Are There Drugs In Your Drinking Water?
When I read about an EPA study released earlier this year that found trace residues of at least 25 different drugs in drinking water, I panicked. This was on the heels of a study that linked acetaminophen in pregnancy with ADHD in children. If occasional use of endocrine-disrupting drugs like acetaminophen could affect a baby, what could they do to the rest of us if we were ingesting drugs on a daily basis through drinking water?
What is Fracking? 4 Facts You Should Know
What is fracking? Here’s the short answer: Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is a drilling practice that calls for injecting millions of gallons of a toxic mixture of chemicals, water and sand into the earth in order to create enough pressure to cracks open rocks and release oil or natural gas. And here’s what you need to know: 1. The nearly 600 chemicals used in fracking include known carcinogens such as benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene, among others, which can leach into drinking water.
Can Nail Polish Be Natural?
Let’s get real: No matter how many “natural” labels get slapped on the bottle, most nail polishes do contain chemicals—some of which can be dangerous to our health, and to the environment. Even so called “non-toxic” polishes should be disposed of as hazardous waste, according to Earth911. Remember, unless a beauty product is USDA Certified Organic, its manufacturer is not required to list ingredients on the label. Which is why we get “fragrance,” and it can mean three thousand different chemicals. But I digress. Everyone uses nail polish at least once in a while. Here’s what you need to know.
3 Tips to Ditch Dangerous Sunscreen
It’s sunscreen season—there are aisles devoted to it in drugstores and stacks at supermarket checkout stands. A new study published in Pediatrics shows that melanoma rates have increased among children and teens at two percent a year from 1973 to 2009—the American Cancer Society predicts that the condition will affect nearly 80,000 people in 2013. Yes you know that UVA fights aging and UVB combats burning. But do you know what’s safe—and what works? You could get a degree in toxicology and try to decipher the ingredient list on the back of the bottle, or you could take the lazy mom’s way out.
3 Reasons to Keep Safe Drinking Water On the Go
Are you still sending your kids to school with plastic water bottles in their backpacks? Consider the fact that the EPA tests our water daily for bacteria and posts the results to the general public, while the FDA only requires weekly testing of bottled water and doesn’t make its results public. Or that bottled water costs can ring up at more than $50 each month. And, finally, that when they get warm, those plastic bottles can leach chemicals into your children’s water–and bodies.
