By Elizabeth G. Craig, © Sept. 2010

I first became aware of the chemicals in our modern life during the early days of synthetic sweeteners. It was then that I came up with my personal “God vs. Dupont” theory, meaning if given the choice, I’d rather consume something that comes from nature than from a lab. For example, sugar vs. saccharine, butter vs. margarine, cotton vs. polyester, wood vs. vinyl, and so forth. It was not until about four years ago that I first learned of the stratospheric rise in the number of chemicals created in the lab, and the fact that less than ten percent of these are ever tested on humans, and almost none are tested in conjunction with each other. It is stunning. Almost everything everywhere is dripping with chemicals, many of which are extremely toxic. We wonder why the rates of cancer, autism, infertility, Alzheimer’s, allergies, asthma, obesity, to name but a few, have inexplicably increased.

I had my own experience with infertility, in addition to skin disorders. It took five years, two doctors and one specialist for me to get pregnant. My husband and I were thoroughly tested for any and every kind of potential physical or hormonal defect that would explain our infertility, but nothing could be found. I noticed one day the particular brand of eggs I had purchased said on the carton “Hormone Free”. I began to wonder if what I was eating might be part of the problem. So I started my slow but sure gradual move toward organic foods. It started with the eggs, next came milk, followed a bit later with fruits and vegetables, and then meat. These days, I even try to buy all organic herbs and spices. But then, I started looking at the products I was using around the house. Toxic cleaners with such powerful disinfectants and solvents, I could literally blind my child should he happen to run into an errant spray. In the garden shed, weed killers, pesticides, paint thinners, oh my! I started looking at the products I was putting on my body and the vast quantities of chemicals contained therein. When I read that the average woman is exposed to some 100+ chemicals every day before she even walks out the door, I was appalled. And then there are all the chemicals in our building materials, furniture and other household goods. Even our clothes are soaked in formaldehydes to preserve them during shipping. Chemicals are the definition of ubiquitous.

In the past few years, in addition to switching as much as possible to an organic diet, I started using home-made, low toxicity cleaners. I use low/no VOC paint when needed. I pay attention to the items I bring into my home. My efforts to reduce my family’s exposure to toxic chemicals are working, and I was rewarded with a spontaneous pregnancy at the age of forty-two! Oh, and clear skin to boot. My two beautiful sons keep me motivated to learn all I can and try to remove as much toxicity from our lives as possible. I have done just about all I can. But we cannot live in isolation. Everywhere we go we are exposed to toxic chemicals. We need modern laws to deal with this modern problem. The laws of the seventies, when the Toxic Substance Control Act was written, no longer apply. They are as outmoded as the Selectric typewriter, or Tang. It is against the law for someone (corporations are people now, too) to harm another, but when it comes to chemical exposure, our laws do not protect us. We are assaulted at almost every turn and it is time for it to stop. Please contact your representatives and senators and tell them to quickly update the Toxic Substances Control Act. Thank you.

Elizabeth Craig
Driftwood, Texas