91% of the world’s population breathes polluted air! Yet over one-third of countries have no laws protecting outdoor air quality! The World Health Organization (WHO) released updated air quality guidelines and targets for common air pollutants. WHO’s new guidelines aim to push governments to reduce pollution levels, protect the health of children and adults, and prevent climate change.
Pesticides are chemicals designed to kill, repel or control unwanted pests, such as insects (insecticides), weeds (herbicides), fungus (fungicides), harmful to cultivated plants, humans and animals.
Only a small amount of the pesticides actually reach their target; most of it leaches in the environment, contaminating the air, water, soil, and our food. Persistent pesticides, like DDT, can still be detected in humans 50 years after they were banned. Scientists have found pesticides in:
• Blood, urine and hair
• Breast milk
• Cord blood of newborns
• Placenta
No safe blood lead level in children has been identified. Even low levels of lead in blood have been shown to negatively affect a child’s intelligence, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement. While the effects of lead poisoning may be permanent, if caught early, there are things parents can do to prevent further exposure and reduce damage to their child’s health.
Hundreds of everyday products are made with highly toxic fluorinated chemicals called PFAS. They build up in our bodies and never break down in the environment. PFAS are universally detected in pregnant women and cross the placenta. Very small doses of PFAS have been linked to cancer, reproductive and immune system harm, and other diseases.
Microplastics are tiny fragments of plastic, often too small for the eye to see. And they’re everywhere.
A new study finds that they are released in huge quantities from plastic baby bottles when they’re used to prepare formula. The study suggests that bottle-fed infants around the world may be consuming more than 1.5 million particles of microplastics per day.
Microplastics are the result of plastic breaking down into fine particles. These particles often contain toxic chemicals that can be hazardous to our health.
https://t.co/fehjU0BWcT
What is the “prevention paradox”?
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. https://t.co/xP3pCHAhs2
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.
If a corporation or industry wants to develop a product, it should have to prove that it's safe before it's released on the market or into the environment. The burden of proof shouldn't fall on public health officials or scientists to demonstrate that a product is toxic.
💫 #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/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/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
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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
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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 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/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 ...
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
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.
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.
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?
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