As initially posted on Healthy Child Healthy World.

A new report from the Danish Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), highlights the critical risks facing toddlers from gender bending chemicals in everyday products. Chemicals like phthalates (found in PVC and fragrances), parabens (found...

It's a special moment when an advocate bears witness to a tidal shift in attitude and action around a cause. As the CEO and Executive Director of Healthy Child Healthy World, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting young children from harmful exposure to toxic chemicals, I experienced just...

This post was first published on Healthy Child Healthy World.

Anyone who's lived in or visited arid regions is probably familiar with dust storms. When the air is filled with tiny particles of sand that bite your skin, sting your eyes and irritate your lungs. Over time, breathing...

(Cross-posted from Healthy Child Healthy World)

I can't say I recall a time when environmental and public health advocates and the chemical industry have ever agreed, but on Tuesday they both came forward urging Congress to overhaul our outdated chemical regulatory system. I'm still skeptical about the chemical industry's...

This post was first published on Healthy Child Healthy World.

Last week, The White House harvested its first crop yield from the organic garden First Lady Michelle Obama established on the South Lawn not long after moving to Washington. Surrounded by participating elementary school children, Obama spoke about...

Bisphenol-A (BPA), the endocrine disrupting chemical found in baby bottles and canned food, has been getting a lot of bad press over the past year. It's really no surprise given the growing list of studies linking it to health impacts ranging from cognitive problems and early puberty to increased fat...

I don't remember exactly how old I was, but I remember the day many years ago when I was cleaning the shower in my childhood home (as a teen the bathroom duties were my assignment) and wondered what exactly I was cleaning with. I knew the colors and shapes of...

(On behalf of Dr. Phil Landrigan)

Dear Mr. President,

Please accept my sincere congratulations on your inauguration as President of the United States. National leadership in Washington that is forward thinking and infused with optimism restores my own enthusiasm for discovery and dedication to progress. I join you in...

This post was first published on Healthy Child Healthy World.

Recent headlines from China are revealing a growing public health crisis: birth defects are up 40% since 2001, to 145 per 10,000. A child is born every 30 seconds with a birth defect.

It sounds like...

Consumer confidence in the US Food and Drug Administration is in a fast decline due to many questionable decisions lately including their responses to BPA, melamine in infant formula, and their recent step backwards on protecting women and children from methylmercury in fish by promoting increased consumption. Here's one more...

Do you ever read nutrition labels on food? What if the labels on every product told us much more? What if all the ingredients were listed with place of origin, carbon footprint, and potential health impacts? What if the manufacturing facility was listed with labor info and pollution stats? What...

Tainted Food from Afar: Another Reason to Eat Local

Over the past couple of months, melamine has been heavy in the headlines. In case you haven't read the news, dairy products manufactured in China were intentionally contaminated with the chemical in order to boost the apparent level of protein. Sadly,...

By now it should be quite clear that what's best for the planet is also what's best for our health. Polluted air, water, and soil eventually lead to polluted people because, like every other creature on this big blue globe, we depend on air, water, and soil for survival. Unfortunately,...

This past year, and especially in recent months, the country has been obsessed with a discussion about change. Today, I am hopeful, and dare I say excited, for what will follow. This is the change and momentum that could translate into real action. 2009 could (and should) be the catalyst...

In our traditional understanding of disease, we inherit genes that predispose us to certain health outcomes. It's a sort of Calvinistic paradigm that our health is ultimately in the hands of some predetermined biological fate. Sure, eating healthy and exercising may delay or decrease the outcome, but if you have...

The final day of July 2008 may go down in history as the moment the tides of democracy shifted away from corporate cronyism and back to the people. Even if it's only in my history book, it's a significant occasion nonetheless. A safe toys bill banning six suspect chemical phthalates...

We're half way to hearing how climate change will improve our health, as Cheney's office has allegedly deleted from the public record CDC testimony about how it might be detrimental. Former EPA official Jason Burnett revealed the Administration's cover up after resigning from his position, saying it was done...

It should come as no surprise to manufacturers, retailers, and regulators that, when given the choice, parents opt for plastics and products that do not contain hormone-disrupting chemicals. The real surprise is that while we wait for our government to catch up with our own common sense approach to protecting...

Late last week Senator Schumer (D-NY) introduced a federal bill to ban BPA, a hormone-disrupting chemical used in 95% of baby bottles, from all products for infants and young children. Just weeks ago, The National Institute of Health issued a report questioning the safety of BPA -- though they claim...

Parenting used to be simpler. Sure, there have always been emotional struggles and family crises, but the day-to-day logistics of life were quite clear. Here is your layette, here is a crib, babies are breastfed or fed with this bottle with this milk. The choices were simple and unambiguous.