Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Can Do
EVERYDAY ACTIONS TO
PROTECT YOUR HEALTH
Acknowledgements
The Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) constructed this toolkit
using the materials and wisdom of many individuals and organizations. This booklet
was written by Heather Sarantis. Susan West Marmagas and Charlotte Brody at
CHE/Commonweal provided extensive input. Diane Blacker edited this booklet. Ted
Schettler (Science and Environmental Health Network), Paul McRandle (The Green
Guide), Christine Cordero (Center for Environmental Health), Beatriz Barraza (San
Diego Colaborativo SABER project), Alexandra Gorman (Women’s Voices for the
Earth) and Ellen Dorsey (The Heinz Endowments) served as reviewers, but
CHE/Commonweal is responsible for the final document. Special thanks to The
Heinz Endowments for their partnership and financial support.
April 2007
Printed with soy-based ink on New Leaf Reincarnation paper
(100% recycled, 50% post-consumer content, processed chlorine free).
Design by half-full (www.half-full.org).
W OMEN ’ S H EALTH & THE E NVIRONMENT
How Concerned Should You Be? We need to hold government and industry
The information in this booklet is not meant accountable for protecting our health from envi-
to create panic. Knowing that a product ronmental contaminants. However, while we
contains potentially harmful chemicals is work toward reforms, there are many simple ac-
not the same as knowing that those chem-
tions we can take to protect ourselves. For ex-
icals are harming you. As scientists make
ample, we can use safer household products,
new discoveries about the potential risks
eat organic or less pesticide-intensive food and
from contaminant exposures, it only makes
sense to be proactive and switch to safer eliminate dust that may contain toxic residue.
products, especially since there are so This booklet provides practical suggestions for
many that already exist. how to take these and other actions.
1
WH AT YO U CAN DO
| FISH |
guides provide information on both issues. • The Green Guide’s Fish Shoppers’ Guide:
www.thegreenguide.com/doc.mhtml?i=115&s=nofish
| BREAST MILK |
Resources
• International Lactation Consultant
3
Plastic Products
4
What you can do
Find out about the health concerns associated with
the products you use. Go to the Campaign for Safe
Cosmetics website (www.safecosmetics.org) or
Cosmetics Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep report
(www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep), a database of over
14,000 personal care products, their ingredients and
potential health concerns. You can also find safer
What you should know
alternatives in the Skin Deep report.
Major loopholes in federal law allow the cosmetics industry
to put unlimited amounts of chemicals into personal care
You don’t always have to pay more to find safer prod-
products without testing for health effects or adequate
ucts. Some products that score very well on the Skin
labeling requirements. While the chemicals in any one
Deep report are inexpensive and can be found in
personal care product may not cause harm by them-
many well-known stores. And there is no guarantee
selves, it makes a lot of sense to minimize the amount
that paying more ensures your products are safer. In
of chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and other
fact, some of the more expensive products scored
health problems in the numerous products we use every
poorly in the Skin Deep review.
day.
Resources
Antibacterial products such as soap may cause more
• Beyond Pesticide’s Triclosan factsheet:
harm than good, killing harmless bacteria and making
www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticides/
your body resistant to the antibiotics you may need one
factsheets/Triclosan%20cited.pdf
day. Some bacteria, for example, are developing resist-
| CO SMETICS |
ance to triclosan, a common antibacterial ingredient. • Campaign for Safe Cosmetics:
Triclosan may also be bad for your health. www.safecosmetics.org
• Environmental Working Group’s Cosmetic Shopping
Guide: www.ewg.org/pdf/EWG_cosmetics.pdf
| WATER |
Water
5
Thermometers
Medical Radiation
6
Furniture &
Electronic Equipment
7
What you can do
Pest There are many simple, safe tricks to prevent pest
Control problems from starting, and other tricks to deal
with pests if you have them. (See table to the right
for ideas.)
Resources
What you should know
There are extensive resources available to use less
Most people know that pesticides used in industrial agriculture
toxic pesticides, or eliminate pesticide use all to-
can be harmful to people’s health (especially farm workers), but
gether. Some excellent examples include:
they might not be aware that household pesticide use can also
| PEST CONTROL |
cause harm. Garden pesticides, mothballs, animal flea collars • Beyond Pesticides: www.beyondpesticides.org
and other products to deal with pests may increase risk for • Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides’
health problems, such as asthma14 and cancer.15 Excessive ex- resource webpage: www.pesticide.org/fact-
posure to some pesticides may cause acute symptoms, such as sheets.html
nausea, vomiting or heart irregularities. Children are particularly
susceptible. • Pesticide Action Network’s pesticide database:
www.pesticideinfo.org/Index.html
| SMO KI NG |
8
SIMPLE, SAFE TRICKS TO PREVENT AND TREAT PEST PROBLEMS
GENERAL IN SECTS
PREVENTIVE METHODS
•Vacuum regularly
•See additional preventive methods for
specific insects
TREATMENT METHODS
•Set insect baits and traps
•Sprinkle diatomaceous earth (crushed
fossils of living plants and freshwater
organisms)
•Use beneficial nematodes (microscopic
worms)
•See additional treatment methods for
specific insects
Moths Termites
| PEST CO NTRO L |
PREVENTIVE METH ODS PREVENTIVE METHODS
SPECIFIC INSECTS •Use cedar balls or chips •Dry out construction wood properly
•Sprinkle lavender (Timber species such as oak, fir, ash and
Cockroaches larch are best)
TREATMENT METHODS
PREVENTIVE METHODS •Pre-treat wood with vegetable oil, paraf-
•See preventive methods fin or beeswax. Use an 8% solution of
•Distribute bay leaves in affected areas
borax (also a fire retardant) for long term
•Store food in sealed containers Hair Lice prevention
•Dispose of garbage properly •Use a solution of soda ash or wood ash
PREVENTIVE METH ODS
TREATMENT METHODS (adding plant pigments makes these
•Do not share clothing, bed linens,
•Dust with boric acid or solutions suitable for staining)
pillows, combs, brushes or hats
•Dust with equal parts of boric acid pow- TREATMENT METHODS TREATMENT METHODS
der or baking soda mixed with powdered •Set baits
•Use enzyme shampoos
sugar or •Use liquid nitrogen
•Dust with equal parts of oatmeal, flour •Use nontoxic heat method
and plaster of Paris Fleas
•Use electrocution or microwaves
•Use bait boxes PREVENTIVE METH ODS
•Vacuum thoroughly and frequently
Ants •Wash pet bedding weekly in hot soapy
Mice and Rats
PREVENTIVE METHODS water. Spray pet daily with 50/50 mix- PREVENTIVE METHODS
ture of white vinegar and water •Store food in sealed containers
•Sprinkle black pepper, chili powder or
chalk •Mix brewer’s yeast, Vitamin B or garlic •Dispose of garbage properly
tablets with pet food
•Store food in sealed containers •Sprinkle lavender, cedar oil or camphor
•Rub animal’s coat with fennel, rue and
•Dispose of garbage properly
rosemary TREATMENT METHODS
TREATMENT METHODS •Place eucalyptus seeds and leaves •Set traps and baits
•Brush a 1 to 10 mixture of lavender & where the animal sleeps •Place cotton balls saturated with pep-
olive oil into the tracks that ants follow permint oil in areas of rodent activity
TREATMENT METHODS
•Distribute ferns and juniper leaves,
lavender flowers and goldenrod •Use enzyme shampoos
9
Cleaners
10
Dust
What you should know 6. Regularly dust or wash surfaces that are often
New research is finding that household dust is a hotbed of touched. Wash your hands with regular (not anti-
environmental contaminants. Those dust bunnies we often bacterial) soap and warm water after cleaning,
ignore may contain residues from toys, furniture and elec- working, handling raw meat, petting animals,
tronic equipment, materials used in building the house and changing a diaper, using a bathroom or gardening
all the stuff tracked in from the outside—lawn pesticides, and before preparing food, eating or touching a
oil that has leaked from a car and whatever the neighbor’s baby or ill person.
dog left behind.
7. Clean air ducts annually and replace filters every
What you can do six months.
In addition to using safer products to reduce contaminants 8. Change clothes and shoes and wash exposed skin
in the home, eliminate dust as much as possible. Be sure before entering your home if you come into contact
to use safer cleaning products (see previous section on with environmental contaminants. This includes
cleaners) for the task, rather than relying on toxic house- exposures at work (also see If You Are Exposed to
hold cleaners. Chemicals in the Workplace on the next page) and
at home, such as from painting or fixing your car.
Tips to keep dust out of the house
9. Wash fruits and vegetables to remove dust, dirt
1. Best Practice: Remove your shoes when entering your
| DUST |
and certain pesticide residues.
home! Wear different footwear inside that is dedicated
to indoor use. 10. Clean pacifiers and wash toddler’s hands with
regular (not antibacterial) soap and warm water
2. Place long floor runners (preferably a commercial door-
before eating and after using the bathroom.
mat) at entrances to your home to trap outdoor dust
and dirt. 11. Have toddlers, painted surfaces and dust tested for
lead if you live in house built before 1978.
3. Vacuum carpets and area rugs using a vacuum with a
12. Have a trained person perform a home environmen-
power brush and HEPA filter once a week (twice a week
tal assessment before renting or buying a house or
if you have a crawling child).
having a baby.
4. Bare floors are the best choice. Otherwise, choose Adapted from University of Pittsburgh Center for Environmental Oncology
floor coverings (runners and area rugs) and furniture
draperies that are easy to clean. Limit the use of car- Resources
pets throughout the house, especially deep plush or
• Safer Products Project Sick of Dust report:
shag carpets.
www.safer-products.org/page.php?p=dust
5. Cover bare outdoor areas with trees, shrubs, flowers or
gravel to reduce tracking in dust and dirt.
11
Better for You,
Healthier Products: Better for the People Who Make Them
Products that are made with safer ingredients and materials are the best bet
for you and your family. They are also better for the people who manufacture
them. People who work in factories making things full of harmful chemicals
can be exposed to toxic substances and fumes hour after hour, day after day.
Making a commitment to healthier products shows that you care not only
about yourself, but about the people who make what you buy too.
• If you work around chemicals, wash exposed skin and change out of your
work clothes before returning to your home. Clean your work clothes
separately.
• Whether at home or at work, use the recommended protective gear
(gloves, masks, eyewear, etc.) to avoid inhaling, ingesting or absorbing
toxic substances.
• Know what chemicals you use at work and what problems they might cause.
Check the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) that your employer is required
to provide for each chemical in your workplace.
• You can do internet research on occupational health at www.nlm.nih.gov/
medlineplus/occupationalhealth.html. This website also links to local
occupational health services.
• If you are pregnant or may get pregnant, take extra care to follow safety
practices. Some states may allow you to take a disability leave or make
accommodations at your job. Ask your doctor or a local union. Also check
out The Effects of Workplace Hazards on Female Reproductive Health:
www.cdc.gov/niosh/99-104.html.
12
Endnotes
1 11
National Research Council, Committee on Pesti- See the Collaborative on Health and Environment 127(4):1232-41.
cides in the Diets of Infants and Children, Board on Toxicant and Disease Database for more information:
23
Agriculture and Board on Environmental Studies and http://database.healthandenvironment.org/index.cf See the Collaborative on Health and Environment
Toxicology, Commission on Life Sciences. Pesticides m. Enter “Ionizing Radiation” in the “Browse by Toxi- Toxicant and Disease Database for more information:
in the Diets of Infants and Children. National Acad- cant” section. http://database.healthandenvironment.org/index.cf
emy Press, Washington, D.C. 1993. m. Enter “Tobacco Smoke (Secondhand) in the
12
Kemmlein S, Hahn O, Jann O. Emission of Flame “Browse by Toxicant” section.
2
Mori K, Yoshida K, Hoshikawa S, Ito S, Yoshida M, Retardants from Consumer Products and Building
24
Satoh M, Watanabe C. Effects of perinatal exposure Materials. Berlin, Germany: Federal Institute for Ma- Environmental Protection Agency. Health Effects of
to low doses of cadmium or methylmercury on thy- terials Research and Testing; Project Number (UFO- Exposure to Secondhand Smoke.
roid hormone metabolism in metallothionein-defi- PLAN) 299 65 321; 2003. www.epa.gov/smokefree/healtheffects.html. Viewed
cient mouse neonates. Toxicology 2006 Nov 10; April 9, 2007.
13
228(1):77-84. Eriksson P, Viberg H, Jakobsson E, Orn U, Fredriks-
25
son A. A brominated flame retardant, 2,2',4,4',5- Miller MD, Marty MA, Broadwin R, Johnson KC,
3
Debes F, Budtz-Jorgensen E, Weihe P, White RF, pentabromodiphenyl ether: uptake, retention, and Salmon AG, Winder B, Steinmaus C. The association
Grandjean P. Impact of prenatal methylmercury ex- induction of neurobehavioral alterations in mice dur- between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke
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Neurotoxicology and Teratology 2006 May-Jun; Toxicological Sciences 2002 May; 67(1):98-103. ronmental Protection Agency. Preventive Medicine
28(3):363-75. 2007 Feb; 44(2):93-106.
14
Salam, MT, Y-F Li, B Langholz and FD Gilliland.
4 26
Stern AH, Jacobson JL, Ryan L, Burke TA. Do recent 2003. Early life environmental risk factors for University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Depart-
data from the Seychelles Islands alter the conclu- asthma: findings from the children's health study. ment of Environmental Oncology. Health effects of
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15
University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Depart-
5
National Research Council, Committee on the Toxi- ment of Environmental Oncology. Health effects of
cological Effects of Methylmercury. Toxicological Ef- traditional household products. www.environmen-
fects of Methylmercury. National Academy Press, taloncology.org/documents/Healtheffectsoftrad-
Washington, D.C. 2000. houseprod.pdf. Viewed April 9, 2007.
6 16
World Health Organization. Biomonitoring of Human National Cancer Institute. Cigarette Smoking and
Breastmilk Technical Note. Cancer: Questions and Answers.
www.who.int/foodsafety/chem/POPtechnicalnote.pdf. www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/ca
Viewed April 9, 2007. ncer#1. Viewed April 9, 2007.
7 17
Rene B. J. Remillard and Nigel J. Bunce. Linking American Heart Association. Smoking and Cardio-
dioxins to diabetes: epidemiology and biologic plau- vascular Disease. www.americanheart.org/presen-
sibility. Environmental Health Perspectives 2002 Sep; ter.jhtml?identifier=3038016. Viewed April 9, 2007.
110(9):853-8.
18
Sepaniak S, Forges T, Monnier-Barbarino P. Ciga-
8
Murray TJ, Maffini MV, Ucci AA, Sonnenschein C, rette smoking and fertility in women and men. Gyne-
Soto AM. Induction of mammary gland ductal hyper- cologie, Obstetetrique and Fertilite 2006 Oct;
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19
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Syrop CH. The effects of smoking on ovarian func-
9
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20
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Shanna H. Swan, Katharina M. Main, Fan Liu, Sara
21
L. Stewart, Robin L. Kruse, Antonia M. Calafat, Oncken C, Prestwood K, Kleppinger A, Wang Y,
Catherine S. Mao, J. Bruce Redmon, Christine L. Ter- Cooney J, Raisz L. Impact of smoking cessation on
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22
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Organizations You Can Turn To
Beyond Pesticides: www.beyondpesticides.org
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics: www.safecosmetics.org
Center for Environmental Health and Justice: www.chej.org
Children’s Health and Environment Coalition: www.checnet.org
Computer Take Back Campaign: www.computertakeback.org
Environment California: www.environmentcalifornia.org
Environmental Working Group: www.ewg.org
Green Guide: www.thegreenguide.com
Green Seal: www.greenseal.org
Health Care without Harm: www.noharm.org
Healthy Building Network: www.healthybuilding.net
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy: www.iatp.org
Natural Resources Defense Council: www.nrdc.org
Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides: www.pesticide.org
Pesticide Action Network: www.panna.org
Physicians for Social Responsibility: www.psr.org
Pollution in People: www.pollutioninpeople.org
PVC: The Poison Plastic: www.pvcfree.org
Safer Products Project: www.safer-products.org
The Collaborative on Health and the Environment:
www.healthandenvironment.org
The Eat Well Guide: www.eatwellguide.org
Tiny Footprints: www.tinyfootprints.org
University of Pittsburgh Center for Environmental Oncology:
www.environmentaloncology.org
Washington Toxics Coalition: www.watoxics.org
Women’s Voices for the Earth: www.womenandenvironment.org
This booklet was developed based on the research in the first booklet in this series,
What We Know: New Science Linking Our Health and the Environment and other peer-
reviewed, published literature. This booklet is available with full scientific documenta-
tion on our website, at www.womenshealthandenvironment.org/toolkit.
www.womenshealthandenvironment.org