Perhaps you’ve heard that until April 23, 2010 the EPA is accepting public comment on the proposal to require full disclosure of all ingredients in pesticide products—and, boy, are pesticide manufacturers screaming! Until now these manufacturers have been hiding behind that nebulous term “Inert Ingredients,” concealing toxic chemicals from consumers. They holler “trade secrets” and “proprietary information.” Oh, please! Any scientific laboratory can deconstruct the makeup of their products. And they have. That’s why we know that many inert ingredients are carcinogenic, mutagenic and responsible for killing more than insects. The gig is up.
According to environmental lawyer Jennifer Taggart, “use of conventional pesticides in the home and garden during pregnancy and the first year of a child’s life increases the child’s risk of developing leukemia by as much as a factor of 9.” Think about it: Have you fertilized your lawn with Round-Up, and let your kids and pets run on it afterwards? Or, used Cutter products to battle earwigs and mosquitoes? A healthy lawn and garden does not require the use of toxic fertilizers or pesticides.
Alternatives include biological controls, physical controls, and good management practices. Biological controls: attract birds that prey on pests, and buy ladybugs to gobble up aphids and mites. Physical controls: sticky tape, traps, and bait. For instance, shallow dishes of beer placed in your garden beds in the evening attract slugs, who drown in a drunken stupor. Far kinder—and safer—than toxic slug bait. Good management practices: use compost and crop rotation to keep garden soil healthy, aerate and manually—not chemically—dethatch your lawn to allow water and nutrients (from compost, for instance) to sink into the soil. Also, water deeply (but less often) to encourage downward root growth that helps sustain the lawn during dry periods, and water in the early morning for less evaporation. There are dozens of other great strategies for nontoxic lawn and garden management. Contact your local agriculture extension office, and investigate resources online such as OrganicGardening.com, PesticideFreeYards.org, and the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides.
~Deb What will you do for your planet?
For 16 years the FDA refused to approve manufacturer G. D. Searle’s aspartame. Then, in 1981, they caved. Searle’s CEO at the time, Donald Rumsfeld, presumably, couldn’t have been happier. Despite the fact that Searle’s product testing was fundamentally flawed, with evidence of test method manipulation and alteration of results, the FDA approval of aspartame stood. Until now. The new FDA commissioner, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, is expected to ban aspartame soon.
According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, aspartame was previously listed by the Pentagon as a biochemical warfare agent. Now, after 30 years on the market, this darling of the food industry is found in more than 6,000 foods. You may know it better as NutraSweet, Equal, Canderel, or, AminoSweet, and it garners 60% of the artificial sweetener market. Are you putting this toxin in your coffee and tea? Is it in your diet drinks and diabetic foods? Do you use Metamucil, eat Fiber One cereal, or take Tylenol? How about your chewing gum? All are made with aspartame. So how bad is this ubiquitous product?
Scientific studies confirm aspartame is linked to cancers: brain tumors, lymphoma, and leukemia, among them. One seven-year study of aspartame found that doses of 20mg per day can cause cancer in humans. Note: One typical 12-oz diet soda contains 180 mg. Aspartame causes neurological damage as well: epilepsy, headaches, hallucinations, depression, schizophrenia, and other mood and behavioral disorders. Gastrointestinal disorders are linked with this toxic substance, too.
What are you eating? What are you feeding your kids? Please don’t ingest aspartame by any name. Avoiding high fructose corn syrup is a good thing. Avoiding aspartame is even more important. What are safer sweeteners? Xylitol, stevia, and lo han are some that can be found in natural food stores. (Stevia loses some sweetness in baking, but is great otherwise.) Pure maple syrup works well, too. Barley malt and brown rice syrup are mild sweeteners that may work for you. Even raw, organic sugar—in small amounts—is preferable to either aspartame or high fructose corn syrup. Eat smart; stay healthy.
Our body’s skin is a regenerative organ, constantly producing new cells. It is also absorbent. It’s easy to forget that whatever gets on our scalp, gets into our blood stream, which travels to all our body’s cells. So, what’s in your shampoo?
Carcinogens, neurotoxins, and hormone disruptors are common ingredients in shampoos—even baby shampoos. (Read No More Toxic Tub.) Some toxins aren’t listed on shampoo bottles because they’re considered manufacturing by-products, not ingredients. The FDA won’t review personal care products before they’re sold to the public, deferring oversight to the Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel. The CIR has knocked itself out to review (for skin irritation, not carcinogenicity, mind you) around 13% of the 10,500+ ingredients used in personal care products. Wow. Don’t you feel safe now? (Guess who make up the CIR panel? Cosmetics industry members. Surprise!)
Okay, so, what do we do? Check shampoos--and every single personal care product we use--against Skin Deep, the EWG cosmetics database. Then, replace toxic products with nontoxic ones. If you like, make your own herbal shampoo: 1 oz. strong herbal tea + 3 oz. castile liquid soap + 1-3 drops of essential oil or citrus extract. I recommend you read Stacy Malkan’s book, Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry. You could even write irresponsible manufacturers to let them know why they won’t be getting your consumer dollars anymore. Go ahead, make their day.
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