposed to. Eliminating those from use made quickly a great difference on my migraines, and in the long run for my breast issues. These estrogen-like chemicals, are not only present in cosmetics, foods, and medications, but in numerous household items, therefore I replaced all of them.

5.      What are the names of some of these ethylene and propylene oxide derivatives?  For the ethylene oxide, these are:
·         polyethylene glycols (PEGs)— listed as such, followed by a number (PEG-6 avocado oil) or with names ending in "eth" (cetareth, steareth, etc)
·         polysorbates—20, 60, 80 and so on
·         nonylphenol ethoxylates included in vaccines and nonoxynol 9 used as spermicide
·         octylphenol ethoxylate (Triton X-100)—also used in vaccines
·         phenoxyethanol
·         ethanolamines (mono-, di-and triethanolamine)

One study got my attention. When ethylene oxide was used to sterilize tendon grafts used in knee tendon reconstruction, the graft produced serious knee swelling and inflammation for 6.4% of the patients, and that's very significant. Our daily exposure may produce inflammatory changes as well. The symptoms resolved in all patients after the grafts were removed.

Propylene oxide derivatives, other than propylene glycol, are often encountered in semisynthetic cellulose such as hydroxypropyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose. This last component is used in the so-called "vegetable capsules" shells. Another component, poloxamer, contains both polyethylene glycol and polypropylene oxide.

6.      What are the consequences of toxic exposure to environmental dangers? Exposure to ethylene oxide —classified by the National Toxicology Program as a human carcinogen, is linked with leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, pancreatic and stomach cancers. Ethylene oxide also has human reproductive toxicity, neurological dysfunction (peripheral nerves and brain); it remains as a contaminant in the final polymerized products, as does 1,4 dioxane—a synthesis byproduct classified as a probable carcinogen. Throughout our lives, we get exposed to these daily. The polymers acquire new properties and have consequences of their own. I usually see a concerned look when I mention the link with cancer, but developmental and reproductive toxicity, neurological impairments, behavioral changes, kidney and liver toxicity, are also alarming. Almost like cancers, they quietly creep on us, nobody can point out the triggered a certain disease, and there may not be an adequate treatment.

7.      Are these chemicals regulated by the government regulating bodies ban or restrict usage of select products that you believe are harming us?  There are fewer regulations that can be reinforced by law and more recommendations, which cannot. The federal organizations develop recommendations for toxic substances and "not to exceed limits." Oddly enough, the levels for the same substance are different among these regulating bodies and on ATDSR site the explanation was ascribed to different exposure times and "other factors." Some variables in the way the studies are conducted may play a role and some conclusions may be more favorable for the manufacturers; that's why consumers need to know about all these. One more thing, the studies that document the safety for many of these chemicals, are usually conducted using ridiculously high doses never attained in our daily routine, but in order to trigger certain diseases these repetitive doses need not be high—and this is what I'm trying to raise awareness about. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATDSR).

8.      Are the same chemicals used everywhere in the world? Many of them are banned in Canada, European Union, Japan, or Australia. Others have more strict limits that are reinforced by law. For instance, nonylphenol ethoxylates are banned in the European Union for over 10 years, being linked to health effects in pregnant women and newborns, possibly to breast cancer, and promoting obesity. In the US continue to be used and so is another derivative of nonylphenol, added as antioxidant to vinyl, polystyrene, and sometimes in the production of polyethylene—used for polyethylene pipes and plastic products considered safer, with recycling codes 2 and 4.  Another example is diethanolamine, banned in the EU because of contamination with the carcinogenic nitrosamines. It's still used in the US in shampoos and hair conditioners. Canada is moving to ban bisphenol And the EU plans to ban single use plastics.

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Brian Feinblum's insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2018. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA's Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource." He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America and participated in a PR panel at the Sarah Lawrence College Writers Institute Conference.

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