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The well-respected research team at Duke University has created a new program that lets you test, for the first time, products in your home for toxic flame retardants.

As this week is national men’s health week, we thought it’d be the perfect time to talk about the connections between toxic chemicals and our reproductive health.

We know that lead and pregnant women don’t mix. We know that lead and children don’t mix. We’ve known for decades that lead harms the brain and is linked to lower IQ levels. We’ve also discussed interesting research by Dr. Phil Landrigan in our Health Report showing the economic gains from regulating lead in gasoline. […]

Washington, DC – The nation’s number three health care company, Kaiser Permanente, today announced it will effectively ban controversial chemical flame retardants from the furniture it buys for its hundreds of facilities across the country. Kaiser is the first health system in the nation to take this step, throwing $30 million in annual purchasing power […]

Some companies have voluntarily started disclosing ingredients on their websites, but are still hiding the ingredients used to make up the fragrance. We know that hormone-disrupting chemicals like phthalates and synthetic musks can often be found in fragrance. Yet, if you wanted to avoid these chemicals you’d have no way of knowing what products they are in.

I intentionally didn’t title this “How to avoid chemicals completely” because that’s, well … impossible. We talk a lot about the need to be active and engaged citizens when it comes to tackling toxic chemicals. But at the end of the day, in between calling our members of Congress and asking retailers to phase out […]

A new study has found that prenatal exposure to flame retardants can be significantly linked to lower IQs and greater hyperactivity in five-year-old children. The findings are published online today in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Flame retardants are commonly found in house dust as well as indoor air, which is considerably more contaminated with these chemicals than outdoor air.

We’ve talked about this before: calling Congress seems old school, but it works. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee may soon vote, for the first time in nearly 40 years on reforming our federal chemical system. The problem is, the bill they are voting on, the Chemicals in Commerce Act, well… stinks. And for that […]

Picture $469 billion. It’s unimaginably huge. It’s more than Norway’s entire Gross Domestic Product. It’s also how much money WalMart brings in from the sale of toys, curtains, furniture, electronics and other household goods each year. So when WalMart removes even one toxic chemical from the products they sell, the ripple is felt around the […]

It’s finally warm and cookout season is upon us. After a tough winter, I’m sure everyone will be taking every opportunity to soak up the sun and enjoy the warmth! In honor of the warm weather, you may be stocking up on all your disposable plates, tables cloths, utensils. There are many reasons to ditch […]