Join EWG to talk school lunch

By Lisa Frack

By Lisa Frack, EWG Social Media Manager (and lunch-packing mother)

Ann Cooper isn't called "The Renegade Lunch Lady" for nothing. She calls it like it is, and she can because she's been there -- in the kitchens, in the schools, with the kids.

Chef Ann, as she's called, was Nutrition Services Director for the Berkeley school district in California from 2005 to 2009. She's now School Nutrition Director for the Boulder Valley School District in Colorado.

And while I, too, am intimately connected to the subject of school lunches by virtue of my regular debates over the pros and cons of hot lunch with my 7-year-old son (he wants it five days a week, I say one - max!), I have not been there, in the kitchens, in the schools, with all those other kids!

Which is why I'm so looking forward to the opportunity to chat with - and learn from - Chef Ann about school lunches.

Join EWG's Ken Cook to chat online with Ann Cooper
EWG President Ken Cook -- who knows a thing or two about pesticides, BPA and the US agriculture system -- is hosting a online conversation with Chef Ann on Thursday, November 4 from 2-3 PM (Eastern), right here on Enviroblog. We'll be discussing the current debate over school lunch policy, including Chef Ann's experiences improving school lunches from within and her ideas for packing a nutritious lunch that your kids will actually eat!

Before our live chat, you might enjoy:

• Hearing (and seeing) what Chef Ann has to say on the topic in this short, but riveting, video.
• Reading her book, Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed our Children. If you buy it here on Amazon, EWG gets a percent of the sale, at no extra cost to you!
• Reading EWG's recent blog post about getting more fruits & veggies into school lunches
.

Introducing: EWG's Guide to Healthy Child Care

By Lisa Frack

By Lisa Frack with Rebecca Sutton, PhD

Truth is, when my husband and I chose a childcare facility for our kids (way back in 2003), the question of environmental health didn't even cross our minds.

Why not?

Because what mattered more, at the time, was its affordability, its proximity to my office so I could breastfeed over lunch and get there quickly in an emergency, and, of course, the quality of care. (Plus, I didn't work at EWG back then!).

But these days I want a daytime environment for my kids that's green and healthy - not bad for them. And while we can't all up and switch childcare centers in search of (literally) greener pastures, we can work with our current caregivers to "green" the spaces where our kids spend time. And when it's time to pick a new childcare center, we can add environmental health to our list of important criteria.

It's not nearly as hard as it is important. Childcare centers can start with these manageable steps - with an emphasis on protecting infants, who are the most vulnerable:

1: Create a healthy space

• Seal or remove arsenic-treated wood decks & play structures. Those built before 2003 likely contain arsenic. Don't allow children to eat at older picnic tables (or cover them with a cloth). Have kids wash hands after playing near these surfaces, or avoid them altogether.


• Watch for lead paint. Older paint may contain lead. Kids face health risks from loose chips and lead in dust. If your building was built before 1978, use a certified lead-safe contractor for any repairs. Learn more from the EPA.


• Don't use bug spray or weed killer inside or out. Safer alternatives are readily available.


• Clean greener & disinfect when kids aren't around. Choose certified green cleaning supplies, dust & vacuum often (with a HEPA filter), use fragrance-free laundry detergent and skip air fresheners & dryer sheets. Disinfectants can be toxic. Where necessary, disinfect with safer peroxide-based products or bleach. Always follow product directions. Learn more in EWG's school cleaners tests & report.


• Remove or repair furniture and mattresses with exposed foam. Before 2005, most foam was treated with toxic fire retardants.


• Take care with compact fluorescent light bulbs. Don't put them in lamps that can fall, releasing mercury. If a bulb breaks, clear the room, air it out, put on gloves, safety glasses & a dust mask, seal the waste, wash up. Replace mercury thermometers & thermostats with mercury-free options.

2: Eating & drinking

• Offer healthy snacks. Choose fruits & veggies from EWG's Clean 15 list or buy organic - and always wash them. Don't microwave food in plastic. Microwave popcorn bags contain toxic chemicals - try air-popping instead. Choose organic dairy and meat when possible; buy rBGH/hormone-free milk. Use BPA-free dishware. Learn how to pick safer plastics here.


• Wash little hands before eating - with plain soap & water. Skip anti-bacterial soaps - they're no better than plain soap and contain toxic triclosan. If you use alcohol-based hand sanitizers, choose fragrance-free. Learn more about safer hand washing here.


• Drink safer water. Filter tap water as needed to remove contaminants. Check EWG's Tap Water Database to learn your local water quality and find an effective filter. Test water fountains for lead.

3: Playtime!

• Avoid soft plastic toys & metal jewelry. Many plastic softeners are toxic. Choose items labeled PVC- and phthalate-free. Avoid metal trinkets and play jewelry, which can contain heavy metals. Skip face paint unless you know it's free of lead and other contaminants. Natural, unpainted wood toys are a good choice.


• Use safer art supplies. Don't use rubber cement, permanent or dry-erase markers or materials meant for adults. Stick with paper/cardboard, yarn, wood & homemade play dough. If you don't know what's in something, skip it.


• Apply safer sunscreen. Use EWG's Sunscreen Guide to find ones with SPF 30+ and zinc or titanium. Skip oxybenzone, retinyl palmitate, sprays, added bug repellent. Wear hats & avoid mid-day sun.


• Adjust outdoor play based on local air quality using AIRNow.gov. On high pollution days, limit high-energy outdoor play for kids, especially those with asthma.

Most important for infants:
Infants' teeny, developing bodies make them especially vulnerable to toxic chemicals. These 4 tips top our list for their environmental health:

• Mix formula with fluoride-free water, as the American Dental Association recommends. If your tap water has fluoride, buy non-fluoridated water.


• Don't serve ready-to-eat formula - it contains more BPA (from the can lining).



• Never microwave food or heat milk in plastic. Use glass or ceramic instead.


• Use glass or BPA-free baby bottles. Discard older plastic ones, especially if scratched.


• Use fragrance-free wipes, diapers & diaper cream. Search for fragrance-free products on EWG's Skin Deep.

Download EWG's Guide to Healthy Child Care - then share it with your friends and child care providers!

Breast Cancer: One in Eight

By Lisa Frack

By Elaine Shannon, EWG

The stats are stark: according to the National Cancer Institute, at some point in her life, one in eight American women will be told she has breast cancer.

There's actually a little good news in the coldly clinical government data: the number of new cases is actually trending down. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calculates that incidence of breast cancer has decreased by two percent a year, from 1999 to 2006. The National Cancer Institute points out that if the current rate holds steady, 12.2 percent of women will be diagnosed with the disease -- which means 87.8 percent of us will escape it.

But it's not good enough.

Because nearly all of us can name seven other women we love and on whom we rely. Going by the odds, one of them will receive the diagnosis.

Because soon after a mother, daughter, partner, sister, aunt, cousin, mother-in-law, sister-in-law or close friend has had that tough talk with the doctor, we'll be hurting, too, and worried about what lies ahead for everyone in the circle we hoped would be unbroken for many more years.

That's why Breast Cancer Awareness Month is important to us all. We at Environmental Working Group have been doing our part to explore and highlight the latest research illuminating possible causes of breast cancer, especially environmental factors that can be controlled.

New breast cancer resource: The path of wellness & healing DVD
This month, EWG is highlighting a new resource -- a two-disc DVD set entitled "Breast Cancer: The Path of Wellness & Healing, " produced by Nina Montée Karp, Joyce Ostin, Dr. Harvey Karp and Michael Ostin. This production offers a comprehensive, yet down-to-earth journey through the breast cancer experience, from diagnosis through treatment and recovery to stories of healing and hope. It features medical and wellness experts and breast cancer survivors.

The price of the DVD set has been reduced during the month of October, and half the proceeds of purchases made by EWG supporters will be returned to EWG. Enter the code EWGSALE when you check out. Purchase your DVD set today. These funds will advance our research on the environmental causes of cancer and on measures that may prevent the disease and force that trend line down to the vanishing point

Because if you, or someone you care about, is the one in eight, that's what matters.

[Photo of EWG's Lisa Frack and her daughter, Georgia. Neither of whom want to be that 1 in 8.]

More Scientists Weigh In on BPA Dangers

By Lisa Frack

By Alex Formuzis, EWG V-P for Communications

The list of studies highlighting the health risks of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) grows longer by the week. Of course, all research is important, but a new study by a team of scientists led by Gail S. Prins, Ph.D. of the University of Illinois at Chicago may be the most significant work on BPA in some time.

What is particularly compelling is how the team conducted its research, as well as the particular health hazards it explored.

Bisphenol A is a petrochemical derivative essential to making polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resin. Both materials are unstable. When used in food packaging, such as hard plastic bottles and the epoxy lining of food cans, they break down, leaching BPA into surrounding liquid. This is crucial because BPA is also a synthetic estrogen.

What the Prins research team did that's new
The Prins team dosed test rats with just 10 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight -- equivalent to the amount typically found in people. The BPA-treated rats developed prostate inflammation and lesions in adulthood.

Doctors often see the same lesions, called prostate intraepithelial neoplasia, or PIN, in adult men. PIN lesions frequently develop into prostate cancer and are considered a key warning signal for the disease. In 2006, more than 203,000 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, and more than 28,000 men died from it.

These new findings should nudge the FDA
The Prins team's findings bring more pressure to bear on the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has always insisted that BPA contamination in food and drink is too slight to pose risks to humans. FDA has generally dismissed the many studies that exposed lab animals to vastly greater BPA than people would encounter in everyday life. The Prins study did not rely on massive BPA doses but much smaller amounts relevant to human experience.

FDA and industry scientists have also discounted many studies that have found BPA hazardous to health because researchers had injected lab animals with the chemical. People are assumed to ingest BPA mainly orally, in tainted food and drink. Prins and her team showed that injecting and feeding animals BPA caused the same toxicological impact. Whether the doses were by injection or oral, the study said, adult male rats "exhibited nearly identical, heightened susceptibility to PIN incidence and score."

FDA scientists have argued that when people or animals ingest BPA, it is rapidly detoxified and excreted from the body. But a team of scientists led by Joe M. Braun of the Harvard School of Public Health published a study this month (October 8) in the Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives that found elevated levels of BPA in a group of pregnant women who ate canned vegetables daily.

This research bolsters a 2007 study by Environmental Working Group that found that BPA had leached into more than half of canned foods tested. The analysis concluded that pregnant women could receive significant amounts of BPA from the canned foods in their diets.

Why hasn't FDA restricted BPA in food packaging?
On May 9, 2009, The Milwaukee Journal published emails showing that Mitchell Cheeseman, the agency's Acting Director of Food Additive Safety, closely consulted with industry-funded BPA lobbyists. Dr. Cheeseman sought advice from the American Chemistry Council on how to discredit independent studies of BPA toxicity, yet he remains at the helm of the agency's efforts on BPA.

EWG has written FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg asking that she and her colleagues take into account both new and illuminating studies as they prepares to make public their updated assessment of BPA. EWG asked Dr. Hamburg to show her commitment to protecting human health "by removing Dr. Cheeseman from work related to this hazardous chemical and by taking action to reduce the public's exposures to BPA."

You can read the full letter (pdf) here: fdaletter.pdf

Cash register jobs join list of hazardous professions

By Lisa Frack

By Alex Formuzis, EWG Vice-President for Media Relations

Firefighters and beat cops. Soldiers, farm workers, war correspondents and hard hats who dangle from high iron as they build skyscrapers. Those are a few professions most folks consider risky. And if you're pregnant and happen to work behind a cash register, you, too, are not risk-free.

The experts say the most significant route of exposure to the estrogen-mimicking chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) is through canned food and beverages, but a person's occupation may also be an important factor.

EWG tests detected BPA in store receipts
Last spring, researchers at Environmental Working Group collected 36 samples of cash register receipts from fast food restaurants, big retailers, grocery stores, gas stations and post offices in seven states and the District of Columbia and had them tested by a renowned lab. The tests showed that 40 percent of the receipts had high levels of BPA. And testing by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that retail workers have higher levels of BPA in their urine than non-retail workers.

Federal tests confirm EWG findings
Now a new, federally funded, multi-year study is confirming our concerns about BPA in receipts. More than 380 pregnant women from the Cincinnati area had their urine tested for BPA at three points during pregnancies and at birth, and the results are troubling. Women in the study who worked at a register had an average of 55 percent more BPA in their urine than those employed as teachers. Many register receipts are coated with BPA, which brings out the black print without the need for ink.

Canned food another source of BPA
Additionally, study participants who ate at least one can of vegetables a day had on average 44 percent more BPA in their urine than those who consumed no canned food. Higher levels of the chemical were also detected in women who smoked, inhaled secondhand smoke or routinely came in contact with phthalates commonly found in vinyl products. BPA is often found in cigarette filters and is an ingredient in many plastic products, including some food packaging.

All told, 90 percent of the 389 women in the study had detectable BPA.

This latest research comes as policymakers in Washington, D.C. are considering proposals to restrict the use of the chemical as an ingredient in some consumer products.

The good news: You can reduce your BPA exposure
Although the study underscores that there are multiple pathways of exposure to BPA, there is some good news. The threat posed by all of these routes can be dramatically reduced, if not eliminated all together:

• If you handle receipts at work, wear latex gloves.
• Limit your consumption of canned food as much as possible.
• If you're a smoker, quit.
• Try to avoid polycarbonate and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics. Polycarbonate is often used to produce hard plastic water bottles and eating utensils, and PVCs are common in Tupperware and certain food wrappings. Ziploc, Glad Saran all claim to be both BPA and PVC free.

Thanks to Flickr CC & nateOne for the plethora of cash registers pictured here.

How green is your Halloween?

By Lisa Frack

Halloween is spooky enough without having to worry about the toxins in your decorations and costumes. You and your family should have your haunted fun -- without being exposed to an abundance of toxic chemicals.

To help you trick-or-treat a little greener this year, we researched some of the most common Halloween products. So go ahead, get into the holiday spirit -- and use our Healthy Halloween Tips to help!

Just follow these simple steps to green your Halloween routine:

1. Pick play makeup carefully. Many children like to wear colorful cosmetics as part of their costumes. If they do, make sure they're using safer products and applying them as directed. Visit cosmeticsdatabase.com to look up your products and find safer ones.

Kids should avoid:

• Face paints can contain lead, which can impair brain development at extremely low doses, as well as nickel, cobalt and chromium, which can cause skin sensitization and contact dermatitis. Learn more here.


• Lipstick can also contain hidden lead. Because little ones tend to eat almost as much as they put on their lips, it's best to avoid lipstick all together. Opt instead for a shiny, beeswax-based lip balm. You can find some on Amazon.


• Nail polish often contains dibutyl phthalate and toluene, chemicals linked to hormone disruption and cancer. You can find safer nail polishes on Skin Deep.


• Cosmetics in powder form can easily be inhaled. Depending on the particle size, the powder can lodge in children's nasal passages and even lungs -- where it may cause damage.


• Fragranced products. Read ingredient labels and avoid products listing "fragrance" -- EWG research found that fragrances may contain allergens or hormone-disrupting chemicals. Learn more in our short video.

2. Skip the (colored) hairspray. Many hairsprays contain toxic chemicals and fragrance. Kids can easily breathe in sprays. Instead, find a great hat or wig at a second-hand store; or create a great hair-do with ribbons, barrettes and safer, non-spray hair products.

3. Burn more eco-friendly candles -- if at all. Candles can give off toxic compounds. Choose fragrance-free candles made from bee, palm or soy wax. Traditional paraffin-wax candles are made from petroleum by-products. Order your eco-friendly candles.

4. Don't wear synthetic facemasks or teeth. Masks and fake teeth are made from a variety of synthetic materials that aren't always labeled. Plastics may be softened with endocrine-disrupting phthalates. Rather than covering your head with unknown, possibly toxic materials, make your own mask from simple materials or try a half-face, masquerade-style mask instead.

5. Offer treats that you would like your kids to receive. Hand out items that have fewer, more natural ingredients. Both Dr. Weil and Dr. Greene offer more tips on choosing Halloween treats.

6. Create a low-impact costume. Rather than buying a new costume, get creative with items you already own or can get used at a local resale shop or from friends. Consider a costume swap at school or among friends. Learn more about hosting your own swap.

7. If you're going to - or hosting - a holiday party or planning a quick meal, skip the single-use dinnerware. Choose a more sustainable option, like compostable products. Find compostable dinnerware on Amazon.

8. Decorate naturally. Pick up pumpkins, gourds and hay bales from a local farm to create a haunting scene and reuse decorations from year to year.

Happy (green) Halloween!

Rachel Maddow: Don't Frack Me, Bro!

By Lisa Frack

By Lisa (yes it's my real name I'm not lying I promise) Frack, EWG

For a while there, it was just environmental watchdogs like EWG and film makers like Josh Fox (Gasland) and Debra Anderson (Split Estate) talking about the environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing (aka "fracking") to extract natural gas from deep shale deposits.

But as awareness - and opposition - spreads, the issue is getting mainstream attention. Case in point is this segment on The Rachel Maddow Show, where she talks with anti-fracking activist and actor, Mark Ruffalo.

Too bad you can't really order the t-shirt she described that reads "DON'T FRACK ME, BRO" on the back.

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