If you missed the Safe Chemicals Act/TSCA Reform Panel Discussion on Wednesday here’s a link to the event. It was not only informative but also energizing. Seeing over 40 Houstonians come out to learn, ask questions, and debate this important legislation was really great.
First, watch the reaction that individuals from the audience had:
With some delay, below is the full version of the Panel Discussion. While the video may be a bit dim (it was a really sunny day) and hard to hear in some spots, the content is really great.
The panelist are seated (from left to right) Matthew Tejada (Air Alliance Houston), Sara Speer Selber (BuildClean), Anne Robertson (Healthy Child Healthy World), and Lora-Marie Bernard (US Green Building Council). Jennifer Touchet, of New Living, is the moderator.
I’m not an “overprotective” mom. I’m not a germophobe either. But right now, I’m on high alert for protecting the BLOOD of my 3 children from chemicals and I’m angry. I’m angry that I have to protect them from CHEMICALS at all. I’m angry that I haven’t had easy access to critical information about the products I have been using to feed them, clothe them, clean my home with or sleep on with them. I’m angry that my kids are getting poisoned even though I try my best to keep them safe and keep myself informed.
There is a glimmer of hope though, I believe, because information is getting out and mom’s are taking a stand and getting involved.
They are getting involved right now to help pass a new bill has been introduced in Congress called the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010 that could really make a difference in how we regulate the chemical industry.I am also hopeful because I know a lot more now thanks to groups like Healthy Child, Healthy World, Three Branches Healthy Living, New Living (of which I am partner) Air Alliance Houston, and more. I thought I was doing everything I could by giving birth to them naturally, breastfeeding, and eating a balanced diet. Little did I know……
Here’s the top 5 things I’m pissed about and I’m going to do something about it:
The BOTTLES I had to use when I had trouble with my milk production were likely leaching toxic chemicals like BPA and phthalates into the milk they were drinking. Read more.
The PJs they were sleeping in given to me by generous and loving friends and family members were treated with flame retardants that can get into their bloodstream and cause developmental problems. Read More.
My own BREASTMILK was probably laced with chemicals. In a study done in 2003 women from the U.S. had the highest concentration of FIRE RETARDANTS found in our breastmilk. It was 75 times the average found in European women’s breastmilk. Fire retardants effect human fertility among other things.
The PLAYGROUND. YES. The PLAYGROUND. Laced with pesticides, pressure-treated lumber that leaches arsenic, artificial playing fields made from crushed rubber tired that off-gas VOCs and the list goes on.
Why did those chemical companies get to DUMP THOSE CHEMICALS into everyday household products, into our COMMUNITIES into OUR KID’S BODIES?????? Why haven’t these products been tested or outlawed? Who is studying these chemicals? Who is regulating them? Who is protecting our kids?
Maintaining a healthy home is about more than just you and your family, it’s also about the people who work in your home as well. Both housekeepers and house-painters are affected by the chemicals in the products used on our homes – and they usually suffer the worst of it. While we may never have to smell the strong toxic chemicals or suffer from the dizziness and headaches associated with conventional paints and cleaning products, the people who work on our homes certainly do, and it’s affecting their health and their livelihood. Joseph Avelar, owner of Avelar Quality Painting who uses New Living’s NO VOC paints for his jobs, says that “Just because we are painters and we’re around paint all day doesn’t mean we like the smell or the health hazards that come with it.”
Since 1989 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has found that for painters there is “sufficient evidence for the carcinogenicity of occupational exposure…” The occupation of painter is one of the few jobs that is listed by the IARC as having an occupational risk for cancer. Painters are also at a high risk for skin irritations, headaches, and can develop problems with their nervous system. The chemicals in paint can cause respiratory illnesses that lead to a build up of fluid in the lungs and chronic bronchitis. Further, VOCs in paints (and related paint products such as thinners) can cause liver and stomach damage to painters. The effect that doing their job and making money to support themselves and their families has on their health is a travesty, particularly because it doesn’t have to be that way.
For housekeepers, house cleaners, and maids, there are high rates of illness among them and their children. House cleaners typically suffer from high rates of asthma and other respiratory problems because of the toxic chemicals in the cleaning products they use. Cleaning workers suffer from more heart attacks and early death due to motor neuron diseases than any other profession. They’re also at risk for cancer and frequently experience chemical burns and skin irritations associated with cleaning products. The chemicals involved in the work housekeeper’s do also affects the health of their children. Woman cleaning workers are twice as likely as other female workers to suffer from pre-term delivery and stillbirths while male workers have an increased risk of children who are born with birth defects and down syndrome. Although we may not have to smell or deal with the chemicals that are used to clean our homes directly, those who do face imposing and irreversible problems when it comes to their health.
We should always strive to provide a safe environment for everyone in our lives, including those who work for us. For our painters, we can always make sure we buy paints that have no VOCs – they’re non-toxic, have a low odor, and don’t contain harmful chemicals. For those who clean our homes and spend their days directly inhaling toxic chemical fumes, we should purchase green cleaning products made from natural ingredients and that either have a natural scent or no scent at all. All of these products are provisions we can take now – allowing us to be healthy and caring employers that provide a safe and ultimately happy environment for those who help us out so much in our daily lives.
As the committee hearing and debate goes on this summer over the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010 even more information has come out about the links between the chemicals in our homes and the danger it poses to our health. This serves as an urgent reminder that consumers need the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010 to help protect them.
In mid-June, multiple national news outlets reported on a new study published by Environmental Health Perspectives that found further links connecting PBDEs – a common chemical used as a flame retardants in carpets, mattresses, couches, and electronics - to problems with the thyroid hormone in pregnant women. The study, which looked at 270 pregnant women, found that women with higher levels of PBDEs in their bodies had lower levels of the thyroid stimulating hormone in their bodies by anywhere from 10.9 to 18.7%. These levels meet the definition for sub-clinical hyperthyroidism – indicating an early stage of thyroid malfunction. When the thyroid malfunctions (know as clinical hyperthyroidism) pregnant woman can possibly have children with birth defects, suffer from in-uterine growth problems, experience miscarriages, or have stillbirths.
What’s most shocking about the study, researchers note, is that the levels of PBDEs that were tested in women and caused sub-clinical hyperthyroidism is fairly typical among American women. These are risk that most American woman – who are exposed to products like conventional mattresses, carpets, foam couches, and electronics – face. This is due in large part to antiquated flame retardant regulations, most companies refusal to use non-toxic alternatives in products that we use, and poor regulation of toxic chemicals by federal agencies. Matthew S. Tejada, the executive director of Air Alliance Houston*, believes that these types of discoveries about how our home environment effects our health aren’t going to end. He says “On the health perspective, the horror story is only going to get worse. The deeper we dig as more research is done, we are only going to find [out] more about the nasty impacts of what we buy.”
As more studies like this one are released and as we discover more about the dangerous chemicals in products we use everyday, it’s becoming increasingly clear that we need regulations to protect us as consumers so that we don’t have to live in fear. The Safe Chemicals Act can protect us and it’s something we need NOW. Tejada says “For decades we just let these chemicals go totally unregulated. The way food and medicine are regulated is [good], but the regulatory structure formed by the EPA is so weak that it’s effectively not regulated.” The Safe Chemicals Act is a strong start towards something that has enormous potential to help us as consumers find safe products for our family and ourselves, helping to ensure that we are protected from chemicals like PBDEs. Click here to send a letter to congress and find out more about what you can do to support the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010.
If you’re wondering what to do now though, the best way to protect yourself is by researching what’s in the products in your home and making smart decisions by choosing non-toxic alternatives that we are sure are safe for our homes and our families.
Wondering what New Living is all about? Want to know exactly what the terms “non-toxic” and “natural” mean? Then check out this video where customers and our owner, Jeff Kaplan, explains exactly why we sell healthy, non-toxic, and green products. I would write about it here but it’s probably just easier to watch the video:
Anyone who has ever painted a room with conventional paint knows that the smell of paint is terrible. Typically, you have to wear a mask, can’t stay in the room for a few days, and may even feel dizzy or get a headache. This is because conventional paints are filled with harmful chemicals known as VOCs (volatile organic compounds) which emit toxic chemicals into your home (even after the paint dries) and can be detrimental to your health. One of the worst chemicals in conventional paints is also one that is used by morticians to preserve the dead: formaldehyde.
Although safe to use on the recently deceased, formaldehyde can effect the health of adults and children in a variety of negative ways. Multiple studies have found links between the use of paint and childhood cancers. A University of California study found a significant association between rooms painted and an increase in leukemia by 65 percent. Furthermore, mothers who used paint during pregnancy were three-times as likely to have a child with acute lymphobalstic leukemia. There have been several other studies that have uncovered links and associations between formaldehyde and cancers among adults. Studies of paint workers have revealed that they are at a higher risk for cancer of the bladder, lungs, pancreas, liver, and stomach because of their exposure to formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals in paint.
The formaldehyde in paints has also been linked to skin irritations, eye irritations, bronchitis, and can cause problems in the central nervous system. The U.S. National Cancer Instituted found in a 2009 study that the longer funeral workers spent embalming bodies with formaldehyde the more likely they were to to develop certain types of cancer – particularly those who were involved in embalming for more than 20 years. Formaldehyde can also trigger asthma – a condition which has increased nearly 600% since 1980.
To keep yourself and your home from smelling like the dead and causing health problems that could put you six feet under, it’s important you look at the label of all the paints that you buy to see how much formaldehyde it contains. While formaldehyde is federally regulated, many paint companies still carry it at “safe” levels – even though medical evidence suggest the safest level of formaldehyde is none. Read the labels of the paints you purchase, buy paints that don’t contain any VOCs (typically called No VOCs or Zero VOCs), and make sure that the colorants put into the paint don’t contain any VOC. No VOC paints not only are absent of formaldehyde, but they don’t have any other Volatile Organic Compounds making them safe to use! Most who use them say there is very little smell and never feel dizzy or develop the headaches that they once did with conventional paints. Using non-toxic No VOC paints will help you stay away from formaldehyde in your home and in your body for a very long time.
Unlike other cities, in Houston, we spend most of our time (estimated at 90%) indoors. Because of the heat and because of air quality problems – like ozone levels – we usually believe that buildings are healthier. However, although indoor environments may feel safer, it’s important to remember that indoor air quality too can effect our health.
The EPA ranks indoor air quality among the five largest environmental dangers to the public. They also have found that air indoors can be anywhere from about 2 to 5 times as polluted as outdoor air. For a city like Houston, that’s rated the 3rd most toxic city in the nation where outdoor air quality is concerned, these numbers are troubling.
The Texas Department of State Health Services finds that “building materials and furnishings; biologicals; products for household cleaning, personal care, or hobbies; central heating and cooling systems and humidification devices; pesticides; oil, gas, kerosene, or wood combustion sources” are the primary sources of indoor air quality problems. They also report that poor indoor air quality can lead to “irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, and allergy-type symptoms.” And more seriously, “asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and humidifier fever can also affect some individuals after exposure to certain indoor air pollutants.” This list of health problems that can emerge from our homes and spend so much time in is startling.
However, rather than living in fear of both the heat outdoors and the pollution indoors we can make smart decisions to make our indoor environments healthier. Start by reading about various pollutants in everyday products in your home online from reliable sources. Also, try to follow these three rules when shopping for things for your home:
Look for products that don’t contain any Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
Buy organic – buying organic usually means products haven’t been treated chemically
Look for corporate transparency – corporations and stores that tell you what’s in there product usually have healthier products.
Although indoor air quality in Houston is a problem, one needn’t live in fear. Instead, being conscious of what is in your home and around you is the best way to protect your family and your health.
This week we have another great speaker, Sue McDonald, here to talk about the chemicals in our everyday lives as part of our New Living Talks series. McDonald’s discussion, titled “Our Toxic World: Understanding the Effects of Chemicals in Our Everyday Lives and How To Deal With Them” is an informative video about the chemicals we come into contact with daily, how they can affect our health, and what we can do to avoid these health hazards. The video is filled with interesting facts, stories, and tips that can really help you make smarter decisions. This video is a must see not just for those concerned with health and green issues, but for EVERYONE because it’s a topic that truly concerns us all. Forward this along to friends and family to help them stay informed and to protect them from the toxic chemicals that are around them and check. And check out the New Living website to see a list of non-toxic products for your home and building needs.
Sue McDonald is a chemical sensitivity advocate and educator – speaking about this subject for the last 8 years in the Houston area. She has been featured on the radio, at conferences, and she has been named a ‘Houston Hero’ by the Citizens League of Environmental Action Now (C.L.E.A.N.). McDonald first became aware of how toxic our environments are when she began to experience – in her new home – multiple chemical sensitivities fifteen years ago. Since then she’s been researching and looking for ways to live a as chemically free as she can. McDonald teaches a free bi-monthly seminar called “Making Safer Choices In a Toxic World” at New Living. The next one is on August 15 (please call New Living at 713.521.1921 to RSVP). Visit her website to find out more about Sue and her mission.
Although industry, doctors, and virtually all of us have known for a long time that there are many products on the market that contain toxic chemicals harmful to our health, little has been done to change this by our local, state, and national governments. That is until now. A bill was recently introduced into the U.S. Senate (with a similar one in the House of Representatives) that will help protect us against harmful chemicals in products.
In April, Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ) introduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010, a bill that will change the way that chemicals are tested and how products are manufactured and “fix” what Sen. Lautenberg believes to be our “broken” system for determining chemical and product safety. The bill intends to shift the burden of proof to corporations. If passed, manufacturers will have to provide the EPA with a minimum data set for each product they make – proving its safety. The EPA will then be able to question manufacturers, test chemicals, and possibly require changes where the most dangerous chemicals are concerned. At this time the EPA can only require testing of chemicals once they have evidence that a chemical is dangerous. Sen. Lautenberg believes that “those who make the chemicals …ought to be responsible for testing them first before they’re released to the public, instead of having the EPA play detective to search and try to find problems.”
The legislation, which is being supported both by social and health groups like the Safer Chemicals Health Familiescoalition and members of the chemical industry – comes from the realization that the Toxic Substance Control Act (TCSA) failed to protect the health and safety of Americans adequately. Since it was passed 34 years ago, the TSCA has only required testing of 200 chemicals and restricted the use of 5 – this is of the 80,000 chemicals being used in consumer products today!
If passed, this bill has the power to offer consumers real safety when they are purchasing products for themselves, their families, and their homes because they will know that the chemicals in the products they are using will have been reviewed by the EPA. Although this bill won’t fix all of our chemical problems, it is the biggest step in the right direction we’ve ever seen congress take when it comes to toxic chemicals. This oversight is, in our view, a clear demonstration by congress that they are finally putting our health first.
