Little Things Matter

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What We Do

Little Things Matter raises awareness of the growing environmental risks we face as a global community by translating science into free, easy-to-understand and actionable materials. Our goal is to spread awareness about the effects of toxic chemicals on the health of our population and planet.

We believe that every child has the right to a healthy environment.

Follow Our Footsteps

💫 #LittleChangesBigImpact 💫Strategic tree plantings reduce air pollution at playgrounds near busy roadways. Barbara Maher Professor of Environmental Magnetism at @lancasteruni found that these “tredges” – trees that act as hedges – trap black carbon and particles.The scientists analyzed three types of green infrastructure along with a control:
- Ivy screen
- Western red cedar
- Western red cedar/Swedish birch with an inner juniper hedge
- No planting (control)All three types of “tredges” reduced particulate matter. The western red cedar tredge led to the largest reductions in PM 2.5 (46%), PM 10 (26%), and black carbon (49%). The ivy screen was also helpful in reducing PMs.Read the study here: https://bit.ly/3fd4svB  And, mark this as a “w” for “tredges.” 🤝Help green our schools by:
- Sharing this post 📲
- Talking with friends and family about using trees to reduce air pollution 🗨️
- Writing your local school board ✍️
- Joining a tree planting organization 🌳#airpollution
#greenschools
#fridaysforfuture
#childhealthPhoto credit: Johnny Cohen

💫 #LittleChangesBigImpact 💫

Strategic tree plantings reduce air pollution at playgrounds near busy roadways. Barbara Maher Professor of Environmental Magnetism at @lancasteruni found that these “tredges” – trees that act as hedges – trap black carbon and particles.

The scientists analyzed three types of green infrastructure along with a control:
- Ivy screen
- Western red cedar
- Western red cedar/Swedish birch with an inner juniper hedge
- No planting (control)

All three types of “tredges” reduced particulate matter. The western red cedar tredge led to the largest reductions in PM 2.5 (46%), PM 10 (26%), and black carbon (49%). The ivy screen was also helpful in reducing PMs.

Read the study here: https://bit.ly/3fd4svB And, mark this as a “w” for “tredges.” 🤝

Help green our schools by:
- Sharing this post 📲
- Talking with friends and family about using trees to reduce air pollution 🗨️
- Writing your local school board ✍️
- Joining a tree planting organization 🌳

#airpollution
#greenschools
#fridaysforfuture
#childhealth

Photo credit: Johnny Cohen
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One in six deaths worldwide are due to pollution and toxic chemicals.Environmental pollution is the single largest cause of disease and death in low- and middle-income countries.Read the full report here: https://bit.ly/3G1IoNU  and study here: https://bit.ly/3Mpwj7uThe Commission comprises many of the world’s most influential leaders, researchers and practitioners in the fields of pollution management, environmental health and sustainable development.

One in six deaths worldwide are due to pollution and toxic chemicals.

Environmental pollution is the single largest cause of disease and death in low- and middle-income countries.

Read the full report here: https://bit.ly/3G1IoNU and study here: https://bit.ly/3Mpwj7u

The Commission comprises many of the world’s most influential leaders, researchers and practitioners in the fields of pollution management, environmental health and sustainable development.
...

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🌟New Research🌟Children can be exposed to toxic chemicals in the air, in food, in house dust and drinking water. “Take-home exposures” occur when a worker unknowingly carries toxic chemicals home from the workplace.Workers can carry toxic chemicals home on their skin, clothing, and shoes, or in their vehicle or work tools. A new study in Yucatan, Mexico, found that 80% of children had high enough levels of urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – persistent chemicals produced by the incomplete combustion of solid fuels – to cause gene mutations.Urinary PAHs in the children were higher than the concentrations reported in miners, stonemasons and brick makers. The scientists also found urinary biomarkers of kidney injury in 100% of the children.Read the full study here: https://bit.ly/3746qeeWorkers can avoid take-home exposure by:
-Removing shoes before coming in the home.
-Leaving work clothes at work
-Leaving work shoes at work
-If possible, shower before you leave work

🌟New Research🌟

Children can be exposed to toxic chemicals in the air, in food, in house dust and drinking water. “Take-home exposures” occur when a worker unknowingly carries toxic chemicals home from the workplace.

Workers can carry toxic chemicals home on their skin, clothing, and shoes, or in their vehicle or work tools. A new study in Yucatan, Mexico, found that 80% of children had high enough levels of urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – persistent chemicals produced by the incomplete combustion of solid fuels – to cause gene mutations.

Urinary PAHs in the children were higher than the concentrations reported in miners, stonemasons and brick makers. The scientists also found urinary biomarkers of kidney injury in 100% of the children.

Read the full study here: https://bit.ly/3746qee

Workers can avoid take-home exposure by:
-Removing shoes before coming in the home.
-Leaving work clothes at work
-Leaving work shoes at work
-If possible, shower before you leave work
...

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Little Facts that Really Matter - Fact #3#Microplastics are the result of plastic breaking down into fine particles. These particles often contain toxic chemicals that can be hazardous to our health.Studies have shown that microplastics, like #BPA and #pthalates, can negatively impact #brain development #fertility.Watch this short clip on microplastics and read more about how you can avoid these chemicals here:
https://bit.ly/3rOidng#littlefactsthatreallymatter #littlethingsmatter #plastics #chemicals #toxicchemicals #environmentalhealth #childrenshealth #childrendsenvironmentalhealth #environment

Little Facts that Really Matter - Fact #3

#Microplastics are the result of plastic breaking down into fine particles. These particles often contain toxic chemicals that can be hazardous to our health.

Studies have shown that microplastics, like #BPA and #pthalates, can negatively impact #brain development #fertility.

Watch this short clip on microplastics and read more about how you can avoid these chemicals here:
https://bit.ly/3rOidng

#littlefactsthatreallymatter #littlethingsmatter #plastics #chemicals #toxicchemicals #environmentalhealth #childrenshealth #childrendsenvironmentalhealth #environment
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What is the “prevention paradox”? ...

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🌍✨ Time to Ditch the Glitter! ✨🌍For the sake of our children and the planet, it's time to stop using glitter. Glitter might seem harmless, but it’s made from harmful microplastics that can enter the body through skin contact, inhalation, or ingestion, leading to serious health risks such as nerve damage, hormone disruption, lung inflammation, and poor pregnancy outcomes.🚫 Glitter is found in many everyday items, from toys to beauty products, but it's not worth the danger. Instead, consider safer, eco-friendly alternatives like paper confetti, prisms for rainbows, or decorations made from natural fibers.Let's make a simple, impactful change to protect our children's health and our planet's future! 🌱🌈For more on this important topic, check out the article by Jessica Lightfoot, MPH, at USC’s Center for Children’s Environmental Health. https://bit.ly/3XnFRqs

🌍✨ Time to Ditch the Glitter! ✨🌍

For the sake of our children and the planet, it`s time to stop using glitter. Glitter might seem harmless, but it’s made from harmful microplastics that can enter the body through skin contact, inhalation, or ingestion, leading to serious health risks such as nerve damage, hormone disruption, lung inflammation, and poor pregnancy outcomes.

🚫 Glitter is found in many everyday items, from toys to beauty products, but it`s not worth the danger. Instead, consider safer, eco-friendly alternatives like paper confetti, prisms for rainbows, or decorations made from natural fibers.

Let`s make a simple, impactful change to protect our children`s health and our planet`s future! 🌱🌈

For more on this important topic, check out the article by Jessica Lightfoot, MPH, at USC’s Center for Children’s Environmental Health. https://bit.ly/3XnFRqs
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Plastic poses significant threats to both humans and the environment. Let’s uncover the dark side of plastic…Did you know that plastics are made from oil and gas refining by-products? And some of the chemicals used, like benzene and vinyl chloride, are known to cause cancer! 😱 As plastics break down, the chemicals used in their production can leak out and create new compounds. These compounds might be even more harmful than the original ones!The excessive use of plastic, compounded by its unique difficulty to recycle, is causing a major problem; plastic is ending up in our babies, oceans, beaches, and wildlife! 🐬🌳👶Matt Simon, a science journalist at Wired, writes, “So long as we’re churning out single-use plastic . . . we’re trying to drain the tub without turning off the tap. We’ve got to cut [plastics] out.”So what can we do?-Stop using plastic not labeled No. 1 or No. 2.
-Properly recycle No. 1 and No. 2 plastics.
-Bring and use reusable bags while shopping
-Package your food in glass containers rather than plastic.
-Support companies that use biodegradable packagingTo read the whole article: https://bit.ly/3DA1IBpTo learn more about microplastics:https://bit.ly/3WEtBAx

Plastic poses significant threats to both humans and the environment. Let’s uncover the dark side of plastic…

Did you know that plastics are made from oil and gas refining by-products? And some of the chemicals used, like benzene and vinyl chloride, are known to cause cancer! 😱 As plastics break down, the chemicals used in their production can leak out and create new compounds. These compounds might be even more harmful than the original ones!

The excessive use of plastic, compounded by its unique difficulty to recycle, is causing a major problem; plastic is ending up in our babies, oceans, beaches, and wildlife! 🐬🌳👶

Matt Simon, a science journalist at Wired, writes, “So long as we’re churning out single-use plastic . . . we’re trying to drain the tub without turning off the tap. We’ve got to cut [plastics] out.”

So what can we do?

-Stop using plastic not labeled No. 1 or No. 2.
-Properly recycle No. 1 and No. 2 plastics.
-Bring and use reusable bags while shopping
-Package your food in glass containers rather than plastic.
-Support companies that use biodegradable packaging

To read the whole article: https://bit.ly/3DA1IBp

To learn more about microplastics:

https://bit.ly/3WEtBAx
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🌟 #LittleFact & New Research 🌟Researchers from the Wuhan Medical & Healthcare Center for Women and Children in Wuhan, China found that #prenatalexposure to metals, such as vanadium, chromium, nickel, arsenic, cadmium, thallium, and lead was associated with an increased risk of allergies in offspring. Arsenic and thallium contributed the most to the total risk. Exposure to these metals can be found in the environment, water, and food, as well as in industrial operations and consumer products.Risk factors for allergies include genetics, food, and infection. However, the fast rise in the cases of allergies over a short period of time, illustrates that environmental causes, not hereditary factors, are a significant contributor to the rising incidence.Read the complete study here: https://bit.ly/3z1aTcVFor a list of ways to avoid prenatal exposure to toxic metals, visit us at www.littlethingsmatter.ca/little-facts#nontoxicliving #allergies #HealthyLiving #AllergyandAsthmaAwarenessMonth

🌟 #LittleFact & New Research 🌟

Researchers from the Wuhan Medical & Healthcare Center for Women and Children in Wuhan, China found that #prenatalexposure to metals, such as vanadium, chromium, nickel, arsenic, cadmium, thallium, and lead was associated with an increased risk of allergies in offspring. Arsenic and thallium contributed the most to the total risk. Exposure to these metals can be found in the environment, water, and food, as well as in industrial operations and consumer products.

Risk factors for allergies include genetics, food, and infection. However, the fast rise in the cases of allergies over a short period of time, illustrates that environmental causes, not hereditary factors, are a significant contributor to the rising incidence.

Read the complete study here: https://bit.ly/3z1aTcV

For a list of ways to avoid prenatal exposure to toxic metals, visit us at www.littlethingsmatter.ca/little-facts

#nontoxicliving #allergies #HealthyLiving #AllergyandAsthmaAwarenessMonth
...

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The US Food & Drug Administration banned red dye #3 from foods because of potential cancer risk, nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics. In that time, multiple generations of children have eaten this dye. Who lost and who gained from this delay? @cspi_nutritionaction

The US Food & Drug Administration banned red dye #3 from foods because of potential cancer risk, nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics. In that time, multiple generations of children have eaten this dye. Who lost and who gained from this delay? @cspi_nutritionaction ...

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Meet Teresa Vincente

Teresa Vicente led a historic, grassroots campaign to save the Mar Menor ecosystem—Europe’s largest saltwater lagoon—from collapse, resulting in the passage of a new law in September 2022 granting the lagoon unique legal rights. Considered to be the most important saltwater coastal lagoon in the western Mediterranean, the once pristine waters of the Mar Menor had become polluted due to mining, rampant development of urban and tourist infrastructure, and, in recent years, intensive agriculture and livestock farming.

Worried by the slow death of the Mar Menor, Teresa was moved to action after a mass fish die-off in 2019. She became convinced that the only way to give the lagoon a chance of survival was to grant it legal personhood and recognize its rights. “Rights of nature” has been proposed and debated for years, but the theory did not gain much traction until recently: Ecosystems in Latin America and New Zealand had been granted such legal rights but none in Europe. Despite being told by experts that it was impossible, Teresa pushed ahead.                       Courtesy of the Goldman Environmental Prize

The Toxic Chemicals Line Up

Phthalates

Phthalates

Phthalates are a series of widely used chemicals that demonstrate to be endocrine disruptors and are detrimental to human health. Phthalates can be found in most products that have contact with plastics during producing, packaging, or delivering. Despite the short half-lives in tissues, chronic exposure to phthalates will adversely influence the endocrine system and functioning of multiple organs, which has negative long-term impacts on the success of pregnancy, child growth and development, and reproductive systems in both young children and
Learn More

EDCs

EDCs

Endocrine disruptors are found in many everyday products, including some plastic bottles and containers, liners of metal food cans, detergents, flame retardants, food, toys, cosmetics, and pesticides.
Learn More

Pesticides

Pesticides

Pesticides are designed to kill pests, but they often end up in our water, soil and food. They can disrupt human health, particularly children’s health. Babies can be exposed to pesticides in their mothers’ womb since they cross the placenta. Children can be exposed when they play in parks, around their homes or when consuming non-organic foods. Children can be exposed to pesticides from their parent’s workplace or if they live near agricultural fields.
Learn More

Lead

Lead

Lead-based paint, water service lines and lead-contaminated dust in older buildings are common sources of lead poisoning in children. Even small amounts of lead, especially for children, can cause serious health problems and affect mental and physical development.
Learn More

Air Pollution

Air Pollution

Air pollution is caused by solid and liquid particles and certain gases that are suspended in the air. These particles and gases can come from car and truck exhaust, factories, dust, pollen, mold spores, volcanoes and wildfires.
Learn More

PFAS

PFAS

PFAs, the "forever chemicals" are found in water, air, fish, and soil and also in many consumer and industrial products. Pregnant woman and their babies are particularly susceptible to exposure with potential adverse health impacts including reduced fetal weight, childhood obesity, learning and behavior issues.
Learn More

Fluoride

Fluoride

Over the past 75 years, health authorities have declared that community water fluoridation–a practice that reaches over 400 million worldwide–is safe. There is emerging evidence from Canada, Mexico, and China, suggests that fluoride exposure, specifically during pregnancy or early infancy when the brain is rapidly developing, may be associated with decreased intelligence.
Learn More

Microplastics

Microplastics

Microplastics are microscopic plastic fragments that flake off of plastic materials as they degrade. They are shed from plastic bottles and bags, car tires and synthetic textiles. Microplastics or microbeads are also added to some personal care products, like toothpaste and scrubs. Some of our favorite foods and drinks contain microplastics from packaging, pipes, and equipment used to process food.
Learn More

PFAS

PFAS

PFAs, the "forever chemicals" are found in water, air, fish, and soil and also in many consumer and industrial products. Pregnant woman and their babies are particularly susceptible to exposure with potential adverse health impacts including reduced fetal weight, childhood obesity, learning and behavior issues.
Learn More

little Steps big impact

Sometimes the events that alter history and have enduring impact happen behind the scenes or without much fanfare. Little Steps, Big Impact takes a moment to highlight those significant events and celebrate their contributions.

Shifting to phthalate-free products
can quickly lower toxin levels

A new study shows that young women who use conventional foundation, blush, and mascara have higher levels of phthalates in their blood. Phthalates are hormone-disruptors, and can mimic or block hormones from properly signaling in the body, disrupting important reproductive and neurological systems.
When the young women in the study stopped using
products with phthalates, the level of some chemicals
in their blood lowered up to 45% after three days. To reduce the amount of phthalates in your blood, swap personal care products for those without phthalates, parabens, or PFAS (or just stop using them). Products without these chemicals can be found by searching EWG’s SkinDeep database.

little videos that capture the big picture

Expand your mind and understanding of how environmental toxic chemicals affect all of us with these short educational videos.

The Deadly Impact of Airborne Particles: air pollution is all around us, what can we do? 

Little Things Matter: The Impact of Toxic Chemicals on the Developing Brain

Going Organic
A simple choice that can change the world.

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Creating a Healthy Future for All Children