Better think again!  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just levied hefty fines against three large retailers for making unsubstantiated claims about their antimicrobial gear.

Read this press release – and think again.

For Immediate Release: May 6, 2010
Media Contact: Nahal Mogharabi, 415-947-4307, mogharabi.nahal@epa.gov

“The North Face” Parent Company, “Saniguard” Marketers, and Califone Fined More Than $500,000 Over Antimicrobial Claims

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that three California companies and one New Jersey firm will pay more than $500,000 to resolve cases involving unsubstantiated antimicrobial claims for commonly used products such as shoes, headphones and bathroom fixtures. Continue reading Think You’re Safe With Antimicrobial Gear?

What is Cadmium?
Cadmium is a chemical element that is soft, malleable, and very toxic. Cadmium is used mainly in industrial applications. Almost three fourths of cadmium is used in the production of batteries. Cadmium is also used in electroplating, many electronic applications and to stabilize plastics.(4)  In plastics, cadmium helps to make possible the bright colors.

Cancer Causer
Cadmium is highly toxic. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has determined that cadmium and cadmium compounds are known human carcinogens.(1) Cadmium and cadmium compounds are known to be human carcinogens based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans, including epidemiological and mechanistic information that indicate a causal relationship between exposure to cadmium and cadmium compounds and human cancer.(2)   Continue reading What Are The Health Risks of Cadmium?

The Breast Cancer Fund is a leading fighter to eliminate the environmental causes of breast cancer. On their website is a complete section on Bisphenol A (BPA).

BPA is a synthetic estrogen. The problem lies in the fact that it is also an effective additive to create hard plastics. Therefore, it is used in plastic resin liners of cans that our food is packaged in. It is also in baby bottles, beverage containers and other plastics used to package food. Continue reading The Fight Against BPA

The U.S. non-profit group, Consumers Union, tested 19 canned foods and found that almost all contained measurable levels of bisphenol A (BPA). The canned products tested included soups, green beans, tuna, and juice.

Read the full report at Consumers Union.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used primarily in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. People, including children, are exposed to BPA in food and beverages when it leaches from the internal epoxy resin coatings of canned foods and also from consumer products such as polycarbonate tableware, food storage containers, water bottles and baby bottles.

from the desk of Ted Duboise

$14 Million for BPA Research
Researchers who just received funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to study BPA assembled in North Carolina to meet with scientists from academia and government already working on the compound. The purpose of the meeting, held Oct. 6, 2009 at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), was to to launch an integrated research initiative to produce data that will allow for a comprehensive assessment of the possible human health effects of BPA. Continue reading BPA Health Effects Research Initiative By NIEHS

from the desk of Ted Duboise

Disparate Factors Interact To Create Larger Problem
Child learning and behavioral disorders are on the rise. Increasingly, diet-related factors like synthetic food dyes, mercury contamination and mineral deficiencies are being linked to these problems.

A new study in this month’s issue of the peer-reviewed Behavioral and Brain Functions Journal suggests an important new model for how these disparate factors in the food system may be interacting to create a much bigger overall problem than typically is appreciated by looking at these diet factors individually. Continue reading Low-Level Mercury Exposure Linked To Learning Disorders, Zinc Defficiency

This video about the myth of the safety of cosmetics digs deeper into the hidden, harmful ingredients – like fragrance, formaldehyde and lead – in cosmetics, and how you can help make safer cosmetics. How many products did you use on your skin this morning? Deodorant, perfume, after shave, cologne, lip stick? Many of these have untested chemicals in them – and it is legal.

Learn more and become involved at: Campaign For Safe Cosmetics

Mercury spills occur all across the U.S. Sometimes these spills occur because children find mercury and want to handle or play with it. Mercury contamination is a serious health risk. This video was produced by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the Environmental Protection Agency specifically for children to strongly communicate that children should never touch mercury. Please share this video as widely as possible.

More Information:
Don’tMessWithMercury.org
EPA.gov
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I have just added an Amber Alert Ticker to the top of the left column. I believe in the Amber Alert System and will promote it often. Please take note of the Alerts and help locate missing children if possible.