Wallet Mouth

Amuse-bouche: Cincinnati offers residents 100% renewable electricity

And guess what? It even costs less! [Link]

Surprise! "Nontoxic" nail polish contains toxic chemicals

Interesting segment on Forum today about so-called nontoxic nail polishes. Apparently they still contain high levels of dangerous chemicals, according to California's Department of Toxic Substances Control. 

Ingredient "demonization," as someone on the show put it, is important to me (meaning I am concerned about nasty chemicals being allowed into products), but I tend to worry more about the people who work in nail salons and the fumes they are exposed to over long periods of time.

And of course, cosmetics are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to chemicals. As listener Gay Timmons (herself an owner of an organic cosmetics brand) put it in a comment on the website,

"The elephant in the room: all cosmetics in all categories are made using complex, synthesized chemicals. The information on the risks inherent in these chemicals is regulated by EPA, not FDA. Until we stop focusing on the cosmetic industry and hold the chemical industry in the US accountable, this focus on cosmetics is a diversion from the real issue. 

Unlike cosmetics, household cleaners, laundry detergent, etc. are not even required to list the chemicals used to make them.

Let's focus on the real issue—the chemical industry in the US and its apparent freedom to do what ever they want with little accountability."

Photo by Flickr user HeatherHeatherHeather

FDA: Ye shall remain our guinea pigs

"Foot Dragging" is apparently what the first two letters of FDA stand for. Just before April Fool's Day, the agency rejected a petition by the NRDC urging it to ban bisphenol-A (BPA) from canned food and liquid infant formula containers.

BPA is a synthetic chemical that mimics estrogen in the body and is associated with a raft of health woes.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: "Innocent until proven guilty" is appropriate for people, but not for chemicals that people ingest.

"The next decision the FDA should make is to remove 'responsible for protecting the public health' from its mission statement," Jane Houlihan, senior vice president for research of the Environmental Working Group, said in a statement. "It's false advertising. Allowing a chemical as toxic as BPA, and linked to so many serious health problems, to remain in food means the agency has veered dangerously off course."

I couldn't agree more.