The Red, White, and Green

Photo via Flickr: Valentinapowers

Babies and formaldehyde are two things that should never be in proximity to one another, but unfortunately, finding the highly carcinogenic chemical in nursery furniture is the rule rather than the exception. Earlier this year, I addressed this issue in a column for The Huffington Post, but I guess I wasn’t thorough enough; below is a related question I received from a reader earlier this week.

Jennifer,

Thank you for writing this article. I too have been worried about the formaldehyde issue since I came across a few articles from 2008 which stated Delta, along with four other companies, were under fire for having high levels of formaldehyde in their products. I have since been in contact with Delta and they would not give me a straight answer whether or not their products still emitted formaldehyde. The only crib I found that said formaldehyde-free was the DaVinci line. Have you come across any updated information regarding Delta’s cribs? Or what crib manufacturers really are trustworthy?

–Monika

Hi Monika,

Glad you liked the article! I’m not all that familiar with Delta’s products, but I took a look at a few different cribs on their website, and I suspect that most of them do, indeed, contain formaldehyde. Here’s how I know: If you click on the product details for each crib, it does say what materials are used. For example, in the case of the Padrona Crib and Changer, the listing says “made of wood and wood components.”

Solid wood you don’t have to worry about; it’s the “wood components” that should trigger an alarm: That’s code for particle board or MDF, which is made from tiny little pieces of wood that are bonded together with a resin that contains — you guessed it! — formaldehyde.

Now, it is possible that Delta uses a particle board made with formaldehyde-free glues, but since the company hasn’t been responsive to your inquiries, I’m guessing that isn’t too likely (if I’m wrong Delta, feel free to set the record straight here). It’s always better to be safe than sorry, so I would look for a crib manufacturer that prides itself on its use of formaldehyde-free, sustainably harvested solid wood. A few of my personal faves: Bloom, Oeuf, and Stokke.

By the way, you may be pleased to know that last year, President Obama signed legislation that will help protect consumers from formaldehyde exposure. It doesn’t go into effect until 2013, though, so for now, you’re on your own. Good luck!

–Jennifer Grayson

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Photo via Flickr: Montereypubliclibrary

It’s been a nauseating, if not completely frustrating, couple of months here at Chez Red, White and Green, which I’m going to blame for my sporadic posting of late (my apologies). It all started back at the end of August, when the first of the Southern California heat waves struck and these tiny flying-ant-like creatures began appearing wherever they could squeeze in through the cracks in the window screens to escape the blazing sun. They were gross-looking, but they disappeared once the temperature cooled back down. So I forgot about them.

That is, until a couple of weeks ago, when the next heat wave struck. I came home from an afternoon of errands in the 95-degree heat, put my daughter down for a nap, and then made my way to the bathroom, happy to finally have a chance to pee. Except that I never even made it past the bathroom door. There, greeting me, was a veritable swarm of the flying ant creatures — I’m talking hundreds — around the windows, the toilet, the sink, the bathtub, everywhere.

I spent the next half-hour sucking them all up with the vacuum cleaner (thank goodness I’m not one of those eco types who only keeps a broom in the house), then called the first green exterminator who could come right over.

The verdict: They weren’t flying ants. They were termites.

I was hoping that the problem would be localized and could be spot-treated with a non-toxic botanical insecticide, but the long and short of it is that our building has a complete infestation. Which means the building has to be tented and completely fumigated.

The chemical typically used in termite tenting is sulfuryl fluoride, or Vikane, as it’s called by the Dow Chemical Company. Used in gas form, it’s an incredibly potent neurotoxin that wipes out everything in its wake — including people, if there’s direct exposure in large amounts. Before fumigation, a form of tear gas is actually released first into the building to make sure that no one remains inside before the insecticide is pumped in. (In the instances where that’s happened, it hasn’t been pretty.)

Because it’s a gas, the prevailing wisdom — at least from the pest management companies and Dow — is that sulfuryl fluoride leaves no residue. Once the tent is removed, the gas diffuses into the atmosphere (at a warming rate 4,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide, by the way), and residents can move back into their new termite-free building a few days later.

I, however, am not so sure. The EPA is now rethinking the use of sulfuryl fluoride as a fumigant in food supplies, citing the possible health risks due to excessive fluoride exposure. There’s also evidence that the gas can be absorbed by materials in the home — including polystyrene insulation, wood, polyester cushion fibers and even latex baby bottle nipples — and then off-gas over a longer period of a time.

Not surprisingly, if the gas does linger, infants and small children are more susceptible than adults to the effects of chronic exposure, which include lung and kidney damage. So the bottom line is, with a 14-month-old daughter, we’re not taking any chances: We’re moving out. Not as in, moving out for a week or so while our apartment is being fumigated, but moving out for good.

Is this a huge pain in the ass? Yes. Am I overreacting? Maybe. But when it comes to the health of my family, I always think it’s better to be safe than sorry. Seriously, what would you do?

–Jennifer Grayson

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Photo via Flickr: Goldberg

One of my closest friends had a beautiful baby girl over the weekend. I haven’t heard the whole story yet, but rumor has it she had a miraculous two-hour labor. This, without giving a real thought to having a natural birth; she had decided against a doula, was totally open to the idea of having a C-section, and delivered at a big metropolitan hospital.

It made me think back to my own plans last year for a medication-free birth for my daughter, which I prepared for with hypnobirthing therapy, a doula, and a midwife. I wound up having an epidural after 24 hours of hard labor. My own doula confessed to me after the birth that she herself had had a hospital transport after she couldn’t make it through a planned home birth.

With the C-section rate in the US at over 30 percent, it certainly doesn’t hurt to try to go the natural route if you can, but it just goes to show you: When it comes to “green” birth, nothing is guaranteed.

–Jennifer Grayson

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[Watch video on YouTube]

Maybe it’s that there are so many more dire forms of pollution now — oil spills, nuclear meltdown — but it seems like you never hear about noise pollution anymore. The term itself hadn’t crossed my mind for years, until last night, when my new neighbors decided to blast a Steve Miller Band medley between the hours of 9 and 11.

But it is for real, and it is still a real problem, at least according to EPA:

Noise pollution adversely affects the lives of millions of people. Studies have shown that there are direct links between noise and health. Problems related to noise include stress related illnesses, high blood pressure, speech interference, hearing loss, sleep disruption, and lost productivity. Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) is the most common and often discussed health effect, but research has shown that exposure to constant or high levels of noise can cause countless adverse health affects.

Maybe it’s time to bring back those old Woodsy Owl PSAs. Anyone else nostalgic for the above?

–Jennifer Grayson

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At left, modern bread wheat; on the right, einkorn. Photo via Flickr: Mark and Delwen

It seems like only yesterday I learned how to pronounce quinoa. Now, there’s a new ancient grain sure to have supermarket-goers sounding out syllables in the shopping aisle: einkorn. (Hint: Think German 101.)

First cultivated by hunter-gatherers some 12,000 years ago, einkorn boasts a boon of health benefits seemingly lost over the course of thousands of years of hybridization and breeding: It’s higher in protein, tocols (an antioxidant), and carotenoids than modern wheat species.

More importantly, it may be tolerated by those with wheat sensitivities, since it has lower levels of gluten than the wheat found in your typical loaf of Wonder Bread. (Note: Those with celiac disease should steer clear until einkorn undergoes more testing.)

Gluten intolerance seems to be all the rage these days: As Vogue reports this month, the GF market now totals in the billions, up 17 percent since 2007.

Want to give einkorn a try? Jovial makes an einkorn pasta that I spotted recently at Whole Foods. I may test it out for tonight’s Meatless Monday dinner.

–Jennifer Grayson

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Photo via Flickr: Vivian Chen

The obesity epidemic in America has hit a new crisis point. According to a new study from Wayne State University, almost a third of 9-month-olds — and 34 percent of 2-year-olds — are obese or overweight. Think chunky babies are cute? They might not agree once they get a little bit older: The results of the study showed that starting out pudgy puts kids on a path to stay that way.

From LiveScience:

Of kids who were normal weight at 9 months old, 75 percent were still normal weight at 2 years. But kids who were at-risk at nine months had only a 50 percent chance of being normal weight at age 2. More than 28 percent of at-risk kids ended up obese by their second birthday.

Obese 9-month-olds showed an even starker pattern. Only 37.6 percent were normal weight at age 2. Just over 18 percent did improve to the at-risk category, but 43.9 percent remained obese.

The solution, according to the lead author of a similar study published earlier last year? Breastfeed. Exclusively. The CDC agrees.

That answer doesn’t surprise me. Before my daughter was born, we kept receiving “free gifts” of infant formula in the mail (evidently I had gotten on some mailing list with a few of my pregnancy mag subscriptions). The ingredients in some of them were shocking: Corn syrup solids. Soybean oil. (Both genetically modified, by the way.) How parents think these can be the building blocks for a brand-new life, I don’t know.

And then there’s the story of when I saw a mom on a New York City subway train yelling at her toddler to “Drink your juice.” The “juice” was a bottle of Sprite.

–Jennifer Grayson

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Which is deadlier? Photo via Flickr: Steve Snodgrass

The BPA ban may have been scrapped from the food safety bill, but now I don’t know if it would have made all that much difference, in light of some very sobering news: Turns out it’s not the sippy cups we really have to worry about, or the soup cans, or the pizza boxes, or any other of the countless sneaky sources of the hormone-disrupting chemical.

That’s because BPA isn’t lurking any longer. It’s completely out in the open. On something we handle every day. It’s on our money.

According to a new study, an astounding 95 percent of the dollar bills examined tested positive for the substance. How did it get there? Cash register receipts. The average one that uses BPA technology will contain 60 to 100 milligrams of free BPA.

Free means it’s floating around. Which means it easily transfers from the receipt you just took from the cashier to the money in your wallet.

That “new” money you got at the ATM isn’t safe, either. That was also once in someone else’s wallet. Someone who likely took a cash receipt that was laden with BPA.

What’s terrifying about this whole thing is that we as consumers are powerless until the laws are changed, which is the opposite of what I usually believe — that we can vote with our dollars. Except now our dollars are contaminated.

–Jennifer Grayson

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Photo via Flickr: Stevendepolo

Looking to detox from your Halloween-induced sugar coma? Take note: Adopting a plant-based diet — à la Meatless Monday — may reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes. That may sound surprising, since we’ve heard a lot in recent years about high-protein diets for controlling blood sugar, but the latest research vindicates the veggies.

From Reuters:

In a study of 418 older Spanish adults, researchers found that those instructed to follow a Mediterranean diet were less likely to develop diabetes over four years than those instructed to follow a low-fat diet — about 10 percent developed the disease, versus 18 percent in the low-fat group. And weight loss did not appear necessary to gain the benefit.

The findings, reported in the journal Diabetes Care, may sound too good to be true.

But they back up previous work by the same researchers showing that the Mediterranean diet, even without weight loss, appeared to curb the risk of metabolic syndrome — a collection of risk factors for diabetes that includes abdominal obesity, high blood pressure and elevated blood sugar and triglycerides.

…When the researchers accounted for a number of other factors — such as participants’ weight, smoking history and reported exercise levels — the Mediterranean diet itself was linked to 52 percent reduction in diabetes risk compared with the low-fat diet.

I’ve written before about adopting a Mediterranean diet, but here are a few points to remember: Real people in Mediterranean countries do not eat whole-roasted sea bass every night, nor do they frequent dining establishments that offer a Never Ending Pasta Bowl. They eat whole grains, legumes, lots of vegetables and fruit, small amounts of cheese, and of course, red wine and olive oil in moderation. Fish is eaten occasionally, and meat even less often than that.

Most of us could gain by grazing like a Greek; if the United States continues on its current course, 1 in 3 Americans will develop diabetes in their lifetime.

–Jennifer Grayson

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Photo via Flickr: Per Ola Wiberg ~ Powi

I’m now two days past my due date, and I’m starting to get the sense that this little lady isn’t going to arrive until I take a deep breath and devote the next few days (or week-plus — it’s up to her when she gets here!) to mentally preparing for her welcome into the world. So, much as I’ve loved the distraction of working and blogging and tweeting and texting right up until Week 40, I’m now going to follow my own advice and do what is unfeasible for most BlackBerry-toting, iPad-loving Americans: take a technology break.

I’ve written about the trend toward unplugging before (read about: Sabbath Manifesto), and it’s no secret that I’m a fan: Disconnecting, as it turns out, is the best way to start reconnecting — with the natural world, with our friends and family, with all the things that are essential for a simpler, greener life. And let’s not forget that taking a technology break from time to time could have a collective environmental impact as well, since information and communication technology contributes to two percent of global CO2 emissions (as much as the aviation industry).

So while I know there will be plenty of eco-related happenings to communicate about during this hiatus (my plans for a natural birth, those first few days of cloth diapering, whether or not I think that Golden Path Alchemy Beautiful Belly Oil actually spared me any stretch marks), I hope you’ll forgive me if I hold off on them for the meantime so that I can truly appreciate everything I’m about to experience. I promise to divulge all when I return.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: Studies show that taking the time to relax and enjoy nature is essential to good health. And you don’t have to deliver a baby to take your own technology break, either: This weekend, turn off your computer/BlackBerry/iPhone and vow not to check your email or the internet till Monday morning.

Related posts you may enjoy in the meantime:
‘Offlining’ campaign asks dads to turn off the BlackBerry
WATCH: Give up your BlackBerry for Earth Day
National Day of Unplugging promotes rest, conservation
Take a technology break

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I woke up this morning to the scent of dill perfuming my apartment; evidently, the bunch of leftover dill in my fridge from a lovely white bean and grape tomato salad I made over the weekend proved to be quite the air freshener.

Dill doesn’t last that long in the fridge though, so in the spirit of Love Food Hate Waste, I decided to toss it into a batch of lentil soup I had planned for today’s Meatless Monday recipe. The result was truly scrumptious, and with a squeeze of fresh lemon at the end, added a fragrant summertime twist to an otherwise hearty, stick-to-your-ribs recipe.

By the way, dill is a must-eat for those concerned about environmental toxins; it contains special “chemoprotective” compounds that can help neutralize the carcinogenic benzopyrenes found in car exhaust fumes, coal tar, and cigarette smoke.

Add in the phytoestrogen-packed lentils (protects against breast cancer) and the lycopene-rich tomatoes (may fight prostate cancer), and you’ve got a bowl of benefits for men and women alike.

Dilled Tomato Lentil Soup

Serves 6

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups of water
1 1/2 cups dried French green lentils (du Puy, if available)
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt and black pepper, to taste

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, garlic; season with salt and black pepper and cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add water, lentils, dill, red pepper, and tomato paste. Cover and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 40 minutes until lentils are tender, adding additional water if necessary. Stir in fresh lemon juice and additional salt and black pepper to taste.

Voila! A week of cancer-fighting Meatless Monday lunches.

–Jennifer Grayson

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