Take Action on BPA (again!)

(Here's an important guest post and call to action from our friends at Momsrising about BPA. Please add your voice calling for major food manufacturers to stop the use of this dangerous chemical.)

20 people. 5 families. Fresh food intervention. How low can their BPA levels go?

It sounds like the premise for a reality show. But there are no over-the-top TV antics here. Last week, the Breast Cancer Fund and Silent Spring Institute released a study which tested the levels of the toxic chemical BPA for five families. Like many average families across America, these families were regularly exposed to BPA in their day to day lives through pretty normal activities: eating canned foods and beverages, eating in restaurants, using polycarbonate water bottles, and/or microwaving in plastic.

To see if their BPA levels could be lowered, these families were given a fresh food intervention: three days’ worth of freshly prepared organic meals, no canned food, and using only glass storage containers. The results were astounding: When the families took BPA out of their diets, they decreased the amount of BPA in their bodies by 60 percent on average in just three days![1]

Everyone should be able to be BPA free, but not everyone can because of its pervasive use by major corporations in our nation.

Now is the time to bring our voices together, and to use our collective consumer power, to make sure all families can reduce their levels of toxic BPA. Our voices are needed because BPA is one of the most pervasive toxic chemicals in our modern lives With 2 billion pounds of BPA produced annually in the U.S., it's no wonder that over 90% of Americans have detectable levels of BPA in their bodies.[2] Removing BPA from canned foods is a great first step in reducing our nation’s BPA exposure.

* Tell major food manufacturers Campbells, Del Monte, and Progresso that enough is enough! We know BPA is dangerous, and we want it out of our food and packaging!

Women make the majority of purchasing decisions, so when we bring our voices together to contact corporations, we can have a powerful impact. And our powerful impact is needed now because laboratory studies link BPA exposure to breast cancer, infertility, early onset puberty, ADHD, and obesity. Children, whose brains and organs are constantly developing, are particularly at risk and are exposed to more BPA for their size than adults.[3]

There are ways we can personally work to protect our families from some BPA exposure. Suggestions from the Breast Cancer Fund and Silent Spring Institute for reducing exposure to BPA and DEHP include cooking at home with fresh foods and making some changes in the kitchen, such as avoiding canned foods, choosing glass and stainless steel food and beverage containers, and not microwaving in plastic.

But unfortunately, these personal changes are not enough. We can't avoid canned goods even if we have resources and the time for a pantry overhaul. Think a canned-foods-free pantry is keeping you BPA-free? Think again. Restaurants frequently use canned and packaged foods as an ingredients. So even if you've sworn off canned soup, BPA from canned foods is so omnipresent that it can show up on your plate at the local pizza joint, at a five star restaurant, in your children's school, or at the local food bank.

Like all moms, we're worried about the health and safety of our families. And like all moms, we're busy. That's why we want to make sure that when companies remove BPA from their canned goods, they aren't wasting time by replacing BPA with another toxic chemical. We're asking Del Monte, Campbells, and Progresso to take BPA out of their foods, and to also be transparent about their next steps for replacing BPA.

While we start making changes in the kitchen, lets work together to make a big change for the country. Ask America's top canned food manufacturers what they’re doing to get rid of BPA in their products!

Together we can build a safer and healthier nation for all of our children.

Thank you!

-- Claire, Sarah, Kristin, and the whole MomsRising Team.

P.S. Tell us why you want toxins out of your family's life. The personal experiences and thoughts of real moms and dads across this country make a big impact on legislators and can help change the way our country handles toxins. Share your experience today.

P.P.S Thank you to our partners at the Breast Cancer Fund! Learn more about this exciting new study: www.breastcancerfund.org/foodpackagingstudy

[1] BPA in Food Packaging Study: http://action.momsrising.org/go/832?akid=2643.198352.Mix9ye&t=9

[2] The Breast Cancer Fund BPA information http://action.momsrising.org/go/106?akid=2643.198352.Mix9ye&t=11

[3] Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families BPA Resources: http://action.momsrising.org/go/833?akid=2643.198352.Mix9ye&t=13

Green and Non-Toxic Essentials for Baby

With all the changing news about what is safe, toxic and recalled it can be overwhelming for expecting mothers to prepare for a baby. It certainly was when I was pregnant, and I had half of the knowledge I have now.

I just had a reader contact me last week. She wants to know the essential non-toxic, green baby gear she needs to get ready to welcome her baby. Thankfully, most of the gear can be found at MightyNest and other trusted online retailers. Chris and Kristen from MightyNest have done the hard work for us, finding the best, safest, healthiest and greenest baby gear out there.

Here is my list of the essentials for expecting moms and mothers of newborns:

An organic nursing pillow: Blessed Nest Organic Nursing Pillow. This is an essential piece of gear for a new breastfeeding mama. Getting and staying comfortable while nursing is so important in those early days. This pillow conforms to your baby's body, allowing for more comfort and freer hands for mother to read, caress, or talk on the phone.

An organic, non-toxic crib mattress: Organic Cotton Classic Crib Mattress by Naturepedic. This mattress is covered with a 100% polyethylene food grade waterproof surface. This mattress is an excellent alternative to the vinyl/PVC found in nearly all crib mattresses. This polyethylene food grade surface provides the ultimate non-toxic waterproof and stain resistant mattress cover.

An organic, non-toxic crib mattress cover: Non-Waterproof Crib Mattress Pad by Naturpedic.

Glass bottles: There are many choices in this category for glass bottles at MightyNest. This is the safest way to go because there is no plastic use, and there have been some recent questions about even BPA free plastic's safety.

Organic Cotton Blankets and Sheets: You'll need lots of bedding, towels and sheets for baby. It's great if they can be organic cotton!

Cloth diapers: Here is a link to the bum Genius Elemental Organic One Size Diapers from our friends at My Little Green Shop. No inserts, covers or other stuff required.

Reusable Nursing Pads: These are very helpful in the early days of breastfeeding and motherhood.

Organic cotton PJs: Free of flame retardant chemicals and super cozy.

Thanks for the question, and wishing you a lovely journey into motherhood! What essentials am I missing? Please leave a comment and tell us!

image: Kurt Budliger Photography

Congress and President Obama: Please Protect Clean Air, The Environment, and Our Families

Right now in the halls of Congress debates are happening that will effect the health of our children. Decisions being made in the next few days could have devastating effects our nation's air quality.

On the chopping block during the recent budget talks? The EPA and their ability help protect our environment-- including the new Mercury/Air Toxics rule that would create higher standards for cleaner air, saving lives and limiting the suffering of thousands of Americans every year. In fact, this rule would prevent up to 17,000 premature deaths and 120,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms each year.

Here's a letter from Senate Democrats, urging President Obama not to agree to spending plans that undermine Environmental Protection Agency rules.

Here is the whole letter:

The President
White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

The Vice President
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Mr. President and Mr. Vice President,

As you know, the Environmental Protection Agency was a primary target of H.R. 1. The Republican proposal drastically cut funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and included backdoor efforts to undermine the nation’s landmark environmental laws.

We stand with a wide range of the nation’s leading public health organizations in opposing efforts to undermine the Clean Air Act, including the American Lung Association, the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Thoracic Society, the American Nurses Association, the National Medical Association, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and the Trust for America's Health.

While we all agree that there must be cuts to the budget in order to reduce the federal deficit, it must be done in thoughtful and responsible way that does not sacrifice a clean and safe environment. Our nation is facing tough economic times, but tough times call for intelligent decision-making and wisdom, not reckless cuts that will do more harm than good – cuts that will lead to illness and premature death.

Recently, many of us participated in a press conference with leading health experts including the American Lung Association who said "H.R. 1 is toxic to public health" and it "will have dire consequences for all Americans, especially people with lung diseases, including lung cancer, asthma and emphysema."

We look forward to working together with you to develop a reasonable budget with no harmful riders that will enable EPA to maintain the environmental safeguards that have protected the American people for 40 years.

Sincerely,


Barbara Boxer
Chairman, Environment and Public Works Committee

John Kerry
United States Senator

Joe Lieberman
United States Senator

Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

Patty Murray
United States Senator

Richard Durbin
United States Senator

Charles Schumer
United States Senator

Thomas Carper
United States Senator

Senator Marie Cantwell
United States Senator

Frank Lautenberg
United States Senator

Bob Menendez
United States Senator

Ben Cardin
United States Senator

Bernie Sanders
United States Senator

Sheldon Whitehouse
United States Senator

Tom Udall
United States Senator

Jeanne Shaheen
United States Senator

Jeff Merkley
United States Senator

Kirsten Gillibrand
United States Senator

Al Franken
United States Senator

I stand with these Senators. I hope you do, too. Click here to add your voice of support.

FDA Considers (and rejects) Warning Labels on Artificial Food Coloring

(Late breaking-- the FDA panel voted April 1, 2011, 8 to 6 not to require labeling on foods containing artificial food dyes. I find this troubling because the FDA had yet another chance to apply the precautionary principle to protect our families and they didn't. Since there is some evidence that artificial food colorings increase behavior problems in children, more research should be done, but doesn't it make sense to encourage people to limit their use while the research is being conducted? In the meantime, I recommend reading ingredient labels and looking for artificial dyes, which have to be noted, and then not buying the product if they are there.)

Many of us have been concerned about artificial food coloring for years. We remember hearing about Red dye number 3 causing cancer, and try not to give our kids much brightly colored, highly processed and packaged foods. But it is easy slip up on this, especially as kids get older. And according to the video above, the use of artificial food coloring in foods has exploded in recent years.

This news makes it even more important to reconsider. As I made my daughter's birthday cake today, I had a choice. I'm not much of a baker, so I had two boxes of cake mix in the pantry. I looked at the ingredient list-- some artitificial food colorings. No good.

So I made the cake from scratch. I ran out of time and used some icing from a container, which contained some artificial coloring, but it was the best I could do.

I'm glad the FDA is considering putting a warning label on food that contains artificial food coloring. It should be clear to everyone what is in the foods we eat and how the synthetic ingredients might effect our children. This serves as a reminder to me to make sure to avoid artificial food coloring as much as possible.

I'm proud of grocers such as our local co-op, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods for refusing to sell any foods containing artificial food coloring.

When you consider how these ingredients effect kids with behavior problems, it reminds me how much food can effect our children, and our lives. If artificial food colorings improve the symptoms of a child with a behavior disorder, wouldn't it be safe to say it could improve the attentive and cognitive performance of all children? Of course more research is necessary, but taking the precautionary approach here, by eliminating (or lessening) artificial food coloring in our food, makes sense.

What do you think? Are you lessening your family's intake of artificial food coloring based on this news? What do you use to decorate your birthday cakes? Would warning labels help you?

Do You Live Near One of the Biggest Mercury Air Polluters?

Air quality effects all of us, no matter where you live. I live in Vermont, where there are no coal burning power plants, or cement factories, but our waterways contain high rates of mercury carried here from hundreds of miles away.

It get worse if you live in Minneapolis, MN, Pittsburgh, PA, Houston, TX, Birmingham, AL, or St. Louis, MO. Unfortunately, you have the dubious and dangerous distinction of living within 50 miles of one of the top 25 mercury-emitting power plants in the country.

About 450 coal-fired power plants emit 72% of all of America’s mercury air emissions. But the top 25 power plants mercury polluters, which are among the oldest and least efficient plants in the country, account for nearly a third of that total.

The top 25 top emitters are clustered in the middle of the country, from the Alleghenies to the Great Plains.

Mercury is one of the most toxic poisons known to science. One small drop per year is enough to render fish in a 20-acre lake unfit for human consumption. Yet, every year, more than 70,000 pounds of mercury air pollution rains down on our communities and is absorbed into our streams, rivers, and lakes. And then, of course it makes its way into our gardens, drinking water, and food supply.

In 2008 alone, some 1.3 million river-miles and 17 million lake-acres – including the entire Great Lakes region – were under mercury-related fish contamination advisories.

4 of the top 6 and 7 of the top 25 mercury-emitting power plants are in Texas, which has more mercury air emissions from power plants (10,715 pounds) than the next two states combined – Pennsylvania (4,629 pounds) and Ohio (4,166 pounds).

The other states whose power plants emit at least one ton of mercury air emissions are:

• Indiana (3,666 pounds)
• Missouri (3,636 pounds)
• Alabama (3,251 pounds)
• Michigan (3,075 pounds)
• Illinois (2,714 pounds)
• West Virginia (2,561 pounds)
• North Dakota (2,556 pounds)
• Iowa (2,365 pounds)
• Georgia (2,312 pounds)
• Wisconsin (2,086 pounds)

Of these top emission states, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Georgia, and Wisconsin have already passed statewide mercury emission limits to begin to address the problem.

But for those who live elsewhere, the EPA’s tough new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (which I wrote about last week) will for the first time set a national standard to limit mercury and other hazardous air pollution from power plants.

You Can Help

Whether you live 5 miles from a coal-fired power plant or 500, the new EPA standards will benefit you. Many of these toxic air emissions travel great distances and contaminate communities hundreds of miles away, as we experience here in Vermont.

Please take action today to support the new EPA Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.

As part of the Moms Clean Air Force for the Environmental Defense Fund, I am receiving a small honorarium for my time writing, speaking and participating in events related to this cause. I am happy to join in this effort to support clean air for our children.