It seems these days like killer toxins are lurking in every corner of your home, office or school. Here's another finding to fuel your paranoia -- a fire retardant used in many couches called PBDE has been linked to lots of problems, including cancer and autism in children. While PBDEs aren't used in sofas any more, chances are you have an older sofa in your house -- I know I do. What's more, a different fire retardant chemical, called Tris, is replacing PBDEs in furniture, and it's been shown to be just as deadly.

What can we do, aside from building our own furniture, to escape the onslaught of harmful toxins in our home? Or is it something we should even be concerned about in the first place?

Keeping cancer and other diseases like diabetes, heart disease, obesity and more might be as simple as the choice we make in keeping toxins out of our bodies and stress out of our minds. Think about all of the money poured into medicines, which are chemicals, that only treat certain symptoms. And most of the time create other side effects that we have to take more medicines for that in turn create more side effects, and on and on. You see where I am going.

What if only a part of the millions and millions of dollars poured into research on medicines, was put to use in educating the public on the right choices of foods and nutrition to put into our bodies to keep them healthy and to learn how to relax and quit putting so many demands on ourselves. What if more funding went into organic farming instead of mass, quick produced, with fertilizers and steroids for faster turn around on the products. Personally I have had so many chemicals blasted into my body from chemo and radiation, and medicines for this and medicines for that, I am about to think that all of that is only hurting my body more. Are we brain washed to believe that we have to have a pill for everything?

My community does not have a health food store that sells fresh organic produce or meats. And the local grocery stores carry very limited amounts of those items. I did take it upon myself to talk to one of the produce managers who did start ordering some other variety of organic vegetables which I thought was nice. And it seemed to catch on with some other customers too. Maybe the trend in that store will be to start ordering more organic products.

I will be posting a series of blogs on personal research that I am doing and trying out, just because I am sick and tired, literally, of fighting cancer that reoccurs and using medicines that are ripping my body apart leaving my immune system even more at risk for infection and disease.

But the one thing that I want to emphasize in this blog right now, is to STOP EATING processed and canned foods. It may be quicker to heat up a can of food or something already processed and pre-made for us, but it is not healthier. Eating fresh organic vegetables and home made prepared foods without chemical preservatives and other additives is the way to go to start getting some of those toxins out of our bodies. If you can't find fresh in something, because seasons play a big part in our fresh vegetable selections, purchase frozen. Also purchase dried beans or other dried items and cook them instead of buying canned ones. They are healthier than canned. Eating raw vegetables or slightly steamed vegetables is more healthy because the vitamins and nutrients do not cook out of the food.

What's your body worth? $1 million? $2M? $20M? Philip Johnson settled on $1 million , the amount his former employer, Qantas Airlines, paid him for exposing him to Hexavalent Chromium while at work, which eventually lead to him being diagnosed with lung cancer. Johnson settled on the amount out of court, because in his words, "I can no longer work because of my condition, so I'm just happy to have the money to keep going with...I just feel relieved that it's all over actually."

It's impossible to put yourself in his place unless you've been in a similar situation, but somehow $1M doesn't seem enough, especially considering the emotional trauma he and his family must have endured due to his illness. Good health is priceless.

What do you think? Does $1M cover the cost of a life? Is Qantas to blame or is it just the luck of the draw?

It's scary but true: Chemicals are all around us, in the air we breath, the things we eat and drink and even our homes. According to this article, alarming levels of harmful chemicals are being found in the bodies of average Canadians of all ages ... from newborns to the elderly. We don't think about these kinds of statistics -- and we don't want to -- but we're going to have to if we want to be the healthiest we can.

The Canadian group Prevent Cancer Now has made it their mission to help reduce the amount of harmful substances, some of them carcinogens, that are lurking in our environment. They're striving to make changes in all levels of the Canadian population -- from the individual right up to the government and big corporations.

It's about time! What do you think?

Discoveries have linked certain viruses to cancer growth. The hepatitis B virus is related to liver cancer. Women who develop cervical cancer have had a human papilloma virus (HPV) infection but not all women with HPV infection will develop cervical cancer. Stomach ulcers are likely caused by Helicobactor pylori, or H. pylori a bacteria and the ulcers can grow into cancer. Viruses attack cells in the body and once these cells are corrupted they begin to grow uncontrollably, eventually leading to cancer.

With these discoveries leads us to the knowledge that protecting the immune system in the body and keeping viruses at bay, is important in preventing cancer. Viruses enter the body through everyday activities like eating, breathing and sexual activity. Eating well, exercising and avoiding alcohol and cigarettes are good ways to keep your body's natural defenses functioning at their best. Staying protected with condoms during sexual intercourse helps protect you from sexually transmitted viruses and diseases. Learning healthy life style habits is the beginning of keeping cancer at bay. Focusing on nutrition, exercise, body weight, keeping toxins out of our bodies and our home environment ,and lowering stress will all help boost the immune system.

Environmental groups claim some children's bath products contain a suspected cancer-causing chemical in amounts that reach or exceed safe limits. The chemical in question -- 1,4-dioxane -- is found in products made by companies such as Johnson and Johnson, Disney, Kimberly-Clark, and Gerber, says David Steinman, head of the environmental publishing company Freedom Press.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calls this chemical, already known to cause cancer in animals, a probable human carcinogen. But there is no real regulation on the petroleum-derived chemical and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only recommends cosmetic companies limit the concentration of 1,4-dioxane to 10 parts per million (ppm).

Studies show Johnson's Kids Shampoo Watermelon Explosion contains the maximum recommended level of 10 ppm. They also reveal that Kid Care's Hello Kitty Bubble Bath contains 12.3 ppm of the chemical. And two adult shampoos have been found to have twice the recommended level of this chemical that is typically a manufacturing by-product.

It's been reported that nearly 57 percent of all baby soaps contain 1,4-dioxane. But Iris Grossman, director of communications at Johnson and Johnson, stresses that all of her products are within FDA limits.

Cancer is not the only risky link to children's bath products. It seems these items are also linked to early puberty development. And this is concerning because a fast-paced growth rate combined with children's porous skin increases susceptibility to toxins that can enter the bloodstream. One breast cancer expert says an increase in breast cancer risk is linked to toxic exposures during the formative years of life.

Maryland's air has cancer-causing toxins, and they are far higher than the federal government considers safe, according to Environment Maryland -- an environmental group lobbying to make Maryland the 11th state to follow stricter auto emissions standards.

The group, a spin-off of the Maryland Public Interest Group, has released a report revealing the risk of cancer from air toxins was at least 10 times higher than federal standards in each of the state's counties and Baltimore City.

While California is currently setting the bar for higher auto emissions standards, there is no data at this time to compare Maryland's levels with the rest of the country.

My friend Michelle and I met in college. She now lives in Miami with her husband Pete and daughter Sage. Michelle is also a painter, yoga instructor and Ayurveda practitioner. I asked her to talk to me about Ayurveda and tell me why she thinks it is important for a healthy lifestyle, prevention of cancer and therapy after a cancer diagnosis.

Michelle, what is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda teaches that in order to have perfect health one must be balanced. The human body consists of five elements that work together and correspond to specific organs and bodily systems. The elements are ether (space), air, fire, water and earth. Each element has a unique function and characteristics.

What are the body types talked about in Ayurveda and what do they mean?

There are three body types that describe individuals and their bodily tendencies. Since people cannot be simplified into only three categories, they can either be one body type, a combination of two (with one being dominant), or tri-dosha. (dosha = body type.) The three body types are vata (ether, air), pita (fire, water) and kapha (water, earth). Depending on one's dosha, he or she will benefit from specific types of food, herbs and lifestyle. Each herb, food, drink and even environment contains dosha characteristics so using the opposite to balance out an individual is done in Ayurveda. This is the main difference with Ayurveda and modern medicine - with that, a descriptive saying that fits the idea is "one man's food can be another man's poison".

Ayurveda sees the body as a universe in itself, and in order for this universe to work properly it needs to be balanced. This body universe does not only function through matter and the physical, it also functions through intelligence and spirit.

In her award-winning documentary Toxic Bust, filmmaker Megan Siler takes on the issues and realities of toxic chemicals women are exposed to at home, in the community, and during work in relation to the potential links to breast cancer. Siler focuses on three breast cancer hot spots -- San Francisco and Silicon Valley in California and Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

Siler is not alone in her investigative work of environmental links to cancer risks. Even though the current percentage of federally-funded research dollars allocated to the links between cancer and exposure to environmental toxins is in the single-digits, there are those who have spent a good deal of time, energy and resources into studying the cause and effect of the environmental risks to cancer. In the last six years, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has conducted extensive studies regarding toxic chemicals in the environment. Among the 72 people who participated in the EWG studies, a chemical body burden of 455 industrial pollutants, pesticides and other chemicals in blood, urine, and breast milk were found.

The Toxic-Free Legacy Coalition analyzed the hair, blood, and urine samples of ten study participants and found that every person tested had at least 26 and as many as 39 toxic chemicals in his or her body and the exposure to toxic chemicals came from everyday activities and products. Breast Cancer Action released State of the Evidence 2006: What Is the Connection Between the Environment and Breast Cancer? which provided compelling scientific evidence pointing to some of the 100,000 synthetic chemicals in use today as contributing to the development of breast cancer, either by altering hormone function or gene expression. The report also identifies radiation exposure, such as that from X-rays and CT scans, as the longest-established environmental cause of breast cancer. In the United States, a woman's lifetime risk of developing breast cancer has tripled in the last 40 years.

Wendy Mesley, co-host of CBC's Marketplace and breast cancer survivor, produced and hosted the investigative documentary Chasing the Cancer Answer, that provided revealing interviews with an outspoken American doctor, frustrated cancer victims in southern Ontario, pharmaceutical sales representatives in Paris, France, and activists working to increase awareness of prevention measures. Greenpeace issued a report that Chernobyl cancer deaths have been grossly underestimated. Award-winning and highly-respected journalist and public commentator Bill Moyers produced a PBS documentary Trade Secrets investigating the history of the chemical revolution and the body burden of synthetic chemicals that pose dangers to human health.

We have additional links related to the topic of environmental links to cancer risk at Earth Day: environmental cancer risks and Cancer Epidemic: are we poisoned from birth? Cancer defines about 100 diseases characterized by the uncontrolled, abnormal growth of cells. No one single factor is going to be the cause for all cancers. However, environmental exposure from toxic chemicals cannot be ignored as one, and perhaps multiple, contributing factors in raising the risks of developing cancer.

When Robin Levin's healthy and athletic sister whose diet consisted of organic food loaded with good nutrition was diagnosed with breast cancer, Levin wondered how that was possible when they had no family history or lifestyle risks for breast cancer. Levin began to do research and found evidence that environmental pollutants and chemical toxins in the home can increase a woman's risk for breast cancer.

Based in part on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) studies that have found the air in homes is two to five times more chemically polluted than outdoor air, and
The Breast Cancer Fund report that stated 50 percent of breast cancer cases are the result of pollutants in the environment, Levin set out to find safer chemical-free products.

The search was not as simple as Levin might have thought, as she found many of the natural cleaners on the market still use synthetic chemicals for colorants and small amounts of ammonia and harsh additives. She came to the conclusion the only way to be certain of the ingredients in a product is to make them yourself from scratch.

ECO-Me is Levine's company, and Eco-Me Home Cleaning Starter Kit is the product she is hoping will make a difference in reducing cancer risks. Levin donates part of the profits from the sale of her kits to The Breast Cancer Fund and Cancer 101. To learn more about Eco-Me, read information in Eco-tips and Eco-news, the company has a website here.

As American consumers, I think we have been living with a false sense of security when it comes to the products  we buy at the store. For decades, we have been sold smells like the real thing but it's not household cleaners that make everything in our home cleaner-than-clean, and have gone on the assumption that if the product is on the store shelf it must be safe.

However, independent investigations into chemical industry practices, and the government's current regulatory practices to insuring consumer safety, have revealed we have not been nearly as safe as once thought.

The Canadian Cancer Society, concerned with the potential long-term effects associated with the ornamental or cosmetic use of pesticides, has launched an email Take Action! campaign to support a ban on the ornamental use of pesticides in the City of London.

According to the the cancer society, the majority of Londoners support a ban on the use of ornamental pesticides. In a recent poll, 81 percent of Londoners want to phase-out pesticides in city parks and 74 percent support a phase-out on private residential property; 71 percent of Londoners feel cosmetic pesticides are a health threat to children and pose a health threat to pets such as cats and dogs and 74 percent of Londoners believe pesticides are a threat to the environment, including wildlife, air quality, and ground water.

If you would like to participate in the campaign to support the ban, the Canadian Cancer Society has provided an advocacy action page where you can send an email to the Mayor and London City Council. The deadline is June 12.

Several months ago, we posted the news The Canadian Cancer Society was calling for a ban on the use of pesticides in private gardens, lawns, parks, recreational facilities and on golf courses because of the potential cancer risks associated with the chemicals used in maintaining ornamental gardens and lawns in Canada.

Last week I noted that Wal-Mart was pulling nine brands of children's clothing off store shelves in China when it was found the clothes to be contaminated with a cancer-causing dye. I posted it primarily because the Wal-Mart spokesperson in China declined comment when asked if the children's clothing had been exported to the U.S. I felt it a good idea for parents here to be on alert.

Within hours of that post, I was contacted via email by Marshall Manson of Edelman, who handles the online public affairs for Wal-Mart, sharing a statement being made by the Wal-Mart spokesperson here in the U.S. saying Wal-Mart was reasonably sure that the cancer-causing children's clothing could not have been exported from China. Because Wal-Mart was not 100 percent sure that the clothing in question had not made its way to store shelves here in the U.S., I asked Manson to contact me when Wal-Mart had finished its internal assessment of the situation. This morning, Manson emailed again. "I wanted to follow up with you and let you know definitively that none of the children's clothes in question in the story that you originally blogged about were exported to the United States. None." Wal-Mart in China has concluded its investigation into the matter and no clothing contaminated with the cancer-causing dye was shipped to the U.S. There you go, now we know for certain.

And while you might be thinking that I am receiving my information from someone who works on behalf of presenting Wal-Mart in the best possible light -- well yes I am -- but here's my thought about that. Truth never stays hidden forever, and would you want to knowingly mislead a blogger? No, I don't think so. All my gut instinct tells me Manson is being straight-forward and forth-coming with the information he has provided in this matter.

Hours ago, I told you about Wal-Mart's announcement that it will no longer sell children's clothes found to be contaminated with a cancer-causing chemical. The nine brands of children's clothing were sold in stores in China. I then went on to tell you that the public relation spokesperson for Wal-Mart in China declined to state whether or not the same brands of children's clothing had found their way onto U.S. Wal-Mart store shelves. I pondered aloud in the prediction that the public would be hearing from Wal-Mart here in the U.S. regarding this matter -- sooner rather than later.

Wal-Mart has announced it will no longer sell children's clothing found to be contaminated with a cancer-causing chemical. According to the Beijing News, the stores, located in China, were selling nine different brands of children's clothing that contained a dye that has been identified as a carcinogen and linked to cancer. The public relation spokesperson for Wal-Mart in China declined to state whether or not the same brands of children's clothing had found their way onto U.S. Wal-Mart store shelves. Although I am certain we will soon hear from a Wal-Mart public relation spokesperson here in the U.S. regarding this matter.