Win a BPA Free Baby Bottle Sampler Kit-

I like free stuff as much as the next person, and this one is too good to be true. The good folks at The Soft Landing (who sell BPA free baby gear and share lots of great information on their site) are giving away this kit through the website Momsational.

All you have to do is follow this link and leave a comment by March 24th. That's it! If you want to learn more about BPA in baby gear, please look at the labels section of this blog under BPA to learn about this chemical that is many baby products and has been linked to several health problems, especially for growing babies.

Good luck!

The Best Cream for Eczema--Finally!

So, okay, sometimes the doctors are right. Really. My almost one year old has had bright red half dollar sized patches on her torso, the backs of her legs, and shoulders for months. When I took her to the pediatrician, they said to use hydrocortisone cream on her (which is a skin thinning steroid cream-- sounds great and harmless!) and Eucerin. I thought, ha! I'll find some natural, botanical, no chemical brand that will work even better.

Not so much.

First I tried California Baby's Calendula cream. This was a nice, think cream that looked like it would really work. I used it up in about a week, and it didn't clear up the rash. I think this cream would work well for kids with extreme dry skin, but not for full eczema. Next I tried Jason Natural Cosmetics- Earth's Best Baby Therapy Cream. This was also thick and worked a bit better, but also went very fast and didn't clear it up, even when I used it right after her bath like everyone told me to.

So, I researched the chemical load the trusted and recommended Eucerin. Turns out the Original formula was rated quite well (with a 2 on the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Database) which means low hazard. It was only 1 point higher than the California Baby and the Jason Earth's Best creams. But if you are buying Eucerin products be sure you get the original formula, because I noticed that many of their other creams had higher ratings for chemicals, even as high as 8 which means high hazard.

I bought a huge jar of Eucerin for 13 bucks, and used half percent hydrocortisone cream (I know, I didn't want to use it--) and it cleared up beautifully. Now I can usually keep it at bay with the Eucerin alone. Yes, I suppose I should have listened to the hundred or so people who told me it worked. Maybe this will save you a stubborn streak and an itchy, uncomfortable baby, if you have a tendency for either.
(and maybe something totally different worked for your baby- comment and tell us about it!)

The Skinny on Flame Retardants (or PCBEs) --

The chemicals in flame retardants have been a nagging voice in the back of my head for quite some time. I know they are bad. I know they are in my kids' sleepers. In my sofa, and in our mattresses. This is one area where I saw no immediate helpful solutions. It was high time to learn more.

Issue Summary: The deal is that our government requires that children's sleepwear and mattresses meet certain standards for flame resistance. Most are treated with a flame retardant that contains polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PCBEs. These chemicals have been causing increased concern because of their many associated health risks. Apparently, PCBEs have increasingly been linked to numerous health problems, such as thyroid hormone imbalance, and lower IQ and developmental delays. They also have been linked to cancer in animal studies.

Women and their babies in the U.S. are of particular concern. Nursing moms have 10 to 20 times the rates of PCBEs in their breast milk than women in Europe. (This article is in no way suggests that mothers to stop breastfeeding because of this--). And of course little developing bodies are the most vulnerable, since they are exposed to more of a chemical cocktail from their daily interactions with many items around the home, and since they eat and drink more in proportion with their bodies.

During my research I encountered several household items that likely have PBDEs in them, such as carpet pads, synthetic clothing, televisions, computer casings, cells phones (that's nice because we hold them so close to our faces!). One article in Science News cited millions of exposures everyday through multiple sources, including food. Many states are looking at banning the use of these chemicals in products. There is currently a bill in the Vermont Senate looking at flame retardants (but sadly I don't anticipate action on it this year) and it looks like several other states are considering banned PBDEs or have done so already. The European Union, in another stroke of brilliance, banned PBDEs outright, as has Washington State.


Sources: CALPRIG, CHEC, Environmental Working Group, Science News


So how do you limit your family's exposure to PBDEs? Read this Enviroblog article for ways to do this. This article also has a few more tips.

Here is the EPA's information page on PBDEs and their plans (many voluntary-- sure to work,huh?) to reduce its use in products.

And lastly I found this excellent resource for tired, hurried parents summarizing this issue and what to do about it from the Healthy Children Project.

This is another issue we cannot shop or study our way out of. There are alternative flame retardants that aren't as harmful as PCBEs, or alternatives to using them altogether. Of course, keeping kids safe from fire is a good thing, but it seems to me there are other ways to accomplish this. Companies should stop using toxic PCBE flame retardants in their products, and we could use a little help with this from our elected leaders.

Update: The Senate Passes the CPSC Reform Bill (S. 2663)--

Some good news, but don't hold your breath yet--

The CPSC reform bill (S. 2663) has passed the Senate, and now heads to conference committee where the differences between the house and senate versions will be worked out.

Let's hope the differences being "worked out" will not involve the watering down of the important provisions of this bill. Essentially, this bill in its current state would markedly strengthen the CPSC, increase penalties for violating companies, ban lead in all children's products (like bibs!) and not just toys , and would require that toys be tested by independent labs before they are sold. It is about time!

There were some excellent amendments added to the senate version, one that I think Non-Toxic readers will be excited about is from Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that ban phthalates in children’s products as of Jan. 1, 2009. See these posts for more information about the health problems associated with phthalates.

Another amendment by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) would ban the importation of toys from companies that have violated CPSC safety standards repeatedly. And Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) added an amendment that would prohibit CPSC members from accepting any travel monies from companies they are regulating.

These seem like common sense, and they should have happened a long time ago, but at least they are in process now, thanks to the above listed senators.

The folks over at Momcrats have a posting that shares the senators who voted against protecting our kids from poisonous toys and children's products. See who they are by clicking here.

Here is a Washington Post article about the bill.

Read about it on U.S. PIRG's website here.

It looks like we will hopefully see a final version of this bill hit the White House this summer. And who wants to be the one who vetoes a critically important safety bill for children?