The horrors of my poisonous childhood

[canpakes]

Were you exposed to toxic things as a child?

Maybe just jet fuel in our water supply. : D

[Res Ipsa]

A buddy of mine, his entire family has had health issues and he's been diagnosed with multiple disorders since he was a kid. His dad sold the house he grew up in and after inspection it was revealed there were serious mold issues in the basement where my friend slept as a kid. His Mom died of cancer a few years ago and she was a health nut in terms of what she ate. I have to wonder if it was the mold.

It’s always tempting to look for a single cause for health problems. Health effects of mold is one of those issues that has been litigated to death. I think it is pretty clear that there are people who are allergic to mold and its associated products (spores, mycotoxins, etc.). And allergic reactions can be pretty miserable. Beyond that, mold is present everywhere in natural environments and there has not been good evidence discovered as to a plausible causal mechanism that would explain the difference between exposure to natural concentrations of mold and those present in buildings due to the presence of excess moisture.

For a while there was a high level of concern about one specific mold in the Stachybotris family. For a while at least, it was abated in buildings similar to way asbestos was abated. I don’t think it’s done that way anymore, although I’d have to double check to be sure. Depending on what your friend’s problems were, mold allergies certainly could have played a role. But I don’t recall any evidence that mold causes cancer. Cancer is, to some extent, a straight up lottery. Even those among us who do their best to reduce their risk are not immune.

[Kishkumen]

When I was a child I am more than certain that I was exposed to lead paint in the old farm house we lived in when I was born until my toddler years and my Jersey born parents headed back to Jersey. I don't know if I actually ate chipped lead paint but I bet my crib was painted with it so I might have teethed on the sides and ingested it.

This is the kind of thought that regularly makes me panic slightly. Not that this makes any sense. Damage would be done, right? In any case, you have my sympathies. I have vague memories of lead lectures as a child, and I wonder what prompted them. Sinking feeling follows. LOL.

[canpakes]

Sinking feeling follows.

Lead’ll do that to you.

[Kishkumen]

Lead’ll do that to you.

[Res Ipsa]

When I was a child I am more than certain that I was exposed to lead paint in the old farm house we lived in when I was born until my toddler years and my Jersey born parents headed back to Jersey. I don't know if I actually ate chipped lead paint but I bet my crib was painted with it so I might have teethed on the sides and ingested it.

This is the kind of thought that regularly makes me panic slightly. Not that this makes any sense. Damage would be done, right? In any case, you have my sympathies. I have vague memories of lead lectures as a child, and I wonder what prompted them. Sinking feeling follows. LOL.

It’s possible, but it’s also true that the dose makes the poison. Inhalation of lead was becoming a source of poisoning until leaded gas was phased out. Some scientists have theorized that the high rates of crime in the 60s (?) were influenced by the effects of lead from car exhaust.

I don’t think you have to worry about the DDT exposure. If I recall correctly, DDT was banned for use as an agricultural pesticide because of its effects on certain wildlife. I’d have to check, but I don’t think it was even banned the us for mosquito control. It continues to be used in parts of the world where malaria is prevalent. And I believe it is still used on or in mosquito netting. Bugs also become resistant to it, so switching pesticides would have been inevitable.

[Res Ipsa]

One thing I loved growing up was putting tinsel on Christmas trees. Tinsel was made with lead. Lead was banned from tinsel in the 60's.

I miss tinsel.

Me too! We saved our lead tinsel from year to year.

[Xenophon]

Imagine my surprise when I read this thread thinking we were going to delve into our childhood trauma around toxic parenting only to read about lead paint and mold.

[Res Ipsa]

I forgot the asbestos. When asbestos is encapsulated in siding or floor tiles, it is not dangerous. It’s when it is released from whatever it is contained in that it becomes dangerous. To be safe, a homeowner should generally not remove asbestos containing materials themselves. There are abatement companies that specialize in removing asbestos containing materials safely.

Although inhaling asbestos fibers is not safe, I think it’s safe to say that the vast majority of lung cancer cases involving asbestos involve workers who were exposed to non-encapsulated asbestos for years as part of their jobs: mechanics at shipyards or other industrial plants or perhaps certain miners. My firm does some asbestos “defense,” which consists of taking depositions of dying people, their doctors, and their families to see whether they should get an award from a big settlement fund. I covered a deposition yesterday on one of those cases yesterday — the adult son of a deceased mechanic who worked in Naval Shipyards and an aluminum refinery for his entire career. Like all such cases, they are very sad and the death is pretty horrible.

So, given the typical progression of the disease after exposure and the fact that you haven’t developed lung cancer by now, I suspect you can take childhood asbestos exposure off of your worry list.

[Dr. Shades]

Seriously, on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest, how warped does my brain seem to you?

Umm, . . . I would like us to remain friends.