Toxic flame retardants found in baby products
Posted on May 19, 2011 We didn't really need another reason to pass the Safer Alternatives Bill so that we can start to transition away from toxic chemicals and to safer alternatives, but this week we got one anyway.
A study of products designed for newborns, babies, and toddlers – including car seats, breast feeding pillows, changing pads, crib wedges, bassinet mattresses and other items made with polyurethane foam – found that 80% of products tested contained chemical flame retardants that are considered toxic, according to a peer-reviewed study published in Environmental Science & Technology Journal. Other retardants discovered had so little health and safety data on them it is not possible to know their effects at this time. The same flame retardants found in some of the products are also found in children’s bodies and widely dispersed throughout the environment and in food.
Read more...Toxic Chemical in School Supplies
Posted on Aug 3, 2009 As September approaches, parents are preparing their children for school, yet most parents are unaware of the toxic plastic, PVC or vinyl, in their child’s backpack, lunchbox, binders, art supplies, and the list does not stop there. The Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ) released a new Back to School Guide to PVC-Free School Supplies today. This new guide gives parents recommendations for safer, PVC-free school supplies in over 20 product categories.
“This guide gives parents and teachers the guidance they need in a format that is easy to use and understand,” said Ellie Goldberg, Newton, Vice President of Legislation for the Massachusetts Parent Teacher Association (PTA).
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No More Toxic Tub
Posted on Mar 12, 2009
It shouldn’t be too much to ask that baby products be free of toxic chemicals. This is apparently not the case: according to a recent report (PDF) released by Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, dozens of commonly used baby shampoos and lotions contain hazardous ingredients, most prominently formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane.
Companies argue that the amount of formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane contained in these products is small enough to not cause any cause for concern. The use of these chemicals is so widespread, however, that many parents unwittingly use products that contain one or both of these chemicals every time they bathe their child.
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Young Children in U.S. Polluted with Flame Retardants
Posted on Sep 4, 2008
In the first nationwide investigation of chemical fire retardants (PBDEs) in parents and their children, researchers found that toddlers and pre-schoolers typically had 3 times more of the neurotoxic compounds in their blood as their mothers.
The study suggests that U.S. children 1 to 4 years of age bear the heaviest burden of flame retardant pollution in the industrialized world.
Laboratory tests – conducted in collaboration with Dr. Åke Bergman, a preeminent environmental chemist – found that in 19 of 20 U.S. families, concentrations of the toxic chemicals known as PBDEs were significantly higher in 1- to 4-year-old children than in their mothers.
Read more...Our Children's Health
Posted on Mar 27, 2008
We assume that many things in our children's daily lives are safe - but some are not.
The use of home and garden pesticides (weed and bug killers) is associated with increased likelihood of some kinds of childhood leukemia and brain cancer. Pesticides can also damage children's coordination, memory and stamina, including their ability to learn, play or draw a picture.
Hospitals often use IV tubing and other critical medical devices made of PVC plastic, which leaches a chemical that may cause testicular and respiratory damage in developing infants.
Read more...AHT Responds to Fisher-Price’s Recall of 1 Million Toxic Toys
Posted on Aug 2, 2007
Latest Toy Recall Has Advocates Calling for State Action
The recall by Fisher Price of nearly a million toys covered in lead paint highlights the lack of government oversight of toxic chemicals in toys and other children's products. This is not simply a problem coming from China; lead and other toxic chemicals are present in baby and children's products made in the US and elsewhere. And although some toxic toys are recalled, albeit after families bring them into their homes and children are exposed, millions of other toxic toys remain on store shelves, overlooked and unregulated by federal authorities.
Read more...New Report Calls For Action On Toxic Cleaning Products
Posted on Jul 24, 2007
Chemicals in Cleaning Products Linked to Asthma and Reproductive Problems
A report released today presents mounting evidence that exposure to chemicals in cleaning products is linked with health problems in people, particularly asthma and reproductive harm.
Household Hazards was released by the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, a Massachusetts coalition of over 150 organizations, including health professionals and labor unions, advocating for safer alternatives to toxic chemicals. The report details specific ingredients in household cleaners that could pose harm – particularly to children, women and workers – and calls for greater regulation of cleaning products sold on store shelves.
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