TIP TALKS
The e-Newsletter of the
Toxics Information Project (TIP)
September, 2013
*****************************************************************************************************
IN THIS ISSUE
**TIP ACTIVITIES: The Labeling Game Transforms,
GMO Educational Efforts & Legislative Potential
**ALERT: What's In That Car Air Freshener?
(A major Liberty G "bad guy")
**FOOD INFO: 10 Foods Sold in the U.S.
That Are Banned Elsewhere
**FOOD ACTION: It's Time for Cosmetics Safety Reform
Tell Congress - and Revlon & L'Oreal
**RESOURCES: Two for Parents & Educators:
"What Lurks in Your Child's Classroom?"
"Easy Steps to Healthy Schools & Daycares”
**************************************************************
TIP ACTIVITIES
**THE LABELING GAME TO PROCREATE?
I am working with Wendy Fachon, storyteller and
after-school activities leader, to develop some new
games based on the successful Labeling Game
that I introduced at the North Kingstown Environmental
Fair last Spring. They'll include "quizzies" on a variety
of TIP-related topics. ("Quizzia" - not trivial/trivia).
**MYSTERY & MISCHIEF CONTINUE - SEEKING
TO GET MARKETERS TO "COME CLEAN"
We are working with a national group formed to
help states with legislation to label products with
GMO ingredients. As an educational organization,
our actions will be mainly getting info out to consumers,
through informational materials (and games). We'll be
seeking to bring presentations, discussions and films
to meetings of local groups. We'll also look into ways
to educate legislators on the concerns!
**CUTTING CHEMS WHILE CUTTING COSTS
We've begun collecting info and cost comparisons as
part of our new project to help people to do less toxic
living - at low cost. This will include food and more.
We'll be putting out a publication in November with
some of these healthy hints - including some special
ones on holiday savings!
IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS TO SHARE, OR KNOW
OF A GROUP THAT MIGHT LIKE A SPEAKER OR
FILM SHOWING, PLEASE CONTACT ME:
Liberty Goodwin, 401-351-9193, liberty@toxicsinfo.org
****************************************************************
WHAT'S IN THAT CAR AIR FRESHENER?
Michelle Schoffro Cook, August 15, 2013
www.care2.com/greenliving/whats-in-that-car-air-freshener.html?cid=email_na#
"Air Freshener" is one of the most outrageously
misnamed and promoted products that exists.
And, in the small space of a car, with neurological
effects that can impact someone driving it - the
potential for harm becomes even more urgent.
Here are a couple of current EPA links:
On Air Fresheners:
www.epa.gov/kidshometour/products/airf.htm
On Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs)
and their health effects: www.epa.gov/iaq/voc.html
(Some sources of VOCs listed are: "Household products
including: paints, paint strippers, and other solvents; wood
preservatives; aerosol sprays; cleansers and disinfectants;
moth repellents and AIR FRESHENERS; stored fuels and
automotive products; hobby supplies; dry-cleaned clothing).
Also, check out air freshener info at the TIP website:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=air+fresheners+site%3Awww.toxicsinfo.org
***********************************************************************
ACTION: FROM ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP
**TELL CONGRESS - IT'S TIME FOR
COSMETICS SAFETY REFORM
Right now, cosmetics companies are allowed to use harmful
ingredients like formaldehyde and coal tar! The law hasn't been
updated since 1938 and doesn't require companies to show
cosmetics ingredients are safe before they go to market.
It's way past time for Congress to step up and start looking
out for us. Add your names to this petition to stand with EWG
and demand that Congress act NOW to get dangerous chemicals
out of cosmetics and personal care products!
www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/493/975/726/
______________________ __________________________
**TELL REVLON & L'OREAL TO STOP USING
DANGEROUS INGREDIENTS!
Many companies are reformulating their products to remove
formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, like DMDM Hydantoin,
and four parabens linked to endocrine disruption. But Revlon
and L'Oreal are holding on to their current formulations and
leaving their customers at risk. We need you today to help
EWG keep the pressure on these two companies!
Click here to sign EWG's petition to L'Oreal and Revlon.
http://action.ewg.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=2044&tag=201309CorsmeticsCorpFWD&utm_source=201309cosmeticscorpfwd&utm_medium=email&utm_content=topper2&utm_campaign=toxics
Dangerous chemicals should not be in personal care products!
***********************************************************************
FOOD INFO
CONSUMER INFO: **10 Foods Sold in the U.S.
That Are Banned Elsewhere, Dr. Mercola, August 14, 2013
www.care2.com/greenliving/10-foods-sold-in-the-u-s-that-are-banned-elsewhere.html#ixzz2gQOL9t5l
Americans are slowly realizing that food sold in the US doesn’t
just taste different than foods sold in other countries, it’s created
differently. Sadly, many U.S. foods are BANNED in Europe — and
for good reason. Take a look at the plummeting health of Americans;
what role might toxic foods play in our skyrocketing disease rates?
www.care2.com/greenliving/10-foods-sold-in-the-u-s-that-are-banned-elsewhere.html#ixzz2gQPetPDw
*******************************************************
FOOD ACTION:
Senators Angle for Monsanto-Friendly FDA Voluntary GMO
Labeling 'Guidance' By Katherine Paul and Alexis Baden-Mayer
Organic Consumers Association, September 25, 2013
www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_28376.cfm
While consumers battle on for laws mandating the labeling of genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) in food products, some lawmakers are taking
the GMO labeling debate in a different direction. And it’s a direction
that’s anything but consumer friendly. Last month, Sen. Elizabeth
Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) asked the U.S.
Food & Drug Administration to finalize its 2001 guidance on voluntary
labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The senators
advertised their request as a move intended to benefit consumers.
But in fact, a federal voluntary labeling plan plays right into the
hands of the biotech and big food industries.
How? Worst-case scenario, once the FDA finalizes its GMO labeling
guidance, industry uses the FDA guidance to preempt state laws requiring
mandatory labeling of GMOs. Currently, states have the right to enact
GMO labeling laws precisely because the FDA has not formally ruled
on GMO labeling. Second, the FDA’s guidance on voluntary GMO labeling
could be used to put an end to existing, legitimate voluntary non-GMO
labeling efforts. By allowing the FDA, which has previously (and
controversially) ruled that GMO and non-GMO foods are “substantially
equivalent,” the FDA could rule against non-GMO or GMO-free labels
on the basis that they mislead consumers by implying that there’s
a difference between GMO and non-GMO foods.
Sign the petition against this plan at:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/tell-senators-warren?source=c.url&r_by=5382364
For related articles and more information, please visit OCA's
Millions Against Monsanto page,
www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/index.cfm
.**************************************************************
TWO RESOURCES FOR SAFER HEALTHIER SCHOOLS
NEW, FROM HEALTHY CHILD, HEALTHY WORLD
http://healthychild.org/healthy-living/resources
"What Lurks In Your Child's Classroom?" is an interactive
visual guide on toxins & threats in everything from construction
materials to snacks to hand sanitizers, potentially harming
kids at critical moments of development. According to the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), more than half
of America’s 115,000 schools have poor indoor quality.
See: http://healthychild.org/what-lurks-in-your-childs-classroom
Then, go to "Easy Steps to Healthy Schools & Daycares”
An interactive resource for parents on taking action to create
safer schools and daycare environments for children.
http://www.healthychild.org/healthyschoolsebook
**********************************************************************************
CONTACT US WITH YOUR THOUGHTS, COMMENTS, QUESTIONS!
**************************************************************
Liberty Goodwin, Director
Toxics Information Project
P.O. Box 40572,
Providence, RI 02940
Tel. 401-351-9193
Website: www.toxicsinfo.org
***********************************************