EWG RANKS CLEANING PRODUCTS FOR BABIES

Every parent knows that caring for a new baby requires lots and lots of cleaning. But can washing up the milk and spit-up introduce your baby to potentially harmful chemicals?

For its spring 2016 update, EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning analyzed more than 400 new cleaning products and formulations, including ones marketed for new parents and their babies’ needs.

The guide looks closely at product ingredients, labels and online transparency, then ranks products with a letter grade from A (best) to F (worst). Of course, some of the products are better than others. Click here to view the list of cleaning products for babies.

Products that score poorly contain such hazardous ingredients as the allergenic preservative methylisothiazolinone (MIT) or sodium borate (borax), which can disrupt hormones and harm the reproductive system.

Poorly rated products use sparse or vague terminology – such as “biodegradable surfactants,” “fragrance” and “fabric brighteners” (also known as optical brighteners) – but do not disclose specific ingredients on the label. Visit the guide’s Label Decoder to learn more about what these terms mean.

Almost half of the products EWG analyzed failed to display a complete list of specific ingredients anywhere. Manufacturers can get away with this legally, since virtually no federal or state laws require manufacturers to disclose their cleaning products ingredients.

Products with better scores contain ingredients with fewer health hazards and make more ingredient disclosure on the package and on the company website.

The cleaning products for babies are among 406 new products from 85 brands just added to EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning. The new products were available in stores from October 2015 to February 2016 or were submitted directly to EWG by manufacturers. EWG evaluated and rated the products according to the Guide to Healthy Cleaning methodology.

For more information on the cleaning products for babies – as well as those for your whole household – visit EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning.

FIND SAFER BABY FORMULA

Debating between breast feeding and formula feeding? Healthy Child recommends breastfeeding if possible for at least the first 12 months of life. We’re in good company here – the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization agree.

However, there are important and valid reasons a family might need to use formula.

It’s important to consult with your pediatrician to pick the best and safest option for your baby, especially in light of increasing recalls on infant formulas. The number one thing to keep in mind is to choose organic to avoid pesticide residues, synthetic hormones, and genetically modified ingredients, among other concerns.

Here are other considerations when shopping for baby formula and baby bottles:

When deciding between powdered and liquid, read up on the issues with either to make an informed choice. Powdered isn’t a sterile product and has been subject to recalls in the past due to contamination, so might not be the right choice for very young infants. (For best powdered formula preparation practices, turn to this World Health Organization guide.) If you opt for liquid formula, make sure it comes in a BPA-free container.

Use distilled or filtered water for preparing formula. There are many reasons to do this, including that fluoride found in municipal drinking water can harm rather than help baby’s teeth. The American Dental Association suggests mixing formula with water that either is fluoride-free or has low concentrations of fluoride.

Choose glass, stainless steel, or BPA-free bottles with silicone nipples.

Do not heat water or formula in plastic. If you’re using a plastic bottle, heat in glass first then transfer to the bottle.

If you’re using plastic, wash bottles with a mild plant-based detergent by hand to prevent degradation. Replace bottles and nipples when they become worn.

You may see DHA and ARA mentioned on product packaging. These fatty acids, vital for brain and eye development, are most efficacious as naturally occurring components of breast milk; artificial versions have not been shown to have the same developmental results. There has been some concern regarding the method used to extract them for use in formula, but they’re difficult to avoid as nearly all formulas are fortified with them. Still, these nutrients are vital for healthy development and manufacturers continue to look for natural, effective sources, so do a little research to see what the latest recommendations are from sources like the FDA and American Academy of Pediatricians.

Formula contains added sugar to help babies digest proteins. The FDA doesn’t set an amount of sugar per serving or specify which sugars can be used. Discuss with your pediatrician to determine how much is too much and which kind (i.e. sucrose or lactose) is preferable for your baby.

FIVE NATURAL REMEDIES FOR EAR INFECTIONS

Fever, headache, tugging at the ear, crying more than usual and trouble sleeping – most parents recognize that these dreaded symptoms mean an ear infection.

More than 80 percent of children will get at least one ear infection by age three, the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders estimates. That makes them the most common reason parents take young kids to see a doctor.

These days, however, pediatricians are intervening less in the healing process and prescribing far fewer antibiotics. Globally, taking antibiotics when they aren’t strictly necessary is contributing to the buildup of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, a problem that threatens the health of both children and adults.

If your child has an ear infection, pediatricians may suggest medicated eardrops, nasal spray or over-the-counter pain relievers to ease your child’s discomfort. Tylenol and Motrin are often recommended for fever pain.

Consult a health care professional first if you suspect your child has an ear infection or if your child experiences new or escalating symptoms, especially a rising fever or fluid seeping from the ear. For more natural steps you can take, here are some options to consider. Note that these approaches have varying degrees of effectiveness.

Things that work

Time

In most cases, time is the best cure. Symptoms often clear within 72 hours. Warm compresses and steam inhalation may alleviate pain as you wait it out.

Prevention

These steps can lower the odds that your child will develop an ear infection in the first place:

Avoid secondhand smoke. Studies show that children exposed to cigarette smoke develop more ear infections.

Practice good hygiene. Encourage kids to wash their hands frequently. Avoid playtime with sick children. Thoroughly clean bottles, which harbor more bacteria than sippy cups.

Breastfeed if possible. Breastfed babies are less likely to contract viral or bacterial infections, including ear infections. For bottle-fed babies, sitting or being held upright while eating has been shown to decrease infection rates.

Limit pacifier sucking by babies over six months old. Evidence suggests that it increases the risk of recurrent ear infections.
Vaccinations are also protective. Studies show that kids who are up to date with their shots – especially for pneumonia, meningitis and flu – get fewer ear infections.

Things that might work

Researchers have explored a variety of alternative measures to prevent ear infections. Although clinical data shows mixed results, these are generally safe to try.

Vitamin D

Studies suggest that children with recurrent ear infections are more likely to have low vitamin D levels. When researchers gave vitamin D supplements to kids with recurrent infections in two separate studies (here’s one), they got fewer new infections during the study period.

Researchers still lack evidence to show cause and effect, but many kids are low in vitamin D, so a supplement will likely offer other health benefits. Babies need 400 IU (10 mcg) per day, and daily supplements are especially important for breastfed babies. Everyone else needs 600 IU (15 mcg) per day, which generally requires taking a daily supplement during the winter months.

Probiotics

Researchers have also studied oral probiotics and nasal sprays for preventing ear infections. More research is necessary to determine which strains of bacteria might be most helpful, whether it’s best to administer them as a spray versus oral supplements, and the best dose. But probiotics are generally low-risk and offer other health benefits, such as aiding digestion.

Vitamins and Nutrients

Some studies suggest that common vitamins and nutrients such as zinc, vitamin A and omega-3 fish oils may help kids stay healthy and prevent ear infections, but the evidence is mixed. Be sure to read bottle labels carefully for the appropriate dose for children.

Xylitol

Surprisingly, several studies have shown that this natural fruit sugar, common in sugar-free foods, can also help prevent ear infections. Xylitol inhibits bacterial growth, which is one reason why toothpastes and gums made with xylitol are good for teeth.

Several studies found that giving kids xylitol – as gum, syrup or nasal spray – prevented recurrent ear infections, but mainstream doctors caution that they need more data before they’ll routinely recommend it.

To produce a preventive benefit, most of the studies to date have found that it is necessary to give xylitol to kids five times a day (approximately 10 grams per day total). At this dose, kids generally had a 30 percent decrease in recurrent ear infections. Gum and lozenges appear to be more effective than syrup, although syrup may be the only realistic option for young children.

Physicians and parents know that such frequent treatments can be a challenge for busy families, and lower doses may not be helpful. A recent study that gave kids xylitol three times a day (15 grams total) did not show any preventive benefit.

Be aware that some kids may develop digestive problems when given xylitol, particularly in higher doses.

Not enough evidence

Other herbs and alternative treatments

Most herbal supplements have not been rigorously tested for preventing or treating ear infections. The NIH Center for Complementary and Integrative Health offers these tips for parents considering herbal supplements for children.

Osteopathy, chiropractic and traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine all suggest alternative approaches for ear infections. These options have been little studied and may vary from one provider to the next. High cost or low availability may make them impractical for some families.

Don’t go there

You may see resources that recommend trying ear candling or herbal preparations that include mercury, goldenseal or colloidal silver to prevent ear infection. These are not safe for children. Don’t try them.

Author,

Megan Boyle

CLEAR ADVICE ON HEALTHY EATING: INTRODUCING EWG’S NEW DIETARY GUIDELINES

News outlets around the country covered the Obama administration’s release of new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, praising the good, scolding the bad and shining a bright light on the ugly.

And there’s certainly ugly. While the guidelines aim to reflect the most up-to-date wisdom about health and nutrition, they’re far from perfect – or unbiased. Under the influence of food industry lobbyists, the guidelines fail to encourage people to eat less meat or explain the risk of eating too much fish that’s high in mercury. They also fall short on advice about sugar. Information about drinking more water and fewer sweetened beverages is hard to find and gets low priority.

The guidelines have consequences for Americans of all ages. They help set policy, such as determining what’s served to children in school lunches and what’s covered for families on food stamps. They can also shape the guidance health care professionals give their patients. That’s a scary proposition at a time when far too many people, including growing children, suffer from chronic, preventable diseases such as obesity and diabetes that are linked to what we eat and how little we exercise.

The government’s problematic guidelines fail to provide the clear and simple advice about healthy eating that we all need. So EWG compiled its own Dietary Guidelines to help families make better food decisions, emphasizing what’s good for our health as well as the planet.

Here are the top five guidelines from EWG, based on the organization’s own research on food, meat, seafood, pesticides in produce and more. Read the full guidelines – and how you can easily apply them at home – by visiting the new EWG Dietary Guidelines web site.

Eat more vegetables and fruits. Avoid pesticides when you can.

Eat less meat, especially red and processed meat.

Skip sodas and sugary or salty foods.

Eat healthy and sustainable seafood that’s low in mercury.

Beware of processed foods with harmful chemicals.

IS MY FAMILY’S TAP WATER POLLUTED?

 The drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan, has people across the country wondering: how can I tell if our tap water is polluted with lead?

As has been widely reported, lead pipes or the solder that connects them may leach lead into tap water. Municipal water utilities may be responsible for these pipes, or they may be inside your home.

How much lead is in your family’s tap water can vary considerably, from tiny amounts to concentrations well above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s action limit – 15 parts per billion in water. That’s the level at which public utilities must inform the public about lead contamination and take steps to stop it from migrating from pipes into water.

But even water contaminated at lower concentrations than 15 parts per billion can be harmful, especially to kids and pregnant women. The U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control says that “No safe blood lead level in children has been identified.”

Here are the questions you need to ask:

Is the plumbing in my neighborhood or home exposing my family to lead?

Ask your water provider if your tap water enters your home through a lead service line. Although most utilities stopped installing lead lines decades ago, the nation’s aging infrastructure still counts between 3.3 and 6.4 million lead service lines, particularly in older neighborhoods in the Northeast and Midwest.

A 1986 amendment to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act banned the use of lead in plumbing materials, but nearly all houses and apartments built before then still use copper pipes connected by lead solder. As these older pipes and fixtures corrode or the soldering breaks down, lead particles can get into your tap water.

Check your utility’s water report or independently test your water if you live in a structure built before 1986. Newer houses pose less risk but could still harbor lead in the plumbing: the 1986 amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act allowed “lead-free” pipes to contain up to 8 percent lead, or solder and flux up to 0.2 percent. Congress did not tighten these restrictions until 2011.

Does my water utility test its output and take measures to reduce lead contamination?

Since lead gets into water after it leaves the treatment plant, the EPA requires water utilities to test lead content in customer residences and take action if the lead level reaches 15 parts per billion in more than 10 percent of tested homes.

But the EPA regulations contain some important loopholes: they exempt water systems serving fewer than 25 people and well water from the residential lead testing requirement. This exemption affects some 40 million to 45 million Americans.

How do I get the test results for my water?

Public drinking water utilities that regularly test water for contaminants are required to disclose their results. If you live within a utility’s boundaries and do not receive this information by mail, call its local office to request a copy of the report or look for it on the utility’s website. You can call EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791 to learn how to get your results.

Consider testing your own tap water if: any homes in your community test positive for lead, if your family lives in a remote or small community that does not test tap water, or if you drink well water.

Test your water through a state-certified commercial laboratory. Labs generally recommend that you collect a sample of cold water that has sat overnight and another sample of cold water after you have run the tap for one minute. The EPA sets its action level at 15 micrograms per liter (ug/L) or parts per billion (ppb), a measurement equivalent to 0.0015 milligrams per liter (mg/L) or parts per million (ppm).

Author,

Megan Boyle

FDA-APPROVED FOOD PACKAGING EXPOSES BABIES TO TOXIC ROCKET FUEL CHEMICAL

Perchlorate, a toxic component of rocket fuel, may be harming your baby’s development – and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is allowing it to happen, even in the face of clear health hazards.

That’s why Environmental Working Group has joined the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental and public health organizations to sue the FDA for letting manufacturers use perchlorate as a food additive.

Perchlorate disrupts thyroid function and hormone production, both essential for healthy brain and organ development. At greatest risk of harm are fetuses, babies and young children.

Millions of Americans face unavoidable exposure to perchlorate in drinking water and contaminated produce and milk. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and local water utilities, particularly in California, are making major efforts to identify, regulate and clean up perchlorate in drinking water.

Yet the FDA permits manufacturers to add perchlorate to plastic packaging for powdered baby formula and foods such as rice and beans. FDA argues that perchlorate is safe in food packaging, but that position is based on a deeply flawed analysis and also ignores new science underscoring the risk.

“Banning perchlorate should be a no-brainer when you consider its threat to human health, particularly to fetal development,” said Ken Cook, co-founder and president of the Environmental Working Group. “We hope this lawsuit spurs FDA to give a new look at the science, instead of relying on its original, flawed reasoning, and to move swiftly to protect consumers from exposure to this toxic chemical.”

The Breast Cancer Fund, Center for Food Safety, Center for Environmental Health and Center for Science in the Public Interest joined EWG and NRDC in the suit, filed March 31.

The groups previously petitioned FDA to ban the use of perchlorate in food packaging, but the agency failed to respond.

INFANTS’ EXPOSURE TO TOXIC FIRE RETARDANT LINKED TO BABY ITEMS

Evidence of a chemical linked to cancer and hormone disruption was found in the urine of all babies tested for a new study from Duke University. The sources, researchers say, could be nursery gliders, car seats, bassinets and other baby products that might be treated with toxic fire retardant chemicals. The remains of a second chemical also linked to endocrine disruption were found in 93 percent of the infants tested.

The chemicals are TDCIPP (tris(1,3-dichloro-isopropyl)phosphate) and TPHP (triphenyl phosphate). Four years ago, Duke researchers found TDCIPP in 36 percent of the baby products they tested that were purchased between 2000 and 2010. In the new study, the same research group tested the urine collected from 43 babies for evidence of TDCIPP and TPHP, and the results were alarming.

Each of the babies tested had detectable levels of a chemical produced when the body processes TDCIPP, known as a metabolite. A metabolite of TPHP was detected in all but three infants.

Adding to the concern, more infants in this study had extreme levels of the TDCIPP metabolite in their urine, compared to toddlers tested in a separate study conducted last year by Duke and EWG. What’s more, the levels of both chemicals were on average higher than amounts previously found in adults.

The State of California lists TDCIPP as a known carcinogen and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission considers it a probable human carcinogen. It may also disrupt endocrine signaling – the chemical messages hormones send throughout the body – which is vital during the early stages of a baby’s development. TPHP is also linked to hormone disruption that may cause developmental or reproductive harm.

In the new study, the level of the TDCIPP metabolite in the babies’ urine was closely related to the number of infant products their parents owned. Babies whose parents reported owning more than 16 such products had on average almost seven times more of the metabolite in their urine than babies in families who owned fewer than 13 products. Children who attended daycare centers also had higher levels of the metabolite, suggesting that products there added to their exposure.

This study is not intended to be a warning to parents to avoid buying the things needed to keep their babies safe and comfortable. However, it does mean parents should consider doing their homework before shopping. Not all baby items have added fire retardants, and parents can choose items free of these chemicals.

Read this Guide to Fire Retardants in Children’s Products to learn what you need to know to minimize your family’s exposure to these toxic chemicals.

But smarter shopping may not be enough. The United States’ weak and outdated regulations fail to adequately protect babies or others who are most vulnerable from the effects of toxic chemicals. The system needs reform, so that parents can be confident that the products they buy for their newborns are safe. To learn more, visit EWG’s website on the Toxic Substances Control Act.