Environmentally-Induced Cancer Underestimated

The President's Cancer Panel recently published a report stating that the "true burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated."  Beginning on page xix (page 27 of the 240-page PDF file), you can find recommendations for individuals, including (rewording by me):

• Minimize children's exposure to toxics
• Moms and Dads should avoid exposure to endocrine-disruption chemicals and carcinogens pre-conception through pregnancy and early life, when risk of damage is greatest
• Remove your shoes before entering your home
• Filter your tap water
• Store water in steel, glass or BPA/phthalate-free containers
• Microwave foods and beverages in ceramic and glass
• Choose foods grown without pesticides, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics, and growth hormones
• Avoid consumption of processed, charred and well-done meats
• Make informed decisions about products you buy (consult Household Products Database)
• Don't use pesticides or fertilizers in your landscaping
• Turn of lights and electrical devices when not in use to save electricity
• Bike, walk and use public transportation when possible
• Quit smoking and avoid second-hand smoke
• Wear a headset when using a cell phone and keep calls brief
• Check home radon levels
• Carefully consider using medical procedures that involve radiation exposure
• Avoid overexposure to UV through clothing, sunscreen, avoiding intense sunlight
• Communicate your desire for a reduction in environmental toxics to policymakers, manufacturers and trade organizations.  Use your dollar to vote:  buy less-toxic products!

Reaction to the report was mixed, applauded by some cancer advocacy groups and criticized by others, such as the American Cancer Society.  Still "the [American] cancer society shared the panel’s concerns about people’s exposure to so many chemicals, the lack of information about chemicals, the vulnerability of children and the radiation risks from medical imaging tests."  That's a quote from the NY Times article titled "U.S. Panel Criticized as Overstating Cancer Risks."  The NY Times article notes the report's criticism of the United State's reactionary regulatory approach of environmental toxins (emphasis mine):

Nearly 80,000 chemicals are in use in the United States, and yet only a few hundred have been tested for safety, the report notes. It criticizes the nation’s regulatory approach, calling it reactionary rather than precautionary, which means that the government waits for proof of harm before taking action, instead of taking preventive steps when there is uncertainty about a chemical. Regulation is ineffective, the panel says, in part because of inadequate staffing and financing, overly complex rules, weak laws, uneven enforcement and undue industry influence. 

I agree with the panel!  Lame regulatory approach.  Here is an excerpt from the report's cover letter to the President:

The Panel was particularly concerned to find that the true burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated. With nearly 80,000 chemicals on the market in the United States, many of which are used by millions of Americans in their daily lives and are un- or understudied and largely unregulated, exposure to potential environmental carcinogens is widespread. One such ubiquitous chemical, bisphenol A (BPA), is still found in many consumer products and remains unregulated in the United States, despite the growing link between BPA and several diseases, including various cancers.

While BPA has received considerable media coverage, the public remains unaware of many common environmental carcinogens such as naturally occurring radon and manufacturing and combustion by-products such as formaldehyde and benzene. Most also are unaware that children are far more vulnerable to environmental toxins and radiation than adults. Efforts to inform the public of such harmful exposures and how to prevent them must be increased. All levels of government, from federal to local, must work to protect every American from needless disease through rigorous regulation of environmental pollutants.

Find the full report here.


What step will you take to limit your family's exposure to environmental toxins?  

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Make Your Own Hummus

I love hummus.  And, more importantly, my toddler loves hummus.  My toddler loves carbs, fruits, veggies, and dairy, but does not eat meat and almost never eats legumes or tofu.  So I worry a bit about his protein intake.  But he loves hummus, so we try to have it on hand at all times.  I once was in love with Trader Joe's Mediterranean hummus, but it's about $4 a package, and I sometimes had to throw some out at the end because of the large quantity.  So I decided it was time to figure out how to make hummus on my own, to save money and to avoid waste.  This recipe is just delicious:

Homemade Hummus
1 can chickpeas, rinsed
juice from 1 lemon
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T tahini
2 T water
1-2 garlic cloves
3/4 t Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1/8 t cayenne

I make it in the food processor attachment of my immersion blender.  However, canned food has its issues, and my sister told me about Bob's Red Mill Stone Ground Garbanzo Bean Flour.  Here are the reasons why I now make the hummus with the flour instead of canned garbanzo beans:

1. There are those pesky BPA concerns with canned foods.  BPA is an endocrine disruptor, and the lining of virtually every canned food contains BPA.
2. I can control the level of salt better with the flour (the canned beans have salt added)
3. Canned food is heavy to carry home from the grocery store and from house to house (we move a lot), and it probably uses a good deal of energy to manufacture and ship the cans (on the other hand, the cans are recyclable)
4. Fresh usually tastes better than canned
5. It's cheaper

I use the same recipe as above, but I replace the can of garbanzo beans with a bean mixture. So here is my new hummus recipe:

Homemade Hummus, take 2
1 1/4 cup water plus 3/8 c garbanzo bean flour
juice from 1 lemon
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T tahini
2 T water
1-2 garlic cloves
3/4 t Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1/8 t cayenne
 
Bring 1 1/4 cups water to a boil on medium high heat.  Whisk 3/8 garbanzo flour into the boiling water
Turn heat to medium low and stir constantly for 1 minute.  Put the lid on and cook for 5 min.  Let cool a bit.
In a food processor puree garbanzo bean mixture plus all the other stuff (lemon juice, oil, tahini, water, garlic, salt, cayenne pepper).  You may want to add more salt since the bean mixture has no salt.


This second method does get an extra pot dirty.  However, it's cheaper, creamier, and BPA-free.  As an added bonus, I can add the garbanzo flour to my baby's whole grain cereal mixture.  The bag of flour is pretty light (about 1 1/2 pounds) and is equivalent to 13 cans of garbanzo beans. 

What steps have you taken to avoid BPA?
 
Photo credit: Albertas Agejevas

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My 9-Month-Old is Potty Trained!!!

Just kidding.  However, it does seem to be easier to get my baby to poop in the potty than my toddler.

We are several weeks into potty training my nearly 3yo.  He pees in the potty like a pro.  Without any prompting, he runs to the potty, pulls down his pants, and pees.  And if I tell him he needs to pee before we leave the house, he runs to the potty and pees.  He also has been dry at night for several months (long before potty training began) and has stayed dry for more than 3 hours while we were out of the house.  And I should be grateful.  But sometimes I'm not.  Because he still poops in his underpants.  He pooped several times in a row in the potty a few weeks ago and I thought we were home free.  In fact, I read this post and felt really sad for all the poor schmucks (i.e., post author and commenters) whose boys just take so darn long to go #2 in the pot! 

Well, the smugness is gone and desperation has arrived.  You know how all those potty training books tell you to stay positive even when your kid has an accident (no blame!  no shame!)?  Yesterday I was positive during the first poopy accident, neutral and stoic during the second, and pretty ticked cleaning up the third ("Poop goes in the potty! Poop goes in the potty!" in an unfriendly voice).  I shouldn't care that much, because I just throw his poopy underpants in the wash with the baby's cloth diapers.  Yet, I do care, because my expectations have shifted.  For the last 6+ months, he has NEVER pooped when we are out (only at home) nor in front of us, so I know he can control when he poops.  So now I have pulled out the big guns: ridiculously awesome "Poo Poo Prizes" (leftover Christmas gifts he never got around to opening, etc.) and a "Poo Poo Treat" he picked out himself at Trader Joe's, which we purposely eat in front of him after we go #2.  I'll let you know if it works.

On the other hand. . . inspired by this post and frustrated by my efforts with potty training a preschooler, I thought, maybe I'll try sitting my baby on the potty.  My preschooler was not a very regular baby, but my second child, she poops every morning when she wakes up.  So this morning when the baby and I woke up, I got up to change her diaper as usual when she started to strain just as I removed the diaper.  Remembering my vow to do potty training differently with the next child, I took off the baby's diaper and whisked her off to sit on the potty seat on top of the toilet.  She was kind of weirded out, but I sang some songs and made funny noises as I held her there.  After a few minutes I thought to myself, this isn't going to work.  And then you know what?

She pooped in the potty.

-------

What are you best potty training tricks?


To read everything I know about early potty training, CLICK HERE.
 

This post is part of 

Works for Me Wednesday

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Lazy and Cheap Ways to Be Green

My husband mentioned that all my posts seem to be about cloth diapers. So here is a post about something else.

I save the environment and money in many ways just by being lazy:

• Shower less often (remember, they almost never bathed during the middle ages, and look how well that turned out!) 
• Bathe your kids less often (I bathed my first baby every single night, but my second baby is lucky to bathe once a week -- this is due more to lack of time than my desire to conserve water. Until babies are mobile, how dirty are they really getting anyway?) 
• Wash your own clothes less often -- we don't wash unless it is noticeably dirty or smells 
• Wash your kids' clothes less often -- my infant definitely wore the same clothes several days in a row until she started eating solid foods and playing on the floor more often 
• Clean your house less often (save money on cleaners!) 
• Use the same plate, cup and silverware more than once in the same day 
• Wash more in the dishwasher, less by hand (almost always saves water) 
• Use and reuse cloth napkins (leave them on the table between meals) 
• Don't flush the toilet for #1 (if it's yellow, let it mellow) 
• Water your lawn less or, even better, plant a wild low-water ground cover plant like clover that needs little water and almost no maintenance (or a rock garden) 
• Stay home instead of going out to eat or to a movie 
• Send e-cards instead of real cards (although, who doesn't love a snail mail card?) 

These ideas mostly seem related to a lack of hygiene and cleanliness. You may not want to admit you do these things to your mother-in-law (I definitely don't). But it's good to know that even if you are a bit slothful, at least that makes you somewhat virtuous in another respect.

For all posts on Lazy and Cheap Ways to Be Green, click HERE.

Any other ideas?

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Not Blueberries! -- Produce and Pesticides

The Environmental Working Group has published its latest findings on pesticides in produce.  They publish a list that includes the 12 fruits or vegetables with the greatest number of pesticides and the 15 that have the least.  By avoiding the conventional (= not organic) versions of the “Dirty Dozen” you can drastically reduce your exposure to pesticides.  The website includes a printable version of their guide.  Find the full list of 49 fruits and vegetables ranked from best to worst here.

Should you bother to try to avoid pesticides?  In my public policy program, we read Risk and Reason, which pretty well convinced me that pesticides do not cause cancer.  I didn't worry about pesticides or hormones one bit while pregnant with my first child.  But when it came time to give #1 solid foods, a lot of the books brought up the issue of pesticides, and I started to look into it.  I still think pesticides probably do not cause a great cancer risk to healthy adults (since the benefits of the nutrients in the produce probably outweigh the risk of the pesticides used to grow the produce), but now I am concerned about the effect of pesticides on fetuses, infants, and children -- particularly the effect of endocrine disruptors (which practically every chemical and plastic seems to be).

Most of what I have read suggests that pesticide regulation is strong enough for adults, but not for fetuses, infants and children, who consume a much higher ratio of food-to-weight than adults.  I'm not sure I'll be so careful when my children are older, but for now, I buy the "Dirty Dozen" organic whenever I can.  Since I'm cheap, I mostly buy the "Clean 15" not-organic.  Organic is indisputably better for the environment, if not personal health.  Blueberries used to be on the low pesticide list, and I happily bought the 5-pound clamshell at Trader Joe's for my blueberry-loving family whenever it was available.  Now I'll have to rethink that purchasing behavior.

Here is what the Environmental Working Group has to say about pesticides and health:

As acknowledged by U.S. and international government agencies, different pesticides have been linked to a variety of health problems, including:

    * Nervous system toxicity
    * Cancer
    * Hormone system effects
    * Skin, eye and lung irritation

Pesticides are unique among the chemicals we release into the environment. They are designed to kill living organisms -- insects, plants, and fungi that are considered "pests." Because they are toxic by design, many pesticides pose health dangers to people, risks that have been established by independent research scientists and physicians across the world.


And here they discuss why children are at the greatest risk:

It is well established that pesticides pose a risk to vital organ systems that grow and mature from conception throughout infancy and childhood. Exposure to pesticides and other toxic chemicals during rapid development can have lasting adverse effects both in early childhood and later in life.

The metabolism, physiology and biochemistry of the fetus, infant and young child are fundamentally different from those of adults. A young organism is often less able to metabolize and inactivate toxic chemicals. It can be much more vulnerable to the harmful effects of pesticides. Chemicals that do no measurable harm to adults can subtly and sometimes permanently damage the nervous system, brain, reproductive organs and endocrine (hormone) system of the fetus and young child. The developing brain and endocrine system are extremely sensitive to subtle changes in hormone levels that signal transitions to different developmental stages. . . .

The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 was designed to require protection of infants and children from pesticides. . . But much remains to be done, especially in protecting human health from pesticide mixtures and chemicals that have endocrine-disrupting properties. Not surprisingly, pesticide makers and agribusiness groups have been fighting strict application of the statute, particularly provisions that require an extra 10-fold level of protection for infants and children. 



Do you try to avoid pesticides in your children's food? 

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Two Rules for Feeding Your Baby

1. Only feed her food you would want to eat

• Because you will end up either throwing away a whole lot of food or eating her leftovers
• Because you will have to eat the food in front of her to convince her it is worth eating/ safe to eat

2. Only eat food in front of your baby that you are OK with her eating

• Because they want to eat whatever you are eating

Thus, no dried cereal plus liquid. Because it's gross. And costs a lot of money. I am willing to eat my baby's whole grain cereal mush that I make myself -- not my favorite, but fresh and edible. Baby #2 tries to grab food and drink from me all the time, so I am careful what I eat when I am holding her.

Babies are probably hard-wired to want to eat what you are eating.  Capitalize on that.  If you want your baby to eat something (for example, whole grains), you should start eating it.  If you don't want your baby to eat something (for example, Oreos or soda), stop eating it or don't eat it in front of her.

What are your rules for feeding your baby?

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Why I love cloth diapers

I used disposables for a year with my first child (and still do use disposables on long vacations), so I am in a good position to compare cloth and disposables.

Why I love cloth diapers in order of importance to me:

• More natural against my baby's skin
• Almost no blowouts -- with my first child in disposables, his poop went up his back into his onesie about 90% of the time. I've found that I need a lot less clothing for my second child because of fewer blowouts. Even prefolds simply folded in thirds inside a cover contains poop FAR better than the luge-like interior of a disposable
• Cloth wipes are FAR superior to disposable baby wipes
  
• Less leaking at night
• Better for the environment (not everyone believes this, but I do)
• Cheaper
• Easier to potty train: my little boy has been dry at night for months and was completely potty trained on #1 in a couple of days (still working on #2, darn it) -- not a representative sample, I know!
• Cuter: they are cuter, but I honestly don't care that much about that
  

Why do you love cloth diapers?

Why would you NEVER EVER EVER use cloth diapers?
This post is part of Homemaker Monday.

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The Pursuit of a More Natural Life: Murphy Oil Soap

If you glance at the title of my very first post, you may think it was cloth diapers that got me all started in my adventures in greening. Not so – cloth diapers came about a year into my efforts to use more natural products. I first started examining the personal health and environmental aspects of my choices when my first child was born. At the time I used a Swiffer mop with wet disposable sheets to clean the wood floors of our rented home, but I frequently put him on floor to roll around. One day he SUCKED on the floor, and that’s when I thought, hey, what the heck is in that Swiffer wet sheet cleaner thing?

When I brought this up with my older sister with 2 kids, she nodded knowingly. She recommended Murphy Oil Soap for cleaning floors and other stuff. She told me you bought it in concentrated form, that it lasted forever because you could just dilute and dilute when you ran low, and that it was practically safe enough to drink. I did a little research on the web, and found that The Green Guide recommended Murphy Oil Soap [Note: the buying guide for household cleaning products that I used is no longer available on their website -- they have completely changed their format]. Also, it is very reasonably priced, U.S. EPA "Design for the Environment" Certified,  and uses less packaging because it comes in concentrated form. I know it's not the greenest thing out there, but it was a big improvement from the Swiffer wet sheets I was using. I’ve been using Murphy Oil Soap on my floors ever since.

And that was how I entered the black hole of The Pursuit of a More Natural Life.

What triggered your quest for greener living?

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Favorite Nighttime Cloth Diapers

Nighttime diapering can be a challenge for everyone.  My first child nursed and peed a TON at night, and I tried various tricks with disposables (next size up, night time diapers, one diaper on top of another with the bottom of the first cut open) and still had leaking at night on a regular basis.

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Favorite Daytime Cloth Diapers

Many moons later, I am still using cloth diapers. My almost 3 year old is currently potty training (I used cloth diapers with him from 1 year on up), and I have been using cloth since birth with my 8-month old.

To get started, I did a cloth diaper trial with Jillian's Drawers for $10 to familiarize myself with what was out there. Here's what I ended up using for my first child (ages 1 - 2.75 years):

• Some free homemade-ish fitted diapers with velcro (not awesome, but free, and better at containing poop than a prefold folded in thirds) and prefolds folded in thirds (the wrong way) inside Thirsties/ Imse vimse covers.
• I also used BumGenius (a pocket diaper) in the diaper bag for quicker and easier diaper changes on the toddler while out and about.
• I also used Imse Vimse flushable liners on top of the diaper to make poop removal easier.

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