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Smart discussion of the latest science and news on toxins in your food, water, and air, and what government agencies should be doing to protect public health. Written by EWG staff.
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Who would do all this research if EWG weren't around?
Cell Phone Radiation Series - Part 5: Buy smart
New CDC report on pollution in people
Listen Up: Nena Baker talks chemicals on Grit.tv
SEARCH ENVIROBLOG
FEATURED
Why, oh why is there plastic in my aluminum water bottle?
Cell phone radiation series - Part 2: 8 Ways to reduce your exposure
Infant formula: How to choose it & use it
EWG's Tips for Parents: The Series
EWG's Tips to avoid BPA exposure
Let's talk some serious shop about TSCA reform
EWG on TV
Cutting the Pork from U.S. Farm Bill
Sunscreen safety & DC drinking water
Perchlorate in people, kids' personal care products & plastics, and sunscreen
BPA in baby formula & safe cosmetics
What can I do about fluoride in my water?
What is new carpet treated with? What can I do?
Are stainless steel water bottles safe?
Is mineral-based makeup safer?
PEOPLE TALKING TOXICS
TALK TO US
Did we miss something? Email Enviroblog.
Monthly Archive
San Francisco considers cell phone radiation law
As Enviroblog readers may recall, we've been talking about cell phone radiation quite a bit this fall. In addition to a rigorous science assessment and tips on reducing your own radiation exposure, we've suggested that phones carry radiation labels (SAR values, actually) so consumers can make an educated choice when choosing a phone.
Well, good news from the west coast, then.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is endorsing local legislation that would make that city the first in the country to require such consumer-friendly labeling.
Hear all about it in this TV interview with EWG's California Director, Renee Sharp:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Top 10 Environment Stories of the Decade -- That You Might Have Missed
EWG staffers put our heads together to come up with this list of bad news environmental stories of the last decade that people might have missed. But there were plenty of big stories that hardly anyone could have missed, such as climate change. What's on your list of the biggest environmental stories of the last 10 years?
1. Secret Gas Drilling Chemical Almost Kills Colorado Nurse
Doctors ran into a medical mystery -- and a stone wall from industry -- when they tried to find what was in a gas drilling chemical that nearly killed a Colorado nurse. Aren't you glad that Congress exempted these "fracking" chemicals from regulation under the Safe Water Drinking Act?
2. Intersex Fish Turn Up All Over
Are you a boy or are you a girl? That's the question that scientists are asking as they study the organs of supposedly male fish from coast to coast and find eggs in many of them. The chief suspects: endocrine-disrupting pollutants that even in tiny amounts can mimic hormones and affect sexual development.
3. Prescription Drugs in Your Drinking Water
Take a swallow and call me in the morning. Antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones - they've all turned up in tests of drinking water around the country. Could there be health risks from decades of drinking water laced with combinations of potent drugs?
4. And Rocket Fuel, Too
Perchlorate -- the stuff is used in rocket fuel and explosives and turns up not just in water but also in milk, lettuce, other foods - and in our bodies. It's been linked to thyroid problems in pregnant women, newborns and infants. The EPA is reconsidering its earlier decision not to regulate it in water. Stand by.
5. Ethanol -- Not Just Bad Energy Policy
There are a lot of reasons to question the drive for biofuels, especially corn-based ethanol, but there has been much less attention paid to what it means for air pollution and health. For people who like to breathe clean air, the balance doesn't look promising.
6. Non-stick, No-Stain and No-Good
They were the miracle products that were supposed to make life easier - keeping spills from staining our couches and making it easy to clean our pots without scrubbing -- until it all went sour. Chemicals in the original Teflon and now off-the-market Scotchgard were linked to cancer and developmental problems. They have a way of polluting everything and they refuse to go away.
7. Monsanto Owns Corn (and also soybeans)
80% of the corn and 95% percent of the soybeans grown in America contain genes inserted by Monsanto scientists, and the company writes tough - and secret - licensing agreements to maintain control and lock out competitors. Now the Justice Department and some states are thinking these practices might violate anti-trust laws. Turnips, anyone?
8. Occupational Hazard: Microwave Popcorn
This fun food turned to be no fun for people who make it. A strange lung malady that sickened workers in plants that make microwave popcorn was traced to a widely used butter flavoring. And one popcorn-crazy consumer was felled, too. It took a while, but OSHA finally took a look, and the stuff is being phased out.
9. Dead (Zone) on Arrival
In the Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere, vast expanses of ocean have been turned into biological deserts as fertilizer runoff from farms washes downstream and nourish runaway algae growth, which deplete most of the oxygen when the tiny organisms die and decompose. The Gulf dead zone has more than doubled in size since the 1980s - accelerated by the boom in crops grown to make biofuels. In 2009, it was smaller than predicted, but more intense, in 2009.
10. The (Not So) Great Pacific Trash Gyre
It's hard to spot from the water or even from space, but an estimated 3.5 million tons of mostly plastic trash from all over the world floats just below the surface of the Pacific, swirling slowly around in an area of circular currents twice the size of Texas. It's devastating to birds and sea creatures that think the plastic bits are food. It's time to stop adding to the mess - and then see if there's any way to clean it up.
What stories top your list of the decade's biggest environmental news??
Next Decade's Big Enviro Stories
Climate change dominates the headlines this month, and that's likely to continue well in the new decade. But green issues don't stop there. EWG predicts the next big stories on the environmental front:
1. Rising infertility, early puberty, obesity linked to endocrine-disrupting chemicals
The evidence, still circumstantial, is expected to expand as dozens of new studies focus on the myriad health hazards of hormonally-active pollutants.
2. Water Riots
Dwindling water supplies trigger conflicts. In some places, climate change is the culprit. In others, poor conservation practices.
3. Hydrofracking threatens more water supplies
The natural gas drilling technique, formally known as hydraulic fracturing, injects tons of chemicals into oil shale deposits. It's only beginning in the Marcellus Shale that underlies New York and Pennsylvania.
4. Mad Max landscape realized as trees are burned for energy
Biomass energy means clearing and burning forests.
5. Polar cap melting swamps coastal cities
That investment Nevada beachfront property doesn't look so crazy now.
6. Antibiotic-resistant microbes rampant
Overuse of anti-bacterial cleansers during the H1N1 (viral) flu epidemic hasn't helped.
7. Corn in everything
All corn, all the time. Good Magazine's YouTube video, based in part on EWG's work tracking corn subsidies to corn, is fun, and serious.
8. But corn ethanol tanks
The biofuel bubble bursts as corn ethanol's environmental costs overwhelm benefits.
9. Pacific gyre bloats
The northern Pacific garbage patch, an ugly clot of plastic from discarded drink bottles and other non-biodegradable stuff, could be the next intercontinental land bridge, unless people mend their trash habits.
10. Epigenetics
The next scientific frontier is research into endocrine-disrupting chemicals and other factors that alter the body's epigenetic mechanisms, changing the way genes switch on and off.
Healthy Home Tips for your holiday kitchen
'Tis the season to be jolly cooking. Fa la la la la, la la la la.
In the next two weeks, you're probably going to do some (or possibly tons of) holiday cooking. You'll buy ingredients, cook, clean -- and enjoy some leftovers. It's a great time to do a little "greening" before the guests arrive.
EWG makes it easy to prepare your holiday feasts with your family's environmental health in mind. Just follow these simple tips as you shop, cook, eat and clean:
Cook with safer foods
The food we eat can contain ingredients we don't want to eat -- from pesticides to food packaging chemicals. To find safer foods, we suggest that you:
- Buy organic when you can. Organic produce is grown without pesticides, so when you eat it you're not also eating toxic chemicals. Organic meat and dairy products also limit your family's exposure to growth hormones and antibiotics.
- When you can't buy organic, look for less-contaminated conventional produce. Our Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce ranks popular fruits and vegetables based on the amount of pesticide residues found on them. Check out the Shopper's Guide to Pesticides.
- Avoid food containers that leach packaging chemicals into food, especially canned foods (the can linings contain bisphenol-A) and greasy fast-food wrappers. Instead, head for fresh food or prepared foods in glass containers. Pick recipes that call for fresh, not canned, foods.
Use non-toxic cookware
Skip the non-stick so you don't breathe toxic fumes (that can kill your pet bird!) while cooking on high heat. Non-stick pans are coated with a synthetic chemical (think Teflon), and, while convenient, they emit toxic fumes when overheated.
Non-stick cookware is in most American kitchens. Is it in yours? If it is, use it safely. If you can, cook with safer alternatives. Here's how:
- Choose safer cookware. We suggest cast iron, stainless steel and oven-safe glass. Yes, there are many new products on the market, but we don't know enough about them to know if they're safe. Even if they're advertised as "green" or "not non-stick," manufacturers do not have to release their safety data to the public. If you're in the market for a new pan, purchase it through Amazon and a portion of your purchase total will go to EWG!
- Cook safer with non-stick if you're 'stuck' with it. You can reduce the possibility of toxic fumes by cooking smart with any non-stick cookware you happen to own: never preheat nonstick cookware at high heat, don't put it in an oven hotter than 500 degrees F and use an exhaust fan over the stove.
Store & reheat leftovers safely
Leftovers are an inevitable result of holiday cooking. Avoid plastic when storing and (especially) when heating them. Here's why -- and how:
- Skip the plastic food storage containers if you can. We know that chemicals routinely migrate, or leach, into food and liquids placed in plastic containers. Ceramic or glass food containers (like Pyrex) are safer.
- Don't microwave food or drinks in plastic containers, even if they claim to be "microwave safe." Heat can break down plastics and release chemicals into your food and drink. Microwaves heat unevenly, creating hot spots where the plastic is more likely to break down.
- If you must use plastics, handle them carefully. Use them for cool liquids only; don't reuse single-use plastics; wash plastics on the top rack of the dishwasher, farther from the heating element (or by hand!); use a paper towel instead of plastic wrap to cover food in the microwave.
Clean greener
You clean before holiday guests arrive and after they leave -- and while you cook. But do you clean green? We recommend that you do, because our homes aren't safe and clean if the air inside is polluted with chemicals from household cleaners. It's really quite easy:
- Choose safer cleaning products. Try natural alternatives (vinegar, baking soda and water!). Avoid anti-bacterials (here's how). Avoid the biggest hazards (acidic toilet bowl cleaners, air fresheners, oven cleaners, and corrosive drain openers).
- Adopt safe cleaning routines. Open the window. Use gloves. Keep kids away from toxic products. Dust and vacuum often because dust often contains toxics.
- A few tips for the kitchen. Microwave your sponge. Wash your hands with plain soap and water -- it's just as effective. Use a baking soda & water paste instead of commercial oven cleaner.
These tips are part of our Healthy Home Tips series - read all 7 and sign up for the rest here.
Who would do all this research if EWG weren't around?
Special to Enviroblog by Bonnie Raitt & Erin Brockovich
You know I like giving people something to talk about.
Erin's the same way. Some might call us rabble-rousers, but we're just speaking up about the things that matter -- like making our planet greener and the products we use safer.
That's why we work with EWG.
The folks at EWG also aren't afraid to shake things up if that's what it takes to give people the information they need to make this world a better place.
We count on EWG to educate us about risks and help us make better choices. But they can't do it without our help. Right now, if they don't make their 2009 fundraising goals, their research could be in jeopardy next year. If you help them reach their goal, a generous donor has agreed to match your gift, and... you'll get a free "Dirty Dozen" magnet, reminding you about produce and pesticides.
Give a $5 tax-deductible donation now so EWG can keep doing all of their important research in 2010.
I'm blown away by everything EWG does.
Just this past week, they released the latest update to their National Drinking Water Database with The New York Times. You can use the database to look up the chemical pollutants in your tap water and learn what you can do to protect your family against them.
Who would do all this research if EWG wasn't around?
So what are the things that really tick you off?
Toxins in your moisturizer? Pesticides in your vegetables? Cancer-causing chemicals in your cleaning supplies? Let's face it -- EWG is at the forefront of organizations protecting us. So we need to help them -- today.
Make a $5 tax-deductible donation now so EWG can keep doing all of their important research in 2010.
About that nuclear waste...
Remember back in 2002, when the government came up with that insane idea of transporting 77,000 tons of radioactive waste to Nevada and burying it under Yucca Mountain? I called it a "mobile Chernobyl." So EWG created an incredible online tool to help you figure out how close the traveling nuclear waste would get to your neighborhood.
And that water quality in California...
EWG has also been helping Erin out with her battle to limit the amount of Chromium-6 in California's tap water. EWG helped uncover how Pacific Gas and Electric secretly paid a consulting firm to downplay the dangers of Chromium-6, which stopped the regulation process and put 33 million Californians at risk. Now it's back on track.
Change begins with each of us
We strongly believe that change begins with each of us. It starts with one person speaking out, one person choosing to buy the healthy and safe products, one person taking a stand against polluters and unresponsive government bureaucrats. United, our voices grow louder and louder. We ask you to join your voice with ours today.
I've been working to protect people from nuclear waste pollution for more than 30 years. Erin's been trying to make our water safe for 18 years. We're in it for the long haul, and so is EWG. We can't drop the ball now. We've got to keep fighting. But we need your help.
Sincerely,
Bonnie Raitt
Erin Brockovich
Cell Phone Radiation Series - Part 5: Buy smart
"More public information can only be positive." So says Renee Sharp, director of EWG's California office, in response to news that San Francisco might become the first U.S. city to require retailers to label cell phones with information on their radiation levels.
It's what we've been saying all along, and it's why EWG created a searchable database of cell phone radiation levels. We think consumers have a right to information that will help them choose the phone with the lowest potential radiation emissions.
While the research isn't settled on just how dangerous cell phone radiation is to your health, there's enough troubling evidence that we suggest you take precautions to reduce your exposure.
Radiation emissions vary
A few weeks ago we talked about SAR values - the measure of how much radiation a phone emits. The gist is that how much radiation a phone gives off depends on the design of the phone, what network you're on and how you're using the phone.
Since emitted radiation values vary, you can make easy, daily choices to reduce your exposure - but you can also find a lower-emitting phone to start with.
Curious about your phone's radiation level?
Cell phones certified for use in the US must have SAR values within the limits set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). However, manufacturers have not exactly been eager to disclose these levels to consumers.
If you still have your phone manual, you might find the SAR number there. Or not. You might also find the SAR for your phone on the manufacturer's website. Or not. There is one central repository of SAR values - a database of cell phones that FCC has maintained since 2000.
So then it should be easy - just log on and look up your cell phone to see how much radiation it emits, right?
Not quite. To find your phone's radiation level on the FCC website, you need its FCC ID number, which is conveniently located in the user manual (probably stuffed in that drawer with 6 manuals for your laptop, your iron's warranty and directions for the last 2 cameras you bought) or on the phone itself (generally under the battery, so you might need a small screwdriver and nimble fingers to get at it).
Once you find the ID number, plug it in on the FCC website, and you get links to all of the documentation that the phone manufacturer submitted to the FCC. After picking one of six rounds of submissions, each with 20 links to various documents, I found a 45-page pdf, with sections like "Liquid Test Parameters" and "Output Power Verification," that included the results from five different tests of my phone's SAR levels. (Is your head spinning yet?)
Oh, and don't forget - you can't even go through all of this rigamarole if you don't have the phone's FCC ID number. And since you can only get that from the user manual or the phone itself, you can't use the FCC site to check out a phone's SAR value before you buy it. So consumer friendly!
EWG's database makes it easier
That's where EWG's comprehensive cell phone database comes in. We combed through user manuals & manufacturer websites to create an easy tool that lets you to enter the name of your phone to find out its SAR value.
Go ahead, use our handy widget to search by model, network or manufacturer. We'll tell you the phone's listed SAR value, as well as how it compares to other phones.
Consumers have a right to know
As much as we at EWG like helping you make safe and healthy lifestyle choices, shouldn't it really be the cell phone retailers and manufacturers providing this information directly to consumers? Data on cell phone SAR values should be available at the point of sale, so purchasers (that's you) can use it as one factor in making a decision on which phone to buy.
San Francisco is leading the way to do just this: newly proposed legislation would require retailers to put a phone's SAR values right next to its price. Phone manufacturers object on the grounds that cell phone radiation hasn't been proven harmful. But as the Financial Times notes, if phone manufacturers are so sure about their products' safety, shouldn't they be willing to disclose information on radiation emissions?
What you can do
Tell the FCC and FDA that you want to know about SAR values before you buy! Use EWG's easy form to send them a message asking for mandatory disclosure requirements and more research on cell phone radiation safety.
And don't forget - use EWG's tips to reduce your exposure to radiation, even without buying a new phone. If you're in the market (especially if you're buying a gift for a younger person, who may be more at risk for health effects from radiation), be sure to use the EWG database or widget to find the lowest-emitting phone that satisfies your needs.
New CDC report on pollution in people
By Alex Formuzis, EWG Director of Communications
With its fourth and most ambitious edition of its National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, released today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) casts the issue of pollution in people in sharp focus.
The CDC has detected 212 contaminants in the blood and urine of thousands of people tested from 1999-2004, the most extensive survey of the American body burden ever published by the federal government.
CDC's testing focuses on adults and children age 6 and older, leaving EWG and other environmental health groups and academic scientists to investigate the extent to which pollutants were invading the womb.
Last week, EWG released its second cord blood study, reporting detections of up to 232 contaminants in the cord blood of 10 minority infants born between 2007 and 2008. EWG's study was the first to find the plastic ingredient bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine-disrupting chemical, in American cord blood. EWG's first cord blood study, published in 2005, found up to 287 chemicals in 10 cord blood samples.
EWG's Senior Vice President for Research, Jane Houlihan, supports biomonitoring:
Biomonitoring has transformed the way scientists and policymakers approach their work in determining what must be done to protect humans from chemical contamination.Now that scientists can prove that Americans from all walks of life are exposed to dangerous environmental contaminants in the womb, lawmakers and top administration officials are moving toward reforming the outdated federal toxic chemicals control law.
To date, EWG's 11 biomonitoring studies have found up to 414 industrial chemicals, pollutants and pesticides in 186 people, from newborns to grandparents. EWG's goal is to quantify the so-called "human toxome" and to drive science and policy debate to protect public health.
EWG's biomonitoring program complements the CDC in several key respects.
- CDC looks for fewer chemicals, but in larger, statistically representative samples of the U.S.population. EWG studies typically look for more chemicals than the CDC, but in smaller sample cohorts. EWG has detected up to 414 chemicals in people, compared to 203 reported by the CDC. EWG relies on specialized laboratories around the world to maximize the scope of its analyses.
- EWG studies examine cord blood, infants and toddlers to help document exposure to chemicals during the most vulnerable periods of development, while CDC's research focuses primarily on adults and children age 6 and older.
[Thanks to Flickr and brittney.t for the pic of so many people]
Listen Up: Nena Baker talks chemicals on Grit.tv
If you don't have the time to read Nena Baker's book about the toxic chemicals we're exposed to every day (though we recommend it), here's your chance to get the skinny from the author in less than 15 minutes.
On November 24th, she talked with Grit.tv's Laura Flanders:
Do you filter your tapwater? Should you?
Which (usually) begets this obvious follow-up question: "How can I find out what contaminants are in my tap water?"
At which point we say: Easy! Use our national drinking water database & filter buying guide.
Both are easily searchable online and - here's a really important detail that might seem trivial: they're in the same place. Meaning, of course, that you can find out what contaminates the tapwater in your house, then right then and there find the right filter to improve its quality. No more excuses!
What did we find out about the nation's tapwater?
EWG spent three years analyzing the results of almost 20 million drinking water tests from water utilities. We detected 316 pollutants in water supplied to Americans since 2004. More than half are completely unregulated, and more than 130 turned up in amounts exceeding official health-based guidelines.
We also rated big city water systems based on three factors: the total number of chemicals detected since 2004; the percentage of chemicals found of those tested; and the highest average level for an individual pollutant, relative to legal limits or national average amounts, including for the most common pollutants (disinfection byproducts, nitrate and arsenic).
Check how your city ranks - and see the 10 best (and worst) water utilities.
Good news and bad news
When the Environmental Protection Agency sets mandatory water quality standards, the tests show that local water suppliers meet them 92 percent of the time. But. 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.
Use the guide to understand and improve your tapwater
Our online guide is designed to help you make safe, science-based choices for environmental health at home. Water quality varies considerably across the country, so we're providing local information for you to make smart decisions about the drinking water in your home.
With our 2009 online drinking water guide, you can:
- 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.
Read EWG's National Drinking Water Quality Analysis report to learn more about drinking water pollution -- what contaminants we face, where they come from, what the government is and isn't doing about them -- and what EWG recommends to policy makers.
Feeding Baby Green: Dr. Greene tells us how - and why
![FBG_Cover[1].jpg](http://www.enviroblog.org/FBG_Cover%5B1%5D.jpg)
My husband hates parenting books. Absolutely hates them. Which is a good thing (there. are. so. many.) and a bad thing (sometimes you just gotta get an expert outside opinion).
But there are a few parenting books I have dared bring in the house these past six years, and Raising Baby Green is one of them. It's a resource every eco-aspiring parent should read and will likely reference over and over (think: room by room info & tips, starting with the womb).
Now he's FEEDING babies green - and telling us why
Of course feeding babies is part of raising them, so it's good news for parents that Dr. Greene has since expanded the 25 pages on feeding in Raising Baby Green into a whole new book, Feeding Baby Green.
While his how-to-guidance and recipes (spicy black beans!) are gold, it's his premise that we parents have everything to do with our kids' "nutritional intelligence" that really hits home. As he describes it,
At its core, Feeding Baby Green is a revolutionary approach to cultivating Nutritional Intelligence, the age-appropriate ability to recognize and enjoy healthy amounts of great food.Pregnancy and the first two years of life are critical windows for learning Nutritional Intelligence, an important, newly described strand of development. Most American kids of the last few decades are Nutritionally Delayed. Thankfully, this is easy to remedy.
So not only are we feeding our kids healthy food so their bodies and minds will grow and they will have energy to play and learn, we're also imprinting their food preferences for life. Starting in the womb. How?
The foods we give them at critical developmental stages, Dr. Greene suggests, are the foods for which they develop a preference. Salty, fatty, fried stuff at 2, in other words, means a craving for (you got it) more salty, fatty, fried stuff at 10, 20, even later. He says it this way,
...in the second half of the twentieth century we have unwittingly imprinted our children on the wrong tastes and textures. They will chase after junk food and kids meals, and ignore a delicious, ripe peach or tomato packed with nutrients their bodies crave.
What does Dr. Greene recommend?
Not baby food! It's a recent invention, after all. And should not be what he calls "the knee-jerk centerpiece of infant nutrition" that it is today. OK, so a few jars of pureed carrots won't hurt anyone, but in Dr. Green's mind,
the best foods on which to imprint are often foods that are local, sustainably/organically grown, in season, ripe, and recently picked (or frozen when picked) -- or from animals raised in a sustainable way (without routine antibiotics, extra hormones, or feed that is foreign to that animal). These foods have the flavors and the complex nutrients on which we developed to thrive.It turns out these same foods and methods of agriculture are often the best for the planet. Agriculture and the transportation, processing, storage, and preparation of food are a big part of our ecological impact.
Hard to argue with that. If you're going to buy one - or both - of Dr. Greene's excellent books, get them on Amazon and support EWG without spending an extra dime.
Hear it from the good doctor himself (in a mere 3 minutes!):
When to buy organic: The video
By Amy Rosenthal, EWG Outreach Manager
My favorite farmer's market just closed for the winter, forcing me back to the grocery store to shop for produce. Since I can't ask the guys at Safeway about their spraying policies, like I can when I get to talk right to the farmer, I'll be pulling out my Shopper's Guide to Pesticides to help make decisions in the produce aisle.
As much as I'd like to buy all organic, it just isn't always realistic, given the cost and availability of organic fruits & veggies. EWG's Shopper's Guide ranks 47 types of produce based on the amount of pesticide residues found on them, which is a huge help to decide when buying organic is most worthwhile for my health, and when buying conventional can be OK.
The list has been around since 1995 (updated when new data becomes available), but now for the first time you can see and hear how it works (ahhh, technology). Here I am, straight from EWG HQ in Washington, DC, giving the lowdown on the 2009 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce:
Get your own! I'm sure you want your own copy now: for a printable, wallet-sized pdf with the Dirty Dozen & Clean 15 lists, visit EWG's FoodNews website. From there you can also download the handy iPhone app, or get a Dirty Dozen magnet by donating at least $5 to EWG.
Happy healthy shopping!
PS - If you were spellbound by my video premiere, share it with your friends by grabbing a link or embed it on your blog. And be sure to check out Environmental Working Group's YouTube channel, where you can see EWG experts answering environmental health questions in our "Ask EWG" series.
EWG's 10 tips for a less toxic pregnancy
Last week we told you about the 232 toxic chemicals we found in human cord blood.
This week we tell you how to reduce your exposures to toxic chemicals to keep them out of your womb. Because at EWG we don't accept toxic pregnancy as a fait accompli. Far from it.
Instead, we want you to know that pregnant and pregnant-to-be women CAN reduce their exposures to toxic chemicals, thereby reducing their babies' exposures. Not that we think you should have to do this, mind you, on top of the other billion things you're doing.
Quite the opposite, actually.
We think Congress should step up and take this off your already full "to do" list. But since the current federal toxics law is too weak to protect you - or your baby, we suggest that you take matters into your own hands:
- Don't smoke
Cigarettes contain thousands of chemicals that have been proven to cause harm, including raising the risk of low birth weight and size, reduced lung capacity and impaired brain function. Babies born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy are at higher risk of asthma, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), learning disabilities, diminished IQ and behavioral problems. - Get your iodine
Use iodized salt, especially while pregnant and nursing, and take iodine-containing vitamins. Iodine buffers against chemicals such as perchlorate that can disrupt your thyroid system and affect your baby's brain development during pregnancy and infancy. - Eat good fats
Omega-3 fatty acids can offset the toxic effects of lead and mercury. Omega-3's are plentiful in fish, eggs, nuts, oils and produce. Choose low-mercury fish such as salmon, tilapia and pollock, rather than high-mercury tuna and swordfish. Breast milk is the best source of good fats (and other benefits) for babies and protects them from toxic chemicals. - Go organic and eat fresh foods
Opt for organic fruits and veggies, or use FoodNews.org to find conventionally grown produce with the least pesticide residue. Choose milk and meat produced without added growth hormones. Limit canned food, since can linings usually contain bisphenol-A (BPA). Read EWG's Healthy Home Tip for going organic and eating fresh foods. - Drink safer water
It's important for pregnant women to drink plenty of water. Use a reverse osmosis system or carbon filter pitcher to reduce your exposure to impurities such as chlorine, perchlorate and lead. Don't drink bottled water, which costs more and isn't necessarily better.If you're out and about, use a stainless steel, glass or BPA-free plastic reusable container. Mix infant formula with fluoride-free water. Read more in EWG's Safe Drinking Water Guide.
- Choose better body care products
Just because the label says "gentle" or "natural" doesn't mean a product is kid-safe. Look it up on CosmeticsDatabase.com. Read the ingredients and avoid triclosan, BHA, fragrance and oxybenzone. Read EWG's Healthy Home Tip to choose better body care products. - Identify lead sources & avoid them
Have your tap water tested for lead from pipes and avoid any home remodeling if your house was built before 1978, when lead house paint was banned. Dust from sanding or blasting old paint is a common source of exposure. - Clean greener
Household cleaners, bug killers, pet treatments and air fresheners can irritate kids' and babies' lungs - especially if they have asthma. Check out less toxic alternatives. Some ideas: vinegar in place of bleach, baking soda to scrub your tiles, hydrogen peroxide to remove stains. Use a wet mop/rag and a HEPA-filter vacuum to get rid of dust - which can contain contaminants. Leave shoes - and the pollutants they track inside -- at the door. Get EWG's Tips for Greener Home Cleaning. - Pick plastics carefully
Some plastics contain toxic chemicals, including BPA, PVC and phthalates. Don't reuse single-use containers or microwave food in plastic containers. Avoid PVC by hanging a natural-fabric shower curtain. When remodeling, go with PVC-free flooring and pipes. Read EWG's Healthy Home Tip to pick plastics carefully. - Think ahead to baby. Your due date will be here before you know it!
- Breast milk is best, but if you use formula, choose a powdered product and mix it with filtered water (without fluoride). See EWG's Guide to feeding baby safely.
- Choose glass or BPA-free plastic baby bottles.
- Use organic baby food and milk when the time comes.
- Avoid fire retardants in nursing pillows, furniture, and electronics.
- Choose fewer and safer body care products, including diaper cream, wipes and soap. Get EWG's Safety Guide to Children's Personal Care Products.
- When you outfit the nursery, choose an organic crib mattress or use a wool cover.
Download and print EWG's 10 Healthy Pregnancy Tips for your friends, share it at your mom's group, or post it on your blog.
Because the womb is an important place to protect, don't you think?
FRAC Act Gains House Supporters
By Dusty Horwitt, EWG Senior Counsel
A bill to establish federal oversight for a controversial oil and natural gas extraction technique called hydraulic fracturing has gained six more House supporters, four of them from New York City, where I testified Oct. 23 about the dangers of "fracing" near sources of drinking water for 8 million New Yorkers and 1 million New Jersey residents.
In all, 48 House members have signed on as co-sponsors of the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2009 (FRAC Act), which would require companies to gain approval from the Environmental Protection Agency before using hydraulic fracturing to enhance production of oil and natural gas wells. The bill would also require companies to make public the chemicals they use in fracturing; too often, companies cloak their chemicals in secrecy and are exempt from federal laws that would require disclosure.
The latest cosponsors of the FRAC Act are Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Rep. Jose
Serrano (D-NY), Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Rep.
Michael Honda (D-CA) and Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ).
Hydraulic fracturing involves injecting as many as 8 million gallons of water mixed with toxic chemicals and sand into underground rock formations to allow more oil or natural gas to seep into the drilling pipe. Drilling companies deploy the technique in 90 percent of the nation's oil and gas wells.
In 2005, after lobbying by Halliburton, one of the world's largest hydraulic fracturing companies, Congress exempted hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974, except when drillers use diesel fuel that contains carcinogenic benzene and other toxics. This exemption effectively hamstrung the EPA's ability to regulate releases of toxic fracing chemicals into underground water supplies - contamination that could impact municipal drinking water sources.
Earlier this year, House members Diana DeGette, D-CO, Maurice Hinchey, D-NY, and Jared Polis, D-CO and senators Bob Casey, D-PA, and Charles Schumer, D-NY introduced the FRAC Act to give the EPA authority to set standards for the underground injection of fracing fluids. EPA has had the same power for decades with respect to other types of underground injections.
At an Oct. 23 hearing before the New York City Council's Environmental Protection Committee. I presented an Environmental Working Group analysis of New York State's recent draft environmental impact assessment of natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing upstate. The state reported that companies intended to use petroleum distillates to fracture wells in New York.
While the EPA retains the power under the Safe Water Act to regulate hydraulic fracturing that uses diesel, a type of petroleum distillate, other petroleum distillates used in fracing such as kerosene and mineral spirits are not covered by the act -- even though they contain the same toxics that make diesel a prime concern.
EWG estimated that the amount of petroleum distillate used at a single well in New York State could contain enough benzene to contaminate more than 100 billion gallons of water, 10 times the daily water use of the entire New York state population.
EWG's analysis found that hydraulic fracturing has recently been linked to contaminated water and other environmental dangers in Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wyoming.
BPA Invades the Womb
By Elaine Shannon
![mcb-thumb[1].jpg](http://www.enviroblog.org/mcb-thumb%5B1%5D.jpg)
Back in the 1960s and 1970s, the outcry over Rachel Carson's path-breaking Silent Spring and global mobilization around the first Earth Day spurred scientists to attempt to quantify how much pollution was getting into people. Early methods -- measuring contaminants in water, air and soil, constructing mathematical models, analyzing lifestyles -- were roundabout and ultimately unsatisfying.
Well, no more guesswork and no more denials. Biomonitoring techniques -- testing blood, urine and human tissue -- are producing irrefutable evidence that human bodies are awash in toxic and endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
This week, a newly published laboratory analysis of 10 umbilical cord blood samples, commissioned by Environmental Working Group and Rachel's (as in Carson) Network, an organization of grassroots advocates, offers sobering new insights on the extent to which environmental pollutants are inescapable, even in the womb.
The 10 samples, from children born between December 2007 and June 2008, in Michigan, Florida, Massachusetts, California and Wisconsin, were randomly selected from a cord blood bank. The only stipulation: all 10 are of racial or ethnic minority descent, because EWG and Rachel's Network want to make sure that minorities are considered as various biomonitoring studies construct a mosaic of the "human toxome," the pollution in people.
EWG asked five laboratories with international standing to look for 383 chemicals. They found up to 232 of them. That's a big number. It's troubling that many substances detected, like lead and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), have been banned or heavily restricted for decades.
But other chemicals are dangerous, ubiquitous and mostly unregulated, except for huge spills and on-the-job exposures. These are the targets of current debates over U.S. toxic chemicals policy:
- Bisphenol A (BPA), an integral ingredient of polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, also a synthetic estrogen, found in 9 of 10 samples. First reported U.S. finding of BPA in cord blood. The federal Food and Drug Administration is contemplating banning BPA in food containers. A few states have already barred BPA in baby bottles, sippy cups and a few other children's items. Many others are considering legislation, as is the U.S. Congress.
- Perchlorate, a rocket fuel component and widespread water pollutant that disrupts thyroid function key to brain development, found in 9 of 10 samples. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is weighing proposals to regulate the chemical in drinking water, effectively forcing an expensive clean-up at Cold War-era missile and rocket test sites and chemical storage facilities. Defense and aerospace contractors are lobbying against such a move.
- Tonalide and Galaoxolide, synthetic musk fragrances in cosmetics, detergents, soap and other scented household items, found in 7 of 10 samples. Health risks are unknown, but because the chemicals are widely detected in people and aquatic environments, health advocates such as the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics are urging disclosure, rigorous testing and regulation of ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products.
In all, EWG's 11 biomonitoring investigations have detected 414 industrial chemicals, pollutants and pesticides in 186 people of all ages. These findings help answer the "what's out there" question. They may also guide scientists and government officials as they decide where to focus research and regulatory efforts. Clearly, contaminants found in utero warrant urgent assessment.
Want to know more about biomonitoring? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) biomonitoring program site offers a wealth of information. Especially interesting: an article entitled Human Biomonitoring of Environmental Chemicals, by CDC and academic scientists, that describes biomonitoring as the "gold standard for assessing people's exposure to pollution."
Needed: Your vote for EWG to win $15,000!
Social media is empowering the people. Right?
Even if you're not convinced of that just yet, one thing is for sure: without your votes (yes, that's with an "s"), EWG won't win a $15,000 grant from the impressive Free Range Studios (they produced Annie Leonard's wildly successful 'The Story of Stuff').
See, we submitted a $15,000 grant proposal to Free Range Studios. Pretty standard non-profit stuff to submit a grant proposal, right? But. Rather than decide among themselves which proposal deserves funding, Free Range Studios is asking YOU to pick. Which is why they're calling the competition YOUTOPIA.
Our project to protect babies from toxic chemicals
As Enviroblog readers know, EWG has been working long and hard to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) by replacing it with the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act. We propose to use the $15,000 to develop a powerful social media campaign to empower the people (that's you...) to make that happen. Grassroots voices have and will continue to play a key role in long-overdue national chemical policy reform. A vision of YOUtopia, indeed.
VOTE NOW! Vote for EWG 3 Times!
We hope you'll take 5 minutes to vote 3 times for our project.
Thank you. Without your help we can't make this happen. Literally. Looks like social media really is empowering the people.
[Thanks to Flickr CC & deltaMike for the $ pic.]