Tag Archives: child health

Be Fragrance-Free, Especially for the Children

It’s also good for you and good for me.

Being fragrance-free is especially good for children and fetuses, who are vulnerable to suffering developmental harms from chemical pollutants.

Very few fragrances these days are made from flowers and plants. Most are synthetic, petroleum based concoctions, including ingredients known to cause health harm, and  many more that have never been tested for health effects.

Fragrance is ubiquitous in indoor air, more prevalent than smoke ever was, and like smoke, fragrance also does not respect arbitrary boundaries. Remember smoking sections and how well those worked? Fragrance-free “areas” are just as ineffective. The volatile ingredients move throughout the air, everywhere and anywhere. They also cause second and third hand chemical contamination and health problems, just like smoke. This means that airborne fragrances settle into anything in the spaces they are found, and the residues from those items, your hands, hair,  or clothing, can also rub off on anything they come in contact with.

Breathing is not optional.

No-one should have to breathe toxic chemicals 24/7, especially children.

choose to be fragrance-free 3

or a stronger message

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How Acceptable Are Your Levels?

 Do you know that you have hundreds of toxic chemicals in your body right now?

Do you know that our bodies weren’t designed to deal with 24/7 exposure to the kinds of substances we are breathing, ingesting, and absorbing all the time now?

If you have MCS/ES, then yes, you know. If you are involved with the environmental health movement, then yes, you know. If you watched the interview with Bruce Lourie that I shared earlier this year, about his book ToxIn ToxOut, then yes, you know. If you or someone you know has a health condition that has been linked to chemical exposures and pollution, then maybe you know… Otherwise, probably not…

How many of you have any idea what kinds of chemicals are in your body now, and what kinds of health effects they might be having on you, or on your eggs and sperm?

Have you agreed to be a chemical experiment (and are any of you being paid for it, or receiving funding to deal with the adverse effects that might happen or are happening)?

If you are like most of us, then you are completely unaware of what we are all being exposed to and the effects these exposures are having on our health. We still believe that products have to be safe if they are being sold to us. It’s hard to believe otherwise.

Like so many others, we don’t question this belief until something goes wrong in our own lives. Ed Brown was no exception. But after his wife suffered a couple of miscarriages, he got to asking

WHY?

And he made a film about his quest for answers:

Unacceptable Levels

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Video: Everyday Chemicals and Other Toxins Affect Brain Development

child health

Please watch this important and very well done new video by Dr. Bruce Lanphear, where he discusses chemicals and other toxins that affect brain development in children (and can cause MCS/ES symptoms in others) and what we need to do about it.

Little Things Matter: The Impact of Toxins on the Developing Brain

Here’s a longer video presentation by him from Autism Canada

Excavating Environmental Risk Factors for Autism: Suspects and Strategies

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Proof: Pesticides Are MORE Toxic Than Declared!

‘Cides are designed to kill. Only the so-called “active” ingredients are listed and tested for how well they kill what they are sold to kill. Human, animal and other environmental effects are rarely if ever researched, and then it’s only for the active ingredients. The combinations of ingredients and the so-called “inert” ingredients which make the products flow or apply better are not taken into consideration. Those “inerts” can also be more toxic than the active ingredients, but don’t have to be listed!

Recent research tested and discovered that these combinations can be up to
1000 times more toxic than declared!

Roundup more TOXIC

Major Pesticides Are More Toxic to Human Cells Than Their Declared Active Principles

Abstract

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MCS Video Interviews

Enlightening (in a relative way)…

Before watching, it might be helpful to get really grounded and plan how you will deal with the emotions that come up.

These interviews and the roundtable discussion were filmed in Sante Fe, New Mexico in 1995. Parts of this piece are in the full documentary, Homesick: Living With Multiple Chemical Sensitivities.

Also check out MCS Under Siege by Ann McCampbell, MD
http://annmccampbell.com/publicationswritings/publication-1/

Learn more about the film Homesick at: http://www.homesick-video.com

may all beings be free

How to Get Toxic Products Out of Stores

Would you like stores to stop selling everyday things that are full of harmful toxic chemicals?

What if you could feel better not only because you could be assured that the things you brought home were safe and healthy, but also because they were no longer full of the harmful chemicals that have been making you feel like crap?

In the absence of (and obstruction of) health protective regulations, we need to find other ways to get the changes happening that will allow ourselves and our grandchildren to live healthier lives.

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Who Needs A Healthy Home?

We All Do! But for Children and People With MCS/ES, it is Crucial!

Healthy Homes and Healthy Environments Sustain Life

Love is always a good thing too!

So, what’s the problem? Check out this great short video:

A Wake-Up Story

See some great tips for creating healthy housing here:

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Sandra Steingraber and Toxic Trespass on Bill Moyers: Video

For anyone interested in environmental health and the health of children, Sandra Steingraber is an inspiration and wealth of information. She has written several books and many articles. Her first book, Living Downstream, was turned into a feature film.

Biologist, mother and activist Sandra Steingraber discusses her fight against fracking and toxins contaminating our air, water and food.

Steingraber returns often to the concept of “toxic trespass” — which “means that chemicals without our consent enter our body sometimes because we inhale them”

Here she is in an interview with Bill Moyers, (you can watch it here or go to his website) and the link to her website is below, where you can access many of those articles and order her books.

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Video: Creating Healthy Home Environments for Kids: Top 5 Tips

Great new video and resources from the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment (CPCHE). While it isn’t made for people with MCS/ES, following their advice will make the world a safer place for us all.  It should also help convince friends and family that the accommodations we need and have been asking for are good for everyone, especially children.

“Controlling house dust; switching to less-toxic, fragrance-free cleaners; taking extreme care with renovation projects; avoiding certain types and uses of plastics; and choosing fish that are low in mercury are the five priority actions recommended by the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment (CPCHE).”

“The 12-minute video – available in English and French and complemented by supporting print resources – is designed to be a “turn-key” solution for prenatal educators and other service providers looking for ways to address growing concerns about toxic substances and associated health risks for children.”

See  www.healthyenvironmentforkids.ca for all their helpful resources, including a brochure that goes with this video.