House Peters Jr., who passed away yesterday, will always be fondly remembered as the bald, muscular, and ear-ringed Mr. Clean who peddled Procter and Gamble products.   And while I mean no disrespect to the gentle giant who was tough on grease and dirt, perhaps his death knell signals a return to healthier, more environmentally-friendly cleaning methods.

Try getting that jingle out of your head.   They just don’t write ‘em like they used to.

The toxins found in everyday household cleansers and detergents create terrible health hazards for both humans and the environment, leaving behind irritated skin, eyes and ears, and polluted groundwater, in the wake of that sparkle and shine.   I began steering clear of many of these products in high school, and while my suspicions were initially unfounded and mildly teased by my peers, the more I learned, the healthier and less-paranoid I felt.   My mind was really made up when

Read the rest of this entry »

We may have found some good news on the environmental front, as Canadian researchers have found that some levels of toxins are finally dropping in a wide array of Arctic animals.   The Canadian Press (which I assume is like the Associated Press, but, you know, Canadian), tells us that

The study, the first large-scale attempt in a decade to measure contaminants in common Arctic food animals, found carcinogens such as PCBs and other toxins derived from pesticides sprayed in the south have largely levelled off or have begun declining. ‘Organochlorines, like DDT or chlordane or toxaphene or industrial chemicals like PCB, are declining,’ said project leader Laurie Chan of the University of Northern British Columbia. ‘That’s good news.’

PCB levels, the study says, have fallen an average of 47% in Arctic animals since 1997.  This, in turn, has reduced the amount of the toxin to which Inuit people are exposed, which in turn has caused the “average PCB levels in the blood of pregnant women from 14 communities in the northwestern Northwest Territories fell 24 per cent between 2000 and 2007″.

Yet, the news is not 100% good stuff, as the scientists note that mercury levels have remained constant, and in some instances, on the rise (such at a surge of 42% in the ringed seal).

Read the rest of this entry »

Roses in honor of Rosa Parks make a great gift because it allows you to give someone something beautiful, support a beautiful cause, and honor the legacy of a beautiful woman. Organic Style, an eco-friendly, socially responsible, Fair Trade on-line boutique, is selling the Freedom: Rosa Parks Rose bouquet, and donating a portion of its proceeds to the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, which Rosa co-founded. The Institute’s youth leadership “Pathways to Freedom” program teaches students the stories and values of the civil rights movement, and encourages them to engage in social justice and, in turn, encourage social justice in their own communities, as they do in the video above made entirely by students in the Pathways Program.

Read the rest of this entry »

Some toxins are timeless. Take PCBs, aka polychlorinated biphenyls. Once used in a wide range of industrial and household products, PCBs were banned in the 70’s after research indicated a link to “thyroid toxicity, effects on immune, reproductive, nervous, and endocrine systems, and cancer effects including breast cancer,”  according to the Daily Green.

But their legacy lives on, because PCBs linger in our environment. Traces of this highly toxic contaminant have been found in the bodies of individuals born decades after PCBs were banned.

Where are the PCBs coming from? Researchers who conducted a study of 120 homes on Cape Cod discovered that one likely source in several homes where residents had significantly higher levels of PCBs in their blood was a floor finish called Fabulon, which was popular in the 50’s and 60’s.

So much for home, sweet home; between the lead paint, the asbestos tiles, and the PCB-tainted varnishes people slathered all over their houses for decades, it’s a wonder more of us weren’t born with all kinds of mental and physical defects. Although, come to think of it, an inexplicably high percentage of Republicans still approve of President Bush. Maybe they learned to crawl on a Fabulon-coated floor?

Learn more about PCBs at clearwater.org.   

The chemical that gives some lipsticks and nail polishes their gloss may increase the risk of breast cancer, according to scientists at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.Butyl benzyl phthalate, or BBP, belongs to a family of chemicals called phthalates, which mimic the female sex hormone estrogen. We live in a phthalate-saturated environment, because phthalates are so widely used to make plastics softer. Phthalates turn up in everything from baby bottles and food packaging to toys, carpets, and solvents, as well as cosmetics.And they’ve been turning up in the news, lately, too, because phthalates are increasingly suspected of contributing to early puberty, birth defects, kidney problems, infertility, and breast cancer.Consumer advocates are lobbying cosmetics manufacturers to drop the phthalates. A spokesman for The Women’s Environmental Network in Britain told the Daily Mail:

“There are safer alternatives”People are putting numerous cosmetics on their skin each day - from shower gel, to hair spray and moisturiser. Trace elements are being absorbed by the skin and they can build up in the body and have a long-term effect.”

So we may be inadvertently applying toxins to our pores, our hair, and nails in the name of getting squeaky clean and giving ourselves a bit of sheen. Ick. The “natural look” looks better all the time.For more information on Phthalates click HERE.

By Kerry Trueman

When it comes to consumer safety, Europe’s leaving the U.S. behind in a cloud of toxic dust, as investigative reporter Mark Shapiro told Fresh Air’s Terry Gross on Monday. We don’t ask our manufacturers to try to minimize the use of harmful chemicals in their products, and we don’t even require them to list potentially harmful ingredients to give consumers the option of making an informed choice.

Shapiro, author of Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products, and What’s at Stake for American Power, compares the European Union’s proactive approach to keeping dubious chemicals out of consumer goods to our own laissez faire, let-them-eat-lead policies.

Of course, much of this stuff is made in China, which, according to Shapiro, is perfectly happy to cater to the EU’s more stringent, consumer-friendly specifications on the one hand, while still cranking out stuff for American companies using inferior materials suspected of posing a hazard to consumers.

But American manufacturers’ decision to use potential toxins in their products doesn’t just threaten our own health. It harms our economy, too, as consumers here and abroad increasingly opt to buy goods from countries who hold their manufacturers to higher standards. We’re getting a reputation, globally, for being the toxin-tolerant nation. It’s truly sickening.

You can learn more about what to look out for–and who’s looking out for you–at the Environmental Working Group’s website.