Addressing PFAS Pollution: Why Sustainability Starts at the Source

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Addressing PFAS Pollution: Why Sustainability Starts at the Source

In a world increasingly focused on sustainability and environmental health, one of the most pressing challenges we face is PFAS contamination. Known as “forever chemicals” for their persistence in the environment, PFAS are a testament to the unintended consequences of human innovation. These chemicals have infiltrated ecosystems, contaminating water supplies, soil, and food chains. However, the growing awareness of this issue brings hope, as solutions are emerging — and they begin at the source.

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Banned in Europe, But in Your Food: What You Should Know About U.S. Additives

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Banned in Europe, But in Your Food: What You Should Know About U.S. Additives

If you’re living in the United States, you’re likely to be eating food that contains chemicals that have been banned in Europe and other parts of the world. This is true even if you follow a “healthy” diet. Food safety regulations differ globally, but generally speaking, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is a lot more cautious than the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when it comes to approving chemicals for human consumption.

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10 Healthy Habits for Reducing Chemical Exposure: Sustainable Living Tips for Families

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10 Healthy Habits for Reducing Chemical Exposure: Sustainable Living Tips for Families

In a world filled with countless products and conveniences, you're likely seeking ways to reduce chemical exposure daily. Many everyday items contain substances that can affect your health and the environment. Adopting healthy habits enables you to make significant strides toward a more sustainable and chemical-free lifestyle.

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Ensuring Chemical Safety in Food Packaging: Migration Testing for Sustainability and Health

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Ensuring Chemical Safety in Food Packaging: Migration Testing for Sustainability and Health

Food packaging testing involves testing of any packaging material that contains food items. Food packaging testing helps manufacturers ensure that the packaging on their food items is functional, and of course, safe – for both people and the environment.

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How is formaldehyde exposure affecting your health?

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How is formaldehyde exposure affecting your health?

Back in 2015, a predictable public outrage and panic followed the "60 Minutes" report that blamed Lumber Liquidators for offering laminate flooring, manufactured in China, that was tainted with larger-than-permitted levels of formaldehyde. The company immediately went into damage control mode, offering buyers free home air quality test kits among other things. Many people who purchased the tainted products wondered whether the flooring had already done irreparable harm to their health.

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5 Ways to Prevent Weeds Without Using Pesticides

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5 Ways to Prevent Weeds Without Using Pesticides

Weeds are a problem for many homeowners, especially homeowners with gardens. They can take over your lawn, and make your driveway or pavement look messy. In the garden, these unwanted plants compete with nutrients needed by your flowers and crops, can destroy the health of your soil, contribute to the spread of mold spores and diseases, and take over your garden bed if left unchecked.

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DDT was banned long ago, so why is it still affecting your health?

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DDT was banned long ago, so why is it still affecting your health?

The New Year always encourages us to look ahead to the (hopefully brighter) future, but sometimes moving ahead means reconciling with the past. The lingering presence of DDT, and its continued effects on the health of the environment and, really, most of us, is one stark reminder of how harmful practices of the recent past continue to threaten lives in the present.

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What You Should Know about Radon Poisoning

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What You Should Know about Radon Poisoning

(updated November 14, 2022)

Guest post by propertEco

A killer might be lurking in your house: no, it is not a person, but an invisible odorless and colorless gas known as radon. Radon gas is formed when the uranium that is naturally present in the ground decays. The gas that travels to the surface of the earth is called Radon.

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Natural Bathroom Cleaning Tips→

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Natural Bathroom Cleaning Tips

guest post from Erica Garlands, with slideshow by Modern Bathroom

(this is the first post in a 3-part series on Green Cleaning)

Did you know that there are 150 chemicals found in the home that are connected to allergies, birth defects, cancer and physiological disorders? And most of these chemicals are found in bathroom-cleaning products! Bathrooms are high traffic rooms, and obviously need to be kept clean due to the high level of germs that can collect in bathrooms. There are many cleaning options available to us, many containing harmful products, but there are ways to effectively clean by only using natural ingredients. Some of these natural ingredients include grapefruit, lemons, salt, and baking soda.

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What Everyone Needs to Know about Arsenic in Rice

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What Everyone Needs to Know about Arsenic in Rice

Exposure to arsenic is a growing global health problem, but there’s a lot that scientists and health workers still don’t know about the extent to which it is affecting the health of vulnerable populations.

What exactly is arsenic, and how does it affect your health? Is there anything you can do to reduce your exposure to arsenic in rice and other food you eat? These are a few of the questions that this week’s blog post aims to answer.

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Lifestyle choices and the cancer connection: what you should know

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Lifestyle choices and the cancer connection: what you should know

Almost half of all Americans suffer from chronic health ailments; among these, cancer is second leading cause of death, after heart disease. Although screening and treatment options, as well as a reduction in smoking, have improved the survival odds for many different kinds of cancer, including the 4 most common kinds: lung, colorectal, breast, and lung, the numbers are still high. Over 595,000 Americans are expected to die from cancer in 2016, which translates into over 1600 people per day...

There's no foolproof way to completely eliminate your risk of developing cancer, but there are several ways to decrease your chances. These begin with making the kinds of lifestyle choices that will ensure that your immune system has the strength it needs to keep your body healthy and fight disease effectively.

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10 Ways that Endocrine Disruptors are Screwing up your Health

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10 Ways that Endocrine Disruptors are Screwing up your Health

We are all exposed to endocrine disruptors like BPA, dioxin, lead, arsenic, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals. Here's a list of what they can do to the human body and the environment, along with a resource to help you minimize your exposure to these harmful synthetic chemicals.

 

 

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Are BPA-free plastics still poisoning you?

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Are BPA-free plastics still poisoning you?

In my book on toxic chemicals, I wrote about the health effects of Bisphenol-A (BPA) as being pervasive: this chemical compound, found in plastics and even in some cash register receipts, has been linked to problems with metabolism, behavior, reproduction, the development of placentas and stem cells, and the growth of cancerous tumors. BPA has been blamed (at least in part) for obesity, diabetes, asthma, infertility, and even…

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Direct and Indirect Health Effects of Triclosan

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Direct and Indirect Health Effects of Triclosan

guest post by Audrey Lefebvre, R.N.

Triclosan is an antibacterial chemical added to most commercial cleaning products that target bacteria. As mentioned here, long-term use of Triclosan may cause a disruption in the endocrine system. The direct and indirect effects of triclosan are important to understand for a healthier and sustainable lifestyle. The concept of “antibacterial” is particularly useful in a critical healthcare setting, but what happens when we over use this chemical in the comfort of our homes and our hormone levels are altered?

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Formaldehyde: the hype and the facts

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Formaldehyde: the hype and the facts

There was a predictable panic that followed a "60 Minutes" report that blamed Lumber Liquidators for offering laminate flooring, manufactured in China, which was tainted with larger-than-permitted levels of formaldehyde. While the company continues to do damage control, in part by offering buyers free home air quality test kits, many people who have purchased the tainted products have wondered whether the flooring has already done irreparable harm to their health. Formaldehyde is a known cancer-causing agent, and little bodies (which may like to squirm and crawl or lay on the floor) are especially vulnerable to its toxic effects.

In cases like these, it’s a good idea to separate the hype from the facts and think about the real risks, and what you can do about them, if you fear that you may have been exposed. And most likely, you and your children have already been exposed to formaldehyde many times over, even if you never purchased tainted laminate floors from Lumber Liquidators. That’s because formaldehyde is already in a lot of the ordinary, indispensable things that are in, or on your house, or on your body.

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