Question by rosemary

Yes, when the crystal comes in contact with beverages, some lead dissolves into the liquid. How much depends on the lead content of the crystal, how long the beverage sits in the glass and the type of beverage (acidic drinks such as wine, fruit juice and soda will absorb more lead). Pregnant women and children should avoid drinking from leaded crystal glasses. It�s also a bad idea to leave wine overnight in a crystal decanter. But for most people, a toast from a crystal glass on a special occasion is not going to be a problem.

i'm a 60 year "young" woman, who started smoking cigaretts a little over 5 years ago, and want to STOP it, but i've been wondering if cigarette smoking adds to the pollution of this planet?...i'm going to quit, no matter what, but i was just curious about the effect of cigarette smoking on the air we breathe...

Do ultra-fine air particles enter the blood stream through the lungs where LDL cholesterol capture and encapsulate them, awaiting removal? 
 
I ask this because of the following article: 
 
---------------------------------- 
Source: http://www.medicinenet.com 
 
Smallest Air Pollution Particles Hurt Heart Most 
 
SATURDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) --  
 
The tiniest bits of air pollution from your vehicle's exhaust may be the most dangerous to your heart's health,suggests a new U.S. study. 
Particles that are about one-thousandth the size of a human hair, cause plaque build-up in the arteries, according to a University of California, Los Angeles-led 
study. This condition, called atherosclerosis, can lead to heart attack and stroke. 
 
These particles also contribute to hardening of the arteries by shutting down the protective qualities of so-called "good" high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, according to the study, which appears in the Jan. 17 online edition of Circulation Research. 
 
For five weeks, researchers exposed mice with high cholesterol to larger fine pollution particles (2.5 micrometers in size) or ultrafine particles (less than 0.18 micrometers), then compared them to mice exposed to filtered air. The mice exposed to ultrafine particles had 25 percent more arterial plaque development than the mice exposed to fine particles and 55 percent more than mice that breathed filtered air. 
 
"This suggests that ultrafine particles are the most toxic air pollutants in promoting events leading to cardiovascular disease," study author Dr. Jesus Araujo, an assistant professor of medicine and director of environmental cardiology at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement. 
 
While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates fine pollution particles, it doesn't monitor ultrafine -- or nano-sized -- particles, according to background information in a news release about the study. 
 
"We hope our findings offer insight into the impact of nano-sized air pollutant particles and help explore ways for stricter air quality regulatory guidelines," principal investigator Dr. Andre Nel, UCLA's chief of nanomedicine, said in a Smallest Air Pollution Particles Hurt Heart Most - MedicineNet.com - We Bring Doctors' Knowl... Page 1 of 2 prepared statement. 
-- Robert Preidt 
 
SOURCE: University of California, Los Angeles news release, Jan. 17, 2008 
Copyright � 2008 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved. 
 
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=86554&pf=3&page=1 1/23/2008

Dental amalgam has 50% mercury, a known neurotoxin, in its composition, yet it remains in use. The waste from dental ofices and human excrements of those with "silver" fillings are also known to be a significant source of mercury getting into the environment. Should medical doctors be checking for mercury levels of those with "silver" fillings? ALso, it is reported that the mercury in the teeth vaporizes, would this affect a fetus? 
Thank you

What is the best medical test to determine if a person\'s lungs have been damaged from crystalline silica and dioxins in dry clay used in ceramics projects? My friend teaches ceramics in a high school and is experiencing dizziness, shortness of breath, and has been unusually tired. The dry clay she uses has a warning that states it causes birth defects. She is of child bearing age and is extremely concerned for her health.

The comment about mercury in tooth fillings reminds me that we have had reports that crematoria, here in the UK, are to be modified to prevent the escape of mercury, volatilised from tooth amalgam, during cremation.

why is so little said or done about the toxic and unhealthy effects of wood smoke? Each winter chimneys by the millions all over the planet pour out this stinking carcinogenic pollution. Wood smoke is 12 times more dangerous than cigarette smoke and sends many people to emergency rooms each winter. It must be adding greatly to global climate change too, as well as harming our health. Check out www.burningissues.org and see just what is in the smoke. But what can be done to stop this awful practice? How can we protect ourselves from our neighbors filthy smoke? (This applies to the summer barbecue too.)

wood smoke may be hazardous to human health, but it is in fact a carbon neutral fuel in the medium term. Plants (including trees) absorb carbon dioxide, and process the carbon into myriad substances that make up the mass of the plant. This carbon is re-released either when the tree is burned, or when it dies and decays. Therefore, burning plant matter is a sustainable fuel, even though it releases CO2 when burned. The source, and method of collection is another discussion....

kind,  
i know of no-one escaping death, no from 150 years ago is till alive as far as one can witness. with as much ways death gets us, & trying to understand these chemical realities that harm us as such as lead in water or asbestos, one barely has a mind that can read that information let alone understand it. & decades go by trying to understand how chemistry operates, but one only grows more feeble. maybe its not meant to live on a planet & we should quit trying to survive ona planet, & though death seems to win, maybe we\'d be free of having to live on a planet & be liberty that even goes beyond the boundries of the universe. but how can one give up? maybe if we all quit working because we only expect to live with having to work & get paid, maybe that keeps us bound, is loosened & we shall be free as peace. but everyone working needing others to make money off of, & pay them, & receive their money, may be bounding us to earth. for no gift of understanding chemistry seems to be happening, maybe some as you. but most others seem as ignorant & helpless as i am in dealing with chemistry such as untraviolet rays, ozone in the air, ozone in the forests. calicum deposits on the bones & so on. 
kind

Janet, 
Your friend should definitely get checked out by a doctor soon. Preferably someone who specializes in Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Check out www.aoec.org to find a good clinic near you. There’s also a great nonprofit group that specializes in health and safety issues in the arts. Contact Monona Rossol at Arts Crafts and Theater Safety. She is the person I turn to whenever I have questions about art and crafts hazards. I do know that there is a problem with dioxin contamination in many ball clays. Dioxin is nasty stuff, but the symptoms you describe imply some other type of exposure. Depending on exactly what hazards there are in her studio, there could be a long list of issues to consider. For example, I certainly hope that the glazes don’t contain lead. Also, is the firing oven well ventilated or could there be a risk of carbon monoxide exposure? This is an important problem to get to the bottom of right away – both for your friend’s health and for the students. Of course, it’s possible that this is not related to her workplace, but either way, this situation demands a careful and thorough assessment. Good luck!

Arden, 
In some parts of the country, dental offices now need to install “amalgam separators” in order to avoid polluting their water discharges with mercury. That’s important because when the inorganic mercury that’s in dental fillings gets into the water, it can be converted into the more toxic “methyl mercury” that accumulates in fish. It’s best to avoid getting new ‘silver’ fillings, if possible, but I don’t advocate that people run out to get all their old fillings removed. Removing old fillings can actually vaporize more mercury (from the drilling), so it’s best to do that only if it’s necessary. The kind of mercury that’s most dangerous for fetal brain development is the methyl mercury that’s in fish. That said, I do recommend that pregnant women try to avoid getting mercury-containing fillings!

Suzy, 
You clearly know better than to smoke, so quit looking around for more reasons, stop procrastinating, and STOP SMOKING! It’s the best thing you can do for your health and the health of everyone around you. When you light up a cigarette, it’s like turning the ignition key on a diesel bus. Sucking on that cigarette is like putting your mouth around the tailpipe of that bus. Yuck. I’ve done a lot of research into the toxicity of diesel exhaust, and the amazing thing is that it’s almost the same as cigarette smoke except for the nicotine. Every smoker is kind of like another truck on the road – generating particulate matter, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, toxic metals such as cadmium, known carcinogens such as benzene and acrylamide, and a list of nearly a hundred additional toxic chemicals. Who wants to be a walking polluter? I am very sympathetic to the victims of the tobacco industry (which knowingly makes cigarettes addictive), and I do everything I can to get my patients and everyone I know to stop subsidizing Big Tobacco with their dollars, and use their money instead to improve their own lives and the lives of their families and others. Good luck quitting the habit, I know it’s hard! Get professional help if you need it, but quit!