Question from petercsantoro@yahoo.com

Is it okay to store food/ liquids in plastic in the the freezer? I order grass fed meat which is frozen and packaged in plastic. Is there leaching from the plastic? I really don’t think there is anything I can do in this case…some things I just have to accept. What about freezing milk in the #2 HDPE plastic? I have had to freeze some raw milk in the plastic container…is this okay? Is it okay to give to my children, or should I worry about leaching? Thank you!

Debra’s Answer

Leaching of plastic increases with heat and decreases with cold, so frozen plastic would leach less than room temperature plastic.

In my opinion, too, the benefits of eating grassfed beef and drinking raw milk far outweigh any leaching of plastic that might occur.

Add Comment

Question from Sheila Flores

Hi Debra,

We are purchasing a new home and having it built. Unfortunately it is the best option for us where we live. We have a 7 month old and I am very concerned about the off gassing for her [and for us] with the new construction. Is there anything you can recommend that we request from the builder to help? Our mattress is on the floor of our bedroom for safety reasons because we co-sleep. Is it a danger to have us all breathing so closely to the carpet? We have an Austin Air purifier. Should we invest in some more of those? Carpet vs. hardwood floors? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have read about putting AFM safecoat on the cabinets [as I’m certain they will not be made of real wood]. What are your thoughts on that product?

Sincerely,

Sheila Flores

Debra’s Answer

There is a lot you can do to reduce the use of toxic materials during construction.

I can help you choose less toxic building materials in a personal consultation.

Please call me.

Yes, it is a danger to be breathing sleeping right on top of a carpet.

With air purifiers, they need to be the right purifier to remove your specific pollutants and the right size to remove pollutants effectively from the area. I can help you figure that out too.

AFM Safe Coat has been used successfully by many. Some people don’t tolerate it. I used it once to coat a piece of particleboard that was part of a table I bought, and it was very effective. However, my first choice is always real wood.

Add Comment

While looking for some information on the health effects of a certain water pollutant I came across this from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC):

Common Tap Water Contaminants

See Chapter 5 for some great information on contaminants like lead and radon, describing short and long term health effects, safe levels, and what type of filtration will remove these contaminants.

Interestingly, this report does not include chlorine or chloramines, or fluoride, perhaps because they are intentionally added to the water.

Regardless of what is missing, what’s there is a good report worth reading to get a better idea of what might be in your water.

Add Comment

Question from Craig D.

Hi, Debra. I found some more websites.

http://www.widu.com/ – all natural brushes and combs

http://www.organicbouquet.com/ – eco-friendly and organic floral gifts

http://www.floracopeia.com/ – pure essential oils, and aromatherapy products

http://www.thefutonshop.com/ – eco-friendly chemical free organic and natural futons

http://agreenerkitchen.com/ – eco-friendly kitchen products and accessories

Debra’s Answer

Thank you.

Have you been to debraslist.com? I have a lot of websites listed there.

Add Comment

Question from keelyeliz

Dear Debra,

As a mom to two toddlers (ages 2 & 4), I am frustrated at the research coming out in regards to infant/toddler/booster car seats containing extremely high levels of flame retardants and other toxic chemicals from the EPS foam. With childhood cancers and other serious illnesses on the rise, I am doing my best to reduce my children’s exposure to harmful chemicals. The government does not make these easy. At times it feels like an uphill battle!

I have done my research and found the *least* toxic of the carseats available, but even these are required by federal law to have some level of flame retardants in them.

Which leads me to my question! I have come to the conclusion that perhaps buying a cover for my children’s carseats is the best solution? There are two companies that I have found, one which makes organic cotton covers (VERY expensive, more than the cost of our carseat!!!), and the other which makes a wool cover, with a polyester backing material. From what the website states, this makes the cover washable.

To be honest, the wool cover would be more affordable. But, I’m concerned that it’s not organic. The organic [cotton] cover is GREAT, but at almost $300, it’s hard to swallow.

I’m linking the two sites I just referenced, and would love any advice you have! (What would you do??)

Debra’s Answer

You’ll have to forgive me for not being totally familiar with how an infant car seat is constructed. Having no children, I’ve never used one myself.

So here are my concerns, just looking at pictures and reading the descriptions.

It sounds like the cover of the car seat is removable and you replace it with one of these more comfortable, more natural covers. However, is all the fire retardant on the cover? If you remove the cover, will that remove the fire retardant completely?

There is nothing in either of these covers that indicates to me it would do anything to block any fire retardant that may be on the chair elsewhere.

If I were wanting to make a car seat safe, I would wrap the whole thing in a “space blanket” that has a layer of foil in it, which would block any chemical, then I would use foil tape to tape it all up. Not very attractive, I know, but that would be the least toxic car seat I can think of.

Add Comment

Question from loribeth

I read your article about organic vs non organic clothing. You mentioned not to buy non organic batting. Your article was posted on Healthy Child and Boba’s sites. My question is, should I stay away from a baby carrier that does not have the organic batting within it? I don’t know how much batting there is in the carrier to know if it is enough that would be harmful to my baby and myself. I am looking at the Boba carrier. I am not sure when you say not to purchase this material if you meant only large items i.e. a mattress. Thank you!

Debra’s Answer

There are many styles for Boba Baby Carrier, so I’m not sure which one you are considering.

But in general, obviously larger amounts of cotton batting would give a greater exposure to whatever pesticides are on it, so you would get more exposure from a mattress than a baby carrier.

Also, there is nothing about the materials used in a baby carrier that I am aware of that would block any pesticides that are on the non-organic cotton batting.

If it were me, I would get a baby carrier that did not have non-organic cotton batting.

That said, if there is some compelling reason why you need to get this one, the amount of pesticides your baby would be exposed to would be small (a smal amount a few hours a day versus a large amount 8+ hours a day for a mattress).

Still, when it comes to babies, any and every exposure to toxics you can eliminate is worth doing.

Add Comment

Question from petercsantoro@yahoo.com

I received the Clarisonic Skin Cleansing System as a Christmas present. Supposedly, it cleanses the skin really well yet is very gentle. I contacted the company and discovered that the bristles (which cleanse/touch the skin) are made from “DuPont Super Soft Elastomer which is a thermoplastic.” Just wondering what you thought about this device, and if you think it would be better to avoid using this plastic on my skin…I have not opened it in case I want to return it. Thank you!

Debra’s Answer

Well, I always want everything to be natural, so I would prefer a natural bristle brush, however brush bristles are generally not toxic. This description “DuPont Super Soft Elastomer which is a thermoplastic” is not enough of a description to discern what material it actually is.

Add Comment

Question from suzanne mikula

I’m starting this discussion for people looking for non-toxic window blind options and suggestions. I’m not a Sales person! This is my personal experience and I have been active on Debra’s site for years now.

Some time ago I’d submitted a question to 3 Day Blinds about their wood blinds. They said that the finish on their wood blinds was non-toxic and low VOC. We decided to go ahead and have a home consult. We talked about all their options. The Consultant informed us that their Faux Wood Blinds were made of a polymer with no VOC, and no off-gassing. It isn’t a covered MDF or anything similar; it’s a more solid plastic type material. He showed us a sample and I examined/sniffed it :-).

I felt very good about the option; there was no smell and I can usually get an energetic sense of how things affect me. This felt totally inert to me. My husband has been installing the blinds the past few days and so far there is no smell or adverse reaction that I am experiencing.

I know beauty is a side issue to toxicity but I just have to say the blinds are beautiful… I’m very happy because they feel safe to me, look great and finally offer us the privacy and light control we’ve been missing for years in our home!

I have mild-moderate Chemical Sensitivity with probably a higher tolerance than those with a Severe condition. I don’t know if these blinds will work for others, I can only speak for myself and share my experience.

I’m going to ask the consultant who helped us to chime in here perhaps, if there are questions about the 3 Day Blind materials.

Debra’s Answer

Add Comment

Question from tatiana514

Hi,

I am pregnant with our first and am trying to be as green and non-toxic as possible without creating a massive dent in our bank account. I am currently torn between 2 cribs – Argington Sahara and Baby’s Dream Cube. I am looking for a white crib. From what I have read about both, they appear to have a low level of toxins, but the Sahara does seem a bit more eco-friendly. I’ve read so much my head seems like it is going to burst, so I just need some advice from others please. Thanks!

Debra’s Answer

Readers?

Add Comment

This is an interesting database I happened to find. It contains a list of all ingredients added directly to food that FDA has either approved as food additives or listed or affirmed as GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe). As of this writing there are 3969 items on the list, including many manmade chemicals.

The database maintained by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) under an ongoing program known as the Priority-based Assessment of Food Additives (PAFA). PAFA contains administrative, chemical and toxicological information on over 2000 substances directly added to food, including substances regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as direct, “secondary” direct, and color additives, and Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) and prior-sanctioned substances. I

You may be alarmed at some of the substances that are allowed to be added to our food supply. Another reason to get your food as close to the grower as possible, in it’s fresh, whole, unprocessed form.

Everything Added to Food in the United States