Tips to Avoid Exposures*
to Four Environment-Related Childhood Diseases
1. Eliminate use of pesticides (cancer, asthma, neurotoxicity)
2. Take shoes off at the door (asthma, lead exposure)
3. Wet clean garments (solvents: cancer, neurotoxicity)
4. Use greener cleaners (asthma, solvents: cancer, neurotoxicity)
- Do not use air fresheners or artificial fragrances
- Dust with a damp cloth
- Rely on baking soda and vinegar for home-made cleaners
- Avoid products labeled “Danger”, “Poison”, “Flammable”
5. Minimize harmful chemicals in food
- Eat safe fish (neurological disorders) www.michigan.gov/fishandgameadvisory; www.ewg.org/tunacalculator
- Refer to EWG’s dirty dozen and clean 15 for minimizing pesticides in food (cancer, neurotoxicity) www.foodnews.org
6. Avoid BPA in plastics (cancer) www.ewg.org/reports/bisphenola
- Avoid lined canned food items (especially liquid baby formula; opt for powdered instead)
- Use glass or BPA-free plastic baby bottles
- Use glass or stainless steel reusable drinking bottles
7. Check cosmeticsdatabase.com (lead in lipstick, cancer, neurotoxicity)
8. Avoid vinyl (lead exposure, asthma)
9. Use latex instead of oil-based paint products (No VOC is even better) (solvents: cancer, neurotoxicity)
10. Avoid (or seal) particle board and pressed wood (solvents: cancer, neurotoxicity)
*Inspired by the four childhood diseases outlined in The Price of Pollution: Cost Estimates of Environment-Related Childhood Diseases in Michigan, a 2010 report prepared by Michigan Network for Children’s Environmental Health and Ecology Center
Melissa Cooper Sargent
Fall 2010
Click Tips to Avoid Exposures to download a printable pdf version of this article
