BPA has long-since been known by researchers to be an estrogen-mimicing hormone disruptor.  Exposure to this toxin can eventually result in various cancers and other health problems.  When Better Baby Bums first opened its doors in 2008 it was right in the midst of the BPA-free water bottle and baby bottle frenzy.  Because babies and small children are much more sensitive to BPA exposure many parents naturally switched to BPA-free sippy cups, baby bottles and water bottles.  I would like to take this opportunity to remind you, however, that BPA is still used as a liner in some aluminum food and beverage containers, as well as in some water bottles.

In celebration of this wonderful step that the Canadian government has made, Better Baby Bums has decided to offer all of our BPA-free baby bottles for a ridiculously amazing deal!  Between now and December 31, 2010 all of our baby bottles will be 40% off!  Simply use coupon code nomoreBPeh

In my old, pre-mom job as an Agrologist, I spent a considerable amount of time talking to farmers about reducing and eventually eliminating their use of pesticides because of the harm to the environment and to their animals. 3 years ago, 3 horses died from respiratory distress likely caused from pesticide exposure from a product used to kill broad leaf weeds in a neighbouring pasture. I always found in my lectures that the environmental argument never got me far but harm to their animals struck a chord. I find this story unfortunate in that it takes the deaths of children for us to understand the gravity of using these chemicals.

I would like to applaud the numerous cities that are adopting pesticide by laws to stop people from putting their lawns first before the lives of our children. The laisez-faire attitude to using these poisons needs to stop. Just because you can easily buy them in your local garden shop, doesn’t mean that they don’t have the potential to do serious damage to your health and the health of those most vulnerable.

Embrace the dandelions, moss and small critters. There are a number of great natural alternatives out there to help with all of these things. Many available at your local garden shop. My biggest piece of advice to avoid these lawn-related “problems” is that you need to approach lawn care from a preventative perspective, not a reactive one. If you have a healthy lawn, you will not have weeds taking over. A simple soil test will tell you whether the soil is too acidic, or needs more nitrogen. I will post more on this later.

Please pass this story onto everyone that you know, especially those with children.

My heart goes out to this family and I hope that the chemical company will be held accountable for this.

As an Agrologist by trade, it was funny to me that I never thought of this before. A number of studies have shown pesticide residues residing in the homes of both farm and non farm families.

Pesticides are everywhere. Many are used on farms, but a lot are used for cosmetic purposes in suburbia. Pesticides include, herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides. Our kids go out and play on many surfaces that contain trace amounts of these and if they don’t take off their shoes, pesticides come on in with them.

Pesticide residues in homes are most often found in the carpet dust. While most pesticides are designed to break down in the environment over a period of time, they don’t do this as quickly in our homes because there isn’t any rain, wind, or soil microbes to help the process occur. Studies have shown these residues to persist over a period of one year.

Children are at most risk when it comes to the harmful effects of exposure to these toxic chemicals because they tend to play on the floor and stick everything in their mouths. Health effects include: brain cancer, birth defects, Parkinson’s Disease, Leukemia, miscarriage, infertility, asthma, and sterility. Their little bodies are also less able to detoxify themselves against what is a relatively greater exposure as opposed to adults because they breathe more air and consume more water for their body weight.

Given all this, make sure your kids take their shoes off when they get in the house and help to keep their home environment a little safer.

Check out the article from Global News online.

How many of us don’t equate the smell of our favourite indoor pool growing up with the smell of chlorine? What we don’t realize is that along with the scent, we are inhaling all kinds of off-gases. Not just chlorine. Same goes for chlorinated household cleaners.

I have heard all different ages cited as the proper age to take a tot swimming. My doc said 6 months whereas the pediatrician said not to worry about it.

So what do we do about this? Keep our kids away from swimming pools? That would be tragic in my books. Most kids love swimming (so do I) and I certainly don’t want to discourage physical activity either. The good news is that there are options out there:

1) Call around to your local pools to find out if they are chlorinated or if they are salt-based or ozone treated. Many pools are switching to these alternative treatment methods.

2) Swim outdoors when the weather is good. We have a number of outdoor pools that are open in the summer time. While chlorinated outdoor pools are still thought to be connected to these lung issues, there is certainly decreased risk as you are not in a room with trapped chlorine fumes.

3) Wait till your little one is a little older before you take them for a dip. There are many other fun, active activities that you can do with your tot, salsa baby dancing, mom and baby boot camps are a couple.

4) Call your local parks and rec department and request that they consider changing to a non-chlorinated system. Every voice counts. Help to raise awareness for the benefit of our children’s health.

You can also learn more about the harmful effects of PBDEs in one of my favourite books, Slow Death By Rubber Duck. A great Canadian contribution to helping us keep our families safe from the toxins that live amongst us. I hope to do a more detailed review soon. Reading this book is life changing. These guys did exposure experiments on themselves to show that small amounts exposure can alter your chemistry in short order. Scary!