A teen in Florida may be deported if she refuses to get the Gardasil vaccine.
Seventeen-year-old Simone Davis has been applying for citizenship for almost 10 years. When she was 3, she was abandoned and then adopted by her paternal grandmother, who married an American. The family moved to Port St. Joe, Fla.
Now, because she refuses to get the HPV vaccine, she may be sent back to England. That’s because Gardasil is among the required vaccines for citizenship. This vaccine is not mandated for American girls, though different localities have their own laws.
It has been proven that at least 60% of what we put on our skin is absorbed directly into the bloodstream. That’s scary, really scary when we learn what can be lurking in beauty products-even in baby products. Nasty things like phthalates, parabens and 1,4-Dioxane which has been banned in personal care products in Canada and the European Union but is still allowed in the US in small amounts even though it has been proven that it can cause allergy, immune and neurological toxicity even carcinogenic activity.
Trillium Organics has created a couple new lines of products that come with full disclosure of all ingredients-right on the product labels. The new products are made especially for pregnant women and new babies-two times when natural is more important than ever. OGmama and OGbaby are truly 100% organic and as natural as can be. Read the rest of this entry »
Unless your children attend a really cool school with organic, farm to school lunches, you probably pack your child’s lunch each day. That’s a good thing, when considering how clean cafeteria trays are compared to toilet seats. It’s a shocker, but it’s true.
According to a study conducted by NSF International, cafeteria trays contain more germs than toilet seats!
– Drinking water fountain spigots had the highest amount of bacteria on the tested surfaces — 2.7 million bacterial cells per square inch.
– A cafeteria tray had more than 10 times as many germs as a toilet seat (33,800 bacterial cells per square inch vs. 3,200 bacterial cells per square inch).
– A student’s hand had 1,500 bacterial cells per square inch.
– Commonly cleaned areas, such as desks and doorknobs had fewer germs (19 bacterial cells per square inch and 5 bacterial cells per square inch respectively), while computer keyboards and ear phones had significantly more at 260 bacterial cells per square inch and 740 bacterial cells per square inch, respectively.
Organic milk may cost more, but it may also pay off in the end. A recent Dutch study suggests that children are one third less likely to suffer from allergies before age two if they’re raised on organic dairy products.
In the study, children and breastfeeding moms ate organic milk, cheese and yogurt. The study author said the connection between choosing organic dairy and less incidence of eczema was clear. The risk for other allergies and asthma also decreased.
So why is organic better? It’s hard to say for sure at this point, but researchers believe it may, in part, be due to the higher concentrations of conjugated linoleic acids that are found in organic milk. Studies have shown that organic milk has 71 percent more omega-3 fatty acids, too, another important nutrient for growth and development. Read the rest of this entry »
The FDA is recommending Gardasil for boys, saying in a memo that it seems to be safe and effective in preventing genital warts in young men and boys. And guess what! None of the boys tested got cervical cancer! Kidding.
The way the tests work today is we think that by testing at high doses we’re gonna see everything. So that once we get to a dose that’s intermediate and we don’t see anything, we’re golden.
But the science is telling us that at really low doses as contaminants mimic hormones. They can have effects that are totally unpredictable by what happens at high doses.
Pete Myers spoke to Living on Earth about the consequences of current testing.
The metal water bottle market has exploded, and consumers are still riling after Sigg’s deception regarding BPA in their aluminum bottle lining. Recently, I was sent another BPA-free, stainless steel water bottle to try, which my son adores. The Kid Basix SafeSporter combines sports bottle with aesthetics to create a unique bottle.
Born out of the movement to eliminate plastic water bottles, the SafeSporter’s limited plastic parts do not contain BPA or phthalates.
Why go with stainless steel bottles from Kid Basix when so many BPA-free plastic bottles are available now? We can give you 300 billion reasons. That’s the approximate number of plastic water bottles discarded around the world every year. Enough to power 12 million cars for an entire year. And that’s just the water bottles! It doesn’t include all the plastic bottles used for sodas, sports drinks, fruit juices and the like. All told, the plastic bottles we throw away each year would reach to the moon and back – 1500 times. So using reusable stainless steel bottles makes sense on every level: personal, local and global.
Think that lovable, furry ol’ Elmo couldn’t get any sweeter? Well, now he’s using his helping hands by reminding kids to wash theirs in an effort to fight swine flu.
A new ad campaign, sponsored by three government agencies, will feature Elmo and Gordon teaming up. They’ll spread the message on how notto spread germs: wash hands frequently, cough and sneeze into your elbow, and keep your hands away from your face.
The best part? They don’t mention the swine flu vaccine in any of the 30-second PSAs. See?
Have you ever heard, “I couldn’t breastfeed“? I sure have. Some women simply can’t. They’re a rare bunch, accounting for only a small percentage of mothers overall, approximately 3 to 6 million women worldwide.