AHT Blog – Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow

New York Times: Many personal care products contain harmful chemicals

February 17, 2023

New York Times, February 16, 2023 By Knvul Sheikh Every day, we use soaps, lotions, deodorants, hair products and cosmetics on various parts of our bodies. But in recent years, an increasing number of reports have raised concerns about many of them. Researchers have found dangerous levels of mercury in skin lightening and anti-aging creams; they’ve linked chemicals in hair dyes and straighteners to breast and uterine cancer; they’ve traced fragrances in soaps and shampoos to poor semen quality and fertility issues. Most American children are…

Propublica: “Why the U.S. is losing the fight to ban toxic chemicals”

December 15, 2022

Laura Spark

Flame Retardants, PFAS, Toxic Chemicals, Uncategorized

Why the U.S. is losing the fight to ban toxic chemicals by Nell Bedi, Sharon Lerner, and Kathleen McGrory When ProPublica published stories this fall cataloging new evidence that American chemical workers are being exposed to asbestos, readers reacted with surprise over the most simple fact: Asbestos, the killer mineral whose dangers have been known for over a century, is still legal? Asbestos is only one of many toxic substances that are linked to problems like cancers, genetic mutations and…

Report recommends blood testing, medical monitoring for people exposed to PFAS.

September 6, 2022

Laura Spark

PFAS, Uncategorized

Barbara Moran, WBUR, “Report recommends blood testing, medical monitoring for people exposed to PFAS” A new report from the National Academies recommends blood tests and medical monitoring for people likely to have high exposure to the toxic chemicals known as PFAS. The report offers the first comprehensive summary detailing links between PFAS levels in the blood and specific health concerns. It concludes there is now “sufficient evidence” of association between PFAS exposure and kidney cancer in adults, decreased infant and fetal growth,…

Environmental Health News: Washington State Fastest Timeline Banning PFAS by 2025

April 8, 2022

Laura Spark

PFAS

New Washington state bill is the “fastest timeline in the nation” for phasing out PFAS The bill aims to remove “forever chemicals” from many consumer products by 2025. Grace van Deelen A new Washington state bill, signed into law last Thursday by Gov. Jay Inslee, aims to phase out PFAS in select consumer products by 2025.Other states have taken action as well. In California, PFAS will be banned in paper food packaging as of 2023. A Maine law passed last…

Burger King out of PFAS in packaging by 2025

April 8, 2022

Laura Spark

Mind the Store, PFAS

Clean Water Action and Toxic Free Futures, two partners in the Mind the Store campaign, recently announced that Burger King had decided to remove all PFAS from its food packaging by 2025 at https://cleanwater.org/releases/burger-king-announces-global-ban-toxic-forever-chemicals-food-packaging WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Restaurant Brands International (RBI) announced that it will ban toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in food packaging globally by 2025. RBI—which owns Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons—is one of the world’s largest quick service restaurant companies with 27,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. The…

Care about climate? Get PFAS out of food packaging

April 8, 2022

Laura Spark

Mind the Store, PFAS, Uncategorized

New investigation reveals U.S. chemical manufacturing facility released a potent climate pollutant equivalent to 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide in one year

Sierra Club: Keep PFAS out of your garden

May 27, 2021

Laura Spark

PFAS, Toxic Chemicals

5-25-21 In a just release report, Sierra Club and the Ecology Center tested fertilizer products made from sewage sludge, and found that all contained toxic PFAS, despite several brands being marketed as “eco” or “natural.” [btn text=”Read More” tcolor=#FFF bcolor=#FF0000 thovercolor=#FFF link=”https://www.sierraclub.org/articles/2021/05/how-avoid-buying-sewage-sludge-your-garden-products” target=”_self”]

The Infuriating Case of Toxic Chemicals in Breast Milk

May 27, 2021

Laura Spark

PFAS, Toxic Chemicals, Uncategorized

Sonya Lunder, Ms Magazine, Last week, pandemic-weary parents were hit with more heavy news: A scientific study reported toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals in milk from 50 Seattle area mothers. While none of the study participants lived in a known hotspot, each of the milk samples contained PFAS—which are known to impact the thyroid, immune system, reproductive system and are linked to several types of cancer.

Vermont Takes First in Nation Action on PFAS

May 14, 2021

Laura Spark

PFAS

May 11, 2021, Vermont Public Interest Research Group: “Today, the Vermont Legislature gave final approval to a nation-leading bill that would restrict the sale of consumer products that contain toxic chemicals known as PFAS. The bill now heads to the Governor for his signature. The Vermont Public Interest Research Group, Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), and Vermont Conservation Voters released the following statements in response. “The legislature has taken a major step forward to protect communities and firefighters from toxic forever…