When I first started this blog, I imagined myself writing funny or beautiful observations from our daily lives in eager anticipation of impending parenthood (so I picked out a nice Sakura design to represent it). Little did I know, the uglier facts of life reared up and are threatening to take over the humor and beauty: our toxic world (so maybe I need to change the design to something dark and gloomy?).
When someone had cautioned me last Halloween about possible toxicity of my green facial mask which I wore through the night, I promptly dismissed her. But after getting pregnant, my research on “healthy, green and organic” inevitably brought up things like “toxic and chemical” and lo, my Halloween mask indeed proved to be toxic. Suddenly, I had an obsession. Chris had anticipated an onset of Howard-Hughes-like OCD for himself, but he’s now thinking I’ll get there first.
Here are some findings:
Makeup: a lot of makeup and perfumes contain chemicals called phthalates. You won’t find them listed in ingredients but if you see the word “fragrance” or “artificial fragrance,” you have in your hands a product that contains phthalates. When absorbed into blood through breathing, they imitate — and this is vicious — estrogen. You can imagine that this can be especially bad for little boys, in utero and out (some studies [pdf] blame phthalates for the steadily decreasing sperm count in Western men, among other things).
Makeup also contains different kinds of parabens. These are preservatives used to keep our products long lived. Parabens also tend to act as (mild) estrogen and are linked with breast cancer.
Furniture: our (particleboard, plywood, some hardwood) furniture contains formaldehyde that is ever so gently and persistently released into the air we breathe. Formaldehyde, apparently, aggravates respiratory organs (asthma sufferers beware) and may cause cancer.
Mattresses: these puppies must be fire-retardant (in the USA, you need a prescription from your doctor in order to buy non-fire retardant mattress, unless it’s made of wool). Sometimes, this fire-retardancy is achieved with chemicals called polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs (cousins of famous PCBs). This stuff causes problems with brain development, disrupts hormones, and, yes, can cause cancer. American women’s breast milk contains so much PBDEs that we’re off the charts compared to Europe.
Cleaning products: I don’t even want to get started on this one. It seems as if every bad chemical out there can be found in some or all of our cleaning products. Think all-purpose, window, toilet, rug, dish and laundry cleaners. I need a separate section just to wrap my head around this one. I’ll list a few that strike me:
- Bleach - respiratory irritant, major ozone killer and air pollutant
- Ammonia - respiratory problems, skin cancer
- Benzene - cancer
- Phthalates - estrogen fakers, cancer
- Butyl cellosolve (ominous last name) - neurotoxin, damages developing fetuses, especially fond of male reproductive glands
It hurts to continue.
Baby Bottles: a lot of baby (and other) bottles are made from polycarbonate plastic (can be labeled as #7 Other) which contains and therefore leaches bisphenol A (aka BPA) into the bottle’s contents. BPA is one of them estrogen simulators, aka hormone disruptor, definitely no good for little boys and is thought to cause early puberty in little girls. It’s also linked to diabetes and heart disease. FDA has recently deemed BPA safe for humans but a lot of folks are up in arms about this: check out the NPR coverage of this decision and the blurb in Time Magazine’s “Briefing” section (9/29/2008).
Plastic toys can be made from stuff (polystyrene, #6 plastic) that contains benzene. Benzene causes cancer.
Shower curtains, new cars, soft plastic toys, if they smell of plastic, contain phthalates. We already discussed those suckers (phthalates happen to be my pet chemical). Anything that smells ‘plastic-y’ or chemically is bad and, at the very least, it needs to be aired out somewhere where you can’t smell it.
Dry cleaning: formaldehyde and other gunk I haven’t bothered to looked into quite yet.
This article says it better.
In conclusion: ARGH!
Resources:
- Random Google searches
- Environmental Working Group
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Green This! Volume 1: Greening Your Cleaning (Green This!) by Deirdre Imus (thanks Jen)
- Green Babies, Sage Moms: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Your Organic Baby by Lynda Fassa (thanks Sarah)