the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15

With the recent food recalls and summer in full swing, I thought it an opportune time to post on the most and least contaminated produce so you can all prioritize what you buy organic.

The EWG recently added to it’s Dirty Dozen list. These are the items you’ll want to buy organic due since the pesticide exposure outweighs any health benefits:

Dirty Dozen Plus
Buy these organic
 
1
Apple
Apples
 
2
Celery
Celery
 
3
Red Pepper
Sweet bell peppers
 
4
Peaches
Peaches
 
5
Strawberries
Strawberries
 
6
Nectarines
Nectarines
– imported
 
7
Grapes
Grapes
 
8
Spinach
Spinach
 
9
Lettuce
Lettuce
 
10
Cucumber
Cucumbers
 
11
Blueberries
Blueberries
– domestic
 
12
Potatoe
Potatoes
 
Plus
 
+
Green Beans
Green beans
 
+
Kale
Kale/Greens
 
The following have lower levels of pesticides:
1
Onions
Onions
 

2
Sweet Corn
Sweet Corn
 

3
Pineapple
Pineapples
 

4
Avocado
Avocado
 

5
Cabbage
Cabbage
 

6
Peas
Sweet peas
 

7
Asparagus
Asparagus
 

8
Mango
Mangoes
 

9
Eggplant
Eggplant
 

10
Kiwi
Kiwi
 

11
Cantelope
Cantaloupe
- domestic
 

12
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes
 

13
Grapefruit
Grapefruit
 

14
Watermelon
Watermelon
 

15
Mushrooms
Mushrooms
 
Happy Summer!
 

Toxic foam puzzle mats and an organic alternative

Bravo Belgium for taking steps to ban the sale of foam puzzle mats for babies and toddlers. The mats were tested and found to have cancer-causing formaldehyde and other toxic residues in them. As toxicologist Alfred Bernard put simply, “The[re] are solvents, residues from the manufacturing process that stay in the product afterwards. They can be absorbed through breathing or through the skin. As a rule, children should not be exposed to these products.” That seems like common sense and yet many parents seem to adopt a policy of ‘willful blindness’ to carcinogenic and harmful toxins in products they purchase for their children. The best thing you can do for your kids is to nurture their health and happiness. The joy gained from a colored piece of foam will be short-lived compared to the joy of being cancer-free and able to enjoy their own precious little ones someday.

As an alternative, we love these 100% organic mats by Under the Nile, which are handmade with leftover scraps from their clothing collection. It’s an efficient use of what would otherwise be wasted fabric and your little munchkin’s tummy time will be chemical-free. At $35, it’s cheaper than the average toxic foam mat. Thanks to Beth for sending this story along!

Monogram mania

Maybe it’s working mom guilt. Or perhaps because we keep seeing posh tots with personalized burps and bibs. Whatever the reason, I’m on a monogram kick so here are my favorites:

Initial Impressions does hard to find, heirloom quality work – not just on baby items, but wedding gifts and linens too. This charming Irish linen baby bib caught my eye. It’s so refreshingly elegant.

They also have cute, customizable stroller toysmonogrammed bibs and burps

 

 

Your little prince or princess will love these mini-arm chairs - more attractive than the average kid seat and just the ticket for your toddler to feel like they are part of the party.

 The Cutest Things has great burp cloths. You pick the ribbon, font and thread color.

Preppiest monogrammed clothes ever found at Buds n’ Branches, including this reversible  monogrammed Jon Jon

The ubiquitous Tiffany silver baby cup has always been a tradition in our family and never goes out of style. We actually use our cups - the more dents, the more character they have (and they look divine lined up with orange roses in them). Thirft/antique stores also sell old silver cups, which would be chic monogrammed with a new babe’s initials too.

You might have fun making something like this for your little person out of your old buttons or you can buy one on Etsy here. 

What baby isn’t ready for their own monogrammed Lily Koozie?

 Finally, these letter pillows from Serena and Lily are great for spelling initials or your message of love!

Tween skin

For all of you tweens and tween parents, I’m interested in your feedback on the cosmetic and skincare lines you’re using. We came across Good for You Girls, started by two moms with 6 daughters among them. Their products boast the following:

NO Parabens
NO Sulfates
NO Phthalates
NO Propylene glycol
NO Mineral Oils
NO Silicone
NO Synthetic Fragrance
NO Dyes

Gluten-free and vegan!

 

That’s hard to beat. The site even includes a list of Ingredients to Avoid. It’s nice to see some effort toward educating young women, especially since they are such avid users of products during critical developmental years.

Looking forward to the tween-take – email me your feedback!

baby haters – dioxane, formaldehyde and other chemical-laced baby products

You’ve heard by now that Johnson & Johnson is among the many companies that currently sell baby (and adult) products that include toxins such as formaldehyde and other carcinogenic ingredients. For example, the iconic Johnson’s Baby Shampoo contains dioxane and a substance called quaternium-15 that releases formaldehyde.

Dioxane is 1,4-dioxane is a petroleum-derived carcinogenic compound that is used intentionally in dry cleaning solvents, lacquers and automotive coolant. 1,4-dioxane also shows up in personal care products because it is the byproduct of some chemical ingredient manufacturing processes, including the process by which sodium lauryl sulfate becomes sodium laureth sulfate. The latter SLS is used in products that make suds, like shampoo, bubble bath and body wash. Remember to check your labels! See the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics database for more here.

Quaternium-15 releases formaldehyde into cosmetics products. Formaldehyde is classified as a known human carcinogen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The National Cancer Institute, the World Health Organization and the National Toxicology Program have all identified a possible link between formaldehyde exposure and leukemia. See The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics database, Baby’s Tub is Still Toxic.

The really galling part is that some countries have banned the use of 1, dioxin so J&J actually makes two different versions of its products since the EU has banned chemicals in the U.S. version.

Read this important report HERE, the first to document the widespread contamination of children’s products with formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane.

 For our 4 month old’s tub, we like Everyday Shea’s shampoo and body wash. It was (very surprisingly) the only acceptable, nontoxic shampoo for babies that I found at Whole Foods with the exception of good old Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Baby Mild Soap, which you can use for just about anything. We use Dr. Bronner’s to clean bottles and bring it in bar or liquid form when we travel. It’s great for handwashing baby clothes too.

There are so many companies marketing baby products that contain toxic chemicals, it’s impossible to list them all. Carefully read labels and watch out for these top offenders (regretfully these are just the tip of the iceberg):

Click on the links below for more detail on why these are harmful from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

  Triclosan

 

  Synthetic Musks

 

  Formaldehyde and Formaldehyde-Releasing Preservatives

 

  1,4-dioxane

 

  Hydroquinone

 

  Phthalates

 

  Parabens

 

  Lead and Other Heavy Metals

 

  Nitrosamines

 

Please don’t say the “V” word … alternatives to vaseline

If I had a nickle for every pediatrician, L&D nurse, or mom friend that recommended petroleum jelly for one thing or another, I’d be a rich woman. Petroleum jelly (aka Vaseline) comes from oil (one of those fossil fuel things). As Melissa Breyer, editor of Healthy Living, recounts, it was discovered by a chemist that noticed the residue left on oil drilling rigs. This goop, called “rod wax,” he then distilled to petrolatum. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are common contaminents in petrolatum and are linked to cancer by many sources, including the EPA. In addition, different (and unregulated) manufacturing processes render what consumers know as petroleum jelly harmful in myriad ways. Fragrance, artificial color, preservatives, parabens and other chemicals are added to Vaseline/petroleum jelly to affect consistency, skin absorbtion, smell and shelf-life. 

“But my jar just says 100% ‘petroleum jelly’.”

That’s right, you won’t find these red flag ingredients on the package. Thanks to the lack of regulation of cosmetics and products in the US, they are not required to list all ingredients. See the actual contents of standard Vaseline (Unilever) here, thanks to EWG Skin Deep testing.  These additives have been shown to cause cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), biochemical and cellular level changes, allergies and other skin irritations.

Under the circumstances, it’s quite disturbing that Tyra Banks started a “Vaseline Frenzy” when she told the world it was her #1 beauty secret and that teens are being advised that Vaseline is their best friend. Add this to the 16 (on average) other toxic beauty and skin products people use on a daily basis and it’s not hard to see why we have sky rocketing infertility, cancer, and allergy rates, in additional to a significant increase in many behavioral disorders. (That’s another topic entirely but check out this simple list of toxins affecting learning and behavior in children from the Healthy Children Project.)

So please, do not slather this on your baby’s butt to prevent diaper rash (this doesn’t work anyway because you’re most likely trapping moisture in if you just used a wipe, which causes … wait for it … diaper rash). Note that popular products like Desitin contain petrolatum, in addition to sodium borate and methlyparaben (the worst paraben).

Don’t use petroleum jelly on yourself for that matter.

For dry skin or lips, try organic Badger Baby Balm. I linked around and Avalon Organics Un-Petroleum Multi-Purpose Jelly received good reviews and even recommendations for being nontoxic. Unfortunately it does contain tocopheryl acetate, a chemical compound that consists of acetic acid and tocopherol (vitamin E). The chemical concerns surrounding tocopheryl acetate, although moderate, include cancer (one or more animal studies showed tumor formation at high doses), environmental and other issues. For details, see EWG’s Skin Deep database.

Organic olive oil works well too (even on cradle cap). We also like Burt’s Bees Nourishing Baby Oil and, for lips, Burt’s Bees Wax Lip Balm. Everyday Shea’s Baby Lotion looks promising (we use their Baby Shampoo and Body Wash). If you must use a cream for each diaper change, we’ve noted before Burt’s Bees great diaper ointment. If you are treating a rash or irritation, use a zinc oxide cream that doesn’t have added chemicals. Bourdreaux’s Diaper Rash Ointment in Natural has the highest percentage of zinc that we’ve found and worked like a charm on my 4 month old.

 Happy lubing.

sh*t crunchy mamas say

Keeping with the current ’lose the vowel’ theme, I keep hearing about the twitter followings of “sh*t [insert demographic of choice]s say.” Not to be outdone by clever teenagers, here is my contribution thanks to Non-Toxic Kids: check out the Sh*t Crunchy Mamas Say video. I do feel that much more comfortable in my decision to forgo cloth diapers …

BTR BTTL (‘better bottle’ for those of us that still use vowels)

Props to the ladies at bkr for creating a glass bottle with functional silicone sleeve that one may use to drink all sorts of beverages from without looking as though embarking on a journey that requires carabiners. The bottles are BPA-free, BPA-replacement free and phthalate-free. $28 is less than a case of Fiji and you can be stylish drinking water from this continent. Best part is the founders are recovering lawyers too. Très chic.

honestly jealous – Jessica Alba’s cool new green packages

She totally beat me to it. Then again, I probably don’t have quite her twitter following. Check out Honest.com for Jessica’s Alba’s new bundles. For signing up, one can receive a free sample pack of nontoxic diapers and wipes or family care products but caution! You must cancel within a few days of receiving to avoid a steep monthly charge. I signed up for the free diaper pack. 

They boast:

- Naturally biodegradable & pure plant-based PLA inner & outer sheet (NO petrochemicals!)

- Bio-based wheat / corn super-absorbent materials blended with reduced SAP gel

- NO added chemicals used during production: no lotions, perfumes, odor eliminators, fabric finishes, optical brighteners, or harsh synthetic additives.

That’s awesome but $79.95 a month is a little pricey for diapers with anchors on them. We shall see …