Submitted questions will be posted with my response by the following Tuesday or before.
Submitted comments will be moderated and approved within 24 hours.
Johns Manville Formaldehyde Free Insulation
Question from ksutherland
JM has options in its product line of formaldehyde-free insulation. One option has what they call MR Facing which contains a mold-Mildew Inhibitor. Their Technical Support people will not identify what this is, claiming proprietary secret, other than to say its an EPA Registered Food Preservative. ( I didn’t know EPA registered foods; perhaps he meant FDA?) Anyway, any chance you know or could find out what this mysterious substance might be?
Thanks for all your help to us all.
Best wishes,
Karen Sutherland
Debra’s Answer
I can’t find out proprietary secrets.
Nontoxic school uniforms.
Question from Linda
Dear Debra, I have scoured the internet looking for school uniforms for my son that are either organic, or at least 100% cotton but untreated with any kind of chemical (the stain-resistant, wrinkle-resistant coatings). I have found organic polo shirts but have not been able to find shorts or pants. Do you or your readers have any ideas where I can find these? Thank you.
Debra’s Answer
Readers?
Whole house air exchanger
Question from Meg
I am looking to buy and have installed a whole house air exchanger. Does anyone have any experience with this type of device? We recently moved to Florida and opening the windows for fresh air is miserable during summer. My daughter (age 7) has severe MCS.
Also, how do we find an experienced company to install it? A Heating and AC company?
Debra’s Answer
This question sent me on an interesting search.
First, I should say that I spent most of my life in the San Francisco Bay Area until 2002, when we moved to Florida. San Francisco and its surrounding area has it’s own built-in air conditioning: the fog that comes through the Golden Gate on most summer afternoons. In fact, this fog can be so chilling that Mark Twain once quipped, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” Needless to say, most homes in the area do not have air conditioners and we live with the windows open most of the year.
So living with air conditioning was a new and strange thing when I moved to Florida.
When I first read your question, I had to find out two things.
1) Do air conditioners need air exchangers at all? (I assumed that my air conditioner was bringing fresh air in from the outdoors already.)
2) Do air exchangers exist for air conditioners? (My first introduction to air-to-air exchangers were ventilation devices that exchanged heat between outgoing indoor air and incoming outdoor air, so as to not lose the energy used to heat the indoor air.)
Lawn Mowers
Question from Annette Tweedel
Hi Debra, We are looking for a healthy lawn mower that does not put out any fumes.
We have a very large yard and not smoothe, along with ditches that my husband mowes. My husband uses our landlords riding lawn mower to mow sometimes. My husband just killed our last push mower by trying to not kill a snake. He missed the snake and killed the lawn mower.lol!
The fumes from that push mower were horrible. I have a reel mower, that I love, but my husband does not like the way it cuts, so he goes back over what I cut.
I have googled electric lawn mowers, and I have found electric and battery operated lawn mowers. But because I cannot handle certain things that are battery operated, I thought that we should stay away from battery operated lawn mowers.
We saw at Home Depot some push mowers. They had electric and battery operated. And they are not cheap. One was self propelled. With a large yard and not smoothe, along with ditches to mow, what would you recommend?
Debra’s Answer
The greenest lawnmower would be a reel mower, but I understand your husband objects.
Next best would be and electric or battery operated mower, because they don’t emit fumes.
Lawn mowers are one of those things that I don’t give a lot of attention to, because the best thing is to not have lawn, and plant fruits and vegetables.
That said, we do have lawn, and I’m working on converting it all to growing beds. My husband does the mowing with a gas push mower, and I stay indoors with the windows closed. Not the best choice, I’ll admit.
MCS and Low-E Glass
Andre Fauteux, Publisher/Editor of La Maison du 21e siecle magazine in Canada, asked me to post this question.
Has anyone had symptoms from bad lighting through Low-E* glazings on windows?
is there any data or scientific studies on the health impact of Low-E glazings?
Just post your answers here as comments and Andre will pick them up.
Debra 🙂
* Low-e windows have ultra thin metallic coatings on them that can help stop the loss of heat from your home.
The Story of Cosmetics
This new video just came out last week, from the Story of Stuff Project and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. I think most of you reading this blog already know what this video says, but it is a great educational piece for people who don’t already know how toxic beauty products are. So please pass it along to anyone you think needs to see it.
http://storyofstuff.org/cosmetics/
As you all know, there are many beauty products that are NOT toxic and ARE made from natural and organic ingredients, and many of them are listed on the Body Care page of Debra’s List.
Carob chips
Question from liLLy.seaFoam
Is there a brand of CAROB CHIPS that doesn’t contain fractionized palm kernel oil?
Debra’s Answer
I don’t know of one. Readers?
Pesticide Use
Question from -E-
Hello Debra,
I was hoping you would be to help me better understand the use of pesticides.
I recently asked a local farm that provided strawberry picking whether they used pesticides, their response was that “Although they don’t use a large amount of pesticides their crops are lightly sprayed”
A week later while at a farmer’s market I inquired if their rapsberries were sprayed and his answer was pretty much the same, making a point to tell me that the plant is only lightly sprayed and thats before the raspberries have even started forming. Does it matter? Another local farmer mentioned that on her farm that certain crops are sprayed during their season but not others.
Well now i’m confused! Does the amount of pesticide used matter? Should I feel safer that they’re lightly sprayed rather than being heavily sprayed? And about the farm that uses pesticides on some crops and not others, wouldn’t one contaminate the other?
I usually try to buy organic when possible, I also know that buying local is important. But i’m not sure which is more of a priority, buying local ( lightly sprayed with pesticides) or buying organic?
Debra’s Answer
First, we already had a blog post about this very subject at Q&A: Organic vs Local (non-organic) Produce, but I think this is an important topic that warrants further discussion.
To answer your specific question, “pesticides” is a very broad term that includes substances with a wide range of toxicity, from not very toxic to highly toxic. And then there is the amount of pesticide use, obviously less is better than more. The very best would be no pesticide at all, and the very worst would be a huge amount of very toxic pesticide.
When the farmer says they spray lightly, that’s better than sprayed heavily. When they say that they sprayed before the fruit formed, that’s better than spraying the fruit. But you really need to know the name of the pesticide they sprayed so you can look up its toxicity.
For one’s own health, the best choice is always organic. Local is important too as the food is not only fresher, but it greatly reduces the pollution created in shipping, which affects our health indirectly through air pollution.
When faced with the choice of organic or local, I personally choose organic.
That said, it’s very important to create and support local sources of organic food. My husband and I do this by growing food organically in our own backyard and helping others do the same. We support whatever local organic food there is, but where I live we really need more.
What kind of makeup and shampoo do you use?
Question from Leslie
HI Debra,
Wondering what kind of makeup you use? And shampoo? I’m familiar with the safe cosmetics website, but it is really difficult to find some of the safer brands in mainstream stores.
Curious as to what you use – any tips? Thanks much!
Debra’s Answer
What kind of makeup do I use?
Well, hardly any. I don’t wear makeup most of the time, and when I do wear it for professional appearances, I wear makeup I’ve had for a long time.
I haven’t worn foundation for years. I don’t even have any. I only wear powder if I absolutely must, like when I am on a television show. Then I wear Clinique powder that I’ve had for years–that’s how little I wear it, this powder is probably thirty years old. I have an old mineral blush too, the label is worn off so I can’t tell you the brand. I really don’t like the way foundation or powder feels on my skin. I’d rather have bare skin so it can breathe.
If I want to wear makeup to look a little more dressy, all I wear is lipstick and mascara. Currently the mascara I am using is L’Oreal Bare Naturale, which I bought at Target. It’s 86% natural, but the non-natural ingredients are pretty nontoxic, and, as I said, I rarely wear it.
I have a couple of lipsticks, again, so old the labels have worn off. Purchased at natural food stores. The one I wear most is a tinted lip gloss made by Burt’s Bees. Again, I rarely wear it.
It’s not that there aren’t good cosmetics, it’s just that as a personal preference, I stopped wearing cosmetics every day years ago. Part of it was my husband. He likes the way I look au naturale, and doesn’t like to kiss me when I wear lipstick or hug me if there is makeup all over my face that could get on his clothes. I’d rather have the hugs and kisses!
Carpet Choices
Question from lizpurtell
I need new carpeting in my home and am not crazy about the wool carpets I’ve looked at. Any suggestions on carpet choices that don’t offgass? Maybe the best choice in conventional carpeting? Also, whats the best padding to go with?Thanks.
Debra’s Answer
The best choices in conventional carpeting and padding can be found on the website of the Carpet and Rug Institute.
Since 1992, CRI has had a Green Label program to test carpet, cushions and adhesives to help specifiers identify products with very low emissions of VOCs. Their newer Green Label Plus program for carpet and adhesives sets an even higher standard for indoor air quality to ensures that customers are purchasing from among the very lowest emitting products on the market.
Though these are “low-emitting” carpets they are not “no-emitting.” If you must have carpet, these are better choices, but I would be remiss if I did not say that my highest recommendation is no carpet. Please consider a different type of flooring.
Read more about the dangers of carpet and safer alternatives in my book Home Safe Home, starting on page 377.
