Archive Page 2
“What are flame retardants?”
Moms reading my book have recently e-mailed me with lots of questions about brominated flame retardants (PBDEs). PBDEs are compounds used as flame-retardants in everything from our children’s pajamas, computers, television sets, upholstery, rugs, draperies, and car interiors. As products that contain PBDEs age and breakdown, these chemical mixtures seep into the environment. In my book I clump them together with PCBS which were banned in this country in 1977. Although PCBs are steadily declining in our fatty tissues, they are rapidly being replaced by flame retardants, which some reporters go so far as to call “the next PCB.” Like PCBs, flame retardants stick around in the environment for a long time, can travel far, and accumulate in the fat and tissue of humans, animals and fish.
I promised the following post on produce and pesticides when I was on the Dr. Pat Show. Here it is a day late.
I try to feed my children organic food whenever I can. However it isn’t always possible to find organic produce and it always costs more. The USDA regularly tests samples of organic and nonorganic fresh and processed food from markets all over the country for pesticide residues. Take a look at their results. The Environmental Working Group used the USDA’s findings to create a ranking of contamination by type of produce see Food News.
Here’s what they learned:
Highest pesticide contamination: apples, bell peppers, celery, cherries, imported grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, red raspberries, spinach, and strawberries.
Lowest pesticide contamination: asparagus, avocado, bananas, broccoli, cabbage, kiwi, mango, onions, papaya, pineapple, sweet corn (frozen), and sweet peas (frozen).
I keep this list on my fridge and make sure to buy organic when I am choosing from the high pesticide ranked foods. I know I can buy nonorganic when choosing from the low pesticide list. Lucky for me Super George loves avocados and bananas.
A note on BABY FOOD: Although Gerber has banned most organophosphate insecticides as well as other pesticides from nearly all its products, it is very important to buy organic baby food. Babies are developing so fast that they are particularly vulnerable to toxins.
I was on a radio station this morning in Des Moines, Iowa and one caller informed me that this state has new legislation that will go into effect in 2008, requiring all children to be tested for lead when they go off to school. I was pleased to hear that the state of Iowa had adopted legislation to screen children; however, it should happen earlier in a child’s life.
If you live in a pre-1978 home (lead was banned in paint in 1978) you should have your children tested for lead somewhere between the time they are 8-9 months old and two years old. At this age most children are crawling around on the floor and putting things into their mouths, making them more likely to ingest lead. Furthermore, because babies’ and toddlers’ brains crave calcium in their effort to develop, until children are around six years old they can absorb three to four times more lead than an adult.
I felt like I needed to lighten up my posts with something like the following two-and-a-half minute film by Brooklyn artist Jeff Scher.
Check out the Educated Mom. It is a great, no-nonsense source for keeping abreast of the slew of options available for purchasing safe toys. It also reports the latest toy recalls.
THE CONCERN: The Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization based in Washington DC, recently reported that there is bisphenol-A (BPA) in the liners of baby formula cans from some of the country’s top selling manufacturers.
IN ANIMAL STUDIES BPA LINKED TO: Abnormal puberty changes, fertility difficulties, obesity, altered immune function, learning problems, and cancer.
THE LOWDOWN: If there is any possibility that the interior coating of baby formula cans contain BPA, ditch canned formula. Even though industry officials say it is far too low a dose to harm babies, why expose our little ones to a hormone-disrupting toxin we know so little about.
When my nephew Harrison was a year old, as is required by law in New York State, he was tested for lead and had a lead count of14 (the CDC’s threshold level for lead is 10 micrograms per deciliter). When they learned about Harrison’s lead level, my brother tried to figure out the source of the lead with a testing kit. Unable to determine where it was coming from, the suspicion was that old layers of lead paint were being abraded when windows were opened and closed. If this were so, Harrison was either breathing in minuscule amounts of lead or, as he crawled through the apartment, he may have gotten tiny amounts of lead on his hands that he then may have put into his mouth.
Even so, my dear, dear nephew has turned out to be quite brilliant, not only a top student but an avid reader and an absolutely extraordinary writer. Last year his teacher told me, “He is truly one of my best students-a very, very bright child. I would’ve never guessed he was exposed to lead at any capacity.”
Seven years later, when my youngest son, George, had an elevated lead count I initially felt sick to my stomach and depressed, and then I thought about my nephew. My sister-in-law, Jen, is a thoughtful and ingenious mother, forever filling her boys’ lives with truly fun and creative activities-Harrison makes movies, writes books, and even paints pictures that hang on the wall in my parent’s home. I suspected that Harrison’s extremely enriched childhood actually protected his brain from the detrimental effects of lead. After sharing my suspicion with Dr. Theodore Lidsky, a neuropsychologist and a toxicologist with the New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilties, he told me about a study published in the journal Brain Research in March 2001.
Study — A stimulating environment can minimize the damaging effects of lead
To determine whether or not lead-exposed rat pups in enriched environments suffer fewer deficits than lead-exposed rat pups in settings that offer little stimulation, Drs. Jay Schneider and Theodore Lidsky split a population of rats into two groups. One group was housed alone in an isolated environment and the other was kept in groups of eight in stimulating habitats where they could learn and play. Half of the rats in the enriched environment were given lead in their drinking water while the other half were not. The same was done for the rats in isolated environments. What they found was that the lead-exposed rats in the impoverished setting showed dramatic learning deficits. However, in the enriched environment, the lead-exposed rats performed similarly to their unexposed counterparts.
Even though I have been thinking about suspicious chemicals in plastic for a couple of years now, I have never systematically purged my home of all these hormone mimickers (see my October 24th and October 30th posts about the effects of phthalates and bisphenol A on our children’s health). Recently, to make certain I have taken sufficient precautionary measures by chucking or recycling all the bad plastic, I devised what I believe to be a pretty reasonable strategy — until I am certain that we are rid of suspicious plastics, I will double-check whether or not I have done away with one category of household item made of questionable plastic every month. By steadily working my way through my crazy, shack-like home, I hope to rid my house of all the phthalate and bisphenol A-containing plastics without losing my mind.
Here are two effective purges I have made since starting research on my book:
THE PLASTIC SHOWER CURTAIN
Most plastic shower curtains contain phthalates, a family of hormone-mimicking chemicals that make plastic soft. When products made with these chemicals are heated up, phthalates are released. They then enter our bodies when we breathe them in. Months ago I bought a cotton shower curtain (www.satara-inc.com). This web company also has a hemp shower curtain and a phthalate-free liner. I was concerned that the heavy fabric wouldn’t keep water in the tub but so far I haven’t had a problem. Another option, although I haven’t personally tried their shower curtain, is www.greenmarket.com. You may also want to try a nylon or PEVA curtain. Both are available at Target and Ikea.
PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES & SIPPY CUPS
To avoid bisphenol A, early in the summer I bought stainless steel water bottles for each member of my family, as well as a stainless steel sippy cup for my youngest, Super George. Later, my sister-in-law, Jen traded me a Sigg bottle for a Gap v-neck tee shirt. The Sigg bottle, which is made of aluminum, holds just the right amount of water for a long bike ride and has a blue and green graphic on the front (www.mysigg.com). However, after trying Sigg, I quickly realized that I favor the stainless steel option. My swim coach, Peggy, loves her Klean Kanteen, and sure enough they are not only a great shape but they have recently introduced a stainless steel sippy cup (www.kleankanteen.com). Although I haven’t tried it, Kristin, a good friend and an exceedingly thoughtful mom with two small children, recommends a bisphenol A-free, plastic sippy cup from Born Free (www.greenfeet.com). She also likes Foogo stainless steel sippy cups (www.thermos.com).
Stay tuned for November’s purge and replacement—food containers and food wrap.
Although the effects of bisphenol A are not understood as well as those of phthalates, there is enough evidence to raise an alarm. Some countries, like Japan, have already banned its use.
First devised as a sex hormone drug in 1936, chemists realized bisphenol A could be used to make polycarbonate in 1962.
Study – bisphenol A in rodents
Professor Vom Saal at the University of Missouri has been researching endocrine disruptors since 1991 and looking particularly at bisphenol A since 1995. Although there are no human studies, in animal studies he has learned that small doses of bisphenol A injure reproductive organs in male pups, increase the size of the prostate and decrease sperm production. In the female pups exposed in the womb, Professor Vom Saal found that the estrogenic effects of bisphenol A alter uterine and breast cells, significantly increase body weight, and result in the early onset of puberty. The dosage given to mice in these studies is comparable to the amount of bisphenol A children are exposed to on a daily basis in this country.
Professor Vom Saal’s research also links low-dose exposure to an array of behavioral outcomes in animals such as ADHD, hyperactivity, poor motor skills, and learning disabilities. How do researchers know if bisphenol A has the same effects in humans? Dr. Vom Saal explains, “We don’t know for sure, but we see these growing health trends, starting in childhood – hyper-aggressiveness, learning problems, and difficulty with social interactions and play behavior. And, later, if not in childhood, chronic anxiety. Some of these trends are so prevalent they almost seem normal: abnormal puberty changes, fertility difficulties for both men and women, breast cancer, prostate cancer. All of these trends parallel the onset of the plastics revolution that began 25-30 years ago. Part of this is just connecting the dots.”
Today, with more than 6.6 billion pounds produced yearly, clear plastic is everywhere.
In animal studies bisphenol A is linked to:
§ Early on-set of puberty
§ Obesity
§ Larger than normal prostate
§ Small sperm carrying ducts
§ Reduced sperm count
§ Breast changes that represent early stages of breast cancer
§ Altered immune function
“How are our children exposed to bisphenol A?”
Bisphenol A is used in polycarbonate, the hard, shiny plastic used to make many products, including clear plastic baby bottles, toddler sippy cups, dental sealants, the interior coating of some food cans, sport bottles like Nalgene, and 5-gallon water jugs. The greatest exposure comes not from touching but when food and beverages come in contact with bisphenol A, soaking it up, especially when food and liquid are heated up in a polycarbonate receptacle. The more you heat the container, especially when it’s scratched, the more bisphenol A you drive into the food. For this reason, never pour hot liquid into polycarbonate bottles, and if they are old or scratched, bisphenol A can migrate more readily into your food so it is best to throw them out. Because bisphenol A moves easily through the placenta, moms can pass it to their unborn babies.
“What can I do right now to reduce my family’s risk to bisphenol A?”
If you stop using polycarbonate, based on evidence in countries like Japan where they have banned bisphenol A, children will experience a rapid drop in bisphenol A levels in their bodies.
Stay tuned for Thursday’s post on how to protect children from harmful plastics.
I have written articles about lice alerting moms to the effects of pesticides in prescription and over-the-counter treatments on two occasions. I have seen it aggressively treated at my school in Jersey City, New Jersey. Even so, in all the years I have been a mother I have never had an intimate, first hand, in-my-own-home experience with lice–until now.
The summer heat has gone on far too long in the Adirondack Mountains and the high temperatures have encouraged infestations of these microscopic insects. Last week, dropping off Daniel’s flute at school, I watched him run in from the playground. As he was loping into the school with his classmates, he was frantically scratching behind his ears. Daniel has very long hair and his efforts resulted in a curtain of thick hair falling across his eyes. That evening as I parted sections of hair at the nape of his neck, rapidly moving tiny bugs the size of a pinprick ran for cover.
Here’s how I non-toxically won the lice wars:
1.) Do not use any product that contains Lindane (Kwell). This prescription product has been shown to cause VERY serious side effects.
2.) Instead use Olive oil to smother lice. After shampooing hair, towel dry and apply a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to saturate hair and scalp. Cover hair with a shower cap or plastic wrap. Leave on for five to six hours or overnight. With the olive oil still on remove lice and nits. Nits are lice eggs that stick to the hair shafts, usually near the scalp. They are oval in shape and unlike dandruff are adhered to the hair. They must all be removed or the lice will come back. Although they can be found all over the head, lice and nits tend to populate the head at the nape of the neck and behind the ears. Once the nit check is complete, shampoo your child’s hair.
3.) The olive oil treatment needs to be repeated on day 5, day 9, 13, 17, and 21. The schedule is designed to follow the reproductive cycle of lice.
4.) In hot water wash all the clothes and bedding of the infested person. For cushions, stuffed animals, pillows, and other items that cannot go in the wash put them in plastic bags for 21 days. You can also put them in the dryer for twenty minutes. Vacuum the entire house, then remove the vacuum bag and toss it in a sealed plastic bag. Soak hair items in a solution of 10 parts Clorox to one part water.
5.) Thoroughly check every other member of your family. Although lice cannot jump they can crawl from one family member to the next. Do not allow other children in your home to share hats, pillows, and bedding with the member of your family who has lice. Your child is ready to go back to school once all the active lice and nits have been removed from their hair.
Best of luck and feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.
