Raising Happy Healthy Children…Naturally!
Please pass this on to ALL your friends and family in NJ! There is currently a bill in the works to ban bisphenol A. The more folks that know about this, the better for NJ. Maybe we can do this state by state? 
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=23858
GO CANADA!!! This was shared last Friday by a commenter on my blog.
http://www.cbc.
For the whole story on this toxic chemical that babies are exposed to daily,
check out the Bisphenol A category.
The Environmental Working Group answers basic questions on the BPA issue. A great site to send someone who isn’t aware of the BPA concerns as its a simple read with clear and concise information.
I’m sure that most can agree that the lead (and other plastic toxins) in toys is disheartening. What is even more disheartening is the feeling of helplessness as one sits around waiting for the next recall, wondering if its something your child is sucking on at the moment.
Finally, a solution brought to you by a partnership of environmental research groups across the nation
This groups has tons of information that really shouldn’t be missed by any parent. They maintain and are growing a database of toys which they are testing for lead and other toxins. These are toys ON THE SHELVES! These are toys your children could be playing with. You can also ask for a toy to be tested. There are currently over 1,200 toys in the database.
Please please please share this site with your friends and family who have children. This is information that should not be known only in alternative/natural circles.
I’m thinking its a really good thing that the media has recently been focusing on Bisphenol A, pthalates and PBDE’s. If you’ve not had a chance to glance at the news lately, bottom line is that these chemicals are used in a variety of every day products and are proving to be a burden to our bodies, especially our little ones. Bisphenol A is used in hard plastic, think baby bottles. Its also used in the plastic that lines food cans. PBDE’s are flame retardants and used in TV’s, sofas, mattresses. Pthalates are used not only in cosmetics but are the main softener used in polyvinyl chloride (think soft plastic….like baby toys).
All of these chemicals are labeled “endocrine disrupters” as they can block natural hormone functions and they have been shown to cause genetic changes in the reproduction system (low sperm count, egg production disruption, changes in breast/testicular tissue). Endocrine disrupters are the cause of the sex changes that we’ve seen in amphibians and fish. JUST what you want to be experimenting on your bodies, heh?
A recent collaborative of environment groups across the country tested a small group of volunteers representing a cross section of the population (ranging in age from 12 to 50). All were found to have these three chemicals in their bodies. This small monitering mimics the results of a recent CDC study of over 2,500, where 92% were found to have Bisphenol A in their urine.
One of the things that has always driven me bonkers about this chemical issue is that the responses we get from the powers that be are always singular. Meaning, they respond to the outcry against each individual chemical as if it is not really the sum of our entire exposure that is important. No one is regulating or calculating our entire body burden and no one who markets chemicals in any way (from personal care to plastics) is stepping up to take responsibility.
Anyhow, back to my point of the recent media attention. I think its important that we don’t let this topic die. That we continue to talk and blog about it and thereby keep it active enough for the news media to report on.
Here’s a quiz you can take to get an idea of YOUR body burden. http://extras.insidebayarea.com/bodyburden/bodyburden.html
The FDA has found in tests of canned infant formula that the plastic linings of the cans are leeching Bisphenol A into the formula IN MUCH HIGHER LEVELS (according to EWG) THAN FOUND TO CAUSE SERIOUS ADVERSE AFFECTS IN ANIMAL TESTS.
There is a string of corruption following the use of this chemical…read on……AND PASS IT ON!!!!!!!
Thanks to Kimb’ for sharing this very important link on Bisphenol A;
Okay, so it seems there’s so much in the news as of late on this chemical that certain toy/baby bottle manufacturers and retail stores are petitioning to continue to use in products we expose our newborns to. I’ll just keep adding links to this entry, this one below summarizes the current research.
Now this you won’t believe!
Chemical agency ties under review. A firm with industry connections is removed from overseeing a federal evaluation on the safety of bisphenol A.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has begun a review of ties between a federal health center that evaluates the risks of chemicals to reproductive health and a consulting firm funded by companies that produce chemicals linked to reproductive disorders.
The investigation follows a Times report on Sunday that Sciences International, an Alexandria, Va., firm funded by more than 50 industrial companies, helps manage the federal Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction.
Among the firms with financial ties to Sciences International are two that produce bisphenol A, a chemical in polycarbonate plastic bottles that has been linked in animal testing to prostate and breast cancer and reduced fertility.
Since 1998, Sciences International has helped manage the federal reproductive health center and prepared draft reports analyzing bisphenol A and 16 other chemicals. The company has a $5-million contract with the center.
The center’s scientific advisory panel was scheduled to decide today whether bisphenol A endangers reproductive health in humans.
But on Tuesday, director Michael Shelby announced that the panel, after two days of reviewing the 372-page report that Sciences International prepared on bisphenol A, known as BPA, still had too many unresolved questions and was postponing its decision for six weeks.
Continue reading ‘More on Bisphenol A and NOW A Conflict of Interest’
