Pesticides and Herbicides in Lawn Care

As child growing up in suburban Ohio, I remember seeing little flags on my neighbor’s chemically treated lawn that read “Just fertilized.  Keep pets and children off”.  Even at a young age, I wondered how safe these chemical applications were.  According to Mother Jones:

One common herbicide in popular “weed and feed” lawn-care products, 2,4-D, constituted about 50 percent of Agent Orange, and has been linked to birth defects, neurological problems, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and liver and kidney damage. In Canada, as many as 160 municipalities have banned the use of pesticides with 2,4-D.

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Okay, folks it’s been 8 years of me apologizing. Really, I’m sorry about the whole W thing. We’ll do better next time. In the interim, our President has signed a really important bill into law.

Lead is now banned from children’s toys. Can we all do a happy dance?

Guess what?

The bill also bans a chemical called phthalates that is widely used to make plastic products softer and more flexible. I am positively swooning. Then I did a little research and stood still.

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As my Cool Mom Picks co-founder Liz Gumbinner stated last year, 2007 was definitely the “Year of the Recall,” as too many toys to count were taken down from shelves (well, at least they were supposed to be) due to high lead levels. But the improbable has now happened and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act has passed “with a veto-proof majority.”

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Who doesn’t feel better after a yoga class? Yoga is the union of the body, mind and spirit.It stabilizes the nervous system, decreases blood pressure, increases flexibility and endurance, and opens you up in ways that you may not have imagined.

Simran used to be a yoga teacher. She loves the practice even though she hasn’t spent much time on her mat lately. (“Yoga on the inside, baby!”) Sarah gets her yoga on every week and knows it does her body good.

But, as any student knows, the real practice starts when you walk out the door. That’s also where the rubber hits the road and your practice takes its toll on the environment.

Oh brother, that again? Yes, my dear yogin, that.

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At the risk of being the antagonist, telling you what not to do with them seems reasonable, albeit not crafty. At least I get to make a bullet list…

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The Impotent CPSC

I have written many posts on the CPSC’s failures.  Now, for the second time in a year, the agency will become useless, as it loses its quorum.  The CPSC requires three members on the panel; however, only two members are currently holding positions. The extension granted by Congress to operate with only two members expired in January.  According to the Washington Post,

Congress has not passed another one, and the Bush administration has not nominated a new chairman who could restore quorum since its last pick, industry lobbyist Michael E. Baroody, withdrew his name in May after protest by Senate Democrats and consumer groups.

Of course, the agency can still oversee voluntary recalls, but they can no longer issue mandatory recalls or impose civil penalties.   What a relief…I feel so protected!

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It’s no secret: I hate Wal-Mart. Honestly, I have only been inside a Wal-Mart store four times in my life, including buying batteries in Colby, Kansas on a cross-country childhood vacation, and every time I leave the store, I feel disgusted with American consumerism. This company’s initial practice of establishing stores in small communities to drive out “ma and pa” stores has contributed to the homogenizing of American retail. Furthermore,

Over 70% of products on Wal-Mart’s shelves are made in China. The recent string of product recalls shows the dangerous and even deadly consequences of Wal-Mart’s corporate bullying strategy to drive down the cost of products. Suppliers are forced to ship production to places like China where quality and labor standards are far less stringent.

Wal-Mart’s race to the bottom strategy leads to more than just unsafe products - it forces suppliers to cut corners when it comes to their own workers as well (walmartwatch.com).

I don’t care how green Wal-Mart attempts to be when they still sell dangerous products for children. I was shocked to learn that Wal-Mart is still selling, in some states, PVC vinyl backed baby bibs that contain lead despite a recall in Illinois.

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The recent recalls of toys for lead contamination has become a major concern for parents. Additional research shows that it is not just lead we parents should be concerned about.

Healthy Legacy, an environmental group of Minnesota, worked in tangent with a few other organizations to test 1,200 children’s toys. The tests were used to detect not just lead, which was found in one third of the tested toys, but four other potential hazards as well; cadmium, arsenic, mercury and chlorine.

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 This product contains lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. 

There’s lead in my vinegar! Sure, I accept there is lead in my children’s toys, but in the vinegar we love on our salads…that’s alarming!  According to Napa Valley Naturals, makers of my favorite organic olive oil and balsamic vinegar,

All balsamic and red wine vinegars contain naturally occurring lead. Lead is naturally absorbed by all things that grow in the ground, including the grapes used to make vinegar. Most balsamic and red wine vinegars have lead levels equal to or less than 34 parts per million. An average person would need to consume 1 to 2 cups of balsamic or red wine vinegar per day to reach the Proposition 65 lead level minimum threshold, which includes a 1000-fold safety margin.

This may be true, that the lead level is low in balsamic vinegar, but in combination with all of the other ways my children may be exposed to lead, I am concerned.  Also, if lead is naturally absorbed from the soil by plants, wouldn’t all our food contain lead? Why doesn’t my red wine vinegar contain the Proposition 65 warning?

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Export Licences [sic] of 600 Toy Makers Revoked

China is cracking down on toy makers in an effort to save the industry. “We have thoroughly inspected all 3,000-plus toy makers for export during the rectification work that began last August,” said State Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) Deputy Director Pu Changcheng. Changcheng also blamed overseas importers for design flaws and changing standards that created the current recall situation.

Toy Makers Mount Drive to Salvage China’s Safety Reputation

The US Toy Industry Association is attempting to salvage the image of toys made in China, and the toy industry remains committed to making toys in China. They claim there is no realistic alternative to Chinese manufacturing. “Are you going to pay twice as much for a doll because it’s not made in China?” Mr. Shoptaugh, owner of Shoptaugh Games, added. “The thing is you cannot make these products in the United States and have them be competitive on the shelf.”

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2007 will go down in history as the year when toy safety was no longer assumed by parents in the United States. Gone are the days when parents blindly selected any toy from the shelf of a big box store and thought their child was protected from lead and other heavy metals. This year has been plagued by recall after recall, and unfortunately, children have been injured by these unsafe toys. The following is a summary of recent news on toy safety to end our year.

On December 19, 2007, the US House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill lowering the allowable lead levels in toys, as well as mandated independent toy testing. Funding for the Consumer Product Safety Commission would also be increased through this bill. The senate will not take action until 2008 on the issue. According to the Daily Grist,

The current draft of the Senate bill would do many of the same things the House-passed version does, but would also allow state attorneys general to sue to enforce federal product-safety laws, protect employees who report safety law violations, increase the civil penalty cap to $100 million, and give industry less time to comply with the lower lead standards…Meanwhile, presidential candidate Barack Obama went even further yesterday by calling for a ban on the import of all toys from China.

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The plethora of recalled toys makes it difficult for consumers to know about every unsafe toy identified by the CPSC. During a recent search, KLTV 7 of Jacksonville, Texas found several recalled toys on Ebay. “It’s disturbing that if someone did not know that these items had been recalled that they were being resold,” said Stephanie Carlton, a concerned mother. “It’s a total lack of concern for someone else’s child.” It does make you wonder…what happens to recalled toys once they have been pulled from the shelves?

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One-third of the tested lipsticks exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s limit for lead in candy — a standard established to protect children from directly ingesting lead. Lipstick products, like candy, are directly ingested into the body. Nevertheless, the FDA has not set a limit for lead in lipstick, which makes sense when one considers the disturbing absence of FDA regulatory oversight and enforcement capacity for the personal care products industry.

There’s lead in candy! Who would have thought that possible? Why wouldn’t lipstick also be regulated? It goes directly on your lips! How many times has your daughter asked for lipstick or has Grandma dolled her up in her favorite lip shade? It is also alarming to think that pregnant women are putting lead on their lips, since “it’s a proven neurotoxin that can cause learning, language and behavioral disabilities. No amount of exposure is without harm.” Lead does cross through the placenta and affect the developing fetus.I’ve never been one for wearing lipstick, but I have found a few alternatives for my daughter. Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmers offer many colors and a cool mint flavor (see Wendy’s comment below about lead in the merlot shade). Dr. Hauschka Lipsticks also offer a safe alternative for women. You can browse EWG’s list of safe lipsticks here.You can download the full report on name-brand lipsticks here.Image courtesy of Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

Some of the companies being sued are: Wal-Mart, Mattel, Toys R Us, Target, Costco, Sears, KB Toys, etc. This lawsuit of course follows the millions of toys that have been recalled, most of which were manufactured in China. Attorney General Jerry Brown said, “Despite the lengthening global supply chain, every company that does business in this state must follow the law and protect consumers from lead and other toxic materials.” The companies could pay a $2,500 fine for each violation, according to the lawsuit.

Image courtesy of Scripophily.

According to Grist, home lead test kits are not reliable for children’s toys: “The Consumer Product Safety Commission put 104 kits to the test and found that 56 failed to detect lead in toys, while two overachievers warned of the heavy metal where it didn’t exist.” How are consumers supposed to feel safe? My daughter just received a bracelet from the prize box at school, and paranoid eco-mom wants to test it for lead. Is it worth the money to buy a home lead test kit? In light of the evidence that home lead tests are not reliable, the CPSC suggests worried parents send toys off to labs to be tested. Isn’t that the CPSC’s job? Consumer Reports followed the CPSC’s conclusions with their own tests. They report,

Our conclusion, that they can be limited but useful screening tools to identify lead in household products, is different from the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recent announcement that consumers should not use these products to find lead in their homes. Our differences lie not as much in the testing itself as in the interpretation of the data. Here’s how we came to our conclusions and why we believe parents should consider these kits as a helpful tool for screening household products.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has raised numerous objections to the permit, which was blocked on October 1. One concern is that the permit may not sufficiently limit chromium, cadmium, silver, cyanide and other chemicals to meet water quality standards for Indiana.

This is the second uproar in recent months about pollutants in Lake Michigan after BP was issued a permit for its $3 billion expansion of the Whitting, IN refinery. This expansion would allow the refinery to handle large quantities of Alberta Tar Sands crude, and comes with a high environmental price tag for Lake Michigan, such as a 54% increase in ammonia and 35% increase in sludge particles being released. This permit was the first to be issued in years that would increase the amount of pollution that a company is allowed to emit into Lake Michigan by finding a loophole in the Clean Water Act.

Chicagoans were particularly alarmed by these plans because their drinking water intake is located just a few miles from the Whiting refinery discharge. Many area residents responded by signing petitions, participating in demonstrations and a boycotting BP products. The message was heard loud and clear. The company later announced that it would not increase discharge into the lake, and would investigate pollution control technologies.

Despite this announcement, the permit remains on the books and could set a lower standard for future discharge permits. This series of events does, however, demonstrate the influence that private citizens and politicians can have over the actions of corporations when government standards seem to be satisfactory. Recent threats to the water quality of Lake Michigan serve as a reminder of the importance of the lake, which is the largest freshwater lake in the United States.

Chicago Tribune: Indiana Giving Lake Polluter a Break

Also on GO:

Eco-Effective Decisions: Stick to the Claims in Your Ad Campaign. Who’s Not? British Petroleum & the EPA.

Wooden toy recalls:

• Additional Thomas and Friends (200,ooo) due to lead paint-All-Black Cargo Car, Toad vehicle with brake lever, Olive Green Sodor Cargo Box, Green Maple Tree Top and Green Signal Base Accessories
• Guidecraft Children’s Puppet Theaters due to lead paint. I usually love Guidecraft toys and have similar puppet theater in my preschool room.

Here are the other current recalls:

• Kolcraft Play Yards : A 10 month old child died when becoming entangled in the straps of the changing table.
• Children’s Toy Gardening Tools and Chairs due to lead paint-sold at Target.
• Knights of the Sword toy due to lead paint-made by RC2, just like Thomas the Tank Engine.
• Toy Rakes sold at Jo-Ann Fabrics due to lead paint.
• Spinning Wheel Metal Necklaces due to lead exposure-beware of crappy kids’ jewelry!
• Toby and Me Jewelry Sets-more crappy jewelry.

All of these products were manufactured in Taiwan or China. Sometimes, it is so hard being a parent. These recalls are always called “voluntary”. This term is really starting to bug me in terms of recalls. They voluntarily used lead based paints, they voluntarily harm our children, and then they voluntarily recall toys. The term “voluntary” is getting a bad rap!

I highly suggest you sign up for email recall alerts from the CPSC, if you own any toys made in China.

Only 4 days left to leave a comment and enter our monthly drawing for a hemp Eco Child’s Play bag. This will be our last monthly drawing for a hemp bag. Don’t miss your chance!

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Information that lead is harmful to our health is not new; however, toy companies act like these "accidents" occur innocently. In fact, we have known about the harmful effects of lead since 100 BC! Once lead enters the body, it travels to the soft tissues and organs. After several weeks, this poisonous metal begins to store in the body’s teeth and bones. Lead is especially harmful for children under six years of age, as "about 99% of the lead taken into the body of an adult will leave in the waste (urine, feces, hair/nail growth and sweat), but only about 32% will be eliminated from a child’s body," according to the Kentucky Department for Public Health. The harmful effects of lead exposure can cause learning disabilities to coma to death, depending on the amount and duration of exposure.

Small, strong magnetic toys are the source of other major, recent recalls. When children swallow more than one of these magnets, severe intestinal damage occurs, and it is often difficult to diagnose. In fact, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) lists magnets at the #1 hidden home hazard. They warn,

Since 2005: 1 Death, 86 Injuries; 8 million magnetic toys recalled. Today’s rare-earth magnets can be very small and powerful making them popular in toys, building sets, and jewelry…If two or more magnets, or a magnet and another metal object are swallowed separately, they can attract to one another through intestinal walls and get trapped in place…but magnets can attract in the body and twist or pinch the intestines, causing holes, blockages, infection, and death, if not treated properly and promptly.

The CPSC is the government agency responsible for protecting consumers from unsafe products. "Anytime a company brings a banned hazardous product into the U.S. marketplace, especially one intended for children, it is unacceptable," said Nancy Nord, acting chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. "Ensuring that Chinese-made toys are safe for U.S. consumers is one of my highest priorities and is the subject of vital talks currently in place between CPSC and the Chinese government…There is no excuse for lead to be found in toys entering this country,"
Nord said. "It’s totally unacceptable and it needs to stop." This statement is ironic, given the CPSC’s failure to act when lead was found in baby bibs, car seats, jewelry, and children’s lunchboxes. Furthermore, the president of Mattel has stated that families should expect more recalls as further product testing occurs. Shouldn’t this testing occur before products are sold to families? More irony is found with RC2’s slogan, "compelling passionate parenting and play for all ages." Yes, compassionate parents give their children toys with lead paint on them.

The recall of Thomas the Tank Engine toys, as well as other recent recalls, reminds us that our children will never be safe until children are safe globally from harmful products in their toys. An opinion article in the New York Times by Christian Warren speaks to this issue. "The Little Engine That Could Poison" reminds us that the important lessons to be learned from these recalls is not only about the protection our own children, but "regulating environmental poisons in the global economy".

With the majority of products consumers purchase being manufactured overseas, the incidence of "accidental" contamination will continue. As Warren writes,

It is important to do what we can to prevent the import of dangerous toys. But it is at least as important to help our international partners curtail the use of lead and other toxic substances in their own markets. Lax product safety and environmental regulation overseas undoubtedly lowers manufacturing costs there, but it also perpetuates the risk to our children and guarantees harmful exposure to both workers and children in countries that continue using lead as blithely as we once did."

Lead is very dangerous stuff that causes irreversible damage in humans. No family anywhere in the world should have to suffer from the effects of this known poison, especially in an effort to produce cheap products for the world market. As a world power, we need to do something to extinguish this hazard globally. We have some protection in this country, despite President Bush slashing of the Consumer Product Safety Commission budget by 10%, yet our children are still exposed to lead in their toys. Who knows how many children throughout the world play with lead tainted toys?

Green alternatives do exist for families. Reputable companies, such as Plan Toys, provide consumer confidence and greener practices. Handmade toys, such as Waldorf doll making kits, allow parents to know exactly what their children’s toys are made of and how they are constructed. Real Toys from Melbourne creates charming gifts for children from recycled and/or salvaged materials. Here is Real Toys bio from Etsy:

So many of the toys available today are mass produced, plastic, commercialised and increasingly associated with TV, movies or computer games. As I work with children, I wanted to make toys that would be developmentally stimulating, simple, high quality and lovable– the way Real Toys should be. (And they are so cute!) Each Real Toy is an original design, individually handmade and stuffed. Features are carefully chosen at the last stage to bring out the unique personality of every one. As they are crafted individually, each Real Toy is one of a kind.

Parents should proceed with caution when purchasing toys made in China. The recent recalls demonstrate that our global economy can have devastating effects on children throughout the world. Natural toys may cost more money, but there is no price for safety and the blessings of health. Although natural toys are sometimes recalled, the incidence of such recalls does not compare to the recent problems plaguing major toy manufacturers.

With the majority of products consumers purchase being manufactured overseas, the incidence of “accidental” contamination will continue. As Warren writes, “It is important to do what we can to prevent the import of dangerous toys. But it is at least as important to help our international partners curtail the use of lead and other toxic substances in their own markets. Lax product safety and environmental regulation overseas undoubtedly lowers manufacturing costs there, but it also perpetuates the risk to our children and guarantees harmful exposure to both workers and children in countries that continue using lead as blithely as we once did.” Lead is very dangerous stuff that causes irreversible damage in humans.

No family anywhere in the world should have to suffer from the effects of this known poison, especially in an effort to produce cheap products for the world market. As a world power, we need to do something to extinguish this hazard globally. We have some protection in this country, despite President Bush slashing of the Consumer Product Safety Commission budget by 10%, yet our children are still exposed to lead in their toys. Who knows how many children throughout the world play with lead tainted toys?