Healthy World Watch July 10th, 2009

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Nora Chute

Friday, July 10, 2009

Top Tips

• The Environmental Working Group has released their 2009 Sunscreen Guide. Here you can look up your sunscreen of choice and find out if it’s protecting you from UV rays or exposing you to hazardous chemicals. Find the healthiest sunscreens, moisturizers, and lip balms with SPF.

• Green grilling is a must for barbeques this summer. Not only do we have to worry about the carbon emissions our food lets off, but we also need to be wary of the carcinogens deposited on our meats as they sizzle at high temperatures. Cure Today offers cooking and marinating tips to keep the toxic deposits low, and a blogger reviews the FlameDisk, a renewable ethanol alternative to the traditional charcoal grill.

• Tips on how to turn your food waste into savings, and your savings into more organic purchases.

• Links to several sources for eco-friendly fashion, including fabric made from used coffee grounds, which protects from UV rays, dries quickly, and reduces odor.

Recent Research

• The first comprehensive review of the impact of plastics on the environment and human health has been released. The article states that although all signs point to plastics being incredibly detrimental to our health and our environment, more concrete evidence looking at the specific health effects it has on humans and wildlife must be gathered before any definite conclusions can be drawn. However, safer alternatives and reduced usage are of course still called for.

• Healthy living on the mother’s part can help her child avoid problems like diabetes, cancer, and depression decades later. Babies develop in the womb according to the environment they predict they will live in, and this is determined by the mother’s habits. High stress, exposure to hormones, and an unhealthy diet are all environmental cues that can prepare a fetus for an sickly life years from now.

• Preservatives added to cured meats, bacon, and ground beef have been linked to dementia. The chemicals mimic the DNA damage that occurs with aging, and therefore mark a key discovery in linking environmental causes to diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Other News

• Your favorite red lipstick may contain unhealthy amounts of lead. While lipstick brands all seem to meet FDA standards, the FDA has no safety limit on lead in cosmetics, and products are only required to list their “intended” ingredients, letting the “unintended” lead go unreported.

• The Obama administration released a rule Tuesday to ensure the safety of eggs, spinach, beef, and other produce. These foods lead to millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths a year. This is part of the administration’s decision to make safer foods a priority.