MamAnomolie

I wasn't this smart in my former life. Let me explain. I used to work in the natural resources/environmental health field. The people that surrounded me every day could identify wildflowers, were master composters and were well versed on the pollutants found in our groundwater.

Now I am a stay-at-home mom. The adults I am now surrounded by have come from many different fields. I hang out with former teachers, reading specialists, chemical engineers, vet techs...the list goes on. I sometimes forget that we don't all share a similar work background, and then something will happen that brings it sharply into focus. Recently, for example, I picked up a cicada at a play date and then identified a butterfly that flew past us. Everyone was impressed. I felt like a rock star.

It happened again recently at another play date when some of the moms were talking about their "new to them" cars recently purchased for their expanding families. Somebody lamented that they didn't get to enjoy that new car smell. "True," I said,"but it's not good for you, so there's another plus to buying used."

"It's not good for you?"
"What's not good for you?"
"The new car smell is bad?"

The comments sort of echoed in a circle around the room. Everyone was looking at me. Half of me felt like a rock star. The other half felt like one of those people who watches people eat something and then says, "Do you know what they put in that?"

So, here is the down low on that new car smell. I don't say this to point fingers at people (except perhaps car manufacturers), but rather as an opportunity to inform and perhaps empower ourselves as consumers. We assume that products are tested and deemed to be safe before they are offered in the marketplace, and that if they are found to be potentially harmful they would immediately be removed from the marketplace. This is, unfortunately, not the marketplace in which we live. We live in the marketplace of new car smells.


That smell comes from phthalates and PBDE's. Crazy words, lots of consonants in a row...here's what they mean. Phthalates are used to soften plastics. PBDEs (Polybrominated diphenyl ethers) are flame retardants. What you're smelling are these chemicals off-gassing from your car's interior. Phthalates can cause all sorts of health problems, but most notably are classified as reproductive toxicants and probable carciniogens. PBDEs impair learning, memory and behavior, even at low levels, in lab rats. They have been found in the breast milk of every woman who has ever been tested.

The Ecology Center, based in Ann Arbor, MI, has some great resources for learning more about the new car smell. They even give rankings for some of the best and worst cars on the market based on levels of toxic substances found in the vehicles.

I know, let's be honest, most of us have a long list of preferred features for a new car, and vehicle air quality is probably not on it. Even if you don't choose your car based on which one has the lowest level of new car smell, you can still reduce your exposure. Used cars are a great option since they have likely already offgassed. If you do get a new car, open the windows as much as you can to let fresh air circulate inside. Finally, heat tends to make the problem worse, so be sure to open the windows if your car has been sitting in the sun.

While I would love to say that the "new car smell" phenomenon is an anomaly, unfortunately, it's not. There are a lot of smells that many of us associate with good things - new car, perfume, our favorite soap - that are not good for us. Many of these smells are VOCs (volatile organic compounds) that can be harmful to our health. While it's not a fun topic to think about, as a consumer, and as a mother, I would rather be informed about the products and materials in my home and environment, and try to choose as wisely as I can.

We all want to use the safest products for our wee ones, but who has the time to research all of the products out there and find out which ones are free of BPA, PVC, and other potentially harmful chemicals? Thanks to the hard work of the folks over at SafeMama, now you don't have to!

in 2007, Kathy Scoleri was a mom like the rest of us who was totally overwhelmed by having to research safety issues for the products she was purchasing. Not only did she do her research, but she also decided to start SafeMama to help other parents who were also in search of the safest options out there. Kathy, from one mother to another, let me just say THANK YOU!

My favorite part of the SafeMama web site is the cheat sheets. They make it so easy to find all of the information you need in one place on a single topic. I wanted to get some teethers for Sophie, but didn't want her putting things in her mouth that were full of BPA or phthalates. I went to SafeMama's BPA-Free Pacifiers and Teethers Cheat Sheet and immediately had a list of available options from a source that I trust. Over the past few days, I've been checking out the cheat sheet covering dishes and utensils in preparation for Sophie beginning solid foods.

There are more than 20 cheat sheets on the SafeMama site. This is a resource, like the Cosmetic Safety Database, that I will keep going back to. You rock, SafeMama! Now, if you could just create a cheat sheet on putting babies down for a nap, all will be right with the world.

It's the first day of summer, which means it's time to slather on the sunscreen. The problem is, some of the ingredients in those sunscreens could be unhealthy. Furthermore, many of the sunscreens on the market simply don't do a very good job of protecting your skin from the suns harmful rays.

The Food and Drug Administration began writing regulations for sunscreen in 1978....are you waiting for the rest of that sentence, because there is no more. They have yet to issue their final regulations after thirty-two years!

So, interested in which sunscreens have safe ingredients and will provide the protection you need? The Environmental Working Group has come to the rescue again with their 2010 Sunscreen Guide. Take a look at where your favorite brand ranks, and find out which sunscreens you can feel good about using on yourself and your family!

There are a lot of things that we know are better for the environment and for environmental health, but they are hard to do or take a lot of time. Or maybe we're not sure about the alternative products to use to replace the non-healthy, non-environmental ones. Or maybe there is a high cost associated with making the change.

Here's something you can do that is pretty straightforward - quit using non-stick cookware. Non-stick pots and pans are coated with polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE. The brand name that most people are familiar with is Teflon. The problem with non-stick coatings occur when they are heated (something you're obviously going to do to your pots and pans). The coating breaks down and emits harmful chemicals.

The question has been, "At what temperature does Teflon and other PTFEs begin to break down?" It depends on whether you ask DuPont (the makers of Teflon), or independent researchers. Now, I am a big believer in scientific research and not jumping to conclusions, but I also tend to abide by the precautionary principle - if something is suspected of causing harm, even if the exact cause and effect is not fully understood, it's best to try and avoid it. Oh, and one other thing that makes me lean toward avoiding non-stick pots and pans? People who own birds cannot cook with non-stick cookware because THEIR BIRDS WILL DIE! Yeah, kind of like the canary in the coal mine, except it's in your kitchen, which I would like to think is much safer than a coal mine.

I'd rather have a few things stick to the pan than worry about what toxic fumes my family might be breathing in.

Check out EWG's wealth of information on the toxicity of Teflon.

When you are pregnant, you'll find that friends, acquaintances and even complete strangers will offer you advice on pregnancy and parenting. People seem to feel comfortable saying things that they would not normally think is appropriate. Like when a woman who works in my building told me that I was becoming "S-shaped."

As for the advice, a good friend of mine and mother of a one-year-old told me that it's best to just say, "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," even if you vehemently disagree. I have found this to be a very useful phrase, and have even used it on her from time to time. Overall, I have been enjoying hearing people's perspectives and ideas.

So, for you pregnant ladies out there, although I know you're being bombarded with advice, I thought I would share a few resources that I found recently and thought were helpful. The first is from the folks at the Environmental Working Group. They actually sent it to me in a comment to one of my previous blogs about their work. I was (a) flabbergasted that someone else was reading this and (b) impressed that they took the time to write and share more resources. I thought their 10 Healthy Pregnancy Tips were great. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the number of things you have to worry about when you're pregnant, but this list seemed manageable. It also provided a lot of resources to help you act should you so choose. Thanks, EWG!

The second resource comes from Rachel Wolf of LuSa Organics and her blog, Clean. I met Rachel once a LONG time ago when I was in graduate school in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. She is one of those amazing people who live a life that I admire but know I could never emulate. I love reading her blog, and figure if I can take away just a smidgen of the organic, handmade, non-consumeristic vibe and apply it to my own life I'm doing well.

A friend of mine who introduced me to her blog told me about the New Baby Checklist that had been posted and said it had a good list of what newborns and new mamas really needed. I must admit, the first thing out of my mouth was, "It doesn't tell me to grow and collect almonds to grind into my own homemade postpartum belly paste, does it?" She promised that it did not. I checked out the checklist, and I suggest all you pregnant people out there check it out as well. It was created for a wide audience. It may lack some things that you think are must-haves, but when you are overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that is out there for new babies and new parents, it's great to see a scaled down list of what you really need. It's worth taking a look, and the Clean blog is definitely a great source of inspiration for anyone!

What if fashion was updated as infrequently as the Toxic Substances Control Act? That's right, check out those bell bottoms!

Unfortunately, the law put in place to protect consumers from harmful chemicals is from 1976. It would be one thing if it was an effective law to begin with, but it wasn't, and things have only gotten worse.

The amazing folks at the Environmental Working Group just released a report entitled Off the Books: Industry's Secret Chemicals. The report explains how, buy simply claiming that certain information is a "trade secret," the chemical industry does not allow the public to access information about 17,000 of the more than 83,000 chemicals used in products. From 1990 to 2005, the number of confidential chemicals has more than quadrupled. It's not just small amounts of these chemicals being produced, either, but hundreds of thousands of tons.

Click here for more information on our major lack of information. Thanks, EWG!

Greetings! I managed to come down with a cold the day after Christmas. That and some major computer problems have kept me from blogging very much, but I did want to share this article from Healthy Child Healthy World. Many of us have heard that vinyl and PVC are not so good for us, but this piece gives more information as to why that's the case and whether all vinyl is made of PVC.

One easy thing that I've done in the house is get rid of the vinyl shower curtain liners. I bought cloth ones on their place. You can just stick the whole thing in the washer when it starts to get funky. I cheat and have two for each shower. That way, I don't have to stress about getting the laundry done.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and has a happy new year!!!

Three large chemical companies and the Environmental Protection Agency have struck a deal to phase out Decabromodiphenyl ether (Deca), a toxic flame retardant, by December of 2012. A full-fledged ban of the substance will take place a year later. Deca is commonly used in electronics as well as furniture, and is a strong neurotoxin and suspected carcinogen. Click here for more information on the ban from the Environmental Working Group.

Reading about the banning of this substance reminded me of an encounter I had a few years ago. I was doing a presentation about informed consumer choices for a group taking part in a leadership development program. These were highly educated people who were leaders in the public, private and non-profit fields. We were playing a very competitive game of Eco-Jeopardy and had come to a question about VOCs in paints and other household materials. One of the participants stopped me in the middle of my explanation of what VOCs are and some of the concerns about them and said, "Do you mean to tell me that there is a substance that is known to cause health problems and the EPA hasn't banned it?"

I just stared at him for a moment. This was one of those instances where what I wanted to say was nowhere close to what I had to say. I was utterly taken aback that he actually believed all health impairing substances had been banned. I realized as he was staring at me just as incredulously as I was staring at him that he truly believed that someone somewhere in some government agency was taking care of all of this.

In actuality, there are agencies set up to protect us, but there are a lot of out-dated laws and untested chemicals. These agencies are underfunded and face very strong lobbying opposition. There are a lot of fingers you can point to try and pinpoint who's to blame when it comes to protecting consumers, but at least one of those fingers points right back at the consumer. Companies are making what we, the consumers, demand of them.

I am a firm believer that we as consumers need to become informed and make smart decisions for ourselves. Yes, there needs to be more transparency. Yes, the people with the money have too much clout. But I still think some of the responsibility falls on the consumer to become more educated and aware of what they are buying and the impacts these choices have on themselves, other people and the environment.

So, here's to more action being taken to protect consumers from toxic substances and to becoming better informed as we vote with our dollars. I'm going to toddle my little pregnant self down off of my soapbox now.

Recently while watching television with my husband, a commercial came on for some lip gloss. "Sometimes I wish I was one of those people who could see a commercial for something like lip gloss and just go out and buy it," I said to Jonathan. I am not one of those people. Not since becoming more aware of all of the questionable ingredients that can be found in our lip gloss, shampoo, lotion - all of our personal care products.

Luckily, there is a GREAT resource out there that can help you sort through all of those ingredients and make informed decisions about what you put on yourself. It's the Cosmetic Safety Database from the Environmental Working Group. The Cosmetic Safety Database lets you look up just about any personal care product out there. Each one has been ranked on a scale of 1 to 10 based on the known and suspected hazards or each of the ingredients.

The database is incredibly thorough. One thing I really like about it is that you can look up everything from the froo froo fancy organic shampoo to the CVS brand of shampoo. But c'mon, doesn't somebody already test all of these products for safety? Nope. And while there are about 1,000 ingredients banned from personal care products in the European Union, there are only about 9 banned here in the U.S.

So, take a look at the Cosmetic Safety Database, but be warned, you may never see lip gloss commercials the same way.

Check out this free downloadable e-book from The Soft Landing all about how to avoid toxic plastics. It includes information on BPA, phthalates and PVC. I love the book's opener...

"You shouldn't have to be a rocket scientist to choose safe eating gear and toys
for your family."

How true!

Up until today, I have been quite frustrated on my quest for no-VOC paint for the nursery. VOCs, or Volatile Organic Compounds, off-gas from a number of different materials, including most paints. They are know to cause a number of adverse health effects, and avoiding them can greatly improve the indoor air quality of your home. The great thing is that now there are several no-VOC and low-VOC paint options out on the market.

My frustration came in finding these products. Since I knew they were available and I want to healthiest space possible for our little girl, I was set on finding a no-VOC paint. At both Lowes and a local Sherwin Williams store I had nearly identical conversations with store employees.

Me: "Do you carry any no VOC paint?
Employee" "Yes, this brand has no VOCs." (Olympic paint at Lowes and Harmony paint at Sherwin Williams)
Me: "Oh, so the tints don't have VOCs either?"
Employee: "No, the tints all have VOCs."

What I found particularly annoying was that I had to ask to get this information. Not many people shopping for paint for their house get the plain white that comes ready in the can. Of course I'm going to have it tinted, and if I'm looking for no-VOCs, I don't want it in my paint or the tint.

A few weeks ago I did go to Home Depot and found that they do have a line of no-VOC paints that comes in no-VOC colors. The brand is called Freshaire. The problem is that there aren't nearly the number of colors available as you find with other paints. That being said, I was very pleased to find that one of the big box home improvement stores has made an investment in no-VOC paint, and when I asked for no-VOC paint, that is the only paint they mentioned. They didn't try to sell me a paint that was VOC-free only before colorants were added.

So, my husband, Jonathan, and I continued our search. And it ended today at the Common Ground Green Building Center in Durham, NC. If you live anywhere near Durham and you're looking for eco-friendly, person-friendly building supplies, I highly recommend it!

Paul, one of the co-owners of the store, showed us not one, not two, but three different brands that were no-VOC AND that came in loads and loads of colors. He carried AFM SafeCoat, Yolo Colorhouse and Mythic. Not only are these paints zero-VOC, Paul explained to us, but they also don't have a lot of the other toxic ingredients found in most other paints.

We went with a lovely light, light green made by AFM Safecoat. Very appropriately, the official name of the color we chose is 'Clean.' We also picked up some Mythic trim paint. I'll include pictures once we actually start painting.

I'm just happy to know that there really are no-VOC, healthier paint options out there, that you don't have to sacrifice color choices in order to use them and that there are people out there who are knowledgeable about your green building options. Thank you Paul! Thank you Common Ground Green Building Center! Thank you Jonathan for painting the nursery...soon!