Hazards of henna

There is a potentially deadly chemical in some henna and hair dyes that is flying under the radar of most consumers. Para-Phenylenediamine (PPD) is a petroleum-based coal tar dye found in most hair dyes, whether they are purchased at a drugstore or an upscale salon. It is also the coloring agent in black henna, used to apply temporary decorative tattoos (1st image). Aware that it may cause an allergic reaction in some individuals, the FDA does not approve of its use for direct application to the skin and yet - even though when used on the hair it is in contact with the scalp for up to 30 minutes, and quite often touches the skin on the forehead and ears - it is allowed as an ingredient in hair dyes. The cosmetic industry successfully lobbied decades ago to be exempted from regulation, and so only includes a warning on the label and a suggestion that concerned users should test the product on a patch of skin 48-72 hours before use. Reactions to PPD range from minor (throat irritation, rash, swelling, and burning sensation) to major (bronchial asthma, urticaria, dermatitis, and liver and bladder cancer). Carmen Rowe, a 25-year-old resident of Swansea, U.K., swelled up "like a football" (3rd image), was temporarily blinded, and spent 3 days in the hospital with subsequent complications after using Clairol Nice n' Easy. Others had reactions to the chemical contained in L’Oreal Casting Creme Gloss (stories and photos here) and Garnier Herbashine ("At one point my eyes swelled shut, the whole of my nose became level with my cheeks and a golf ball-sized swelling came up on my head. It was so painful."). In the most severe cases, PPD can cause anaphylaxis which can result in death ("My heart rate was at 180 bpm - around the same rate as a heart attack - and I couldn't breathe.") and cross-sensitization (a responsitivity to related chemicals including textile dyes, pen ink, gasoline, oil, food dyes, medication dyes, preservatives, and fragrances). "You...become allergic to just about everything found in modern society," writes Perri Jackson for the Organic Consumers Association. Warnings and horror stories may not be heeded by those applying henna tattoos, so clients are encouraged to seek out artists who advertise their dye as PPD-free and to employ other safeguards. Driven by the startling photos (2nd image, more here), I hereby do my part to bring public awareness to this issue, as the American Contact Dermatitis Society did in 2006 by awarding PPD the title of “Allergen of the Year.”

Hope, Sesi, and Watoto

The photo above is a screen capture of a video I was linked to by e-mail.* With a little research, I was able to determine that this freshly-arrived little creature (shown here just after dropping to the ground after 14 months' gestation) came into the world on October 10, 2008, at the Memphis Zoo. Sesi, as she was later named, was quickly up on her feet and nursing from her mother. Within 2 months, she had a new half-sister.

To complement that story about a giraffe birth was a sad story in the weird news this week about a giraffe death. Watoto, a 6-year-old at Tucson's Reid Park Zoo (photos here), suffered cardiac arrest after he was fed toxic oleander cuttings by an apprentice zookeeper. “This was a horrible and unfortunate accident that resulted in the loss of an animal. Our staff is broken-hearted,” said a zoo administrator. A 20-year-old giraffe survived the unintentional poisoning, which was discovered Tuesday morning.

Lastly, a story about aptly-named Hope, who lives at the Topeka Zoo. The giraffe just celebrated her 1st birthday, while zoo staff celebrated her first steps walking unaided. Born with hyperextended fetlocks, a rare deformity in which the rear feet are bent forward (photo here), she was outfitted with fiberglass casts attached to plywood shoes to allow her front tendons to stretch. A zoo spokesman was looking forward to watching the young giraffe resume normal activities: "It is fantastic to see Hope walking completely normally now. One of her favourite things to do is chase squirrels and birds."

*Thanks, Sandra!

Tycho Brahe

Yesterday, a team of archaeologists, doctors, chemists and medical anthropologists from Sweden, Denmark, and the Czech Republic raised the 400-year-old remains of observant and influential Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601). Brahe (1st image) had been interred in a tin casket (3rd image) in the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn near Prague's Old Town Square. Team leader Jens Vellev, a professor of medieval archaeology at Aarhus University, oversaw the exhumation (2nd image) and will remove and test samples in an effort to answer the following questions:

• Does the condition of the skeletal remains match the physical description recorded in 1901, when the tomb was opened to mark the 300th anniversary of Brahe's death?
• Was his death correctly attributed to the rupture of his bladder due to obeying protocol and refusing to leave the table to use the bathroom during a royal banquet?
• Did kidney disease or kidney stones play a role in his death?
• Was Brahe in fact accidentally or deliberately poisoned, as suggested by unusually high levels of mercury detected in previously obtained samples of his mustache and hair?
• Or had he been prescribed mercury as a medical treatment for syphilis or ingested too much of it in the course of his experiments?
• Will enough shreds of Brahe's patterned silk burial suit remain to allow them to reconstruct the aristocratic outfit?
• Is there enough evidence on Brahe's skull to determine the material (possibly a silver-copper alloy) used to construct the missing prosthetic nose he wore after his was cut off during a duel with a fellow nobleman in 1566?

The scientific team must gather their samples by Friday, when Brahe is scheduled for reburial. "Perhaps, we will be able to come close to an answer, but I don't think we will get a final answer," said Vellez, adding that scientists might have to exhume Brahe's remains again in 200 to 300 years to complete his research.

Rat bastard

When American actor Kevin Spacey was asked on Inside the Actor's Studio what his favorite curse word is, he blurted out, "Rat bastard!" William Longespée (c. 1176-1226), the illegitimate son of England's King Henry II, was just that. King Henry acknowledged his son, and when he reached the age of 20, Longespée's marriage to the Countess of Salisbury was arranged. The union landed him the title of the 3rd Earl of Salisbury, and the couple had 8 children. After a wavering military career, Longespée returned to Salisbury Castle and soon died. It was speculated that he had been poisoned - and the rumor was bolstered when his tomb in Salisbury Cathedral (1st image) was opened in 1791. Traces of arsenic were discovered in the body of a well-preserved rat found curled up inside the nobleman's skull. Arsenic was a preferred method of murder in the Middle Ages and was called "the poison of kings," in addition to having preservative properties. I have determined that Longespée's exhumation occurred when architect James Wyatt renovated the cathedral, but none of the accounts explains the presence of the rat. I take great pride, however, in bringing you - compliments of the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum - a nice clear photograph of said creature (2nd image)!

The Fine Art of Poisoning

Jill Tracy's photo shoot with Michael Garlington, which included "Tea and Taxidermy" (1st image), the cover photo for The Bittersweet Constrain (2nd image), and "The Immortal" (3rd image).

How did I miss Jill Tracy?! I am embarrassed to admit that I was unaware of her music until she introduced herself to me recently by way of this blog. She sent me her cd Diabolical Streak and I quickly latched onto the song "The Fine Art of Poisoning":

Watch the video here
Read the lyrics here

Jill kindly agreed to share what suggested the song, which I have interspersed with quotes linking to interviews she has done:

My inspiration for the song "The Fine Art of Poisoning" (from the album Diabolical Streak) came from a fascination of the so-called "Slow Poisoners," popular in the 16th and 17th c. Since early medical science had no way of testing, poisons could be slyly administered at a dosage so slow, it would seem the victim died of natural causes. For the most part, this secretly-served revenge was done by women, to kill husbands and even children, hiding toxic substances in the evening's pork, custard, teas, and jellies. A powerful statement of the terrible circumstances women were trapped in at that time. Most felt it was their only recourse. Visits to gypsy women to procure these potions were often disguised as religious meetings for holy and 'pious oils.' Morbid curiosity is both the intrigue and bravery to seek out truth in dark corners, to allow yourself to venture between the cracks of convention and comfort. A little fear, a little magic, the unknown, the forbidden: that's what makes us feel most alive.

Throughout the animation, you will see subtle nods to famous poisoners - in paintings, faces, etc. (I even make an appearance in a floating photograph.) As in much of my work, there are hidden messages and symbols, etc. Usually not discussed by me, but it is a treat when fans discover these things. We all want to believe in magic. It keeps hope alive. Sometimes I feel that magic and the suspension of disbelief is the only thing that matters. I think that’s why my music resonates with people on such a deep level.

When I composed the song, I wanted it to have a sweet, sickly quality--strangely slow - much like the experience of the poison taking effect. I'm fascinated with conjuring moods from sound. It's magical. My work is uniquely transporting because the origin is not coming from stale rules, trends, or textbooks, but from the kingdom in my mind's eye. I love to take people there with me. Aural kidnapping. We recorded on vintage analog equipment, transferring the final mix back onto 2" tape for that lovely noise, and oddly altered the capstans and tension on the tape machine so the playback was just the tiniest bit 'off.' You barely notice it, but you react to it. It has a kind of lulling seasick quality.

I was an only child and always felt out of sorts with the world. It was things like Rod Serling and 'The Twilight Zone' and old Alfred Hitchcock movies and Jean Cocteau films, I wanted to live inside those worlds. I couldn't figure out how you get inside those worlds and I realized that it was the music also that was conjuring emotion and the mood. Animator/director Bill Domonkos created his imagery to the song, which is the opposite of the usual score put underneath a visual. This is why it has such an overpowering emotional effect. Every action is musical - the hand opening to drop the poison as the cymbals swell, etc. The netherworld he created is absolutely brilliant- and just as intoxicating.

The award-winning video "The Fine Art of Poisoning" will be shown at the National Gallery in London on July 24th, and you can follow Jill Tracy on MySpace and Twitter.

Body burden

On day47 of the unprecedented and unmitigated disaster that is the BP oil spill spoiling our Gulf of Mexico, let's have a depressing look at the toxic substances circulating inside our bodies. Our blood is likely to contain any or all of the following:

• Bisphenol A (BPA): A synthetic estrogen used to harden plastics and resins.
• Brominated dioxins: Created when plastics and waste are incinerated.
• Haloacetic acids: Byproducts of water disinfection.
• Methylmercury: A byproduct of coal-fired power plants and waste incinerators and an organic compound used in pesticides.
• Perfluorochemicals (PFCs): Water, stain, and grease repellents.
• Phthalates: Plasticizers used to make flexible products like food packaging.
• Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs): Flame retardants used in foam furniture, TVs, and computer monitors.
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs): Coolants and lubricants in electrical equipment [banned in the U.S. in 1979].
• Trihalomathanes (THMs): Byproducts formed when water is disinfected.

These are just a few of the estimated 80,000 chemicals in commercial use in the U.S., with an additional 2,000 or so newly synthesized chemicals registered by the government every year. We inhale them, swallow them, and absorb them through our skin - or as unborn babies, through our umbilical cords. Although the effect of some of these chemicals to cause cancer, birth defects, immune system damage, or hormone interference is well-documented, the potential health impact of others is unknown, although they are being studied. Researchers estimate that the body of everyone alive today contains an average of 700 contaminants. Which brings us to our new term for the day: "body burden." This refers to the total amount of these toxic chemicals - both those that occur naturally and those made by humans - that are present in a human body at any given time. "Body burden" may also be used to express the amount of a single specific chemical in our system. A particularly depressing post in a particularly depressing time...