The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has done it again. EWG is a public health non-profit organization on a mission to use the power of public information to protect public health and the environment. That’s a tall order for any organization, and EWG is doing a fine job.

Their latest project involves the assessment of 84 breakfast cereals marketed to children. What they found was that some cereals had more sugar than a Twinkie, which contains 18 g of sugar. More than half of all cereals assessed contained more sugar than three Chips Ahoy! cookies, which contain 11 g of sugar. The report summed it up well: “Most parents say no to dessert for breakfast, but many children’s cereals have just as much sugar as a dessert—or more.”

Here is a list of the 10 worst children’s cereals:

Kelloggs, Honey Smacks

Post Golden Crisp

Kellogg’s Froot Loops Marshmallow

Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s OOPS! All Berries

Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch Original

Quaker Oats Oh!s

Kellogg Smorz

Kellogg’s Smorz

Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries

Kellogg’s Froot Loops Original

So this week, it’s time to assess your breakfast pantry. If you happen to eat these cereals, or feed them to your children—STOP! But don’t stop there. Check the sugar content—and the carbohydrate and fiber content for that matter—on your breakfast foods. The problem with most breakfast cereals is that they are high in carbohydrates and low in protein and fiber. Protein helps give you brain power that lasts throughout the day, and fiber helps reduce the absorption of sugar in the body. Try eggs for breakfast instead of cereal, or a protein shake.

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The Environmental Working Group has put out an updated list of fruits and vegetables ranked according to their pesticide contamination. The report, put out annually, analyzes government data on 53 fruits and vegetables. New to the top of the list this year is apples, moved up from number four. Ninety-two percent of apples tested contained two or more pesticides.

EWG recommends choosing organic when buying the top twelve, or the ‘dirty dozen.’ This year, the dirty dozen include:

• Apples
• Celery
• Strawberries
• Peaches
• Spinach
• Nectarines
• Grapes
• Sweet bell peppers
• Potatoes
• Blueberries
• Lettuce
• Kale/collard greens

The ‘Clean 15,’ on the other hand, are the 15 fruits and vegetables with the lowest amounts of pesticides:

• Onions
• Corn
• Pineapples
• Avocado
• Asparagus
• Sweet peas
• Mangoes
• Eggplant
• Cantaloupe
• Kiwi
• Cabbage
• Watermelon
• Sweet potatoes
• Grapefruit
• Mushrooms

This week, make some adjustments to the way you buy fruits and vegetables. Choose organic when buying the dirty dozen to reduce your exposure to pesticides.

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It was recently reported by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) that tap water in over 30 U.S. cities contains hexavalent chromium, a probable carcinogen. Hexavalent chromium is the chemical that was made famous by the movie Erin Brockovich. In the EWG study, tap water was tested in 35 cities; 31 of those cities’ water contained hexavalent chromium.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not set limits for hexavalent chromium yet, but is considering it after the National Institutes of Health recognized it as a likely carcinogen in 2008. EPA limits total chromium in drinking water, but total chromium also includes the beneficial chromium—trivalent chromium—which is used by the body for nutrition. They should really test for the two separately. 

California is attempting to set limits for hexavalent chromium in water at 0.06 parts per billion (ppb). Of the 35 cities tested in EWG’s test, 25 cities contained levels above California’s limits.

There are so many other toxins in water that I don’t have room to cover in this blog post. Instead, I urge you to consider filtering your water at home. The best filters are thought to be reverse osmosis filters, which utilize fine membranes to filter out toxins. Reverse osmosis filters go under the sink, and are more expensive than other filters. But when it comes to getting the purest water, I think it’s a great investment in your health. (And think of all the money you’ll save if you don’t have to buy bottled water anymore, not to mention reducing the amount of plastic entering landfills!)

Check out my previous blog on water quality tests that were done by EWG. And check out EWG’s recent report on hexavalent chromium.  It’s an eye opener.

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Well folks, it looks like BPA is back in the news, and the news is not good. In one of the first studies of its kind, scientists from the University of Michigan and the Harvard School of Public Health looked at how exposure to the chemical Bisphenol A affected the sperm count and quality in otherwise healthy male adults, and here’s what they found:

Of the nearly 200 men that participated in the study by providing urine and sperm samples, those with the highest levels of BPA had significantly lower sperm counts as well as a notable increase in damage to healthy sperm DNA, which scientists believe has to do with how BPA affects healthy hormone function in the body and can interfere with normal growth and development.

One of the reasons I think this is really interesting is because most of the studies about BPA so far have looked at how BPA affects babies in the womb, or how it affects developing children and adults—but few have looked at the effects of exposure at such an early stage. So for couples out there who are trying to get pregnant, this is definitely something to think about.

Folks, BPA is everywhere. It’s in hundreds of products like canned foods and beverages, along with plastic baby bottles and reusable water bottles. In fact, more than 2 billion pounds of it are produced annually according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who describes BPA as a “reproductive, developmental and systemic toxicant”. Even the latest report from the President’s Cancer Panel cautions against using products made with BPA. But with all that said, the FDA is still dragging its feet about BPA and only just this year decided to update the warning on its website about BPA—talk about a day late and a dollar short!

Even though further research is needed to determine the full effects of BPA exposure at the reproductive stage and throughout human life, I for one wasn’t surprised to see BPA once again in the hot seat. For some really good tips on how you and your family can reduce BPA exposure, check out Environmental Working Group’s Consumer Tips to Avoid BPA Exposure.

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One of the best non-profit resource groups I’ve found, Environmental Working Group does a great job providing information to the public about the dangerous chemicals that we come into contact with every day. In fact, their website is loaded with helpful information about one of the most talked-about chemicals in use today—bisphenol A, or BPA.

BPA is found in hundreds of products, including hard plastics and the lining of canned foods, but many studies have linked it to negative health affects in humans, especially during fetal development. If you’re concerned that BPA might be in some of the products you use and want help making better choices, click here for more information.

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It sounds like a bad horror movie, doesn’t it? “Beware of the toxic dust!” But the reality is actually even scarier. According to our friends at Environmental Working Group, every home has its own unique “dust load”—complete with toxic chemicals that can affect your health and your family’s health over time, so making sure you take the right steps to reduce toxic dust levels is really important!

Visit EWG’s Healthy Home Tips page to learn more about how household dust can affect your health, and learn tips for removing toxic dust safely and effectively. They’ll even tell you how to create less toxic dust in the first place!

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Summary:
In this video blog I discuss a recent article in the USA Today. The article, “Opposing Camps Agree on Rewriting Toxin Law” is based on the news that the American Chemistry Council and environmentalist groups agree that the current law governing toxins is “badly broken” and does not protect the public. What is the Toxic Substances Control Act? Is your family being exposed to dangerous chemicals? Tune in to find out the answer to these questions and more…

Full Script:
I read an article this morning in the USA Today entitled “Opposing Camps Agree on Rewriting Toxin Law”. This article was based on the news that the American Chemistry Council, which represents chemical manufacturers, and environmentalist groups such as the Environmental Working Group agree that the current law governing toxins is “badly broken” and does not protect the public as it should.

Both sides agreed that this law, called the Toxic Substances Control Act has not kept up with science and needs to be rewritten. It seems the EPA has used the law to ban or severely restrict only about 6 chemicals in the last 30 years.

Rewriting this law will give the EPA more money and power to ban dangerous substances. According to the American Chemistry Council’s president, “It is clear that many in the public, for a variety of reasons, do not have a lot of confidence in the current system and …that rewriting this law will help to restore confidence.”

At least it is nice that he realizes every day the general public is growing more and more concerned with the devastating effects of all the chemicals in our environment and in our bodies. How can you possibly have confidence in a system that continues to allow some of the most dangerous toxic substances to be forced upon us. In the past it has taken decades to get a toxic chemical out of the market.

Let’s hope this new law will be more stringent and help protect both our environment and our health.

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