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When breast cancer has 'No Family History'
Growing veggies in my (leaded?) urban soil
Puberty is tough enough without BPA
Beijing Games Had Worst Air Pollution Ever
FEATURED
Dear CEO: It's time to reduce children's exposure to BPA
Infant formula: How to choose it & use it
EWG's Tips for Parents: The Series
It's practically summer: Quick, Grab the (safe) sunscreen
EWG's Tips to avoid BPA exposure
Let's talk some serious shop about TSCA reform
EWG on TV
Cutting the Pork from U.S. Farm Bill
Sunscreen safety & DC drinking water
Perchlorate in people, kids' personal care products & plastics, and sunscreen
BPA in baby formula & safe cosmetics
What can I do about fluoride in my water?
What is new carpet treated with? What can I do?
Are stainless steel water bottles safe?
Is mineral-based makeup safer?
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Find your sunscreen in EWG's 2009 report
This week my family is vacationing, like many American families, and we're doing our best to play outside - a lot. Which, of course, means we're in the sun. And since we're from Oregon, our skin isn't exactly used to the sun come July.
So I opened the medicine cabinet to see what sunscreens we have lying around from last year. Hoping they were the safe and effective kind. And one was. But many weren't. How did I know? EWG's sunscreen report, of course. The 2009 version is here!! And this year, it includes lip balms and face moisturizers, as well as the usual "beach" sunscreens.
The good news is that products are improving. For example, 19 percent fewer sunscreens contains oxybenzone, an active ingredient that disrupts the hormone system.
The bad news is that there are still only a few safe and effective brands that I'd use on my family: Of the 1,572 sunscreens and other sun-blocking products that we reserached, 3 of 5 either don't protect skin from sun damage or contain hazardous chemicals -- or both. Yowza. Better check yours.
What you'll find in the report
There's a lot of information in our report to help you enjoy the sun safely this summer, pick safe and effective products, and understand the science behind sunscreens. Some highlights:
- 9 safety tips for enjoying the sun safely
- Best "beach" and "sport" sunscreens
- Best sun-protective lip balms
- Best moisturizers
Be sure to check our comprehensive FAQ
You'll find complete, understandable answers to 19 questions about sunscreen, like:
- How high of an SPF should I use?
- Which sunscreens are best for children?
- What's the matter with sprays and powder?
- Doesn't the government ensure that sunscreens protect us?
Got a blog? Get the widget.
This year we created a sunscreen search widget for your blog so your readers can easily research sunscreen safety - right from your site.
Is there too much fluoride in your dog food? Read EWG's new report
By Lisa Frack
You're probably familiar with the longstanding and often heated debate over the addition of fluoride to public water supplies. And while EWG does have an opinion on that, last week we focused on fluoride in dog food in a new report based on independent tests of 10 brands.
EWG's finding: High levels of fluoride in dog food
EWG found fluoride above healthy levels in 8 national brands of dog food marketed for both puppies and adults. The amount of fluoride in the dog food was up to 2.5 times higher than what the EPA has deemed a safe amount in drinking water.
Where is the fluoride coming from?
Some of this extra fluoride comes from the fluoridated water used to manufacture dog food. Most, however, is from the "bone meal" and various meat byproducts that are added to dog food - anything from "chicken byproduct meal" to "beef and bone meal."
These are basically ground bones, cooked with steam, dried, and mashed to make a cheap dog food filler. Since bones store fluoride, any product that includes bone meal is likely to be high in fluoride, too.
Why is excessive fluoride a problem?
Combined fluoride exposure from both food and water can easily range into unsafe territory. Routine exposure, like eating the same food every day, can predispose dogs to a variety of health problems: weakened bones, hormonal and behavior problems, and even bone cancer.
What can you do for your dog?
Check the ingredient list before you buy dog food. Look for and demand pet foods that do not include bone meal.
Read the full EWG report on fluoride in dog food.
[Thanks to MShades & Flickr CC for the pic]
By Elaine Shannon
Well, do you?
Clint Eastwood/Harry Callahan's pithy question rings in my head, every time I read the chemical lobby's defense of bisphenol A(BPA), a high-volume industrial plastics chemical. 
Many experiments have shown that BPA, a synthetic estrogen as well as a plastics hardener, disrupts the endocrine system and causes a growing list of chronic, often permanent disorders in lab animals.
To which industry routinely responds: 1) animals aren't people, and 2) in people, BPA is, as one industry spokesman put it, "efficiently metabolized and rapidly eliminated from the body."
Scientists who think BPA is as bad for people as for lab animals can't prove their cases by experimenting on people.
Epidemiological studies of human populations can't isolate the impact of a single chemical like BPA. The human body burden, now comprising close to 500 chemicals, according to Environmental Working Group's biomonitoring tests, is an unintended consequence of the age of innovation after World War I. The period produce a rich array of "miracle" materials, symbolized by DuPont's iconic 1935 slogan, "Better Things for Better Living Through Chemistry," and Monsanto's streamlined plastic House of the Future in Disneyland's Tomorrowland, vintage 1957.
There is much yet to learn about how BPA affects the human body, acting singly and in combination with all those other chemicals that pollute people.
So -- back to Dirty Harry's question: Do we feel lucky?
I don't. Not about this stuff. I'm not willing to bet that BPA, which is in water bottles, drink bottles, cans, and also medical devices such as IV drips, is benign, washes harmlessly through the human body and leaves no mark, especially on infants in critical stages of development?
Every new, independent scientific study of this chemical reinforces my skepticism of industry's see-no-evil position:
- Yale researchers have recently found that when embryonic mice are exposed to BPA, the chemical strips hydrogen-carbon structural units, called methyl groups, from the gene responsible for fertility. As a result, as the mice grew to maturity, their uterine linings did not develop normally, rendering them unlikely to carry pregnancies to term. "We've discovered the exact mechanism by which BPA affects this gene," Yale scientist Hugh Taylor told me. The gene in question -- HOXA10 -- is the same in mice and people.
- Scientists at the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences report in this month's Environmental Health Perspectives journal that mice exposed BPA in the womb developed "numerous abnormalities" in the form of both benign and cancerous lesions throughout their reproductive tissues. The researchers, led by veteran reproductive scientist Retha Newbold, wrote that "The BPA doses were low and within the range of human exposure...The findings...raise concerns about widespread exposure to BPA and, in particular, exposure to fetuses, infants, and children."
- Scientists at the University of Rochester and University of Missouri-Columbia, also in the current Environmental Health Perspectives, estimate that BPA does not clear out of the human body as quickly as had been thought.
I could be wrong. Hope I am, given the fact that an estimated 93 percent of us would test positive for BPA, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Still, I've kicked most of that modern-living-plastic out of the kitchen and the kids' stuff.
How about you? Feel lucky about BPA? Do you think its dangers are still in the realm of the theoretical and untested? Or have you heard enough?
Share your thoughts here -- and join our new interactive forum on the nation's toxic chemicals policy.
You can also find my posts and add your own comments on Huffington Post.
EWG's Healthy Home Tip 1: Choose better body care products
Most people use around 10 personal care products every day with an average of 126 unique ingredients.
The government's NOT protecting us
We'd like to believe that the government is policing the safety of all of these mixtures we're putting on our bodies, but they're not. Instead, these under-regulated chemicals are causing concerns for human health and the environment - whether they seep through your skin or wash down your drain.
We think you deserve better than that. So we created a our Healthy Home Tips series to make it easier to safeguard your family's health. This month's tip is: Choose better body care products.
What makes a body care product "better"?
Better products meet their claims and are free of ingredients that could harm our health or the environment. Labels might claim that a product is "gentle" or "natural," but with no required safety testing, companies that make personal care products can use almost any chemical they want, regardless of risks. So, always read product labels - especially the ingredient list - before you buy.
Learn how to choose better body care products
We make these choices as simple as possible on our Healthy Home Tips page, where you'll learn:
- How to read a label
- How to shop for the grown-ups in the house
- How to find the safest body care products for your kids
Tell your friends about our Healthy Home Tips
We know you're not the only one who wants to choose better body care products. Tell your friends about our Healthy Home Tip Series so they, too, can be informed when faced with rows of under-regulated products at the store.
More about EWG's Healthy Home Tips
In May we announced a new Healthy Home Tips email series here on Enviroblog. Have you signed up yet? If not, hop on our children's health and toxics e-list so you can get the next 10 tips right in your inbox.
Talk to you in a month when we discuss our next Healthy Home Tip: Going organic and eating fresh foods.
When breast cancer has 'No Family History'
By Lisa Frack
A while back, EWG staff scientist Olga Naidenko wrote here about the need to focus breast cancer research on prevention - with an emphasis on the role of carcinogens. I was reminded of her post when I saw the film No Family History about the environmental causes of the disease. The filmmakers describe the film - which includes EWG's Research Director Jane Houlihan - this way:
No Family History turns the debate about breast cancer upside down by proposing before solutions about prevention, rather searching only for a cure.A few dedicated experts tell the story of how they began to realize all the toxic exposures in daily life that could be causing the epidemic - toxics in their home and even their own personal care products.
A few dedicated breast cancer activists relate how they tried to improve regulations to prevent breast cancer, and how they have changed their own lives to make it safer.
See what you think:
Growing veggies in my (leaded?) urban soil
I live in an old house (1911) and used to work in affordable housing, so the dangers of lead paint aren't new to me. And with toddlers around for years now, I know to avoid paint chips in the mouth and lead dust in the air.
What I didn't connect - until recently - was that there might be lead in our soil, which is where we grow food. And that for those who have backyard chickens (a hot urban trend - at least in my sustainability-obsessed corner of the world), those super fresh eggs can deliver a dose of lead if the chickens are eating it. Yowza.
Since we don't have chickens (yet), I focused on our vegetable garden which just happens to be right behind an old, old garage that had chipped so much paint into the yard it was bare. Ugh.
Two recent articles tell you what you need to know
In May, the New York Times ran an article about a Brooklyn homeowner and avid backyard gardener whose yard is loaded with lead. And just two weeks ago my hometown paper, The Oregonian, ran another - the columnist's own raspberry bushes had visible paint chips under them. Together, they answered all of my questions.
Does it really matter if there's lead in - or near - my vegetable growing soil?
Most probably. While there is some disagreement out there (lack of field data), the general consensus is that it's worth testing and adapting your garden if you have high lead soil levels. Why? Because some soil types and some plants and some lead sources can add up to a hazard worth avoiding. The main concern is lead dust landing on your vegetables, which (happily!) you can just wash off. The less certain concern is uptake from the soil into the plant itself.
What should you do if you're a backyard gardener?
Test your soil. Understand the results, then mitigate if needed. Why test if you think there's no risk? Because according to the Times, environmental engineers and soil experts say "any place" is potentially tainted. Specifically, they list these causes for lead-tainted soil:
Excessive lead in soil is the legacy not only of lead paint but also of leaded gasoline, lead plumbing and lead arsenate pesticides. Although these products were outlawed decades ago, their remnants linger in the environment. Lead batteries and automotive parts, particularly wheel balancing weights, are still widely used and are sources of soil contamination.Soil is likely to contain high levels of lead if it is near any structure built before 1978, when lead-based paint was taken off the market, or if a building of that vintage was ever demolished on the site. Pesticides containing lead were often used on fruit trees, so land close to old orchards is also of concern. And beware of soil around heavily trafficked roadways; it, too, is probably laced with lead.
I tested our soil for $20 at a local lab (which handles mail orders) and learned that, thankfully, our levels are low enough to keep on keepin' on with the arugula, tomatoes and basil. But if you test and learn that your levels are high, you can mitigate - and keep on gardening. Mitigations range from washing your veggies before eating them (to remove the dust) to building raised beds with clean soil from off site to doing some phytoremediation to clean the soil over time. All do-able, some easier than others.
The good news is that lead need not halt the urban gardening trend - but it needs to be included in your garden plans. Where you're the boss of your food. Isn't that nice?
[Thanks to jefield and Flickr creative commons for the photo]
Puberty is tough enough without BPA
Special to Enviroblog by Alex Formuzis, EWG Communications Director
Every child's journey through puberty is different, but you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone describe the experience as "wonderful," "awesome" or "let's play two!"
A high-pitched, crackling voice, acne, a disproportionately large head and generally looking like a lurch could describe my own bout with the inevitable.
These days, puberty is starting earlier
And today, more and more young people are experiencing signs of puberty at earlier ages, particularly among girls. Some are beginning to develop breasts, pubic hair and see the first signs of their period as early as 6 years old. 6!! While most experts claim the cause is genetic, there is a growing body of science connecting these early physical and sexual changes to the environment: meaning a link between early, onset puberty and exposure to man-made pollutants.
New study shows link between BPA exposure and early puberty
Last week, a new study from researchers at North Carolina State University and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) discovered a connection between exposure to BPA and early puberty and reproductive health problems with female lab rats who were given doses of the chemical "equivalent to or below the dose that has been thought not to produce any adverse effects," [Science Daily, June 18, 2009].
According to the study's news release:
The study found that female rats exposed to a BPA dose of 50 micrograms per kilogram of body weight (µg /kg) in their first four days of life experienced early onset of puberty. Female rats exposed to 50 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (mg/kg) during their first four days of life developed significant ovarian malformations and premature loss of their estrus cycle.
"The 50 mg/kg level is important," says lead researcher Dr. Heather Patisaul, "because it is equivalent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 'Lowest Observable Adverse Effect Level' for BPA. So, by definition, we should not have seen significant effects at or below this level, but we did."
BPA is linked to an increasing number of diseases
So, in just the last two years, we've seen independent research linking BPA to breast cancer, diabetes, infertility and now early puberty and certain reproductive problems in females.
I continue to wait for research linking BPA to something good, like increased IQ, longer life spans, lower blood pressure and the sudden ability to 'get' algebra.
The abstract of the study is published online at the Biology of Reproduction.
[Thanks to yellowblade67 and Flickr for the photo]
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