 |
Go Green -- Environmental Toxins Effect Our Childrens Development
WHAT DOES GO GREEN MEAN? "We are conducting a vast toxicological experiment
in which the research animals are our children.” ~ Dr. Philip Landrigan, Center for Children's Health and the Environment.
We've dedicated an entire section of our site to GO GREEN topics because of its direct impact on our children's development, not only physically, but in developing their healthy self respect and of course their respect for taking responsibility for attaining high level health for themselves and their world in the larger sense. This is a multi-dimensional topic that demands we become more informed on such critical issues as dealing with chemicals in our foods, to environmental awareness, to recycling, to reducing toxic exposure by switching to such products as organic clothing, toys etc.
GO GREEN - BEWARE OF DEVELOPMENT DANGER IN OUR CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS: Pediatrician, Dr. Alan Greene, author of the book "Raising Your Children Green" among others, has created an award winning website "www.DrGreene.com" that attracts over 50 million visitors a month, has earned him numerous awards including “Top 25 Most Influential Forces in Healthcare IT” and named him the "Children's Health Hero of the Internet". His site takes on the leading child health and development issues that are related to environmental concerns of the day and in the process helps inform parents of both dangers and better choices. An example on one such current issue is the ban of toxic plastic Bishphenol A (BPA), which is found in most baby bottles -- BPA is a hormone imitator that creates developmental havoc in children. Thanks to social pressure from the shift to Go Green consciousness and informed web communities like his, BPA has been in the news as a draft report of the federal US Toxicology Program raised concern that BPA could trigger behavior problems and early puberty in children; Canada moved to ban BPA in baby bottles and the linings of food packaging, citing evidence of increased risk of birth defects, breast cancer, diabetes, and hyperactivity. Wal-Mart, ToysRus and other stores are phasing out children's products containing BPA.
One of the important things that "Go Green" means promoting higher levels of health in children. One illustration of this comes to us by The National Research Council'S (NRC) report on Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, which concluded that dietary intake represents the major source of pesticide exposure for infants and children, and this exposure may account for the increased pesticide-related health risks in children compared with adults. Metabolites of organophosphorus (OP) pesticides, a group of insecticides known to cause neurologic effects and behavioral disorders in animals and humans.
WHY ARE CHILDREN ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE TO TOXINS? Partly, it’s because of their fast growth and speedy metabolisms, partly because of their smaller size which means they eat more fruits and vegetables in relation to their body weight than adults do. IN fact young children eat 3 to 4 times more food than an adult on a bodyweight basis. Most tests done by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set acceptable risk levels for pesticide residues were conducted using 154-pound adult men, not 40-pound preschoolers! In 1993, a congressionally mandated study by the National Academy of Sciences expressed concern that existing methods of risk evaluation for pesticide exposure were failing children. More recently, the Consumers Union and the Environmental Working Group released studies confirming that children are over-exposed even if their exposure is within legal limits. The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 enacted many of the recommendations for health and for a healhty planet suggested by these studies. When there are inadequate data to assess developmental risks, the Act requires the EPA to use a 10-fold margin of safety to protect children when setting standards for pesticides on food. Thus, the situation is changing, but the process is slow, and encumbered in bureaucracy. The pesticide DTT took 30 years to reveal its health horrors -- our kids are young now— we can’t wait. WHERE TO BEGIN GOING GREEN? We must begin by informing our choices. Did you know, for example, that peaches are the highest pesticide saturated produce? Up to 45 different Pesticides were found on 94 percent of the peaches tested, and up to 36 different pesticides were found on 91% of apples, tested by the Environmental Working Group. THE 12 MOST PESTICIDE LADEN FRESH FOODS: THE LEAST PESTICIDE COATED FOODS:
GO GREEN -- WASH ALL FRESH PRODUCE WITH PESTICIDE WASHES Pesticide washes for produce, such as "Environne" and "VegiWash", are now widely available and are highly recommended. Even washing produce in warm water and scrubbing with a vegetable brush will do a respectable job of reducing the water soluble pesticides on our foods. Learn more about informed food choices and what you can do to create a more healhty planet at: "Environmental Working Group".
For decades, environmental groups and eco-aware parents have struggled to convince government agencies and industry to consider the effects of these environmental toxins on children and adopt "go green" healthy planet policies. Now, they are getting help from a new—and perhaps unexpected—direction: groups such as the Autism Society of America, the Learning Disabilities Association of America, and the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, formerly the American Association on Mental Retardation. These organizations, and dozens of others, have teamed up in an effort called the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative, aimed at protecting children from pollutants that may undermine brain development. LEARNING, BEHAVIOR AND HEALTH PROBLEMS CAN BEGIN IN YOUR SHOPPING CART There’s a growing body of evidence making a connection between how well children perform in school and life and toxins in their environment. Lead poisoning (from car exhaust, paint on old houses and toys etc.), for example, has been shown to lower IQ and shorten attention spans. Children with high levels of lead in their body have more trouble concentrating and following directions and tend not to do as well in school. They are also more prone to impulsivity and antisocial behavior, including violence. But there are a host of other chemicals, food additives and toxins having on children’s developing neurological, endocrine and other vital systems. The scientific research that does exist, however—and simple common sense—points to a big problem. “We all have hundreds of chemicals in our bodies today that didn’t exist a few decades ago,” says Elise Miller, MEd, executive director of the nonprofit ICEH, "Institute for Children's Environmental Health". and national coordinator of ICEH's Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative. “And we’re seeing increases in learning and developmental disabilities as well as many other chronic diseases. Currently, one in six children under the age of 18 have some kind of learning, or developmental, or behavioral disorder.” Learn more about the correlations between impaired child development and environmental toxins at: "Social Work Today". And learn how "Many Behavior and Learning Problems Begin In Your Shopping Cart" with widespread food additives, preservatives, etc.
Children's clothes and toys are currently experiencing a massive Go Green awakening as we are seeing the critical coorelations between a healthy planet and health -- particularly when it comes to cotton products, which are widely considered to be the world's most pesticide-intensive crop. The production of conventional cotton results in about $2 billion worth of harmful chemical pesticides and fertilizers being sprayed on the global cotton supply each year. Organically farmed cotton, on the other hand, uses no harmful chemicals that find their way onto our children's skin and into their bodies. In the United States, an estimated one-third pound of agricultural chemicals are used to produce a single cotton T-shirt. Thus, a 100 percent cotton T-shirt is actually comprised of 73 percent cotton —the remaining 27 percent is made up of chemicals and chemical residues. This can cause an array of health problems that affect the nervous system, respiratory system and the skin, including; head-aches, dizziness, and irritations to the eyes, nose and throat, as well as difficulties with sleep, concentration and memory. Some chemicals are stored and collected in the body, called bioaccumulation, where they attack and weaken the immune system.
PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM CONVENTIONAL COTTON Alarmingly, The Environmental Protection Agency considers 7 of the top 15 pesticides used on cotton in 2000 in the United States a "possible," "likely," "probable," or "known" human carcinogens -- cancer causers, (such as acephate, dichloropropene, diuron, fluometuron, pendimethalin, tribufos, and trifluralin).
Sprayed from the air, these highly toxic chemicals drift into surrounding neighborhoods, poison farm workers, contaminate air, ground and surface water and cause major eco-system imbalances and generally destroy planet health. Plus, to make matters worse, as insects gradually become resistant to pesticides, ever-increasing amounts are applied to be effective, resulting in massive ecological disasters and crop failures. It is an escalating cycle that is devastating planet health for conventional cotton farmers and consumers both. Learn more about the challenges that would-be go green cotton farmers in the USA face when trying to break the vicious cycle by switching to organic farming and how we can help support our farmers! MORE ADVANTAGES OF ORGANIC COTTON Along with eschewing the use of harmful chemicals and GMOs (genetically modified crops bioengineered to be more pest-hardy among other things), organic cotton production nurtures a healthy planet through soil health, fostering biologically diverse agriculture and protecting wildlife and birds. For example, in the USA more than 60 million birds a year die due to cotton pesticides.
Plus, organic farming combats global warming. This happens through carbon sequestration, the process by which carbon is captured (in the form of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas) from the atmosphere and incorporated into soil, ocean, and plant matter. RETHINKING THE BOTTOM LINE With organic cotton production costs running approximately 50% higher than those of conventional cotton we as consumers will need to rethink and redefine the actual costs of the "bottom line" when we are faced with the decision of whether or not to buy organic cotton products, especially where our children are concerned. GO GREEN -- LET'S SUPPORT ORGANIC PRODUCTS and CHILD HONORING We, here at Children's Self Esteem, are passionate about contributing to creating a healthy planet with healthy children through our "Magnificent Me! Organic Children's Clothing" , and our cuddly organic stuffed animals collection "The Organimals" , that win the popularity award every time! We are continually expanding our organic product lines to meet the demand of increasingly aware parents and to promote health and healthy self esteem in our children, in addition to a healthy planet. We welcome receiving your suggestions for more healhty planet products you'd like to see available. A portion of each sale goes towards expanding the fine work of the CHILD HONORING MOVEMENT, the value based children-first revolution for global restoration and health, founded by mega-adored and multi-awarded children's entertainer, Raffi Cavoukian.
Fun Ways to Teach Kids to Go Green
GO GREEN -- TEACH RESPECT FOR A HEALHTY PLANET The simple act of teaching children about our planet health and our responsibility to help create and maintain a healthy planet through environmental care, health awareness, etc. has shown to be a foundational building block in promoting children's health and healthy self respect in children generally. The Bumblemen, the brainchild of Universal Studios Executive Harry Garfield, is a talented Go Green group of musicians and artists from Los Angeles dedicated to teaching children about the value of having fun in nature, a healthy planet and “saving our universe one planet at a time”, though organic children’s music and videos. Respect for a healthy planet, respect for life and a healthy self respect all go hand in hand. Gather your Go Green kids and get ready to tap your toes! Sing along with the Bumblemen to this catchy environmental cleanup song that teaches children about keeping our world clean. Watch this snappy cartoon video, So Hot in This Spot, which teaches children about global warming. And while you are in the toe tapping mood get this FREE RAFFI DOWNLOAD of the rockabilly mp3 tune, COOL IT!, healthy self esteem gift to your kids from Raffi, one of today's most beloved Children's Musicians, teaching kids the importance of keeping our planet healthy. Go Green with Organic Childrens Products that Develop Self Esteem
|
GO GREEN - ELMINATE PESTICIDES IN OUR CHILDRENS' FOODS:
ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS and CHILD DEVELOPMENT
The serious detriment to a environmentally healthy planet and on children's health caused by their clothes is rooted in the farming of conventional pesticide ladden cotton. Ironically, it is estimated that less than 10% of the chemicals applied to cotton accomplish their pest killing task, the rest are absorbed into the plant, air, soil, water and our bodies.
