The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) issued a report last week that shows more than 300 million children around the world are exposed to outdoor air pollution at least six times the level considered to be safe by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Clear the Air for Children is a 100-page report that shows the sources of outdoor air pollution, the impact of air pollution on the health of children, the unique vulnerabilities of children, how to protect children from air pollution.

Though the greatest numbers of children affected by the worst air quality is in India, Asia and north Africa, these same pollutants are found in indoor and outdoor air here in the United States and affect our children’s health in the same ways. And our own health as well.

UNICEF: Clear the Air For Children

THE NEW YORK TIMES: 300 Million Children Breathe Highly Toxic Air, Unicef Reports

Satellite image of areas in the United State with excessive particulate pollution in outdoor air.

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According to a new study from researchers at the University of Ottawa and Columbia University, when outdoor air pollution levels rise in Manhattan, stock prices fall.

The study tracked the S&P 500 index, the most widely cited New York Stock Exchange benchmark, over a 15-year period and compared its returns with hourly measures of fine particulate matter in lower Manhattan, where the NYSE is based.

The one standard deviation increase in air pollution decreases returns by 11.9 percent, or what the researchers deemed a “substantial effect on daily NYSE returns.”

“We hypothesize that pollution decreases the risk attitudes of investors via short-term changes in brain and/or physical health.”

CBS MONEY WATCH: Why Investors May Want to Keep Tabs on Air Pollution

THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH: The Effect of Air Pollution on Invetor Behavior: Evidence from the S&P 500

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In the past it was thought that children and elderly people were at greatest risk for heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure.

But a new study suggests that even healthy people in their twenties are being harmed by particles found in air pollution.

In the new study, a group of 72 people with an average age of 23, from the city of Provo in Utah, provided blood samples during the winters of 2013, 2014 and 2015. When air pollution rose, the scientists found that the number of fragments of dead cells in their bloodstream increased.

One researcher said there appeared to be a significant effect on the health of young adults. “ These findings suggest that living in a polluted environment could promote the development of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke more pervasively and at an earlier stage than previously thought.”

“Although we have known for some time that air pollution can trigger heart attacks or strokes in susceptible, high-risk individuals, the finding that it could also affect even seemingly healthy individuals suggests that increased levels of air pollution are of concern to all of us, not just the sick or the elderly.”

INDEPENDENT: Air pollution damages arteries of even healthy young adults, new study shows

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The Breast Cancer Fund has a new report on toxic chemicals in make-up marketed to kids, including make-up used for Halloween.

I know I’m a day late for this Halloween, but all this is good to know for next Halloween and any time of year that face painting comes to mind.

Pretty Scary 2 goes beyond looking a labels and had kid’s cosmetics lab tested.

Here are some of the chemicals they found:

Seven different VOCs were found, four having the potential to lead to serious long-term health care effects:

• Toluene, a reproductive toxicant
• Styrene, a probable carcinogen and endocrine disruption compound
• Ethylbenzene, a possible carcinogen
• Vinyl acetate, another possible carcinogen

In addition they found

• fragrances
• heavy metals lead, cadmium, arsenic, and chromium
• toluene
• parabens
• formaldehyde
• ethoxylated ingredients

This comprehensive report covers insufficient regulations, what you can find on the label and what thy cab’t, and much more.

After reading this I went searching for safe face paints. After reading some descriptions of so-called “nontoxic” and “natural” face paints I decided this needed more research before I could recommend them.

But I will give you a link to How To Make Face Paint With Natural Ingredients, which is what I would do for face paint.

Face painting is fun! Just use a safe face paint.

BREAST CANCER FUND: Pretty Scary 2

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Microfibers from the washing of synthetic clothing are part of the larger problem of microplastic pollution in natural waterways. Much thinner than a strand of hair, these tiny pieces of plastic are shed by every garment made with synthetic materials when they are washed in a washing machine.

“I surveyed thousands and thousands of kilometers of ocean. We found microfibers in nearly 90 percent of the samples, and in every sample we found fibers, they were the majority of particles we identified,” said Amy Lusher, a British-based microplastics researcher and a co-author of a 2014 study of microplastic pollution in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean.

Does this affect the environment or our own personal health? Researchers are still trying to determine what effects might climb up the food chain and affect humans eating seafood and our drinking water.

Studies have found that a single synthetic garment can release from up to 700,00 microfibers each.

The solution? Researchers are working to develop a “microfiber catcher” that consumers will be able to throw into their washing machines, trapping the fibers inside the appliance rather than sending them out to sea in wastewater.

I suggest we all wear biodegradable natural fibers instead.

THE WASHINGTON POST: Are Synthetic Fleece and Other Types of Clothing Harming Our Water?
 

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Pesticide Action Network (PAN) just released an almost 100-page report titled simply Glyphosate, which compiles information on the chemical, health impacts, human exposures, poisonings, environmental effects, and alternatives. If you have ever had questions about glyphosate, the answers are probably in this report. Bookmark this page, as it is the definitive work on glyphosate, which you may need to refer to at some time.

And if your questions aren’t answered in Glyphosate, there’s even more information in this article: ACTIVIST POST: Glyphosate Contaminates The Global Ecosystem: The Damning New PAN Report. This article explains in simple terms key points from the PAN report, plus gives links to many other articles on glyphosate, including a post from this very Q&A: Glyphosate Detox: How to Remove Roundup From Your Body

Pesticide Action Network (PAN) is a global network of over 600 participating nongovernmental organizations, institutions and individuals in over 90 countries working to replace the use of hazardous pesticides with ecologically sound and socially just alternatives such as agroeoclogy. PAN was founded in 1982 and has five independent, collaborating Regional Centers that implement its projects and campaigns.

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If you experience health effects from fragrances in common consumer products, you’re not alone.

Professor Anne Steinemann—a world expert on environmental pollutants, air quality and health effects—has found that more than one-third of Americans report health problems—from asthma attacks to migraine headaches—when exposed to common consumer products that contain fragrances, such as air fresheners, cleaning supplies, laundry products, scented candles, cologne, and personal care products.

The study also found that fragranced products may affect profits, with more than 20% of respondents entering a business, but leaving as quickly as possible if they smell air fresheners or some fragranced product. More than twice as many customers would choose hotels and airplanes without fragranced air than with fragranced air.

In the workplace, over 15% of the population lost workdays or a job due to fragranced product exposure. Over 50% of Americans surveyed would prefer fragrance-free workplaces. And over 50% would prefer that health care facilities and professionals were fragrance-free.

When exposed to fragrance products, 34.7% of Americans suffer adverse health effects, such as breathing difficulties, headaches, dizziness, rashes, congestion, seizures, nausea, and a range of other physical problems. For half of these individuals, effects are potentially disabling, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“This is a huge problem; it’s an epidemic,” says Professor Steinemann.

Professor Steinemann is especially concerned with involuntary exposure to fragranced products, or what she calls “secondhand scents.”

MEDIA RELEASE: Fragranced Products: Risks for People and Profits?

FULL ARTICLE: Fragrance consumer products: exposures and effects from emissions

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“One out of five freight containers arriving in European ports [from Asia] has been fumigated with extremely dangerous, carcinogenic or neurotoxic gases.”

“These toxic gases are left over from the fumigation process, a necessary – sometimes mandatory – operation to kill micro-organisms and pests before transport, in order to prevent the introduction of parasites, bacteria and diseases into the importing country.

“In March 2010, the EU banned the use of methyl bromide, a dangerous pesticide — but many countries, including the U.S., still use it. What’s worse, very few countries actually indicate the presence of toxic gas on their containers, to avoid having to de-gas them.”

“Another more insidious source of toxicity, which puts port workers and consumers at risk, is the vapors emanating from the merchandise itself during transport. Furniture, shoes, clothes made in Asia – mostly Vietnam and China — frequently contain toluene and benzene solvents, which are carcinogen. When this is the case, there are no labels on the shipping container warning port workers to equip themselves against toxic fumes.

“97% of freight containers contained residues of pesticide fumigants and toxic industrial chemicals, mostly 1.2-dichloroethane and methyl bromide, as well as benzene and toluene. About 19% of them had levels exceeding the permitted exposure level. The German researchers told the congress that the fumigants and toxic products “contaminated the transported goods, penetrating into them and settling there.”

These are only a few of the facts reported in the article below. So now we know what some of the chemicals are on imported products and how toxic they are.

WORLDCRUNCH: Toxic Shipping Containers May Be Contaminating Your Food And Clothes

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Question from Joelle

Hi Debra,

thanks for all you do in helping families try to live as non-toxic and cleanly as possible!

I have read every single one of the Q&A’s regarding non-toxic, green, eco-friendly, sofas and I am still at a loss. I cannot afford the $5000 price tag for an organic sofa and to be honest, I do not like the looks of most of the options out there. This being said, here is my question and I would truly appreciate your input.

I am at the point where I would like to purchase the most non-toxic sofa that I can afford (Pottery Barn eco-friendly) and add [one of the room air purifiers]=(link to air filters page of Debra’s List) that you did a show on into the room. I used to have an “all or nothing” attitude about detoxing our home but the reality is that the budget will simply not allow for that and we need to get on with joyfully living!

Debra’s Answer

I think you’ve made the best decision that meets your needs.

I once had to make the decision to go work in a toxic office building, so I just took my air filter with me and put it on my desk.

It’s better that you make a less toxic choice that you can afford than make no improvement at all.

As a consumer advocate I have to give you the best choices I can and educate you about the options, and then it’s up to you to choose what is right for you. That’s why I often don’t recommend products that still have some toxic exposures that may be acceptable to some people in some circumstances.

I think you’ve done a great job at figuring this out for yourself.

The old sofa is on its last leg and its time for me to make a decision. Thanks for your help!

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Question from Cheryl

Hi Debra,

I plan on building a home with radiant in-floor heat. What type of flooring will be safe for me with MCS?

Debra’s Answer

Well, this is a very easy question to answer because the best flooring for anyone to install over radiant heat is also the best flooring for MCS: porcelain, stone, or ceramic tile.

The radiant heat will increase the emissions of any toxic chemicals in other types of flooring, but porcelain, stone, and ceramic tile have no toxic emissions. And These materials are excellent conductors of heat (so they will collect heat and continue to release it after the radiant heating is turned off), do not expand and contract with heat, and are resistant to warping or cracking.

There may be some odor from the mortar, that should outgas quickly, and DO NOT USE GROUT SEALER. Grout sealer is very toxic.

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