Conscious Choice: Dragging Our Toxic Little Feet

November 2007 | From the Editor

Dragging Our Toxic Little Feet

By Ritzy Ryciak

I’ve let go of ziplock bags. There is still Tupperware in my kitchen drawers, but I am not using it anymore. I have plastic water bottles in my car, but I haven’t sipped from them in weeks.

Each month, the stories that we run affect me differently. Oftentimes, the restaurant review prompts a new eating experience or a writer’s voice on a particular topic will shift my perspective and get me thinking differently or more deeply about an issue. This is why we read, right?

The effects, however, from this month’s stories have been visceral. I’ve been haunted really, forced to stop and ask myself if some everyday items I use could actually be more than just a little bit poisonous.

“The doctor informed us that when plastic bottles are refilled or frozen, the plastic becomes softer and more pliable, leeching synthetic estrogen into the water it contains. Synthetic estrogen is a known carcinogen,” writes Laurie Greig, in this month’s back page essay, “Plastuck”.

Bottled water hasn’t tasted the same since. Transporting food has also become much less convenient — glass bowls with small glass plates on top — and I’ve begun to rethink my love affair with yogurt (no action on that one yet).

My bathroom shelves, on the other hand, have seen a lot of action this month. I long ago switched to natural shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, etc. But there have been some long-standing (since college) make-me-pretty favorites that have managed to stick around. This month’s toxic beauty feature forced me out of denial and into Aveda.

“The average American adult uses 10 personal care products a day containing 100 or more unique chemicals,” writes our feature writer, Stacy Malkan, author of the new book, Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry.

In her piece, Malkan shares the good news that safer and “simpler” products are available, but also points out that we can’t just shop our way out of our toxic soup problem. Laws need to change.

You’d think eradicating poisons from everyday items — like say, makeup, soap or baby toys — would be a no-brainer. Turns out, the US is not only way behind much of the world (i.e., the EU), we are dragging our toxic little feet.

“Forty-two billion pounds of chemicals enter American commerce daily — enough chemicals to fill up 623,000 tanker trucks every day, a string of trucks that could straddle the US twice if placed end to end,” writes Mark Schapiro in his just-released book,

Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products. “The EPA has required testing on fewer than 200 of those substances.”

That’s a problem. Knowing the truth behind what’s really in your chapstick, dish soap and hand lotion is a problem, too. It’s daunting, scary and infuriating. For more local ways to get your head around what 42 billion (billion!) pounds of chemicals entering our world daily means, visit the Toxic Free legacy coalition (www.toxicfreelegacy.org) and learn about Washington-based campaigns and projects that are happening right now.

Here’s hoping that more chemical knowledge (did they really put that in there?) is better than less.

Detoxing-ly yours,

Ritzy

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