Blog Posts by HealthyChild.org

iphoneby Janelle Sorensen, Chief Communications Officer, Healthy Child Healthy World

What do children age six to twelve want most this holiday season? According to a new report from The Nielsen Company, iPads, iPod Touches, and iPhones top the electronics wish list. However, those clamoring to stuff their kids' holiday stockings with the latest electronic gadgets would do well to ponder experts' warnings before buying one.

Few people appreciate that all of these wireless devices come with manufacturers' fine print warnings not to hold them next to an adult body, or that controlled studies show that microwave radiation from cell phones weaken the brain's protective barrier, and that according to a recently published scientific report from Environmental Health Trust (EHT), children's heads absorb twice as much microwave radiation from cell phones as adults.

chemical tubesby Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff
Executive Director & CEO
Healthy child Healthy World
www.healthychild.org

I just tuned in to the webcast of last week's Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing on the 2011 Safe Chemicals Act.

Scintillating stuff.

No, really. Healthy Child Healthy World has been pushing for chemical management reform for nearly 20 years. On a daily basis, we can help parents understand how to reduce toxic chemical exposures, but without a better chemical management policy at the federal level, we're just spitting in the wind.

But back to the hearing, where things got pretty heated: Democratic Senators Ben Cardin of Maryland, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island criticized the obstructionist tactics of Cal Dooley, president of the American Chemistry Council, which represents Dow, DuPont and Exxon Mobil Chemical, among others.

Surprisingly, the Consumer Specialty Products Association, which represents companies like Procter &

logoby Janelle Sorensen, Chief Communications Officer, Healthy Child Healthy World

I remember distinctly the first time I truly read a cleaning product label. I had just started learning about how everyday products are largely unregulated in terms of potential health impacts and I thought, "what's even in the cleaning products I'm using?" I picked up a bottle of Pledge, flipped it over, and over, and nowhere could I find a simple ingredients list.

I was dumbfounded.

I mean, it's one thing for me to erroneously assume that whatever is in a product is safe, but to me it was totally another to be using something that was made from ingredients I couldn't even identify. Not only that, I quickly found out I didn't even have a right to know - manufacturers had no obligation to tell me.

Nothing much has changed since then - except I switched to a combination of homemade and certifiably non-toxic cleaners and, many manufacturers are using misleading packaging that makes

piesby Janelle Sorensen, Chief Communications Officer, Healthy Child Healthy World

Most people wonder how to detox after the holidays, but have you ever considered getting a jump start on the process? Detoxing your diet by choosing healthier foods and drinks throughout the holidays can go a long way towards curbing post-gluttony guilt and, more importantly, it can also reduce your family's exposure to questionable additives and contaminants commonly found in holiday feasts.

One thing in particular you should be aware of this holiday is what's in canned foods. A new report released today by the Breast Cancer Fund documents the presence of the toxic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in canned foods used to prepare a typical Thanksgiving dinner.

BPA is used to make, among other things, the epoxy-resin linings of metal food cans. The lining forms a barrier between the metal and the food which helps to prevent bacterial contamination. However, the toxic chemical can leach from the resin and make its

by Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff

Executive Director/CEO

Healthy Child Healthy World

www.healthychild.org

The last time I pushed a stroller around the neighborhood, my objectives were pretty lightweight: Exercise and a sleeping baby. My now five-year-old daughter boycotted strollers once she realized the freedom that came on her own two feet, but I'd love to borrow one-and, perhaps, a baby-on November 10 th, if the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families stroller brigade comes to town.

In this case, the objectives are pretty serious: Moms across the country are walking to raise awareness of toxic chemical exposures and to ask their senators to support the Safe Chemicals Act.

I know what you're thinking. The Safe Chemicals Act-wasn't that passed already? Sadly, no. The Act, which aims to update an outdated Toxic Substances Control Act, which was passed in 1976 and has never been updated, was re-introduced in April to the Senate as the "Safe Chemicals Act of 2011." And there

by Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff

Executive Director/CEO

Healthy Child Healthy World

www.healthychild.org

What kind of world do we live in when the one thing children want to do most could give them cancer? At least when kids thought smoking was cool there was a warning label on the pack.

Despite studies like the one published last week in Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, which found kids' brains absorb twice as much cell phone radiation as adults, the FCC continues to insist that "currently no scientific evidence establishes a causal link between wireless device use and cancer or other illnesses," according to the website Fair Warning.

"The standard for cellphones has been developed based on old science and old models and old assumptions about how we use cellphones," co-author Devra Lee Davis told ABC News. The study's authors contend that the FCC's assessments are based on the radiation absorbed by a large adult male, according to Consumer Reports Health.

by Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff

CEO/Executive Director, Healthy Child Healthy World

Many of us at Healthy Child Healthy World [www.healthychild.org] are a wee bit obsessed with Citizens For Health's new FoodIdentityTheft.com website. How could you not be riveted to breaking food industry news? (Okay, we're food geeks.)

Anyhoo, last week the site reported that the Corn Refiners Association-a high fructose corn syrup manufacturers industry group-has petitioned the FDA for a name change. The CRA is so concerned by the negative public image of high fructose corn syrup that they now want to call "corn sugar" or just plain "sugar."

Huh?

Apparently, this isn't a new story. According to Food Identity Theft, the CRA began a $50 million marketing campaign in 2008 to re-label high fructose corn syrup. The new news is that now they are being sued by a group of sugar farmers and refiners who are worried the name change would confused consumers and hurt the sugar

by Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff

Executive Director/CEO

Healthy Child Healthy World

www.healthychild.org

The Bisphenol A story just gets bigger and bigger. Today, the Associated Press reported that the American Chemistry Council has asked federal regulators to phase out rules which allow BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups. Sounds good, right? But this request may "head off tougher laws that would ban the chemical from other types of packaging," according to the AP.

Not so good.

And last week, Chemical & Engineering News reported on a recent study that found people absorb BPA through their skin through coated paper products like cash register receipts. The study, conducted by New York state public health laboratory Wadsworth Center, tested 83 receipts from seven U.S. cities and found BPA in all of them-even ones labeled "BPA-free."

Why is keeping up with BPA news so important to us at Healthy Child Healthy World? California Watch, founded by the Center for