The Benefits of Natural Paints and Finishes for your Home

Written by admin on February 27, 2010 – 2:02 am -

 

A toxic home results from a combination of synthetic paints, toxic emissions from furniture and carpets and poor air quality. The effect of these toxic elements leads to higher incidents of sickness, allergies, headaches and lung disorders.With the current mainstream use of synthetic petrochemical paint coverings, studies have shown that indoor environments tend to be up to ten times more polluted than external environments. And yet, we spend on average 80% of our time inside buildings! To reduce the risk of fostering a toxic environment in your home, consider the benefits of natural paints and finishes.

The main ingredient in most natural paints is linseed oil. The oil is a natural derivative from linseed and is then blended together with other natural oils, resins and pigments. Linseed oil is a long lasting alternative to plastic binders used in synthetic paints. Surprisingly this is all based on an ancient recipe! Yes, linseed was used in paint making for centuries. What has changed is that there is now a highly developed, modern natural paint industry that ensures excellent painting properties from natural paints.

The main point to consider is that natural paints contain far less chemical substances than synthetic paints. They do not contribute to a toxic environment in your home as synthetic paints do. But there are other aspects of natural paint that are impressive.

Natural vs. Synthetic

Natural paints tend to be superior in terms of reduced paint flaking. One of the main causes of paint flaking is blistering caused by expanding moisture trapped beneath a paint’s skin. Microporous natural paints are waterproof, but continue to allow moisture to pass through them. They breathe with the walls much better than synthetic paints.

Natural paints unlike synthetic paints do not use plastic binders. Plastic based binders, when statically charged, attract dust to their surface. Natural paints do not attract dust in such a way and so help reduce dust levels in your home.

Although natural based paints require longer drying times than most synthetic paints there is good reason for it, and good result. Linseed oil based paints do not fully harden for years with the advantage of greater flexibility. The paint will expand and contract with atmospheric changes, reducing the risk of cracking. Also with the excellent leveling properties of linseed oil, the result will be a smooth enamel, free from brush marks. Well worth the wait!

The oils and resins used in natural paints are the same oils that trees and plants use to nourish and protect themselves. They penetrate deep within the timber fibers giving long lasting, deep protection.

Also, natural paints and finishes are biodegradable and the manufacturing process involves minimal energy, waste and pollution.

Different brands of natural paints will differ in terms of the specific ingredients and those ingredient’s particular properties and benefits. If you have particular allergy sufferers in your home be sure to cross reference with the paint’s ingredients. In most cases you will find the natural ingredients in natural paint to be a great alternative to the synthetic solvents and chemicals in other paints.

Technorati Tags: Benefits, Finishes, Home, natural, Paints

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When Allergy Shots Don’t Work

Written by admin on February 26, 2010 – 6:49 pm -

 

It has been my experience that the most common reason for allergy treatment by means of allergen desensitization to fail to bring about good results is heavy metal toxicity. This is true whether we are talking about allergy desensitization using conventional allergy shots, or through “energy-medicine” allergy desensitization techniques such as NAET and ASERT. In fact, over the eight years or so that I have been using ASERT (Allergy and Sensitivity Elimination and Reprogramming Technique) in my San Antonio office, EVERY patient who had been on a regimen of conventional allergy shots that did not work turned out to have one or more heavy metal toxicities.

It appears that heavy metals cause confusion in the body’s immune system, and predispose the body to developing allergies. I have observed that the patients who show up as having heavy metal toxicity also are usually reactive to many more allergens that those patients who are free of heavy metals. By far the most common heavy metals that are problematic are mercury and lead, but cadmium, thallium, and a host of other metals can show up as well.

Mercury toxicity appears to most commonly be related to amalgam dental fillings, exposure to thimersol (a preserving agent used in vaccines and various liquid solutions used in medicine), and industrial mercury exposure. Although there has been much concern in recent years regarding mercury contamination of seafood, I have not found seafood consumption to be related to mercury toxicity in my patients. It is my belief that the majority of people probably do not consume an amount of mercury contaminated seafood for it to create a toxicity concern.

In my experience, amalgam dental fillings are probably the most common source by far of mercury toxicity. Even so, I usually do not recommend replacement of amalgam fillings unless there is an indication of major leakage of mercury into the body, because the removal process can release such large doses of mercury into the blood and it is usually safer to leve the fillings in place and simply de-tox the mercury accumulation from time to time.

Lead toxicity is most commonly seen in people who were exposed to lead-based paint (and possibly ingested lead paint flakes during childhood). Lead toxicity can also be acquired from occupational sources, such as in electricians who can get it from stripping wiring insulation with their teeth (the insulation often contains lead). Another occupational source of lead exposure is seen in military personnel and police officers who, during training, handled large amounts of lead slugs (I have heard that a common “punishment” in such training is for recruits to have to go gather up lead slugs from the firing range to collect a pre-determined large amount of lead).

No matter what type of heavy metal is producing the toxic effects, there are a variety of ways to test for heavy metals, as well as a variety of ways to treat the toxicity. Testing can be done by conventional blood and tissue tox-screens, by hair analysis, and by muscle reflex testing (“applied kinesiology”). Of the three, I prefer muscle reflex testing even though it is a bit esoteric, because it is simple to do, inexpensive, and if there are multiple heavy metals present it tells me which metal is causing the biggest problem (allowing me to prioritize treatment).

Chelation therapy is the conventional medical treatment of choice for heavy metal toxicity. Chelation therapy injects various binding agents into the bloodstream to pull the heavy metals out of solution so they can be eliminated from the body by the liver and kidneys. Similarly, chlorella (a type of algae) and/or cilantro extract can be used to bind heavy metals making them easier to eliminate from the body. Another method, that is still somewhat controversial even among “alternative” practitioners is the use of special foot baths that utilize a very low-level electrical current to draw out heavy metals and other toxins through the skin of the feet.

The method of detoxification that I prefer is the use of metal-specific homeopathic remedies to assist the body in eliminating the particular metal that is causing the problem. If a patient presents with multiple toxicities, I will usually begin with the chlorella and cilantro approach to start the process and then eventually use homoepathics to eliminate the specific metals. The homeopathic de-tox approach usually takes 2 to 4 weeks to sufficiently reduce the toxicity so that allergy desensitization can be effective.

Once the patient has de-toxed the heavy metal sufficiently, allergy desensitization can be performed effectively. If using conventional allergy shots, the desensitization will take place over a period of months to a few years. If using “energy medicine” techniques, it has been my experience that most people can have the majority of their allergic sensitivities eliminated within a few weeks. Because of the remarkable efficiency of the energy medicine techniques, I favor them over conventional allergy treatment, but to be fair the techniques I use are quite strange to most people and they can be a bit hard to believe. Many people simply cannot believe that these strange methods of treatment work, so they will stick with conventional allergy treatment, which is quite effective in the long-run once any interfering heavy metal toxicities have been handled.

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any way around oil based alkyd paint allergies?

Written by admin on February 26, 2010 – 6:48 pm -

I recently painted the wood paneling in my living room using an oil based alkyd paint. Now I can’t go a day without using benadryl… Any ideas on working around this without stripping the paint? (sealants, etc…)

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Is it safe to use non-toxic fabric paint for your body?

Written by admin on February 21, 2010 – 6:22 am -

I am having a hard time finding body paint and have tested a little bi of Tulip dimensional fabric paint on my arm. No allergies and it is suppose to me non-toxic. Does anyone know if it is safe?

Technorati Tags: body, Fabric, nontoxic, paint, safe

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Posted in Chemical Sensitivity | 6 Comments »