RE: Radiation Hormesis

[John Jacobus <crispy_bird@YAHOO.COM>]

I believe that arsenic was used by women in the 17th

century as a cosmetic.  When ingested it makes the

skin pale.  People wanted to show that they were so

rich they did not have to work outside.  Seems to be

the opposite of the need for tanning today.





--- "Neil, David M" <neildm@id.doe.gov> wrote:

> Arsenic was (is?) used as a tonic in an area of

> Germany, somewhere in Bavaria if I recall correctly.

>  I have also read reports of its use by unscrupulous

> horse traders to make a marginal or poor horse

> appear to be better than it is.  Afraid  I don't

> have any more detail than that, but this appears to

> bear on your point.

>  

> Sounds like hormesis to me, but given the regimen I

> recall reading, it could be just that it poisons any

> parasites, while the host has a built up immunity.

> 

> -----Original Message-----

> From: RuthWeiner@AOL.COM [mailto:RuthWeiner@AOL.COM]

> Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 9:39 PM

> To: BLHamrick@AOL.COM; FloodJR@NV.DOE.GOV;

> crispy_bird@YAHOO.COM; jjcohen@PRODIGY.NET;

> franz.schoenhofer@CHELLO.AT; joans@PCEZ.COM;

> ellison1@localnet.com;

> radsafe-digest@list.vanderbilt.edu

> Subject: Re: Radiation Hormesis

> 

> 

> Everything doesn't follow a continuum from hormesis

> through threshold to adverse effect.  Here are some

> examples:

> 

> Nutmeg:  a large quantity is a poison, a little

> flavors your food, but I don't know of any hormetic

> effect.

> 

> Arsenic: used as a skin ointment (remember bag

> balm?) it works -- I don't know if prolonged use is

> bad.  However, when ingested to more than a

> threshold, it is definitely a poison (though not a

> carcinogen).  Inhaled arsenic above a certain

> quantity (threshold?) is a carcinogen, but I don't

> think that a small inhaled quantity is good for you.

>  

> 

> CO:  a small amount in the blood is harmless, but

> not as far as I know hormetic.  it has increasingly

> severe health effects in increasing amounts

> (headache, dizziness, coma, death).

> 

> My point:  I think most substances have a threshold

> of adverse effect, but many substances do not

> exhibit hormesis.  

> 

> Ruth

> 

> Ruth Weiner, Ph. D.

> ruthweiner@aol.com 

> 

> 





=====

+++++++++++++++++++

"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

Thomas Jefferson



-- John

John Jacobus, MS

Certified Health Physicist

e-mail:  crispy_bird@yahoo.com



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