chemicals in the home

Recently there was that news report about bisphenol-a. Since I had been avoiding that chemical since last year I felt like my crazy plastic purge in our home was validated.

Then just today I heard about another chemical problem: this one is regarding Perfluorochemicals (PFCs). As I learned from Environmental Working Group, these little nasties are "widely-used water, grease and stain repellents. They're found in carpets and on clothes, on fast-food wrappers, and on the inner lining of pet food bags. You might know them as Teflon, Scotchgard, Stainmaster and Gore-Tex. They pollute water, are persistent in the environment, and remain in the human body for years."

EWG has a cheat-sheet summary that is helpful. They are calling on Californians to support a bill that will ban these chemicals from food packaging by 2010.

I also found a helpful graphic that gives an overview of where in your home you may be exposed to some of these and other chemicals. I thought it was nice to see all the information detailed in one place.

And if that isn't enough scary chemical news, check out another EWG report about the amounts of chemicals that are being found in pets. The study is the first of its kind and it shows that American pets have even higher levels of industrial chemicals in their bodies that humans do. Find out what you can do to keep your little fluffy friend safe by reading their new website and blog called Pets for the Environment.