Ah, the Sweet Smell of Chemicals

Here are some excerpts from an email I received today from Sheryl Eisenberg at the Natural Resources Defense Council. I added the Axe ad.

Walking into my teenage son's room the other day, I nearly gagged. No, it wasn't the smell of unwashed clothes or half-eaten food that got me. It was the opposite problem—air freshener. His own personal can.

Like many young people, my son has been conditioned to expect everything to have an aggressively pleasant, artificial smell.

It's a mark of the times. From fabric softener to garbage bags, and moisturizer to lip gloss, today's household and personal care products are perfumed. Cleanser companies encourage us to choose their products based on scent rather than cleaning properties. Personal care items are advertised as fashion statements. The deodorant made by Secret is promoted, literally, as a form of self-expression.



To me, it's absurd, but I'd say "to each his own" if it were just a question of fashion. Unfortunately, it's also a matter of health.

An individual fragrance may be made with dozens if not hundreds of synthetic chemicals and need not be cleared for safety before going to market.

Not only doesn't government require safety testing. It doesn't require that the ingredients in fragrances be identified on product labels. The ingredients are protected as trade secrets.

A 2007 study of air fresheners by NRDC found phthalates (pronounced tha-lates) in 12 of 14 brand-name products NRDC tested, including some marketed as "all-natural" or "unscented." Phthalates are endocrine disruptors that can cause hormonal abnormalities, birth defects and reproductive problems. None of the air fresheners tested listed phthalates on its label.

Similar results were found in a 2002 study of cosmetics by a coalition of environmental and public health organizations.

Other hazardous chemicals in fragrances include volatile organic compounds, some of which are carcinogenic and cause neurotoxic and respiratory effects. Another class of chemicals of concern is synthetic musks, which, according to preliminary research, may be endocrine disruptors, like phthalates.

For reasons that are not yet well understood, fragrances also seem to trigger allergic-like reactions in certain people. People with MCS may experience headaches, nausea, confusion, abdominal pain and a host of other symptoms when exposed to common chemicals.

What do to about this? Eliminate or cut back on your use of scented products, especially if you are of childbearing age.

* Avoid air fresheners. Open the windows instead.

* Use water, white vinegar and baking soda for routine cleaning jobs. If soap is needed, try castile soap.

* Look up fragrance-free products and homemade alternatives in the Guide to Less Toxic Products.

* Check Skin Deep, the Environmental Working Group's cosmetic safety database, to see if your favorite personal care products are safe and to find safer alternatives.

* Make sure the words "fragrance" or "parfum" do not appear in the ingredient list of cosmetics.

* Use fewer cosmetics and reduce or eliminate your use of perfume.

Do not rely on product claims of being "unscented" or "fragrance-free." A product labeled as such may still be made with fragrances.

Nor should you rely on the words "natural," "organic" or "hypoallergenic." They do not guarantee the absence of fragrance.

As to my own efforts to protect my son—I've thrown out his air freshener and forbade him to get more. Our next battlefront: deodorant.

Simple Tips :: Cleaner, Safer Personal Drinking Water

Just received this email from the Environmental Working Group:

Dear Nicole,

We all want to drink clean water. But the truth is, tap water across America isn't as clean as it should be, and bottled water isn't necessarily any better. To help you start drinking cleaner water, EWG researchers put together some simple tips.

You'll learn:

* How to identify the contaminants in your home tap water
* How to choose a filter that works
* Why you should skip the bottled water
* How to find safer reusable water bottles



What's the problem with tap and bottled water?

In recent months, EWG has thoroughly researched both tap and bottled water -- and we're not very impressed with either. Tests we compiled from water utilities nationwide show more than 300 pollutants in the nation's tap water, more than half of which are unregulated -- meaning they aren't subject to any health or safety regulations and can legally be present in any amount. Bottled water may be just tap water in a plastic bottle, often minus the contaminant testing reports provided by your water utility.

The good news is you can easily drink safer water by filtering your tap water and skipping the bottled water. Check out the simple tips compiled by EWG researchers!


Thanks for reading!

Environmental Working Group

Is your unfiltered Kitchen Sink Tap Water safe to drink?

Yes, No, Maybe So.


The Environmental Working Group (EWG) spent 3 years analyzing the results of almost 20 million drinking water tests from water utilities. They detected 316 pollutants in water supplied to Americans since 2004. More than 50% of these pollutants are completely unregulated, and 130+ turned up in amounts exceeding official health-based guidelines.

The good news? When the Environmental Protection Agency sets mandatory water quality standards, the tests show that local water suppliers meet them 92% of the time.

The bad news? The standards need to be much tougher to protect children and pregnant women, and the EPA hasn't set a single new drinking water standard since 2001.

Want to know what the quality is of the water that you drink? Want to know if you should filter it? (Don't buy bottled water instead; that stuff isn't any good for you.)


Go here for the Drinking Water Guide.

You can use the Drinking Water Guide to:

* Find out what's in your drinking water.
* Choose the right water filter for your home.
* See the 10 highest and lowest-ranked water suppliers.
* Read and download tips for safe drinking water.

The Connection between Cell Phones & Cancer :: Texting is better than Talking

The Environmental Working Group recently released the results of a 10-month study that the organization undertook, so that they could better understand the risks of cell phone use. Turns out, cell phones do emit radiation -- enough so that scientists are concerned about potential cancer risks.

In order to get the word out and help people make smarter cell phone purchasing and use decisions, EWG created the most comprehensive online consumer guide to cell phone radiation, rating more than 1,000 cell phones marketed in the United States.

In EWG's Cell Phone Radiation Guide you can:

* Look up your phone;
* Read and download tips to reduce your exposure;
* See the top 10 best phones;
* Read the full Cell Phone Radiation Science Review;
* Take action and tell the government that it's time to modernize their radiation standards.

This story has received a lot of coverage - check out this one example. When I tried to open the EWG website on the day that the report was released, the website was crashing due to an unbelievable amount of people trying to access the site!

What's the problem with cleaning supplies?

According to today's Environmental Working Group e-newsletter, the shocking truth is that nearly any chemical can legally be used in cleaners, and ingredient lists are not required on labels. Our health, and the health of our children, is at risk when we breathe air clouded with chemicals, including some that can cause asthma and are known or possible carcinogens.

Ordinary school cleaning supplies can expose children to multiple chemicals linked to asthma, cancer, and other documented health problems and to hundreds of other air contaminants that have never been tested for safety, a study by the Environmental Working Group shows. Laboratory tests done for EWG found that a typical assortment of cleaning products released 457 distinct chemicals into the air.

Lax labeling requirements mean that schools often don't know what they're purchasing. Many would be alarmed to learn that when used as directed, Comet Disinfectant Powder Cleanser, a product commonly used in both schools and private homes, released more than100 air contaminants, including chloroform, benzene, and formaldehyde.

For information about more cleaners used in schools, and how you can help schools out, check this out.

For safe cleaning tips, go here. You'll notice that baking soda and vinegar are mentioned a lot, as good, safe household cleaners. Check out these baking soda and vinegar cleanser tips!

Obama Administration plans to reform US Toxic Chemicals Law

According to the Environmental Working Group, under the outdated and toothless federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), chemicals can go on the U.S. market with little or no safety testing, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has only limited power to protect public health. One result, studies have shown, is that babies are born with hundreds of industrial chemicals in their bodies, Many of them are suspected of contributing to a growing list of health problems such as childhood cancer, obesity, autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, infertility and birth defects.

Today's EWG e-newsletter contains this great news:

EWG has been working hard to push the Obama Administration and Congress to overhaul toxics policy. This work paid MAJOR dividends the last two weeks:

* EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson unveiled the Administration's historic toxics policy reform agenda. She called on Congress to enact fundamental reforms to the failed federal toxics law, including tough protections for children, and to give EPA much stronger powers to make sure chemicals are safe.

- for more info on this, check out this San Francisco Chronicle article.

* On Tuesday, EWG co-hosted The Future of U.S. Chemicals Policy conference in Washington, DC -- a first-of-its-kind conference featuring Administrator Jackson and a diverse group of public health scientists, environmental advocates, policy experts and industry executives. About 150 people attended and spent a full day in a productive discussion of the future of chemical policy reform in the United States.

Check out these videos from The Future of U.S. Chemicals Policy conference:

Part 1:
The first speaker is Erik Olson, Director of Food & Consumer Product Safety - The Pew Health Group, of the Pew Charitable Trusts. YEAH Erik!

The Future of U.S. Chemicals Policy #1 - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Part 2:

The Future of U.S. Chemicals Policy conference part 2, Part 2 of The Future of U.S. Chemicals Policy ewgwebteam on USTREAM. Conference - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Part 3:

The Future of U.S. Chemicals Policy conference part 3, Part 3 of The Future of U.S. Chemicals Policy ewgwebteam on USTREAM. Conference - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

What's in YOUR bloodstream?

"10 Americans" is the title of a presentation prepared by the Environmental Working Group. It is the story of the EWG's benchmark investigation of industrial chemicals, pollutants and pesticides in human umbilical cord.



Some practical things you can do right now to reduce your "body burden".

* Buy organic.
* Eat low-mercury fish.
* Filter your tap water.
* Use cast iron or enameled cast iron instead of nonstick pots & pans.
* Avoid fragrance.

As an aside, EWG sends out awesome e-newsletters. Sign up to receive them here. My other favorite source for human health tips is the Organic Consumers Association e-newsletters. Sign up for those, here.