How Cah I Protect My Children from Toxic Chemicals?

I make almost all of my skincare products (haven't had shampoo in my house for years). Get the book Earthly Bodies and Heavenly Hair by Dina Falconi for some good starter recipes.

Hi K.,

Try Melaleuca products. You can go online at www.melaleuca.com and browse the products. They are non toxic products. Good luck!

There's a list of BPA products as far as drinking cups/ sippy cups, etc.. if it's older you can assume it has BPA and buy only things that say bpa free. As far as sippy cups Take and toss and the playtex sippy cups I think are safe..but you can find it online.

also there is a great book out called "Growing Up Green" by Deidre Imus... really good stuff in there with some simple ideas too. I love it.

Good luck!

My best friend and I were just discussing this for the past two weeks. She got EXTREMELY anxious about it and did some research. The bottom line with all the news headlines is that you have to deal with everything in moderation. As much as we try, moms cannot protect their kids from "all things bad" in the world. It is reprehensible to me that our news headlines create panacea about everything. Swine flu! Chemicals! Toxic air! There's only so much you can control. My advice is do what you can; do what you can afford; do what makes you comfortable. Good luck to you!

How do we know that just because a product is on a store shelf, that it's safe?

We don't. Scary in the U. S. that this is true.

Although I cn't help you with the bishpenol A leaching, I can tell you that in our family we use only non-toxic cleaners and personal care products. I think you have tmake the changes where you can.

There is an awesome FREE archived presentation available by my friend Kent Mack.

I have put the info on my site www.nosickvisits.com for you to access the presentation.

There is also a video on the options we offer for Children & Baby's on this site.

Hi K.,
SkinDeep cosmetic safety database can tell you how safe certain beauty products are. You can type in "Shampoo", "Conditioner", "Sunscreen" or products ingredients or brand names and get a lot of info on the toxicity of products.

http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com/index.php?nothanks=1

I use 99% homemade cleaners and I have found great recipes online. After you try a few, I'm sure you will find ones that you like. Vinegar, baking soda, lemons, and borax are just about the only things that I use. Vinegar and borax are great disinfectants.

all the best,
B.

K.-
I am thrilled to see your question. I am going to find that article "Toxic Tubs" as I am just about to send my customers an email regarding just that subject. I have an internet business that educates people about the toxic chemicals in all personal care products and provide safe alternatives. You cannot trust what is in the store and the FDA is not monitoring the chemicals as well as is needed. To help bring this to peoples awareness, there is another article just printed in the NY Post about baby products and the toxic chemicals in them on my site under Articles & Links. Please check out my site at www.beauty-with-integrity.com for lots of important information on this subject as well as many other beauty products. I researched this myself for almost 2 years to find safe alternatives for myself and my children. I am sure you will find it enlightening and I hope you will try my products. I have an unscented body wash that is now on sale so mothers can try it and see the difference. You must be pro-active in all your choices and my feeling is "knowledge is power". but there is alot of misleading info out there and its almost impossible to decipher the truth unless you really investigate it as I have done and continue to do to keep up with the ever changing industry's ways of manipulating the consumer. Please let me know what you think of the site.
Thanks
R. P (New York)

I use all natural and biodegradable cleaners in my house. I have two great DVDs that I can loan you if you care to view them. "Healthy Home Healthy Kids" and "Get Clean". The first is about how to protect your kids and the second is a means to do it. I use Get Clean which is Shaklee's cleaning line as well as all their other lines. You can only buy it from distributors like me.

If you are seriously intersted in quality products, you need to check out the company and see what if any tests they do, get their MSDS sheets and go with your gut. Companies do not have to list their ingredients. If you are looking for other info other then the site you got your artilce from (I get that one too) I can help you out with that.

Thanks for trying to do the right thing and get educated so you can make an informed choice.

T.

I have heard really good things about Shaklee and Melaluca. I know that they have been around for years.

The other end of the equation is cleansing. Are you addressing that? It's impossible to avoid toxins altogether. We still have to breathe. And you may filter your drinking water, but what are you bathing in? Our skin is our largest organ and it takes in a large quantity of water through the pores.

We clean the filters in our cars, in our furnaces, etc. What about our internal organs. Here is a video that you can watch:

http://drspeaksout.com/

If you 'd like to learn more, you can email me at ____@____.com

A.

start with no immunizations...that way you are not giving them toxins directly in their body.
then go to the health food store and read all the labels. you have a better chance there, for it should be pretty natural to begin with. eat organic foods.

Hi K.!
I have heard/read about this, too. To avoid toxins, I bought glass bottles for my daughter, even though there were BPA-free plastic ones, and I use Corning glass storage bowls and containers instead of plastic ones. I bought organic baby shampoo for her and instead of baby lotion, I use Burt's Bees apricot oil on her skin. There's a website called Safe Cosmetics dot org and another called The Daily Green dot com that I've been referring to for suggestions on safe products. I also use silicone teethers and pacifiers instead of plastic, and finally, I check to see where plastic toys are manufactured and try to avoid ones made in China, because I believe there is very little quality control in the factories there, not to mention the way the workers are treated.
I hope these tips help. Let me know if you have any other ideas. Good luck!
P.S. More info from April 29 Safecosmetics.org.All mothers might want to contact this senator and express their support for her bill:

"Sen. Gillibrand’s Bill Directs Cosmetic Industry to Clean Up Its Act

New York – Today, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) took action to protect children’s health by introducing the Safe Baby Products Act, which directs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to investigate and regulate hazardous contaminants in personal care products marketed to or used by children.

Gillibrand introduced the bill in response to a study by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which revealed that many widely used baby shampoos and bubble baths are contaminated with the cancer-causing chemicals formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane. The chemicals are not listed on labels because contaminants are exempt from labeling laws."

K.,
If you are around the Albany area there is a conference coming up entitled Our Toxic World: Keeping Ourselves, Our Children, and Our Babies Healthy on May 19th. Contact Community Cradle, the agency putting on the event, for more information at ###-###-####.

K.,
Its great to see how concerned you are for your children's health and care about the environment! Unfortunately what you're reading is true, have you ever seen "Toxic Brew"? Luckily there is something you can do! Get Clean is safe, effective & green w/o all those chemicals that are harmful & unnecessary. For more info check out https://www.shaklee.net/healthtoday/getclean/index
There are also lots of Baby and children personal care products you can use that are organic, natural and healthier then most common products. I'd be happy to share with you what I use if you would like?
Best of Health,

Dear K.,
I am a doctor working in pediatric environmental health. If you have not heard of this field, you are not alone. Most doctors only get a couple of hours of training in environmental health and even less on the children's issues. We are working very hard to identify the effects of these chemicals, how people can avoid them and how we can best communicate this to policy makers and mothers to reduce production and exposure. It is a monumental task.
One of the things that I am doing is developing a blog to answer these kinds of questions and to provide very direct information about these and other issues related to environmental health. I will like to invite you to review the blog when it is ready.
In the meantime, I can tell you that you are doing the right thing by eating organic and seeking more information. In fact, even when people switch from conventional to organic, most of the pesticide residues become non-detectable in about 10 days.
Please feel free to email me should you need some specific information or if you have concerns.
Best wishes, Luz

Hi K.,

I share your concern about chemicals in everyday products. 3 years ago, I started shopping from a company called Melaleuca and will be a customer for life. When I became a customer I was so happy to get rid of my cleaning and laundry products; I boxed them up and was told that the garbage men would not pick them up because they were considered hazardous waste. WOW, what an eye opener! My husband had to take them to the hazardous waste site in our county. Melaleuca's products don't have fomaldehyde, corrosives, phosphates, etc... in any of their products. They are also environmentally responsible. The products work great and save me alot of money..they are economically priced. They have a cleaning and laundry line, over the counter pharmaceuticals, a bath & body line, a great kids line, make-up by Nicole Miller of New York, Vitamins and nutritional suppliments and more. You have to be referred by a customer in order to get the wholesale prices. If you want more information about it, feel free to contact me.

Well I look forward to some responses on this, we were just discussing BPA this morning! I know the new bottles and sippy cups are OK -- if you look in the stores they will say BPA free and this is pretty recent, within the last year I think. THe BPA activates when under very hot temperatures, like dishwasher. So I was wondering if I should pitch all my bottles that were mainly used for EBM storage but did get thrown in the DW several times.... I have bought the older boys new BPA free sippy cups and avoid using the DW with them or any of their plastic wear... I feel the same, by the time our kids are grown they are going to have a whole list of things they were exposed to that we didn't know about..

K., I am the same way as you are and we as society and as America, we are finding out more and more about products and toys and lead paint and etc. because people are really focusing on healthy and getting back to the green and organic and all the healthy stuff knowing that people are concerned about Alzheimer's, cancer, Autism and so forth and wondering why all the sudden children are being affected.
I work in this company that focus on green and health and financies of people in general. I have tried and looked and tested many things from other company but htis company tops them all. In fact, WIC has done a study of vitamins involving about 700 vitamin companies and this company came out on top. They have vitamin that guarantees to reach to where it is needed rather than peeing it out like most vitamin and I have been healthier since I have taken their vitamins and they focus on if you have allergies and if you have diabetes, they have natural and healthy thingds to help you and they focus on how to you can have your home be clean and not worry about cancer causing checmicals to clean your home and they focus on making your health and lives better...it's great. If you are interested in learning more, please e-mail me through Mamasource and give you the website for you to check into and would be glad to discuss it with you how you can be safe and your whole family and worry about things that are hurting you as I was. God bless you and may you receive Wisdom from Jesus if you ask Him. :)

I use all natural or eco/kid safe bath products. Right now I am using Method Kid body wash/shampoo for both of my boys. Target has a decent selection of natural bath products for kids. Burts Bees, California Baby, Eaths Best...etc. You will pay more for these, but aleast you know it won't hurt them or the environment.

Just read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Housekeeping-Non-Toxic-Aven...

It's really, really neat.

As far as bath things, I normally use homemade soap for my daughter. I don't make it myself, but I have a few sellers on a website called Etsy that I get it from; it's cheap, smells like lavender and vanilla, and has never given her a rash! I also use California Baby [which I think is good, I've had no problems] for the bubbles in the tub, and Clean Kids Naturally shampoo.

You can use glass bottles - we never did, because my daughter chucks them, but they are safe. I think the thing with bottles, is that if it's colored plastic, you're okay? I may be totally wrong with that, but we use these:
http://www.amazon.com/Green-Grow-Baby-Bottle-Regular/dp/B...

And they are awesome!

I work for a company that sells all organic products that are eco-friendly. They are non-toxic and are extremely safe for your family. I love it b/c we change people's lives and get them excited about healthy products for their home. I am able to enroll people and help them start off their own business just like I did. Very rewarding!
E. Stewart
www.livetotalwellness.com/erinstewart

you should definitely use babyganics products.
they are amazing oragnic household cleaning products
created from plant derivatives. they work really well and are safe enough to drink. you can buy products at buy buy baby, babies r us and whole foods.
check out their website: www.babyganics.com

Once I had children, I felt the same way. How can I protect my kids. I figured I could try my best to make educated decisions about what my kids are exposed to.
After trying lots of different "green" cleaners, I saw one of Oprah's shows on green living. One of her favorite products was Shaklee's Get Clean non-toxic cleaning products. I learned about the company which is also important to me (they've been in business for over 50 years!)and then purchased the Oprah special which gave me a lot of cleaning products for my house and laundry. I started using them, got my mom to switch. I love them, they are powerful and really clean. I used them for a few month and then my Mom and I decided to start a business selling them. So, not only am I helping my family be healthier and not exposing them to toxic cleaning products, I am making a bit of money on the side.
If you are interested in the products (or business opportunity), please visit:
www.shaklee.net/areyougreenyet

they are really great and the company is the best out there and they not just jumping on the green wagon. They are the real deal.

good luck.

Hi K.,

The short answer is you can't completely, but you can minimize their exposure. You can't because there are chemicals in many places that you don't control (in furniture, in public places floors, etc.).

However, you can minimize this in your home. One way to get a sense of whether something is safe or not is to check whether it is authorized by the European equivalent of the FDA. While the FDA uses the evidence principle (i.e. things stay on the market until there is clear evidence that it's bad), the European Union uses the precautionary principle (i.e. if there is even just a hint that it may be bad, let's ban it, we can always put it back on the market if it turns out we were wrong).

Then you can figure out where those chemicals are. Chances are, if the European Union found it in toys (phtalates for flexible plastic toys, for instance), they are in the same US toys; avoid buying made in China toys; use natural, non-toxic cleaning products in your home (be careful, not all products that say they are natural really are); etc. It takes some time, but it's worth the effort.

Hope this helps. Feel free to send me a private message if you want more info on what I do.

K.

Hi K.,
I think as moms we all share in your concern. I strongly recommend a company called Melaleuca. They offer over 400 products including a children's bath line, they are a green company and very concerned with the enviroment. I am a representitive and would be happy to talk more with you about the company. Please email me @ ____@____.com and we can talk further. Best of luck.

K. you are very smart to realize that so many toxins are in your very own home. I was amazed when I learned that. I have only used Melaleuca products in my home for the past year. Personal items, cleaning, laundry, anything they manufacture. All safe and toxic free. Check out their website and investigate the products. I love them. www.livetotalwellness.com/mmr
M. Romahn

K., I see you're eating organic. That's fantastic since people who don't consume on average 3 pounds of pesticides and herbicides a year. Not conducive to health!

As someone who suffered from MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivities) I've done a lot of research into this topic. Keeping chemicals out of the home is the easy part but you'd need to stop breathing if you want to keep them out of your body. That being impossible, it's beneficial to use a detoxifying agent to clean up our own and our children's bodies. Most are unsafe for children. The one that ultimately gave us our health back can be found here: www.zeolitepro.com. It's safe enough for nursing mothers and babies. It will remove heavy metals and volatile organic compounds like dioxins (in diapers, bleached toilet paper, tampons, etc)

BPA's can be removed using certain mushroom compounds. Again, it's best to not consume them at all.

We bought some glass containers from Snap Ware instead of using plastic. I do whatever I can to keep plastic out of the house. Our personal care products are all certified organic and safe enough to eat. There's a baby line as well: www.goodskinforlife.com.

For cleaning I use 7th Generation dishsoap for pretty much everything. Ban-It bar soap for clothing stains--gets pretty much all dirt and grease stains out. It's amazing how much can be cleaned with hot water and a drop of dishsoap and just dried with a cotton towel.

Microfiber cloth is a great way to clean too. You don't need any cleaner with it. It's worth it to get a few good quality ones. They last for years. My bathroom is spotless with just this. Toilets do no need to be disinfected, just cleaned! It's amazing what the advertising media is capable of convincing people they need.

Drier sheets should be banned in my opinion. They are very toxic, coat the clothing and pollute the outside air too. Clothes that cause bad static like polyester simply shouldn't be worn and you'll never have a problem doing without drier sheets. Polyester creates havoc with about one third of the population who are allergic but don't realize it. It creates positive ions which are not a positive thing for our bodies.

Probably I could write a book on this subject so I'll stop here. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions. There's a ten minute video on my website about environmental toxins: www.sharethecause.com/detoxqueen.

K., I would suggest you check out a web site www.youngliving.us/ They are an excellent source for solutions for cultivating a better lifestyle-physically, emotionally and financially. They have really great products for your family and friends and they offer a great opportunity for extra income for those who might be interested. A fantastic product called Thieves Household cleaner that uses no dangerous ingredients that other household cleaners use and fights bacteria and tough stains. They also have some great products for children,bath gel, vitamins, shampoo, etc. If I can answer any questions for you please feel free to email me at ____@____.com a look, no obligation and just looking can't hurt. Let me know what you think. L.

One of the best resources I've found is www.cosmeticdatabase.com. From the main page, just click "baby" and you will see that they rank all kinds of baby products in terms of toxicity. This includes perfumes, dyes, preservatives and many other things. Their product list is very extensive and they can even put you on a list (optional) if you want updates. I chose all of my baby products from this list and looked up my own soaps and cosmetics while I was at it.

Best of luck!
-Ann Marie

(BTW, I've loved the "California Baby" brand and they carry it at Target.

Hi, K..

You may want to check out www.saferforyouhome.com website. This site offers products that are safer for you home as well as personal care products that are safer for everyone within your household. If your interested, please let me know.

Stay well.

S. D

Hi K.. I know, it's all so overwhelming, isn't it? When I started discovering all these problems, my head was spinning, and I didn't even know where to begin. So I decided I would try to make at least one change a month for a few months--that way, I'd have time to really research one topic or area, and make a good, lasting change, before moving onto the next "problem" and getting overwhelmed. For example, one month I decided to try to do something about dry cleaning chemicals (my husband gets almost all his clothes dry cleaned). I found an organic dry cleaner in our town who is reasonably priced. DONE. In terms of BPA, I researched some websites and called a few companies to make sure the sippy cups I was buying would be BPA free. I just bought baby bottles, because I'm expecting, and I replaced my old ones with glass bottles made by Munchkin. I switched my cleaning products, and many of our personal products (like sunscreen) with Melaleuca. If you want a good resource for personal products, there is a database called Skin Deep, which independently tests lots of personal products for toxins. Here's the link...http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

I will warn you, it seems like almost every personal care product has at least some toxic products in it. And sometimes, I can't afford to buy all organic products. Another option is to buy natural soaps--I bought some at a soap shop once for my son when he was a baby--the owner made all her own soaps, and so she told me exactly what was in them--no nasty stuff, all vegetable-based.

Anyway, my point is to take things one step at a time. Also, realize that, in the end, we just have to do our best, and can't worry about every little thing. If you come across an article about toxins in this or that consumer product, save it in a file, and then when you have time, review that article and make it your monthly detox "project."

Good luck, and try to see it as a positive challenge for yourself and the health of your family and the planet.

Hi K.,
Hot topic - you've gotten a lot of responses. Suprised that nobody mentioned that BPA is being "outlawed" in many states. I think California has already started removing such plastics off their shelves, especially those sold in the baby market, with BPA and I think polyphenols, too... so soon this will be a moot point.
But in the meantime, I use Born Free bottles and pacifiers which was one of the first companies to promote plastic without such chemicals - they even have glass bottles! They are great, and you can find them anywhere for a decent price.
**Also look for BPA free plastic spoons, and the old fashioned silver or stainless steel baby spoons. You'll notice they are not so easy to come by - the marketing 'safety experts' want us to wrap our babies in plastic! eek! I too fear the chemical overload in such an overabundance of plastic and unatural products.
Take care!