Ingestion
Spring cleaning – hazardous household materials
Spring cleaning – hazardous household materials While spring cleaning, you may discover you need to dispose of some leftover household products that contain corrosive, toxic, ignitable, or reactive ingredients that are considered to be household hazardous materials or waste. These products include old lawn/pool chemicals, cleaners, paints, antifreeze, batteries, pesticides, and gasoline/motor oil. [...]
BPA and Plastics – What you need to know
What is Bisphenol A and where is it found? Bisphenol A, also known as BPA, is used in the manufacture of hard plastics and epoxy resins1. There are a variety of familiar products which use materials containing this substance, including: toys, hard plastic food and beverage containers, thermal receipts, dental materials, cigarette filters, and [...]
What is springing up in your neighborhood?
Here in Cincinnati as spring hits the air, calls will flood in about plant exposures, ranging from the curious toddler snacking on petals to animals devouring entire plants. So, what’s in bloom this time of year in Cincinnati, Ohio? – Bulbs, bulbs, and more bulbs! Fortunately, most accidental exposures to plants among young children involve [...]
Reader Question: Downsides of fluoride?
Question: “What are the downsides to fluoride in our water?” -SS, California Response: As with nearly every substance with which we come into contact, there are safe levels of fluoride exposure, and levels at which undesirable effects may occur. However, unlike for many chemicals it is also well established that at low intake levels, fluoride [...]
Endocrine Disruption: Making it Harder to Have Children?
Newspapers are filled with reports that the birth rate in industrialized countries such as the United States and European countries is decreasing, and that this could create future problems. Is it harder for women to get pregnant now than it used to be? Are men having more trouble having erections and getting women pregnant? Why [...]
Reader Question: Arsenic in Rice Cereal?
Question: A friend of mine told me her Doctor said not to give her baby rice cereal because there may be arsenic in it. I have been giving my baby rice cereal. Is it safe to continue feeding rice cereal to my baby of 4 1/2 months? – LK, Cincinnati, OH Response: Elemental arsenic [...]
Reader Submitted Question: Lead in toys?
Question: Does the toy, My 1st Teach Time Gift Set made in Shenzhen, China and distributed by Big Lots, Columbus, OH contain lead? – YD, Pheonix, Arizona Response: Thanks for the question! Our scientists could not find any readily available information that would allow us to make a determination about the lead content of your [...]
Helpful Hints to Keep Your Holiday Home Hazard Free
Did you know that in the two months around the Holiday season each year there are over 14,000 visits to emergency rooms due to injuries related to Holiday decorating?1 It’s true. Christmas tree fires account for hundreds of fires, an average of 15 deaths, and $13 million in property damage each year. Candle-related fires top [...]
Harmful Toys – The Physical Risks
How can we be sure that the toys we buy for our children are safe? What sorts of guidelines can we use to minimize risks? The following article will discuss a few current products that could be present a risk of more than minor harm and provide some guidance on minimizing the risk of harm [...]
Lead in Paint & Old Houses – Risks to Kids
MGR, in Cincinnati, OH asks… Question: My family and I live in an old house with peeling paint on the exterior. I have a 2 year old and a 6 year old. I’ve tested the pain and it contains lead. There is also lead in the dirt at the base the walls. I do not [...]
Chemical Risks in Children’s Toys?
Playing with toys is fun! And toys are an integral part of child development, from increasing coordination to fostering imagination and social skills. Traditional toys are designed for children about 14 years of age or less and include a large spectrum of items ranging from mouthing objects for infants, to arts and crafts, to play [...]
Why is fluoride added to my drinking water?
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral in water and many foods. In addition, fluoride is intentionally added to the public water supplies, because it has been demonstrated that communities with fluoride added to their water supplies have significantly reduced incidence of tooth decay in children. Fluoride makes teeth more resistant to the acid formed by [...]
To eat or not to eat… Is organic food safer to eat?
Pick just about any newspaper or magazine, and during the course of a year it’s likely that one or more articles will be devoted to the benefits (or lack of benefits) of organic foods and the downsides (or lack of downsides) of “conventionally grown” food – food grown with synthetic pesticides and herbicides. These articles [...]
Is it safe? Hazard, Exposure, and Risk
We have all heard the saying “Too much of a good thing.” This applies to foods, drinks and many kinds of activities. This saying also applies to chemicals. In fact, all chemicals are toxic at some level – but many chemicals have very high levels that won’t cause any harm. For example, dihydrogen monoxide1 has many [...]
Top Posts & Pages
Subscribe via RSS
