Here we were still searching for a lead-free hose because I forgot to order one earlier and I just couldn’t believe that you can’t pick up such a thing at a nearby store.

Finally, success this past weekend. We found a “lead safe” Swan-brand hose at Lowe’s that claims to have no lead material. So I snatched it up and attached it to my new handy Evo Organics garden blanket.

But being a bit eco-paranoid and weary of the many greenwashing claims that crop up at mainstream stores, I am still wondering about that term “lead safe.” Why not “lead-free”? Wouldn’t that cover it better; be more conclusive? And why does Swan offer another hose that claims to be “drinking water safe” that is made from “medical grade vinyl”?

What’s it all mean!?

Luckily, Swan has answered most these questions quite credibly on its FAQ. The medical grade vinyl is used because it doesn’t contain the trace amounts of lead that turn up in recycled plastic used in many garden hoses.

The other source of lead in garden hoses turns up in the trace amounts used in the brass couplings. Swan hoses use nickel plating over the brass to prevent the lead from coming into contact with the outside world. And hence the term: “lead safe” but not “lead free”.

So go spray down the kids. Wait, we forgot to attach the chlorine filter!

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

We hear every day about dangerous chemicals in household products that are linked to cancer, infertility, autism and other diseases – yet many Americans may not realize just how many of these harmful substances they’ve actually ingested in the course of everyday living.

The answer? About 48. That’s according a study by the Environmental Working  Group and Rachel’s Network, in which five leading minority women environmentalists from different parts of the country volunteered to have their blood tested for toxic substances. The results, say EWG experts, show that regulation of chemicals in the U.S. is weak and “antiquated” and needs a major overhaul.

The tests, performed by four independent labs in the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands, looked for traces of 75 common chemical contaminants that might turn up in people because they are used in household goods, plastics, beauty products and food and water.

It found, in the aggregate, traces of 48 chemicals in the women, notably flame retardants (used to treat some furniture and clothing), synthetic fragrances (from body care products and perfumes), the plastics ingredient Bisphenol A (found in bottles, canned food liners and other products) and the rocket fuel perchlorate (which has been found in some drinking water).

“We are fighting the things we know that are there, the things (pollutants) outside,” said Suzie Canales, founder of Citizens for Environmental Justice in Corpus Christi, which has pushed for a cleaner environment in a city with a concentration of oil refineries. “But it’s a double injustice to find out that the products put on the market are also killing us.”

Canales report showed that her blood contained traces of chemicals from BPA, musks, rocket fuel, lead and mercury. The profiles of the other women tested also turned up several chemicals, at levels above average, that have been linked to harmful health effects; though the toxic mix varied by individual.

The findings made concrete the suspicion that all Americans are being exposed to a daily brew of chemicals that advocates now call our chemical “body burden”.

“I was frustrated to learn about the industrial chemical contamination through this study. I am a mother and I have a 7 year old daughter. I try to live a sustainable life style,” said Jennifer Hill-Kelley, a member of the Oneida Nation who’s worked to clean up environmental pollution outside of Green Bay, Wisc.  “… I don’t have the information about the personal care products or the plastics I use…and I feel that as a consumer I deserve that information to be shared with me.”

Beverly Wright, a New Orleans sociology professor working to fight pollution in the heavily industrialized Lower Mississippi River Valley area, said she was “disturbed” to discover that her tests showed a high level of musks, which are potentially hazardous compounds in synthetic fragrances.