Toxins in the Home
Q: I have a steel travel mug for my coffee, the inside of which is plastic. Is there any way to know about the safety of that liner?
Thanks for your question. I’m not sure there is a good way to tell if your steel travel mug’s liner is made of a safe plastic. When you purchased it, it may have indicated “BPA-free” on the label (most things like that do these days) but if you have likely gotten rid of that packaging its hard to tell. Unlike Brita filters, coffee mugs are often filled with HOT beverages, and the heat significantly increases the chances of chemicals leaching from the plastic. Your best bet, if you are concerned, is to only use your plastic lined mug for cold beverages, and look to get a new stainless steel mug – that is actually steel on the inside too – for hot beverages.
Q: Does WVE know whether Brita pitchers are safe? I get my water from a well and have Brita pitchers at several of my faucets. But it’s a little stupid to be getting rid of plastic glasses and cups if the pitcher itself, in which water sometimes sits for a while, is not safe. I see many different answers on the web.
A: As far as the testing I have seen, it appears that Brita filters are okay. The manufacturers are clear that they are made with plastic that does not contain Bisphenol A (BPA), which is one of the chemical contaminants from plastic that we are very concerned about. There is also the inherent advantage that although you are storing your water in plastic with a Brita, generally it is cold water, which leads to a much lower likelihood of leaching. I also remember a few years ago hearing that an advocacy organization was going to test Brita filters (along with other plastic products) for chemicals that commonly leach from plastic. As far as I know they did do the testing, but the never released the results for the Britas they tested…which tells me that there wasn’t anything interesting to be found in the testing. ( A no news is good news situation.) We are always keeping our ear to the ground on issues like this so there is always the possibility of new testing revealing different results, but for now, to our best knowledge, Brita filters appear to be doing a great job in cleaning contaminants from tap water, without leaving anything harmful behind.
For more info – here is a great blog post on the topic by our colleague Alicia at The Soft Landing.
Q: I have been reading your website, and wondering if you have any information on things to avoid in fabrics. I am having curtains made for my daughter’s room, and would like to ensure that I am not putting something toxic in her room. So, am wondering what to look out for.
A: Thanks for your question. Women’s Voices for the Earth has not done any work specifically in the area non-toxic fabrics, but I can lead you to some resources about the issue. The main concerns with fabrics are two-fold. On the one hand there are a lot of toxic processes that can come into play when the fabric is being manufactured – from the pesticides used on the cotton as its grown, to toxic dyes used to give the fabric color. While these concerns may not translate into harms to the end-user of the fabric, they certainly take their toll along the way.
The second issue is with some finishing chemicals that are applied to some fabrics to make them look nice, make them wrinkle less etc. One popular finishing chemical is formaldehyde – which is carcinogenic – and can gas off into your home from fabric over time. Unfortunately most fabric manufacturers don’t label which fabrics are treated with which chemicals. But formaldehyde does have a pretty distinctive chemical smell – so avoiding fabrics which have that unpleasant smell wouldn’t be a bad idea. Here also are two resources that may be useful in choosing a friendlier fabric. I found this blog post, which lists a number of different types of fabric that tend to have a lower environmental impact from their productin.
Also – there is a European certifying organization called Oeko-Tex – which does a great job of figuring out which fabric manufacturers are doing the right thing. I don’t know how easy it is to find Oeko-Tex certified fabric here in the U.S. but its worth looking for just in case! Here is their website so you can see more about what their standards are like.
Hope this is helpful! Good luck (and have fun) picking out your curtains!
Q: I recently received a set of non-stick cookware as a gift. It states that it is coated with “PTFE” and is “non-toxic”. Is it really safe to use? I am particularly concerned as I have an infant and a new baby on the way.
A: PTFE (PolyTetraFluoroEthylene) is the same thing as the more commonly known Teflon. (“Teflon” is the trademarked brand name used by DuPont). And yes, there are health concerns associated with its use.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is an environmental research and advocacy organization that has looked closely at this issue. They have produced two reports which may be of interest to you.
The first report, called “Canaries in the Kitchen” is entirely focused on Teflon (PTFEs), and it focuses on the toxicity to pet birds especially – but it also discusses human health effects. When PTFE-coated pans are heated to high temperatures, they can “gas off” several toxic chemicals known to be fatal to pet birds. The report indicates that some humans (and they believe children are more susceptible) can get “polymer fume fever” from exposure to overheated pans as well.
You might especially want to look at the last two sections which include these helpful fact sheets:
“Tips for bird owners and the rest of us”
Q: My neighbor sprays his property for weeds during the summer. I don’t know what he is spraying but I’m worried about what is drifting over onto my property and how it may be affecting my family’s health! Where can I find out more about health effects of pesticides? Is there anything I can do to make him stop?
A: We get this question a lot, as many folks are concerned about pesticide drift, especially when it affects their homes directly. Unfortunately, your neighbor probably has the right to spray his own property in most cases. But there are some things you can do to try and address the problem.
One suggestion from the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) in Eugene, OR, is to educate yourself on alternatives to pesticides and then go talk to your neighbor. As NCAP’s fact sheet on Pesticide Drift suggests:
“Talk to your neighbor: Your pesticide using neighbor may well be happy to take steps to reduce your drift problems. Remember that all of the pesticide that drifts on your property represents his or her money that is being “thrown away.” Perhaps your neighbor will agree to substituting ground applications for aerial ones, setting up a buffer zone between your properties, or giving you advance notice of planned applications. Provide information about alternatives and see if your neighbor is interested in using more sustainable management techniques.”
NCAP provides all kinds of information on pesticides and their alternatives, which you can use to educate yourself and share with your neighbor.
Q. What is a mattress that is not toxic? We spend 1/3 of our lives on a mattress and I am buying one. What do I need to look at?
A. The main concerns around mattresses are the use of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in the polyurethane foam, plus the inclusion of volatile organic compounds in various other components of the mattress (1)(2). BFRs have been in use in mattresses and upholstered furniture since the 1970s to meet stringent flame retardancy requirements (such as California’s TB 117 for furniture) when smoking was common and one of the biggest causes of fires was smoldering cigarettes. BFRs have also been shown to be bioaccumulating in the environment and have the potential to cause thyroid hormone disruption and birth defects in animals and humans.
In 2006, the Consumer Product Safety Commission passed a mattress flammability standard, effective July 1, 2007, claiming that it would save 270 lives annually, reducing deaths by fire by 78% (3). It is possible to meet this flammability standard without the use of chemical flame retardants, namely, by using a barrier of inherently flame-resistant material, such as wool, and/or using similarly flame-resistant materials in the body of the mattress (4).
Green America’s Green Pages lists several manufacturers of mattresses that do not contain the potential harmful chemicals mentioned above: www.greenpages.org
(1) http://motherjones.com/politics/2008/03/should-you-ditch-your-chemical-mattress
(2) http://www.greenamericatoday.org/proGrams/livinggreen/articles/BuyingtheBestMattress.cfm
(3) http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06091.html
(4) http://www.mattressregulation.org/faq.aspx
Q: Ask Alex
We have a cafeteria at work and they use Styrofoam for all the dishes. I asked the manager if we could discuss moving away from Styrofoam and start using dishes that we would wash in the dishwasher. We are in the beginning stages of this project. Do you have any suggestions?
Have a safe environmental day!
Lorrie
A: It’s great that you are interested in getting your cafeteria to switch from styrofoam to reusable dinnerware. Its a good project – and one that can result in a lot of savings. Here are two articles I found on line – that may answer some of your questions, and give you some good places to look for resources to help out:
http://www.thegreenguide.com/just-ask/kids/stryrofoamschool
(Q&A from The Green Guide: “Can you help my son get Styrofoam out of his high school cafeteria?”)
http://www.wickedlocal.com/brookline/archive/x563257249
(article: Trying to save the earth, one cafeteria at a time – Brookline, MA)
