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Holidays: Hazardous to your Health?
Henshel on a few things to really watch out for
With the holidays right around the corner, Diane Henshel addresses
a few things to watch out for to make sure your holidays stay healthy.
Expert perspective: Some holiday household stand-bys
may require extra monitoring during their annual appearance at the
table this season:
Crystal
Crystal contains large amounts of heavy metal. Crystalline glass can
contain lead, zinc, barium, or potassium oxide. Lead crystal is 24
percent or more lead oxide, while full lead crystal contains 30 percent
or more. The lead (or barium or zinc) can leach out of the crystal
into the beverage inside and the amount of lead in the beverage will
increase as long as the beverage sits in the crystal. This leaching
is increased if the beverage is acidic like soda or orange juice.
Here are a few suggestions to minimize lead exposure:
Ceramics
Ceramic glazes may contain lead, cadmium, or other heavy metals. Red,
orange, and yellow glazes are particularly likely to contain lead
or cadmium. Food storage time in the ceramic container, acidity, and
heat will all increase the amount of lead or cadmium that ends up
in the contaminated food or drink, and low-temperature glazes allow
more metal leakage than high-temperature glazes. Ceramics made in
the U.S., Canada and the EU are unlikely to contain dangerous levels
of lead or cadmium, but ceramics from third-world countries may still
contain heavy metals.
“I suggest people don't buy ceramics for use in food preparation
and serving unless you know that it was made in the U.S., Canada,
or the EU and was made in the last 20 to 30 years. If you have suspect
ceramics, either use them for decoration only or for serving for dry
foods only and remove the food from the ceramic ware after the meal
is finished,” says Henshel.
Candles
Beyond the obvious fire hazards, candles also release carbon monoxide
and soot into the air. To keep candles safe, consider the following.
-
Don't keep burning candles near flammable materials,
including walls.
-
Keep candles and candelabra on a plate or other
protective, non-flammable cover in case they fall or are knocked
over.
-
Don't leave burning candles alone in a house.
-
Don't burn too many candles in a small area
without ventilation. Candle clusters of a dozen or more can increase
carbon monoxide concentrations in that area.
-
Keep your face away from smoky candles to reduce
breathing in a lot of soot.
-
Be aware of the warning signs of carbon monoxide
poisoning. If you always feel lethargic or sleepy in one room in
the house, go breathe fresh air. If the fresh air really wakes you
up, you might have a carbon monoxide problem.
-
If you are burning a lot of candles or have
a fire in the fireplace (either wood or gas), open a window a bit
to ventilate the room.
The SPEA Toolkit: Diane Henshel is an associate professor
at SPEA with a focus on sublethal health effects of environmental
pollutants. Her teaching interests include developmental toxicology,
risk assessment, and risk communication
Click here
to read more about Diane Henshel.