Toxic Nation | Pollution. It's In You.

As we've talked about in previous blogs, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) is working hard to get a ban on lawn pesticides in Nova Scotia. CAPE was one of the groups that helped get a law to ban lawn pesticides in Ontario last year.

I’ve learned a lot about what can be found in consumer products over the past year and, of course, I’ve shared some of my discoveries with family. After perhaps hearing one-too-many stories of my findings and after having two little youngsters, my health-conscious sister-in-law has started to try what she calls “people-safe, earth-safe, economical, and effective ways to clean”. So she assembled a list of recipes that she found on the internet and shared them with others and me; below are a couple of easy dish soap recipes that she came across and that you too could try:

Tomorrow afternoon, it is anticipated that the federal government will publish their draft decision on whether or not another concerning chemical used in personal care products will be proposed as "toxic" in Canada. If it is, the government can propose actions intended to reduce our exposures.

Gideon Forman, Executive Director of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), is working to win a pesticide ban in Nova Scotia and could use your help. So it would be great if you could take a minute to e-mail the following message to the Nova Scotia government (policy@gov.ns.ca):

I support Nova Scotia's proposed ban on the sale and use of non-essential pesticides because the ban will protect our health and environment.

For those of you watching or reading the news last week, you’ve probably come across a couple of BPA stories making the media rounds. Regardless of whether you have or haven’t seen them, know that both are significant in that they further vindicate Canada’s earlier position on the substance (that it’s harmful) and that they contribute to building momentum for broader BPA bans (including the need to get it out of all food and beverage containers).

Photo from the Associated Press of a necklace, purchased at an Ohio Wal-Mart, that contains high cadmium levels.

Yesterday, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Chairman Inez Tenenbaum advised parents to take metal jewelry away from “children who will swallow, suck or chew on it” and that parents should “not allow young children to be given or to play with cheap metal jewelry, especially when they are unsupervised”.

Good news! Just before the holidays, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), as well as two US manufacturers and the largest US importer of the toxic flame retardant decaBDE, announced a voluntary phase out of the chemical’s production, importation, and sale by the end of 2013. This chemical is part of the polybrominated flame retardant (PBDE) family and is used to make the sole PBDE mixture still widely used.

If you’re looking for some good movie-viewing this holiday season, watch Chemerical! This film by Andrew Nisker (maker of the award winning film Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home) “explores the life cycle of everyday householder cleaners and hygiene products to prove that, thanks to our clean obsession, we are drowning in sea of toxicity.”

Photo courtesy of the Natural Step, Lighthouse Sustainable Building Centre, and David Suzuki Foundation

Looking for a one-stop place with tips on how you can reduce the impact of climate change (and save some money doing so) by making changes around your home? Well look no more!

Photo courtesy of www.cbc.ca

A recent University of Rochester study of women showed that male children exposed to high doses of two phthalates (DEHP and DBP) in the womb were less likely to have “male-typical behaviour”.