Part 2: Avoiding dangerous chemicals

Avoid­ing some of the most dan­ger­ous chem­i­cals is some­thing we need to pay atten­tion to in this chemical-laden day and age. Last week, I wrote about the first five of the 10 most dan­ger­ous chem­i­cals in and around our homes (Phtha­lates, BPA, Chlo­rine, Radon, and PFCs) which I learned about in a recent arti­cle called “Chem­i­cal War­fare” in Nat­ural Home and Gar­den Mag­a­zine (July/August 2011). Here is the scoop on the next five:

6. Lead: Found in paint man­u­fac­tured before 1978 and old plumb­ing, lead is a neu­ro­toxin that can cause all kinds of prob­lems for our bod­ies. To min­i­mize: If your house was painted before 1978, clean up any peel­ing paint chips imme­di­ately and hire a cer­ti­fied lead abate­ment con­trac­tor. Don’t try and remove lead paint your­self. Pre­vent chip­ping by seal­ing old paint with a clear, non­toxic sealant. If you sus­pect high lead lev­els, con­tact your doc­tor about lead test­ing for your family.

7. Pes­ti­cides & Fer­til­iz­ers: If it kills insects and weeds, it likely isn’t good for human health. Many com­mon pes­ti­cides are known car­cino­gens. To min­i­mize: Don’t use chem­i­cal pes­ti­cides or fer­til­iz­ers on your lawn — it’s that sim­ple. Look for nat­ural solu­tions. Buy organic fruits and veg­gies (at least the most con­t­a­m­i­nated pro­duce) or grow your own when possible.

8. Formalde­hyde: This chem­i­cal is a flam­ma­ble, pun­gent com­pound found in build­ing mate­ri­als, pressed-wood prod­ucts, melamine (hard plas­tic) dishes and cig­a­rette smoke. To min­i­mize: Use “exterior-grade” pressed-wood prod­ucts to limit expo­sure in the home. Before pur­chas­ing these prod­ucts such as ply­wood, pan­el­ing, par­ti­cle­board, fiber­board and fur­ni­ture and cab­i­nets, ask retail­ers or man­u­fac­tur­ers about formalde­hyde con­tent. Don’t smoke.

9. Parabens: These chem­i­cals are used as preser­v­a­tives in the cos­metic and phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal indus­tries. To min­i­mize: Avoid cos­met­ics that list parabens or words end­ing in “-paraben” among the ingredients.

10. PBDEs & PBBS: Used as flame retar­dants in build­ing mate­ri­als, elec­tron­ics, foam cush­ions and tex­tiles, poly­bromi­nated diphenyl ethers and poly­bromi­nated biphenyls) accu­mu­late in blood and fat tis­sues. To min­i­mize: Cover or replace cush­ions or car seats where foam pads are exposed. Avoid rigid poly­styrene (Sty­ro­foam) insulation.

Use resources on the web to help you find safe alter­na­tives like the Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion Agency (epa.gov/radon/index.html); Envi­ron­men­tal Work­ing Group (ewg./health-tips); Pure bond Fab­ri­ca­tor Net­work (for search­able list of formaldehyde-free cab­i­netry and fur­ni­ture) columbiaforestproducts.com/PFN.aspx; and Skin Deep cos­metic safety data­base (cosmeticdatabase.com).

Tues­day Trip­pier lives in Delaware, is a writer and mother of three, soon to be four, with a spe­cial inter­est in green living.

Posted by Tuesday Trippier on Aug 9 2011. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.