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At
Home
We have researched
and gathered together numerous links to information
about children and their environmental health. You
may access this information by choosing a category
from the menu to the right.
What's
Under Your Sink?
Since
cleanliness comes in just below godliness on the moral
pyramid, it's not surprising that many of us attribute
miraculous powers to the cleaning products stashed
in our cabinets. Scouring pads and spray bottles have
become talismans to vanquish the arch demons of dirt,
grease, mold, odors, and germs.
Toxic-Free
Products
Children
are exposed everyday to a range of potentially harmful
toxic chemicals in products all around them. These
toxics are in toys and thousands of household items.
Many of the chemicals have been linked to cancer,
birth defects, or neurological and behavioral disorders.
The
actual risks to children posed by toxic chemicals
in these everyday products are not well understood.
Children are often at risk without our knowing it.
According to the National Research Council less than
10 percent of chemicals, other than those used in
pesticides, cosmetics, food and drugs, have been tested
for their health effects on humans. Worst of all,
only a handful of the thousands of chemicals in everyday
use have been tested for their effects on children.
To learn more visit the National Environmental Trust.
http://environet.policy.net/health/products/
Toxic
Toys
Toy
Safety — http://environet.policy.net/health/products/toxictoys/
http://www.scorecard.org/bboard/q-and-a-
fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=00001R - Environmental Defense
— Toxics in Toys
http://www.ewg.org/reports/poisonwoodrivals/pr.html
- Arsenic in wood and amounts.
- Mercury
E-magazine Cover Story — May 2002
COVER
STORY: Heavy Metal Harm
The Fight Against Highly Toxic Mercury
in the Environment Has Just Begun
-- Jim Motavalli, Emagazine
 Mercury
is a persistent heavy metal, processed into a liquid
from mined cinnabar, that accumulates in water and
in the tissues of humans, fish and animals. It was
declared a hazardous air pollutant by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) in 1971. According to the
federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry,
long-term human exposure to mercury in either organic
or inorganic form "can permanently damage the brain,
kidneys, and developing fetuses." A potent neurotoxin,
mercury is slowly being phased out of many commercial
uses, including consumer thermometers, but it is still
used in many industrial processes and is in such products
as fluorescent lights, home and appliance thermostats,
and even toys. For the full story go to E-magazine
at http://www.emagazine.com/may-june_
2002/0502feat1.html
A
Healthy Home Environment?
http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1999/107-7/
focus-abs.html - Environmental Health Perspectives
Magazine, National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences.
Over
the past seven years, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency has consistently ranked indoor air pollution
among the top five risks to public health. One of
the most dangerous indoor air pollutants is carbon
monoxide (CO). CO can be lethal, but perhaps more
important, many people suffer ill health from chronic,
often undetected exposure to low levels of this gas,
resulting in fatigue, headache, dizziness, nausea,
and vomiting. Another dangerous pollutant is volatile
organic compounds (VOCs), which come from sources
including building products, cleaning agents, and
paints. One VOC, formaldehyde, can act as an irritant
to the conjunctiva and upper and lower respiratory
tract. Formaldehyde is also known to cause nasal cancer
in test animals.
Other
household pollutants include pesticides and heavy
metals contained in house dust; biological pollutants
such as pollen, pet dander, bacteria, mold, and fungi;
chlorine, which appears in public water supplies as
a chlorination by-product; radon gas; lead; and asbestos.
People
who have the luxury of building their own home can
employ a wide variety of measures to minimize their
potential exposure to indoor environmental hazards.
Fortunately for those who live in homes that are not
custom-built, there are a number of strategies available
to improve indoor air quality.
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