Toxic Chemicals Are Polluting our Kids...

Pediatricians To Feds: Protect Kids From Toxic Chemicals

by Nancy Shute, April 25, 2011   NPR Health Blog

David McNew/Getty
Are BPA-free bottles really safer than the ones that are chock-full of bisphenol A? Good luck trying to find out.

It seems like every week there's another scary-sounding chemical intruding into our lives: Bisphenol A in baby bottles, phthalates in plastic food containers, PBDE flame retardants in furniture and electronics, triclosan in soaps and shampoos.

But good luck trying to figure if those chemicals actually put your family at risk.

If you're tired of the lack of solid information on the health effects of chemicals — well, the nation's pediatricians are tired, too. They think the Environmental Protection Agency is doing a crummy job of protecting children and pregnant women from chemical health threats. And they're calling for a major redo of the nation's law regulating the 80,000 or so chemicals in use.
  "I think there are many, many chemicals in many, many products on the market that are safe," says Jerome Paulson, a pediatrician and Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC. He's the lead author of a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics, asking the federal government to redo the country's 35-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act. "But I say that as a leap of faith."

The problem, Paulson told Shots, is that none of us know which chemicals are safe and which are health threats, because chemicals don't have to be tested for safety before they're used in consumer products.

The pediatricians want chemicals to be tested for safety before they come on the market, the way prescription drugs are now. They also want to see a post-market surveillance system, like there is for medications, so that if health problems do start cropping up, there's a way to monitor them and respond. Most of all, they want the feds to recognize that chemicals may pose very different threats to children than they do to adults.

Kids' bodies are not like adult bodies. Children also live differently than adults. A 9-month-old spends her days on the floor, picking up things and chewing on them. And that child's physical response to chemicals in the environment changes as her body changes.

It won't be easy to figure out the interplay between children's development and thousands of chemicals. So the pediatricians are starting with a call for tighter regulation of chemicals that already spark "reasonable levels of concern."

That's different than the current system, which requires the government to prove that a chemical poses an "unreasonable risk" to limit its use. As a result, the EPA has required safety testing of only about 2,000 chemicals, and has restricted use of just five: PCBs, chlorofluorocarbon propellants for aerosol cans; dioxin; asbestos; and hexavalent chromium.

"The current level of proof is so high it's essentially been impossible to protect the public from chemicals that are clearly harmful," Paulson says.

A spokesman for the American Chemistry Council, an industry association, told Shots that the Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA, does need to be modernized. An ACC spokesman said that in the interim, "there are a whole host of regulations and programs in place to address the safe use of chemicals and protect public health."

Parents should push for changes in TSCA, Paulson says, so that safety information is routinely available for all products on the market. "It's the right of users to know what they're using and it's the responsibility of manufacturers to put safe products on the market."

A bill to reform TSCA, introduced by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and four other Democratic senators earlier this month, would give the EPA the power to get safety information from manufacturers, and investigate high-risk chemicals first.

Dave and Deanna Waters
Promoters for The Healthy Home book
by Dave Wentz and Dr. Myron Wentz, PhD

Surprising Health Risks in Your Home

Is Your Home Making Your Family Sick?

Follow these five tips for keeping your home safe. (Vanguard Press)

Southampton - Co-authors and father/son team Dr. Myron Wentz and Dave Wentz of the new book, "The Healthy Home" (already a New York Times bestseller) take you from room-to-room through a typical home, pointing out the surprising health risks posed by the everyday products and behaviors of any modern family.

In your Kitchen: Although non-stick Teflon pans are convenient, in the long run, a little extra oil is healthier. Non-stick pans can release up to six toxic gases when heated on a regular electric stove, including two carcinogens, two global pollutants, and a chemical known to be lethal to humans.

In your Bedroom: Open any person's closet and you are bound to find the latest from your last dry cleaning run. Dry cleaning is a process where stain-removing chemicals such as Perchloroethylne (perc) is most commonly used. Long-term exposure to perc can cause kidney and liver damage and has been scientifically proven to cause cancer in animals. Even short-term exposure has its risks, including dizziness, a rapid heart rate, headaches and skin irritation. There are several things to limit perc exposure. First, you can reduce risk by airing out dry-cleaned clothing - hang outside/garage before wearing. For extra precaution, you can wear an undershirt/tank top underneath perc-treated clothing.

In the Laundry Room: Who doesn't love the clean scent of laundry detergents and fabric softeners? What most people don't know is that how these products get that "mountain spring'" or "fresh cotton scents" is through toxic compounds. A simple solution is to stick to more "green," natural alternatives or try replacing fabric softener with one-half cup of white vinegar to reduce static cling and soften clothing.

In the Bathroom: How many "products" (shaving cream, cologne, deodorant, shower gel, shampoo, sunscreen) are part of your daily regiment? The government has created the terminology "maximum safe level" to set limits on the safe dosage of chemicals in products. However, if you are putting the maximum save level on your body in six different products, you have six times the safe dosage of those chemicals heading to your bloodstream. Take note of your daily beauty regimen and cut out a few things that aren't necessary.

In the Garage: Who doesn't love that "new car" smell? People love that scent so much that they buy car scents that recreate it. Where does that smell come from? The scent of a new car is the off-gassing of fresh plastics, vinyls, leathers, paints, and synthetic carpets. And new car owners are sucking it down by the lungful. Roll down your windows if weather permits and leave them open when not in the car, the cleaner air is on the outside.

The Healthy Home: Thanks Bay Area, See You Soon SoCal!

March 29 2011 written by Tim Haran

 

The Healthy Home book tour roared into the San Francisco Bay Area on Tuesday night and brought with it 90 minutes of eye-opening information, jaw-dropping experiments, and applause-inducing facts from the book’s authors, Dave Wentz and Dr. Myron Wentz.

Attendees arrived early and lined up to get their books signed by the authors ahead of the enlightening presentation. Once the lights dimmed in the ballroom, Dave and Dr. Wentz took the audience on a tour of a typical home, identifying hidden dangers and offering simple solutions for making their homes healthier. Believe me, there were several ooohhs and aaahhhs during the presentation.

Dr. Wentz even showed his poetic side at one point, during a discussion on air quality in the home. “You know, Dave, a real solution to pollution is dilution,” he said to rousing applause.
One week ago the highly anticipated The Healthy Home, a book packed with material to help protect your family’s most important environment, officially hit bookstores and quickly shot toward the top of Amazon.com’s rankings. And now, the 16-city North American book tour is taking these all-important messages to the masses in a show unlike any other.

If you have yet to make plans to attend one of these events — did I mention they’re free? — I highly recommend you do so immediately. Find the complete schedule on myhealthyhome.com.

“It is amazing,” said Christy Phung, of Santa Clara, following the event. “If your health is important, if your family’s health is important, come to The Healthy Home book tour. This will be an amazing experience for you and your family. So spread the word!”




Please encourage your friends, family, and other loved ones to read The Healthy Home, attend a book-tour stop, and put into practice in your own homes the simple solutions offered by Dave and Dr. Wentz. And check back here or on Facebook for comments from attendees who learned how to make their homes healthier!

Be sure to like The Healthy Home on Facebook and follow on Twitter for the latest updates!