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Action Alert:
Children's Safe Products Act Passes House! Keep up the
Momentum to Protect Michigan's Children!
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1421/t/8818/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1003
Earlier this month, thanks to an
outpouring of public and expert support, the Michigan House passed
the landmark Children's Safe Products Act (press release) by a
nearly 2-to-1 margin. Thank you for your support so far, but our
work is not yet done! Click to Take Action! The future of this
important "Right to Know" legislation that will help provide parents
and other consumers with the information they need to protect their
children from toxic toys now lies with Michigan Senate. The
legislation is pending in the Senate's Health Policy Committee,
which is chaired by Senator Tom George. Please contact Senator
George and your own State Senator and urge them to support the
Children's Safe Products Act (HB 4763-4769). The presence of
hazardous chemicals in children's products can have serious
consequences. Increased presence of toxic chemicals in children's
bodies has been linked with increased incidence rates of a wide
range of children's health and developmental issues, including
asthma and cancer. Parents should have a right to know which
products contain the most hazardous chemicals. Special interest
opposition to this bill to help protect Michigan's most valuable
resource - our children - is growing. To win in the Senate, we need
you to take action.
Healthy Home Tips for Parents
http://www.ewg.org/forparents
Visit this website, provided by the Environmental Working Group,
to find information on product safety for the whole family. Site
includes a newsletter, tips, tools, fact sheets, and more.
Tips to Avoid Bisphenol-A Exposure
http://www.ewg.org/node/27256
Although completely eliminating exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) may
not be possible, there are steps you can take to reduce your
family's exposure to this chemical by avoiding common sources and
limiting exposure for the highest risk groups.
Parent's Guide to Buying Safer
Children's Personal Care Products
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/parentsguide/index.php?nothanks=1
This new children's products safety guide helps parents navigate
around bogus claims and find safer products with fewer ingredients
linked to allergies, cancer, and other concerns for children.
Strategy Being Devised To Protect Use
of BPA; Groups Hope to Block Ban of Chemical
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/30/AR2009053002121.html
Manufacturers of cans for beverages and foods and some of their
biggest customers, including Coca-Cola, are trying to devise a
public relations and lobbying strategy to block government bans of a
controversial chemical used in the linings of metal cans and lids.
According to internal notes of a private meeting, obtained by The
Washington Post, frustrated industry executives huddled for hours
Thursday trying to figure out how to tamp down public concerns over
the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA. The notes said the executives are
particularly concerned about the views of young mothers, who often
make purchasing decisions for households and who are most likely to
be focused on health concerns.
Fighting Head Lice with Lindane: Does
Using a Banned Pesticide on Kids Make Sense?
http://ajnoffthecharts.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/fighting-head-lice-with-lindane-does-using-a-banned-pesticide-on-kids-make-sense/
When over-the-counter applications fail, parents often turn to their
child’s primary care practitioner, who writes a prescription for
lindane, malathion, or permethrin. Of these three different
pesticides, lindane has recently been getting all the press. So what
do we know about lindane? It’s nasty.
Special Report: Thousands of Kids
Exposed to Liquid Mercury in Schools, Homes
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/mercury-in-schools-and-homes
When children encounter long-forgotten stashes of liquid mercury,
schools have to shut down for days or weeks and the toxic trail left
in classrooms, buses, homes and communities costs hundreds of
thousands of dollars to clean up. Found in many old science labs and
used in some cultural ceremonies, mercury triggered more than 37,000
calls to U.S. poison control centers in a five-year period. One
specialist found traces in 40% of schools tested.
Everyday Pollutants in Your Home Pose
Health Risk
http://www.wvec.com/news/health/stories/wvec_local_050409_toxic_things_in_your_
home.24ae487.html
Shanda Hynes lives in Suffolk with her husband and two sons. She
believes there are common pollutions in the home that can easily be
eliminated. "Maybe if you eliminate a few things, that will make you
that much healthier, " Hynes says. That attitude is what scientists
at the Environmental Working Group (EWG) believe should be adopted
by everyone. The Washington D.C. based group works to expose threats
to health and the environment, and searches for solutions. The group
has come up with a list of common pollutions in just about any home.
Tests Show How Toxic Substances Turn up
in Our Blood
http://www.greenrightnow.com/kabc/2009/05/01/tests-of-five-women-environmental-leaders-show-how-toxic-chemicals-turn-up-in-americans-blood/
We hear every day about dangerous chemicals in household products
that are linked to cancer, infertility, autism and other diseases -
yet many Americans may not realize just how many of these harmful
substances they’ve actually ingested in the course of everyday
living. The answer? About 48. That’s according a study by the
Environmental Working Group and Rachel’s Network, in which five
leading minority women environmentalists from different parts of the
country volunteered to have their blood tested for toxic substances.
The results, say EWG experts, show that regulation of chemicals in
the U.S. is weak and “antiquated” and needs a major overhaul.
Impulsive Behavior in Preteens Linked
to Mom's Smoking When Pregnant
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/smoking-during-pregnancy-can-lead-to-impulsive-behavior-in-children/
Preteenagers whose mothers smoked during pregnancy are more
impulsive on a standard behavior test and use different regions of
their brain while performing the test when compared to children
whose mothers did not smoke. The study highlights how early exposure
to cigarette smoke can alter brain development and affect lifelong
behaviors and thinking patterns. The changes to brain function found
were similar to those seen in children with attention
deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Exposure to Combustion
By-products Linked to Male Infertility
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/exposure-to-pahs-may-affect-male-fertility/
A decline in male fertility has been observed in recent years, and
some scientists have proposed that exposure to endocrine disrupting
chemicals, such as PAHs, may be to blame. PAHs are a class of
chemicals that are released in the atmosphere, soil and water as a
result of the incomplete burning of a range of substances including
coal, oil, gas, wood, refuse and other organic substances. These
chemicals are classified as probable carcinogens by the
International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Michigan's Children's Safe Products Act
Passes State House
Summary from MIRS provided by MNCEH at
http://www.mnceh.org/press/news.pr.php
Seven bills (HB 4763-4769) that compose a package to give consumers
the right to know if toxic chemicals are present in toys and
children's products passed the Michigan House of Representatives on
Wednesday, May 13, 2009. The bills would have the Michigan
Department of Community Health establish a list of chemicals of
concern and a list of chemicals of highest concern and post
information received from manufacturers to inform consumers about
what products contain what chemicals on the lists and in what
amounts.
Michigan Green Chemistry Bills: Update
In late May, three Green Chemistry
incentive bills (HB 4817, 4818, and 4819) passed the House by a very
wide margin. The bills were sent to the Senate Committee on Economic
Development and Regulatory Reform. The text of the bills can be
found at
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/.
Coming Soon: A New Eco-Label for TVs
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/archives.jsp?sm=fr18%3Bcontaminationagent17%3B5Flame_retardants16%3BFlame+retardants
Consumers will soon be able to compare the eco-friendliness of
televisions. Consumers shopping for a new television may soon have
another criterion to consider beyond price, screen size and picture
quality: the set’s environmental impact.
In Search of a 'Green
Plastic' Solution
http://www.canada.com/search%20green%20plastic%20solution/1641996/story.html
Out in the Pacific Ocean, there is a garbage patch estimated to be
twice the size of Texas. This vortex of trash, known as the Eastern
Garbage Patch, is made up of mostly plastic.
Big Increase in Ocean Mercury Found;
Study Predicts More Human Threat From Fish
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/ocean-mercury-increasing
Mercury in ocean will rise by 50 percent as emissions from
coal-fired power plants increase, study says. U.S. scientists
document for first time how mercury from industry gets into seafood.
What Women Should Know About Mercury In
Fish
http://www.ewg.org/safefishlist
Common Treatment to Delay Labor Decreases Preterm Infants’ Risk for
Cerebral Palsy
http://www.nationalchildrensstudy.gov/newsevents/updatesevents/eupdates/Pages/e-update-052009.aspx?eupdate=NCS050109002#know
Preterm infants born to mothers receiving intravenous magnesium
sulfate, a common treatment to delay labor, are less likely to
develop cerebral palsy (CP) than are preterm infants whose mothers
do not receive it, reported researchers in a large National
Institutes of Health (NIH) research network. The research was
conducted by investigators in 20 participating research centers of
the Maternal Fetal Medicine Units Network of NIH’s Eunice Kennedy
Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
The 2,241 women in the study were at risk for preterm delivery
between 24 and 31 weeks of gestation. The researchers theorized that
magnesium sulfate protects against CP because it can stabilize blood
vessels, protect against damage from oxygen depletion, and protect
against injury from swelling and inflammation. |
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