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Ecoparenting
Issues
Florida
Issues Lead Warnings Fact Sheets for Parents
Tallahassee, Florida , November 5, 2007
Products CAN be
tested for lead. Information about lead testing for consumer items
can be found here. Of
the different tests mentioned below and in the fact sheet, the best
thing to do is to have a product tested by a certified environmental
laboratory. All other options have limitations. The home lead test
kits (the do-it-yourself kits also known as "color change tests"
or "swab tests") are unreliable. Click
here for information on their unreliability. XRF detectors
also have limitations and are generally not available for consumer
use.
The Florida Department
of Health, Division of Environmental Health, Bureau of Community Environmental
Health has a Florida Lead Alert Network. Information is available
about lead recalls and instructions for signing up for the Florida
Lead Alert Network. Click
here to get e-mail updates on the latest product recalls.
Danger
in Plastic Baby Bottles?
The chemical is known as bisphenol A or BPA. Is a chemical used in
plastic baby bottles — and many other food and beverage containers
— causes genetic damage in mice, a new study suggests. It is
found in all kinds of common products, mostly polycarbonate plastics.
Nearly all plastic baby bottles in the United States are made of this
type. As well, so are many common food containers, water storage bottles,
aluminum can linings, and even some kinds of dental sealants. Animal
studies, which are not always reliable for human effects, suggest
that the dangers of BPA leaching into the milk of babies in a bottle
could include: low sperm count, hyperactivity, early puberty, obesity,
small testes size, and enlarged prostates.
BPA
in infant formula
Laboratory tests of canned infant formula conducted by the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) and a certified commercial laboratory reveal
that BPA also leaches from metal can linings into formula at levels
which, according to new analyses, would expose some bottle-fed infants
to BPA in excess of doses that caused serious adverse effects in animal
tests. There are no government safety standards limiting the amount
of BPA in infant
formula. For more information visit www.ewg.org/reports/bpaformula
What
is the alternative to polycarbonate baby bottles?
Polypropylene bottles are becoming more popular, and can be found
online and through many retailers. You will know a polypropylene bottle
by the recycle symbol and the number 1 or 2 on the bottom!
The
best alternative to baby bottle and formula concerns: Breastfeeding!
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Breastmilk
is a natural renewable resource and is all the baby needs for the
first six months of life.
-
Requires no resources for advertising, packaging, shipping, or disposal.
-
No energy is wasted sterilizing bottles and refrigerating them.
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No water or detergent is needed for washing and mixing bottles.
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It does not create pollution from the manufacturing and disposal
of bottles, teats, and cans.
-
It helps space babies by suppressing fertility in the mother.
What
is in those cans of baby formula?
-
3,506,870 lbs. of steel from formula cans
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364,463 lbs. of paper
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359,608 lbs. of HDPE from plastic milk containers
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3,790,007 gallons of milk, requiring 65,271,668 lbs. of dairy feed
to produce
-
861,192 gallons of oil (equivalent) for cow milk, formula production
transportation and refrigeration,
which produces …
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19,373,385 lbs. of carbon dioxide
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4,892 acres of forest are required to absorb this amount of
carbon dioxie
-
Breastmilk is one of the few foodstuffs produced and delivered
to the consumer without any pollution, unnecessary packaging or
waste. Formula and bottles require large amounts of water, fuel,
glass, plastic and rubber--and produces significant amounts of
garbage.
Most people know
that breastfeeding is best for babies. Some people know that breastfeeding
offers health benefits to the mother. But very few people realize
the importance of breastfeeding for the environment.
Dairy production destroys land and pollutes air and water
Substituting cow's milk infant formula for breastmilk destroys
the water, land and air. It would take 135 million lactating cows
just to substitute the breastmilk of the women of India; that many
cows would require 43% of the surface of India be devoted to pasture.
Artificial feeding causes waste and uses valuable resources
If every child in America were bottle-fed, almost 86,000
tons of tin would be needed to produce 550 million cans for one year's
worth of formula. Bottles and nipples require plastic, glass, rubber,
and silicon; production.
Artificial feeding means more tampons
Women who practice total, unrestricted breastfeeding average
over 14 months without menstruating. Multiply this by the four million
US births each year to see that over one billion sanitary products
annually could be kept out of our nation's landfills and sewers.
Breastfeeding
- a valuable natural resource
Two years ago, President Clinton, joining an unprecedented
worldwide consensus, voted to impose restrictions on the advertising
and promotion of infant formula. His vote demonstrates a new American
commitment to breastfeeding. Story, Dia L. Michels, photos as
noted or Nursing Mother 1998.
Environmental
Issues with Diapers!
- Every child adds
about 6500 disposable diapers to our landfills.
- Disposable diapers
have little to no recycling potential and the long term effects of
them on the environment remain unknown.
- Disposable diapers
can take up to 500 years to decompose.
- One baby can
produce up to two tons of landfill waste using disposable diapers.
- Harsh bleaches
and cleaning agents used at diaper services can cause damage to the
environment.
- Serious threat
of contamination from disposable diapers because of human sewage going
into landfills.
- Disposal of human
waste in residential garbage is technically prohibited and instructions
on disposable diaper packaging recommend that you shake out any fecal
matter into the toilet before disposing of it.
- Viruses found
in feces can pose a threat to our water supplies and wildlife.
- Each baby in
disposable diapers consumes 4.5 trees (Based on only two years in
diapers.)
-
Hybrid
diapers ( cloth cover, flushable inside liner) from gDiapers.com
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Cloth
diapers, easy to use, velcro and snaps and very comfy for baby
-
“greener”
disposables, diapers not made with plastics and gels, but rather
non-bleached wood pulp! Tushies and Seventh Generation make such
diapers.
-
Mercury
Alert!
The FDA wants pregnant women to know that some fish contain high levels
of a form of mercury called methylmercury that can harm an unborn
child's developing nervous system if eaten regularly. By being informed
about methylmercury and knowing the kinds of fish that are safe to
eat, you can prevent any harm to your unborn child and still enjoy
the health benefits of eating seafood.
| HIGHEST
MERCURY
AVOID Eating
|
LOWER
MERCURY
Eat no more than six
6-oz servings per month
|
LOWEST
MERCURY
No more than two
6-oz servings per week
|
|
Grouper
Marlin
Orange roughy
Tilefish
Swordfish
Shark
Mackerel (king)
HIGH
MERCURY
Eat no more than three 6-oz servings per month
Bass saltwater
Croaker
Halibut
Tuna (canned, white albacore) See tuna chart below
Tuna (fresh bluefin, ahi)
Sea trout
Bluefish
Lobster (American/Maine) |
Carp
Mahi Mahi
Crab (dungeness)
Snapper
Crab (blue)
Herring
Crab (snow)
Monkfish
Perch (freshwater)
Skate
Cod
Tuna (canned, chunk light)
Tuna (fresh Pacific albacore) |
Anchovies
Butterfish
Calamari (squid)
Caviar (farmed)
Crab (king)
Pollock
Catfish
Whitefish
Perch (ocean)
Scallops
Flounder
Haddock
Hake
Herring
Lobster (spiny/rock)
Shad
Sole
Crawfish/crayfish
Salmon
Shrimp
Clams
Tilapia
Oysters
Sardines
Sturgeon (farmed)
Trout (freshwater) |
Chart obtained from the Natural Resource Defense
Council (NRDC); data obtained by the FDA and the EPA.
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