Toxic babies?!

 I just got this email from the President of the Environmental Working Group and wanted to share.  In this day and age, it is almost impossible to avoid environmental toxins; it’s in the air we breathe, the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the water we drink & the house we live in to name a few… you’d pretty much have to live in a bubble to be sure you weren’t being affected by anything; & then you’d probably be worried about plastic off-gassing, BPA and CO2 emissions anyway!  The real, unfortunate thing these days however, is that we can’t even catch a break from the moment we are conceived!  Even in what seems like a very sterile, nourishing & protected environment like the placenta, free from (what we assume) outside contact; we are directly influenced by whatever the mother is exposed to, be it any of the afore-mentioned toxins.   With this in mind, get informed, be smart about your health and the environment you live in.  

Here are a few quick tips: 

By, Daniel Hurst Photography on Flickr.com

1.  Find healthy, local and/or organic foods 

• Sometimes local is just as important as organic!
• Learn to sustain yourself; grow a garden (see Tip #4 below), get some chickens & goats, & if you really want to get primal, hunt for your own meat!
  •  For more info on this topic check out Mark’s Daily Apple.com

2.  Think about getting an air filter/sanitizer *especially if you have asthma &/or allergies*  

• I like to use Dr. Mercola’s Website for a lot of these, mostly because I know he’s done his research on marketing only the best products and it gets a little overwhelming when searching for these things on your own, there are so many products out there all claiming the same thing and it’s nice to know you are getting a good product for your money!  Dr. Mercola.com

3.  Get a water purifier for both your tap (drinking) & shower *your skin is the largest organ on your body and we absorb almost everything through our skin, without the added benefit of detoxing it through out Livers before it’s absorbed straight into our blood*; and if you really want to get into it, look into getting a water ionizer, to both filter and alkalize your water, giving you the benefit of a more hydrating water molecule as well as creating a more alkaline environment inside your body* 

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  • For more info on Ionizers:  ion life.com; enagic.com
  • Whole Foods has a great filter and shower filter or you can also shop for these on Dr. Mercola.com

4.  If you have a garden, check your soil for heavy metals and previous pesticide/herbicide use.  

• Use oats to check for herbicide/pesiticides:  Clean Air Gardening Blog 
• To test your soil, call your local Health Department and send in a sample.  You should be able to look up areas of concern through the local Health Department as well.  Some areas are more prone to lead or other heavy metal accumulations than others and this is all tracked and recorded.  
• Or you can order soil tests as well to get a whole plethora of information about your soil:  Dr. Good Earth.com

The Environmental Working Group is a great resource as well as Dr. Mercola’s website.   EWG has great info about farming, children, chemicals, water, food and even cosmetics and skin products; they have been very active these days in changing the way our government controls these things in our daily lives!  So finally onto my initial purpose for writing up this blog post… please read below to see their most recent agenda:  

Dear Erin,
On Thursday, I testified in a U.S. Senate hearing, and I want to tell you what I told the Senators.  Babies are coming into this world pre-polluted with toxic chemicals.  When EWG tested the umbilical cord blood of 10 Americans, we found nearly 300 chemicals, including BPA, perchlorate, fire retardants, lead, mercury, and PCBs.  The best way to stop this pre-pollution is to enact the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act, which would require that chemicals be proven safe for children before they can be sold.  Click here to sign our petition.  

By, Paul D'Andrea

Now is the time for Congress to introduce the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act.  The chemicals are in us. The risk of disease and illness is serious.  The chemicals we found are increasingly linked to serious long-term health effects, from childhood cancer and autism to ADHD, learning deficits, infertility, and heart disease. We need a system for assessing chemicals so our children get the healthy start they deserve. The longer Congress waits, the more babies are exposed.  

Sign EWG Action Fund’s petition to Congress
Join the 1000’s of other Americans who are telling Congress it’s time for a real federal toxics law that will make chemicals in consumer products safe for kids.
Click here to add your name to our petition. Congress needs to hear from you right now. We’ve waited long enough.
Thank you for speaking up for a new national chemical policy that places human health front and center — right where it should be.
Sincerely,  

Ken Cook, President
Environmental Working Group
and EWG Action Fund  

Don’t just take my word for it, be informed about these things, they affect your health and well-being as well as those you love and lets face it, without these essential things, we miss out on living the life we dream of!  Our health is the basic building block of our lives! 

~be well~  

ErinSources:  Cook, Ken. “Thursday.”  Email to the author. 6 Feb 2010;  www.ewg.org;  www.marksdailyapple.com;  www.mercola.com