Natural Home:Toxic Children’s Products?

We are surrounded everyday,almost every minute by synthetic chemicals. No mater how hard you try to avoid them,it is nearly impossible in todays society. So instead of getting discouraged by all the synthetic (and potentially toxic) chemicals my children are exposed to in a day,I try to focus on what I can do to reduce their exposure and then fall back on…“I was exposed to a lot more and so far so good”(fingers crossed). Here are a few of the biggies I try to avoid.

BPA

BPA has been in the news alot recently. There is a movement in California to get it banned in infant and children’s products and then there has been the recent “SIGG Scandle.”What is BPA? Bisphenol A (BPA) is “a plastic and resin ingredient used to line metal food and drink cans.”At this time there is no government safety standards for BPA in canned food and drinking cans. There are several published studies that believe BPA can be harmful at low doses including potentially “causes permanent alterations of breast and prostate cells that precede cancer,insulin resistance (a hallmark trait of Type II diabetes),and chromosomal damage linked to recurrent miscarriage and a wide range of birth defects including Down’s syndrome (vom Saal and Hughes 2005).”Quotations from the Environmental Working Group website.

There is a bill stalled in the Assembly (SB 797) to get BPA banned in infant products. (It was already passed in the Senate.) I have not yet read the bill and that is why I haven’t blogged on it before. Last week the Assembly voted 35 (ayes) and 31 (noes),but still fell short of the 41 votes necessary to pass the bill. The bill has been placed on hold until 2010 (CLICK HERE for the Los Angeles Times article). If you would like more information on BPA in infant products, CLICK HERE.

I have tried to avoid BPA’s as much as possible,but was discouraged to hear that SIGG bottles manufactured before August 2008 had BPA in the liners. I think like many other people,I trusted SIGG and their retailers to provide such information upon the bottles. Especially since their were advertising as a”green”product and a plastic alternative. If you are unsure of the date your bottle was manufactured CLICK HERE for information on how to identify the old an new liners. If you have a SIGG bottle manufactured before August 2008,there are two ways to replace them. (1) SIGG is offering to replace the liner in your existing bottles through their exchange program,but you do have to pay shipping;or (2) If you live by a Whole Foods, you can take your SIGG bottle back to Whole Foods and they will exchange it for free. We exchanged our last weekend and received 5 new SIGG bottles with no questions asked. I am still disappointed that SIGG did not take action earlier. They obviously knew it would be a problem if they changed the liners over a year ago. We bought most of our SIGG bottles before Ross was born (over 3 years ago) and since we can get replacements for free,I will continue to use them. But I would also like to mention that after Ross was born,I bought him a Kleen Kanteen instead of a SIGG. There were several reasons why. The biggest reason was that they make an adapter that works with AVENT nipples and sippy cup top (which are BPA free),(note Advent Bottles are not BPA free). Ross has only used the one Kleen Kanteen as a bottle,sippy cup,and now sports bottle,and it still is serving him well. I also find them easier to clean. The mouth is wider and there is no liner to worry about scratching. They are stainless steel,so I worry less about any leaching. And now they even make them in cool colors.

PVC

PVC  or Polyvinyl chloride is a widely used thermoplastic polymer (plastic). It is often made flexible by the use of phthalates. There is a concern among many environmental groups that phthalates are harmful to humans,especially children because they mimic human hormones. I haven’t found any hard evidence of these claims,but there are so many good reasons to avoid plastics (environmental and unknown health risks) that I try my best. But there are times when I feel like avoiding the plastics is unreasonable,for example in backpacks which are almost all made of polyester (plastic). As Claire went back to school I was looking at school supplies,backpacks and lunch boxes,that are PVC-free. I ran across this PVC-Free School Supply Guide published by the Center for Health,Environment,and Justice.  It is very confusing,not to mention time consuming to search for school supplies free of BPA,PVC,Lead,Teflon,etc…it gets overwhelming,but I did find this guide helpful.

Living with or without Plastics

I find it hard (and by hard,I mean nearly impossible) to avoid plastics. We have been given or acquired many plastic items over the last few decades. I truly believe that there is a place and need for some plastics in today’s world. But I do try to keep it out of my kids mouths,away from their food,drinks,etc. Even with all my “consciousness”about the potential hazards (health and environmental) of plastics,I still find it hard to give away or throw away perfectly good items and buy new ones,or sometimes I simply don’t have the money for example,coolers. We have a few we have acquired many coolers over the years (and I say acquired because I don’t remember buying them) and odds are they have PVC. And to pour salt in the wound,Claire’s school strongly recommends a small igloo cooler as a lunch box (for various reasons I won’t go into now). I wrestled with this for weeks and Claire had to use a make shift lunch box for the first week of school because I could not find an alternative that would work. Finally,Mark decided it wasn’t worth all the trouble. She is going to use the cooler just like everyone else in her school (and I mean everyone). I have to admit I was a little relieved not to worry about it anymore,but still concerned. So I make sure that her food is not touching the plastic directly. To do this I use the ever handy wax paper,our reusable snack bags,glass containers,and her Kleen Kanteen. My kitchen is still not plastic free,but if I have stopped purchasing plastic storage and cooking items and only kept the ones I feel won’t leach. Once they get scratches on them,they are recycled or tossed. The hardest thing to avoid is the plastics the food comes in. Even when you buy in bulk,many items come in plastic. It seems the food industry is getting more savy about the type of plastics they use and most are using #1 and #5 for packaging which are considered the “safest”and the easiest to recycle. I avoid #3,6,and 7. And I NEVER microwave anything in plastic!

Then there is the constant issue of the toys. It seems ever where you go now a days people are giving us little toys,most of them made of plastic. I don’t have the heart to take it away immediately,but like most children my kids interest in them often fades in a short time. Every few months,I go through their rooms and do a plastics dump. I basically give away all the plastic toys the rarely play with. Also,when Claire requests a toy or item that I do not want to buy for such reasons,I have begun to explain to her that plastic toys are wasteful and not good stewardship. She understands and sometimes is sad,but we put it on her wish list for birthdays and holidays. When the time comes,there is usually so much on the list that we can find something to agree on.

Mercury

“Mercury,a metallic element,is a silvery liquid that vaporizes when heated into a highly toxic,odorless gas. Mercury compounds once common in pesticides and industrial processes are also toxic,causing damage to the brain and nervous system,immune system,enzyme system and genetic system.”(EWG website) Mercury has been in the news the last few years as the concern over mercury poisoning from vaccinations became a heated debate. Thimerosal is a preservative that was often used in vaccinations,but that has been band in the US because it contains mercury. The vaccination debate still rages on,but I will not get into that now. Currently the most common way to get too much mercury is through fish,especially tuna. The environmental working group has a TUNA CALCULATOR that helps you identify how much tuna is safe for individuals by weight. If you or your family eat a lot of tuna,I would recommend checking it out. Also,the Monterey Bay Aquarium has a SEAFOOD and SUSHI Watch pocket guides that help you identify fish that are better choices for your health and the environment.

Recently I was concerned to read an article published by the Institute of Agricultural and Trade Policy that mercury was found in about 31% of foods containing high fructose corn syrup. Granted they only tested 55 food items and can not prove that the mercury came from the corn syrup,but it is still a reason to be cautious. I have always tried to avoid refined and heavily processed sugars,such as high-fructose corn syrup just because I feel the more processed the food the more possibility for contamination. But my children are still exposed to it through school,friends,relatives,church,restaurants,etc. For more information on these tests,CLICK HERE.

Additional Guides

In addition the Environmental Working Group publishes many guides to avoiding toxins in children’s products. I find them helpful resources and usually try to look at them before shopping. CLICK HERE to go to their website and guides.

Kirkman Kleen has two webpages that list chemicals to avoid in HOUSEHOLD CLEANERS and COSMETICS.

National Geographic has a Green Guide magazine and website that has many helpful buying guides.

Also,there are several of my previous posts that discuss ways to avoid allergens and toxins in the home. CLICK HERE for a list.

I know there are a lot of you who receive this blog that have found more creative ways to avoid plastics and toxins in your lives. Please write a comment (below) or email me,so everyone can learn from your fabulous ideas!