The Toxins Around Us

I'm with Alice but I appreciate the perspectives of the other panelists. I wish you had included someone with an infant in this segment because I am sure your fear of heavy metals and food contaminants wanes as your baby gets older.

As an aside, there are many reasons to avoid high fructose corn syrup that have nothing to do with mercury contamination. Avoid it. Avoid it. Avoid it. Read your labels and don't buy it. Trader Joe's makes a great chocolate syrup without any high fructose corn syrup. You just have to change your shopping practices.

As for the toy thing... I am at a loss. What should we do? Go back to giving our kids plain wooden blocks? My ped gave me her opinion on the subject. She said that people are so worried about shots and autism. It may not be the shots. It may be all the crap in the food nowadays that was NOT around when we were little and the heavy metals in the toys. Who knows? I have no idea.

Mon, 2009-02-09 06:14

I have to speak out about the salmonella, I think you guys are being a little too flippant about it. I got salmonella in 2006 and believe me, this is a *real* danger, if you want to talk about what you should and should not worry about. True, the peanut company doesn't want to be sued, but people have been sick! So, I think somewhere in their shriveled, cold corporate hearts they actually didn't want more people to get sick. And yes, that's *exactly* how it happens: someone who is infected does not wash their hands after using the restroom and then goes out and picks your veggies, fruits, peanuts, what have you. Then, in a processing plant, restaurant kitchen or wherever, someone doesn't properly wash the produce, cuts it, then cuts a myriad of other things with the same knife and presto: salmonella outbreak. And I went undiagnosed and untreated for a long time. If I had been a child I likely would have died. Just saying. [Sorry if I seem a little bitter, but I'm still suffering from the after-effects today, nearly 3 years later, so I actually am quite bitter about it.]

I'm with you on the chemicals. I feel powerless as to what might be on my son's toys. I try to not to worry too much, but I did once get a really really really cheap and scary looking dollar store toy from someone for his Christmas present, and I actually just threw it in the garbage. It was just a little too sketchy looking to me. He has plenty of mass produced toys, but I'd like to think I can trust Fisher Price and Playskool. Maybe I can't?

And food, ugh don't get me started. It saddens me that as Americans there are food products for sale that we are (and probably should be) afraid to buy. I think it's because the bulk of Americans (present company excluded?) are cheap. And if Hershey's started using real sugar, the price of a bottle of syrup would go up a dollar and everyone would complain.

Mon, 2009-02-09 09:08

Mindy... your friend's pediatrician should have told her that a child under the age on one should NEVER be given honey... for just the reason you speak of. So sorry she had to learn the hard way. Spread the word about this to everyone with infants.

Mon, 2009-02-09 10:14

Funny (or, perhaps, not), but I just wrote a long piece about this very topic -- how I am supposed to feed my son now that I just finished reading Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food. (http://YogaMamaMe.com) And I wasn't even looking at the salmonella scare because I'm lucky enough to have a husband with a peanut allergy and a son who very likely may have inherited it. So I get to think, as do the panelists, "Ha! I don't give my family peanutbutter or processed foods that might, for some reason we can not explain, have peanutbutter in them."

As to the whole debate about whether we are going overboard (and Peggy Orenstein wrote an interesting essay about just this question in yesterday's New York Times Magazine), what I concluded after batting it around was that we all have to make the choice we feel is the right one. I do feel, very strongly, that most of the food in supermarkets isn't really food; that the dangers of off-gassing are way under-noticed; and that I will -- perhaps literally -- die the first time my child demands a Happy Meal.

I do my best to create as toxic-free an environment as possible for my son (and myself, since I'm 8 months pregnant) precisely because I know there are a million other toxins out there that I can do nothing about. It's about doing your best, making your choices as a mom and as a human being, and then giving yourself a break. Not having to explain yourself. Knowing you did your best.

That said, dear god, what will I do if they find out something is wrong with Annie's Mac & Cheese? Jack will starve right along with Henry.

Mon, 2009-02-09 12:53

Once my daughter developed Type 1 diabetes when she was three (no, I don't think it was from any of these things listed), I realized that a real and irrational fear is. I must fear for her daily on just eating in general and what normal food could do to her, let alone chemicals, preservatives etc.

When you get a wake up call such as that, it puts things into perspective big time on picking your battles, ie worries.

Mon, 2009-02-09 21:49

Put me in the category that wishes we had more mothers of young infants in the group. While I'm generally in the category of not worrying about sudden outbreaks of nasty bacteria, and generally just practicing common-sense hygiene, *chemicals* are quite scary and something that I feel (a) wasn't really an issue when we were kids (when some of these plastics didn't even exist) and (b) could really affect our young kids.

I've got a one-year old, and I was careful to get bottles that didn't have bisphenol-A, but now it turns out that a large number of teether and other plastic toys have that same kind of plastic (which leaches endocrine disrupters), as do many types of babyfood packaging! (See, e.g., http://thesoftlanding.wordpress.com/ ) It can be so hard to find developmentally appropriate and satisfying toys (and foods the kid will eat, etc.) already, that somehow having to cross-reference any prospect against a dozen websites tracking their chemical compositions seems too disheartening to face, but it looks like some of these substances are about to be banned. Am torn between doing the intense research (and possibly throwing out half the stuff in the house) and just avoiding the whole thing (and thus hoping my daughter will just Be Strong or something). help!!!

Tue, 2009-02-10 10:26

I'm more with Alice on this one. I can't be flippant about these issues.

I agree that there's a huge hype component that makes people uber fearful of "hidden dangers" and that in turn makes them feel out of control. I too think there's something really wrong with the fact that Salmonella is cropping up in Peanut Butter and produce, and that Melamine is finding it's way into Formula and Pet Food. I mean, who on Earth (who isn't allergic!) doesn't eat or give their kids or pets Peanut Butter at some point in their lives?? I don't really consider that a "processed food" like I do "processed cheese food" (WTF?!). On the rare occasion that I do buy Peanut Butter, I try to buy organic so that it's not full of nasty chemicals and devoid of nutrition, however Salmonella is just as likely to be in those peanuts as in any other type of Peanut Butter. The fact is, although it's totally shit for stuff like this to be happening in the first place, we can't necessarily see it coming and therefore can't control it.

What drives me crazy is that the things we CAN control are usually the things we SHOULD be worried about and generally aren't. Lets look at Flame Retardants all over our furniture and kids sleep clothes! Lets look at endocrine disruptor in our cosmetics and soap! So many companies couldn't give a shit about the problems the chemicals in their products could cause. God I hate to be the "studies show" person, but its true that studies have shown our pets are being diagnosed more and more with cancer. Think about it - they live and breathe and eat close to the ground, licking and sleeping on floors that are covered in the dust coming off our our flame retardant doused electronics equipment and furniture. Now think about putting your sensitive new baby on that floor. Think about that phone your toddler just stuck in his mouth.

Hey, I'm all for germs! Germs can be good sometimes. But my generation (I'm 27) and the generations that follow me are increasingly exposed to an onslaught of chemicals in our environment. If I suffer from infertility some day, is that because I've been washing my hands and hair with soaps full of endocrine disruptors since I was born? What early tragedies are we potentially setting our babies of today up with for tomorrow because we turned a blind eye to the crap that manufactures are sticking in the stuff we live with and use and eat on a daily basis?

The idea that Christmas Lights have lead in the plastic wiring makes me sick, but there's nothing I can do about that OTHER THAN ADVOCATE FOR CHANGE. Until then I just have to live with it. I pick my battles. As best I can, I don't use polycarbonate plastics to avoid BPA exposure and I never ever microwave anything in any kind of plastic. I use heavy cleaners to do tough jobs rather than every job. I dust, a lot. When I buy furniture, I buy from companies (IKEA for example) that don't use formaldehyde in their pressed wood, and when I pick new sofas someday I'll buy from companies that are committed to using as many natural, untreated products as they can.

I sleep pretty good at night knowing that I'm being active on the things I can control and trying not to freak out on things that I cant. My prime example is that government regulation stipulates when flame retardants are used and what can be used. I do not agree with those regulations so I use my voice to raise awareness about it until I have a choice between sofas and TVs with flame retardants and those without. And when I need new things, I find companies who voluntarily pledge not to use chemicals in their products that have been proven to be of serious health risk but have not yet been banned by the US Government.

I do what I can but I'm not unreasonable. For instance, I live in Texas and despite all the advice not to use pesticides, I just don't have the choice unless I want to find cockroaches in my toilet paper rolls and in my sofa. Id rather mitigate my risk by eliminating or limiting things I can control so that the things I cant (or can't do without) don't snow ball the issue.

I think that's the most important thing we have to consider - pick your battles and mitigate risk where possible.

Its just that so few people realize the extent of the control that manufacturing and mass food production have on our lives. The least we can do is be informed. Then at least we can decide what battles to pick. If we don't read and educate ourselves, our battles are picked for us and our kids will eventually be the ones who loose.

Pick your battles. Educate Yourself:

http://www.ewg.org/
http://healthychild.org/
http://www.thegreenguide.com/
http://www.grist.org/
http://www.enviroblog.org/

Most importantly, realize that you can only do so much and that every little change you make is better than making no change at all.

Tue, 2009-02-10 10:49

giyen, i'm with you on that one... as the mom to a 9 month old who has already been diagnosed with cyclic vomiting syndrome, i am forced to watch every little thing that goes in my son's mouth because if he consumes something that is new or that his body doesn't agree with, i will shortly be wearing it.

even still, i can't tell you how much i really don't like that i have to do that. (i know that sounds bad and selfish, but hear me out.) i feel like there are soooooooo many battles that we, as moms, have to endure when it comes to our kids. food is one that i just wish were not one of those battles, and with jackson having his feeding issues already, i have to fight it. so i guess it is what it is... i just wish it weren't.

i have a friend who emailed me weeks ago about a pacifier issue she had. she saw that jackson had a pacifier from a picture on my blog. she then proceeded to tell me why my 9 month old should not have a pacifier, then she told me about her son's old pacifier (that he now does not use it because she won't allow it) and said that she looked it up on a website where she found that it contained arsenic.

it should be noted that i never responded to this email of her's, simply because i don't respond to unsolicited advice (unless it's from my mom). pro-pacifier or anti... whatever works for you. i just don't like homies checking out pics of my kid and then emailing me saying, "jackson really shouldn't have that. he's a little old for a pacifier."

i did however check out the website she sent me and her pacifier theory... what i found was that the pacifier reportedly had 4 parts per million of arsenic. and apparently in the u.s.a. 25 parts per million of arsenic are allowed without it causing harm or issue.

a little nutsy in my mind... i am amazed that she did the research she did. i hardly have the time to update my blog. :)

Tue, 2009-02-10 17:21

I usually don't worry about this kind of stuff.. It's only when I moved to Canada that I saw that pesticides and polycar.. whatervers where an issue.. maybe because in Haiti (that is where I grew up) we eat more from the source.. so if you want chicken.. you need to go out there and kill it.. just kidding! but that is basically it.

Wed, 2009-02-11 06:33