No Toxic Chemicals on My Almonds Please!

After two salmonella outbreaks in 2004 and 2001, the USDA mandated that all almonds be pasturized by either (1) fumigation with propylene oxide (PPO) or (2) steam treatment by heating almonds to 165 degrees for a brief period. PPO is a volatile liquid most commonly used in producing plastics. We could have a debate about whether the use is dangerous to health, but it's NOT a food product, and I don't feel comfortable with feeding it to my children.

Thus began my search for non-PPO almonds... I really wanted raw almonds, but they are only sold directly from the farms now. 

• Whole Foods and Traders Joes -  I contacted both organizations and was told they have a policy to not carry any items where almonds have been treated with PPO. I've noticed items with PPO treated almonds in both stores, however. When I contacted Traders Joes, they clarified that the policy only applies to Trader Joes branded products. 
• Costco - Per my email contact with Costco, they do carry almonds treated with PPO.... so I stopped buying almonds at Costco. Recently, I noticed that their Kirkwood almonds say "steam pasteurized." Maybe other customers contacted them and they changed their stance/supplier! :-)
• Lara Bars - Use almonds that could have been treated with PPO, per my email exchange with the company. 

Conventional Strawberries About to Get More Toxic

California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) recently approved the carcinogenic new pesticide, methyl iodide, for use in the state’s strawberry fields - despite opposition by DPR's own panel of independent scientists.

The science against methyl iodide is compelling:

• Methyl iodide is a known carcinogen, thyroid toxicant, causes spontaneous, late-term miscarriages and presents risks for developing brains.
  
• After conducting a thorough review, DPR’s own panel of independent scientists declared, "methyl iodide is a highly toxic chemical and we expect that any anticipated … use of this agent would result in exposures to a large number of the public.” They further concluded that methyl iodide would be “difficult if not impossible to control.” DPR registered it anyway.
  
• Over 50 esteemed scientists, 6 of them Nobel Laureates, went on record opposing the chemical’s federal registration, saying they were “astonished” that officials would “legalize broadcast releases of one of the more toxic chemicals used in manufacturing into the environment.”

(Source: Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA))

To me, this is pretty crazy ... as well as reminiscent of the approval of PPO for use on almonds. Except the science against methyl iodide is even more alarming than PPO. (Not that I'll eat a PPO

TAKE ACTION!

1. Write to your representatives and let them know you oppose the approval of methyl iodide for use as a pesticide.
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

2. Write to California Governor-elect Jerry Brown. Brown has a pretty good record on environmental issues so there is still hope that he will override DPR's decision.
http://action.panna.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5123

3. Write a letter to the Editor of your local newspaper to spread the word. Pesticide Action Network  provides talking points and a zip code look-up of local papers:
http://action.panna.org/letter/?letter_KEY=1354

4. Tell California Strawberry growers that you will NOT buy their product. Then follow through. Strawberries were already one of the most pesticide-bathed fruits on the market. Organic strawberries will not be treated with this pesticide, of course. Most strawberries come from CA or abroad but there are local options in many states from Oregon to Pennsylvania.

Furniture without Flame Retardants: Mission Impossible?

When I was in college, one of my friends could not even fill her A cup training bra. When a date ventured for a feel, she'd dubbed it "going on mission impossible." Twenty years later, I think those hapless lads had a better chance than I do on my quest for non-toxic, flame retardant and formaldyhyde free furniture.

Lots of furniture manufacturers lout their green qualifications these days, but I find that nearly all of them are "green-washed." Let's be clear: mixing in a little soy with your chemical laden foam is not green.

I've spend countless hours calling and writing furniture manufacturers to find out what is really in their furniture. Here is what I've discovered so far:

BEST

Furnature - www.furnature.com

Furnature sells truly chemical free upholstered furniture. They start with untreated kiln-dried hardwood and wrap it with natural rubber, organically grown hand-picked cotton from Peru and pure-bred wool. Their fabrics are 100% organically grown or they will use your own material (COM -  Customer's Own Material). Plus, they can create custom furniture from a picture or drawing.

Cisco Brothers - www.ciscobrothers.com
Cisco Brothers uses Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood in their upholstery frames and wood furniture. Cisco offers a variety of cushion options that incorporate natural latex, down, feathers, or soy-based foams (I'm not crazy about the soy foams since they still require fire retardants, but at least Cisco Bros has other options). And they use water based glues and vegetable dyed leather. Furniture is made in South Central LA, where Cisco is committed to helping the neighborhood flourish.

Viesso: Viesso lets you customize the materials that go into your furniture, so the piece can be very green - or pretty conventional. You can choose:
- natural latex OR polyurethane foam
- down fill OR polyester fill
All products use FSC certified wood, water-based glues, greener stains and natural and recycled fabric.


Some futon furniture: Not all futon furniture is green. Some use flame retardants in their polyurethane foam cores. Either flame retardants or boric acid will need to be used on the cotton batting unless it is either (1) wrapped in wool or (2) specially made without flame retardants which typically requires a doctor's prescription.  In Portland, OR, futon maker Cotton Cloud is very conscious of their material content, using PU foam without flame retardants, boric acid (without a wool wrap) and no flame retardants at all if a wool wrap is used.  Talk to your futon manufacturer to learn about their materials and philosophy!

BETTER THAN NOTHING...

Herman Miller: Herman Miller does use flame retardants but they choose the least toxic (given what is known today) option for their application and do not use brominated flame retardants. If I'm left without a "best" option, I will buy Herman Miller because (1) they are thoughtful about every material they use and (2) they follow a "cradle to grave" ethos.

IKEA: While IKEA does not use brominated flame retardants, they do use chlorinated TRIS (which was banned in childrens sleepwear in 1977 after it was shown to be carcinogenic and absorbed through the skin.) They also use organic phosphorous flame retardants, which are likely halogenated. Some experts say halogenated flame retardants are no better than brominated - there is simply less evidence against this newer class of flame retardants at this point.

SERIOUSLY - YOU CALL THIS GREEN?!?
All of the companies below feature FSC (or similar) certified hardwoods, water based glues and recycled fibers in their upholstery. Unfortunately, the soy-based foa they feature are still doused in harmful fire retardants (some PBDEs) just like PU foam.


Crate & Barrel - a soy foam option does not make furniture "green." Enough said.
Lee Industries - I give Lee credit for responding promptly to my request for information - and for actually knowing what was in their furniture. I will keep my eye on this company - they seem to have a commitment to making greener furniture but still have a ways to go.
Pottery Barn - Again, I give them credit for responding promptly and knowing what's in their furniture. However, they use conventional flame retardant - and they often use MDF (they say their products do not exceed formaldehyde emission standards - but there is no evidence that any level of formaldehyde exposure is safe.)

Also interviewed:
Ethan Allen - When I spoke to Ethan Allen's corporate office last year, they were in the process of asking all the suppliers if they still used brominated fire retardants. They still had not received responses from all suppliers. Also, they were asking the suppliers which fire retardants or chemicals they did use.

PPO and Almonds

On Sept 1, 2007, the USDA enacted a law causing all almonds to be pasteurized using heat or PPO (propylene oxide fumigation). For consumers, this means we must decided between almonds that are not truly raw (although they can still be labels as raw) or almonds that have been treated with a genotoxic chemical.

The Almond Board advocated mandatory pasteurization as a defensive move following two salmonella outbreaks in 2001 and 2004. Both outbreaks were associated with large, industrial almond farms.

PPO has serious health concerns:
- PPO is a genotoxic chemical recognized as a possible carcinogen
- PPO was removed from racing fuel in 1993 because of cancer-causing potential
- PPO fumigation is banned in the EU, Canada and Mexico

I've found that many stores don't know how the products they carry have been processed. Below are the results of inquiries that I've made to both stores and product manufacturers.

PRODUCTS
Larabar = multiple suppliers, some use PPO, some use steam (source: General Mills customer service rep. Larabar is owned by General Mills)

STORES
Traders Joes = store policy that all Trader Joes branded almonds are not treated with PPO (source: store associate)
Whole Foods = store policy to not carry almonds treated with PPO (source: store associate)
Costco = Kirkland almonds are pasteurized by propylene oxide fumigation (source: Costco Member Services)
New Seasons = no store policy. The only way to ensure you are purchasing PPO-free almonds is to buy organic almonds (source: New Seasons customer advocate)

Sources:
Cornucopia Institute, The Authentic Almond Project
USDA Demand that Raw Almonds Be Pasteurized Drives Consumers Nuts
Almond Action Plan: Pasteurization Treatments for Organic Growers and Handlers

http://commonmarket.com/news___events.html

Is Rice Milk Poisonous? Arsenic results from government study

According to a Feb. 2009 study by the UK government, organic arsenic levels in rice milk make it unsafe to be used as a milk substitute for children. Lovely.

My son is allergic to cow's milk, there is controversy about soy (personally, I'm more concerned with the processing than the estrogens) and goat milk tastes, well, goat-y. After reading a ga-zillion labels, I decided that rice milk was a safe alternative. I had been giving my 2 year old rice milk for a year when the UK government issues an alarming study that arsenic levels in rice milk make it unsafe for young children to use as a milk replacement. The concern is that children would ingest a potentially carcinogenic level of arsenic.

The FSA (Food Standard Agency) wrote: 'As a precaution, toddlers and young children between one and 4.5 years old should not have rice drinks as a replacement for cows' milk, breast milk, or infant."

Original report:
www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/fsis0209arsenicinrice.pdf