May 13th, 2010

What is that lovely fragrance you’re wearing? Shhh, it’s a secret. Why? Because the multi-billion dollar perfume industry won’t tell you. Thanks to lax regulatory oversight and the scent industry’s ability to keep their formulas “secret,” the ingredients lurking beneath the word “fragrance” on the label likely contain unhealthy chemicals and additives.

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May 14th, 2009

Green Right Now Reports:

In a study released Tuesday by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers report that they have found a continuing “possible link” between formaldehyde exposure and death from cancers of the blood and lymphatic system among workers exposed to the chemical.

The report is part of an ongoing study of industrial workers in plants making formaldehyde products.

“Since the 1980s, NCI has studied cancer deaths among a group of 25,619 workers, predominately white males, who were employed before 1966 in 10 industrial plants that produced formaldehyde and formaldehyde resin and that used the chemical to produce molded-plastic products, decorative laminates, photographic film, or plywood,” according to the NCI release.

These workers show a higher susceptibility to certain cancers, especially among workers with high exposure to the chemical, researchers say.

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March 20th, 2009

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

A report on American baby products showing that several contain trace amounts of chemicals listed as “probable carcinogens” by the EPA has triggered alarm bells in the U.S. and overseas.

Some 20,000 people reportedly responded to the study by contacting their representatives to ask for stronger regulation, and turns out China is quite concerned about these toxic additives coming their way from the U.S.

It’s not just about turn-about being fair play, MedIndia reports that Chinese parents are on “high alert” after the melamine-tainted milk scare that resulted in several infant deaths.

China and Vietnam are now conducting their own safety tests on some of the baby products were identified as being contaminated with 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde in an analysis by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. The CSC targeted mainstream products marketed as “safe” and “gentle” and found that even the iconic Johnson’s Baby Shampoo tested positive for trace amounts of these toxins.

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March 17th, 2009

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Quick get me to a de-tox chamber!

I hate to pile on, but underneath all the bad news about our sickly economy and fragile atmosphere is an oil slick of foreboding tidings about our ailing everyday environment.

Take last week’s study in the New England Journal of Medicine showing that people living in the smoggiest cities are more likely to die from respiratory diseases. The study of nearly half a million adults found that ground-level ozone has a longer-term impact than previously recognized, resulting in “a significant increase in the risk of death from respiratory causes”. That makes so much sense. We’re warned to stay in on “alert” days when ozone levels are high; especially the young, the old and people with asthma. It stands to reason that ozone could be cumulatively damaging.

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