What's the best car seat to buy? It's a complicated question, as the marketplace is changing rapidly. Parents are realizing that just keeping their children safe in a crash isn't the end-all, be-all of car seats. We also need to think about the long-term implications of exposing our kids to...

Chances are, at least one house in your 'hood is being treated for termites right now. And despite the festive clown-and-circus themed tent, the chemicals that go into the fumigation process simply aren't funny.

The process used to include chlorpyrifos, which can cause neurological damage and was...

I used to have a thing for diamonds. Maybe it was too many afternoons eating popcorn and watching old VHS movies -- Marilyn in the pink dress, Audrey in the oversized sunglasses -- or maybe it was just the fairy-tale scenario that little girls seem to be steeped in since...

We all know the drill: Reduce, reuse, recycle. But there may be a bit of confusion on that last part. Even the most seasoned ecoista can be stumped by a bottle cap or a straw. Does it go in the blue bin or the black? If I'm recycling, do I...

You may have heard about the impact the manufacturing of clothing has on the environment.

You can tell next season's hot color by looking at the rivers in Mexico and China, where global fashion brands use hazardous chemicals and dyes to make clothes. According to GreenChoices.org,...

You're making your list and checking it twice, but do you know what's in the toys you're stuffing in those stockings? Here are some quick tips to follow:

1. Avoid plastics made from or including BPA, PET, PVC and Styrofoam
2. Look for toys made from natural materials like...

One in three American children is obese. Can pesticides be to blame?

This month, a new study identified a common pesticide -- triflumizole or "TFZ," sprayed on produce like apples, cherries, strawberries, certain greens, cucumbers, grapes, watermelons and more -- as an obesogen, according...

My three children are beginning to understand the importance of supporting organizations which give back to the community. Two years ago at Christmas, I gave each of them a set amount of money that they could choose to donate to charity. I filled a manila folder with information about local,...

I am crying for the Krim family.

On Thursday, New York mother Marina Krim returned to her apartment to find two of her three children dead and her nanny, Yoselyn Ortega, bleeding from a self-inflicted wound. According to The New York Times, Ortega had fatally stabbed...

Thinking about buying Halloween candy? Think about this: In April 2012, an FDA advisory committee determined that the science was too weak to support a ban on artificial food dyes or a warning label on foods that contain them, despite the fact that popular dyes like Blue 1,...

I've been writing about pinkwashing for a few years now, and every October it seems the story gets bigger. Last year's highlight was the Susan G. Komen "Promise Me" perfume debacle, in which the foundation commissioned a perfume that turned out to contain known carcinogens including

Fran Drescher courted controversy last week during a radio interview in which she said that breastfeeding "poisons" infants and recommended that nursing mothers get their breast milk tested for toxins. And although the stance might make headlines for the actress and her Cancer Schmancer organization, breastfeeding advocates are...

The FDA and Consumer Reports recently released lab reports detailing just how much arsenic is in rice products -- and found that many brands contain more arsenic in a single serving than what the EPA allows in a quart of drinking water.

Yes, you read that right: More...

Typically, I clean my house with a homemade arsenal of cleaners concocted from olive oil, baking soda and vinegar. To my kids, vinegar smells clean. And that's a good thing, because grandmother-approved cleaners like vinegar and these other household staples don't contribute to indoor air pollution, but they still leave...

We all do it. The minute after we decide to move out to a home of our own, we're tapping away at a registry imagining creating the perfect meal in the perfect kitchen outfitted with the perfect pots and pans.

For most of us -- myself included -- that means...

Like we need another thing to worry about, but this is so important: A recent study from the Center for Health, Environment & Justice found harmful levels of phthalates in 20 popular back-to-school products including backpacks, lunchboxes, binders and rain gear.

Why should we worry about phthalates?...

The world has been fascinated with Jane Goodall for more than 50 years, whether through her books, detailing profound discoveries linking primates to humans, or through television shows like Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees, which basically made her an international reality star in 1965.

Take that, Snooki.

So...

People often ask me, "What's so bad about GEs?" I'm not an expert by any means, but here's my answer: Genetically engineered foods -- also known as genetically modified organisms or GMOs (it's basically two ways of saying the same thing) -- are plants that have had their DNA changed...

Bisphenol A, also known as BPA, has been a rallying point for parents everywhere. Once we found out about problems associated with the industrial chemical, which is used to harden plastics used in food storage containers, water bottles, toys and other consumer goods, we raised such a ruckus that...

I never thought much about where we spend most of our leisure time -- in bed or on the couch -- until I started learning the frightening truth about dangerously toxic flame retardants.

Apparently, Governor Brown's pretty scared, too.

On Tuesday, Brown spoke out in favor of...