Health, Taken Seriously

HealthyChild.org is a great online resource for parents.  It’s the website for an organization called Healthy Child, Healthy World and on it you can find great information about creating a greener, safer home and environment for your child.  In 2008, the CEO and executive director of the nonprofit wrote a book:  Healthy Child, Healthy World.  This is one of the more thorough, better written books on the subject.  A nice added feature is excerpts from various parents and celebrities (Meryl Streep, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tobey Maguire, etc.) about their experiences with living green.  I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for a way to reduce the chemicals in your home and the toxins that your child is exposed to.  One chapter each is dedicated to pregnancy, cleaning supplies, food, body care, children’s toys and gear, yards, water and air, pets, and home improvement.  I found that while many topics were covered, they weren’t always in the depth I would have liked, but this is a great starter book for the average parent fairly new to the subject.

Of course, I’m including below some interesting tidbits from the book:

• Children between one and five years of age eat 3-4 times more found per pound of body weight than the average adult.  The air intake of a resting infant is twice that of an adult.  Since children absorb more nutrients and air from their environment, they inevitably also take in more toxins.  Unfortunately, their metabolic systems are immature and less capable of detoxifying and excreting the harmful chemicals, making them more vulnerable than adults.
• The harm caused by some chemicals in utero is much greater than at any other point in the human lifespan.  We are now learning that many chemicals cross the placenta and affect the developing fetus.
• The incidence of childhood cancers jumped almost 27% between 1975 and 2002.  Survivors of childhood cancer have a mortality rate more than 10 times higher than the general population.
• The American Cancer Society estimates that 75% of cancer is due to environmental factors:  exposure to pesticides, hazardous air pollutants, and formaldehyde all increase the risk of childhood cancers.
• Diagnoses for autism and ADHD have jumped almost 400% in the last 20 years.  This increase is too high to attribute simply to improved recognition and diagnosis.
• Half of our lifetime exposure to pesticides occurs in the first five years of life.
• Organic farming receives very few, if any, federal subsidies.  Organic farming is far more labor-intensive than conventional farming (i.e. instead of spraying herbicides to eliminate weeds, they are picked by hand).  Hard labor costs money, as does the certification saying you don’t spray chemicals.  So, in fact, the retail price of organic food far more accurately reflects the true cost of growing food right.
• Genetically modified foods have entered our lives quietly in the form of additives to packaged foods.  We don’t have an exact figure for our pervasive GMO processed foods are, but roughly 60% of processed food in U.S. grocery stores contain at least one soybean product, and more than half of our soybean crops are GM.
• GM foods are banned in Europe.
• Some research shows that food allergens may be transmitted through bioengineered foods.
• The average person’s grooming routine brings them into contact with 126 chemicals each day.
• The skin absorbs up to 60% of what’s put on it, and many of these chemicals enter the bloodstream directly.
• In 2002, phthalates were found in nearly 3/4 of the 72 products tested by the EWG.  The number of brands that listed the ingredient on their label?  Zero!
• Most artificial fragrances are made from petrochemicals that give off VOCs (the same kinds released by paint strippers, paints, and cleaning products).  For that reasons, artifical fragrances carry the same health risks (cancer, liver damage, etc.)  Look for products scented with essential oils only.
• 1000+ chemical ingredients are banned from cosmetics in Europe.  Only 9 are banned in the U.S.
• Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) are foaming agents that make the skin more permeable and may interact with other product ingredients to form carcinogens.
• Most antiprespirants contain parabens, which distrupt hormones.
• Ever wonder why bottled water has an expiration date?  It’s not because the water goes bad but because the plastic degrades over time, releasing chemicals into the water.
• In 1960, the average American created 2.7 pounds of waste daily.  In 2001, it was 4.4 pounds.
• Between 1981 and 1997, the number of hours American children (ages 6-8) spent playing outdoors dropped by 4 per week, while the number of hours in school went up by 5.

Happy reading!

Filed under: Book recommendation, Chemicals, Children on January 16th, 2010