Phthalates

Washington State fails to protect low-income communities from toxic chemicals

Melissa Lound | 

By Colin Hartke

Community members living in affordable housing and construction workers building affordable housing in Washington State are left vulnerable to toxic chemicals under a recently updated regulation. The Department of Commerce (DOC) has released an update to the Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard (ESDS). It’s the state-wide regulation that must be followed for construction and remodeling of affordable housing that gets state funding, and the updated version lacks important protections from dangerous toxics. Continue reading →

Why is getting pregnant so difficult these days? An interview with Dr. Shanna Swan on her new book

Melissa Lound | 
Dr. Shanna Swan

Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race, by Shanna H. Swan, Ph.D., peels back the curtain on a hidden danger all around us: toxic chemicals that are wreaking havoc on our reproductive health. Continue reading →

Protect low-income communities from toxic chemicals in affordable housing

Melissa Lound | 

By Colin Hartke

Update: Read the comments that Toxic-Free Future, Healthy Building Network, and Natural Resources Defense Council submitted to the Department of Commerce Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard Team.

From PFAS to toxic flame retardants, dangerous chemicals harmful to health are in the materials used to build housing, including affordable housing. These chemicals don’t stay put in flooring, insulation, and other materials; they get into indoor air and dust. This means that families and communities are exposed to toxic chemicals even at home. Continue reading →

Our Shared Contamination Crisis

Stephanie Stohler | 

Harmful toxic chemicals added to consumer products, like TVs or carpeting, can escape the product and contaminate our homes, food, breastmilk, and bodies. The same toxic chemicals, including toxic flame retardants, phthalates, and nonstick PFAS, are making their way into the environment and affecting the health of orcas, their young, and their food sources too. Continue reading →

Bold Actions for Puget Sound

Stephanie Stohler | 

Over the last month we’ve been glued to news reports about Tahlequah, the 22-year-old Southern Resident Killer Whale that carried her dead calf hundreds of miles for nearly three weeks. I had tears in my eyes more than once thinking about the baby orca that had deadly chemicals flowing from its mother to its body before it even had a chance to be born. We know that this is what happens with human babies too. Continue reading →

A Best Start Doesn’t Start with Toxic Chemicals

Stephanie Stohler | 

Early childhood is a period of rapid development. Babies learn to crawl and then walk, speak in coherent sentences, and begin to develop self-control, all in just a few short years. It is a sad reality that our environment puts a lot of hurdles in the way of young children. Exposure to toxic chemicals in everyday consumer products is one of these hurdles that may impair kids’ ability to learn and reach developmental milestones. Continue reading →