After months of pressure from consumers and public health organizations led by the Breast Cancer Fund, Campbell’s Soup Company has announced plans to phase out use of the toxic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in its can linings. As the world’s largest canned soup producer, Campbell’s can play a major role in reducing exposure to BPA, [...]
Archive | health RSS feed for this section
BPA Risk from Food and Beverage Cans
Public health experts have been warning consumers for the last few years about the possible risk of BPA exposure from the epoxy lining in food and beverage cans. Now a November 2011 study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health shows the concern to be well-founded. The Harvard study found highly elevated levels [...]
To Raise Healthy Children, Reduce Exposure to Toxins
Nowadays, raising healthy children requires more than keeping them safe from germs. It also requires protecting them from toxic chemicals pervading their everyday environment, from phthalates, BPA, organophosphates and PBDE flame retardants to lead and mercury. For tips on how to reduce your children’s risk, read, print and share my latest This Green Life column [...]
BPA-free Receipts
Starting next month, you will be able to tell whether the receipt you’ve been handed is BPA-free by checking for red marks on the back. Red marks = BPA-free. This move is courtesy of Appleton, the largest thermal paper maker and only manufacturer of BPA-free receipts in the U.S. It is beginning to add red [...]
What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
The invisible chemicals present in everyday products include toxins that pose serious long-term health risks. That’s why I pulled together a new page for you on Staying Healthy. Take the time to learn about these hidden dangers and how to avoid them. Your health is worth it. Really.
12 Most Important Foods to Buy Organic (2010)
Last weekend, I got a friendly warning from a farmer at our local Greenmarket. Holding up the big, beautiful bell pepper I’d selected, he said, “You may find a little friend inside.” Friend? I cast an uncomprehending look at him. “We don’t use pesticides,” he explained. I assured him I preferred the little bug I [...]
Safe Bug Spray for Kids and Adults
Is it safe to use an insect repellent on your kids — or yourself — that contains DEET? And are there any safe and effective alternatives? IN SHORT: DEET-based bug repellents may carry some risk, depending on the concentration of DEET in the product and the individual’s health and chemical sensitivity. For a safer, effective [...]
BPA Linked to Heart Disease, Study Confirms
Heer’s another reason to steer clear of food and drink packaging containing BPA — it’s been linked to higher rates of heart disease. In a sampling of U.S. adults, those with the highest levels of BPA in their urine were almost twice as likely to suffer from coronary heart disease than those with the lowest [...]
Unscented Products — Why and How
Air freshener, laundry detergent, soap, shampoo, moisturizer, lip balm — these and other common household and personal care products are scented with fragrances that can be dangerous to your health. Dozens if not hundreds of synthetic chemicals go into these fragrances, including: Phthalates — endocrine disruptors that cause hormonal abnormalities, birth defects and reproductive problems; [...]
Are Brita and Pur Water Pitchers BPA-free?
My family has used a Brita pitcher for years to filter our water and make it safer to drink and I have always insisted our kids use it, rather than drink directly from the tap. Recently, though, I began to wonder if the pitcher itself might contain a dangerous chemical — bisphenol A (BPA) — [...]
ABOUT
This Green Blog is the companion blog to NRDC's This Green Life, a green living column written by Sheryl Eisenberg for the Natural Resources Defense Council. (Subscribe to get it for FREE each month.) Sheryl has also written Greentips for the Union of Concerned Scientists and designs websites for environmental groups and others with her firm, Mixit Productions.
Subscribe
Get my free monthly column by email. It's personal like this blog, but vetted by the experts at NRDC.
Recent Comments