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Blog: Going Green Helps Your Child Think  



Annie’s Home Enlightenment Journal
Blog #1 out of 5

What parent doesn’t want the ideal learning environment for their child to flourish? It would break anyone’s heart to learn that there may be products in their home that are interfering with their child’s brain, and their ability to concentrate. This isn’t good for doing homework! Called neurotoxic chemicals, most are easy to remove from the home environment, if one only know how to identify them!
Here is the first of a five-day blog series identifying five different neurotoxic chemicals commonly found in the home. Begin the series here:

Lead
While it is commonly understood that lead paint in old houses can cause lead poisoning in children, there are a host of other causes of lead poisoning that parents hardly think about, including imported toys, candy, and jewelry.

 
Lead is neurotoxic and can reduce IQ points, delay puberty, and effect cognitive development. Studies in 2003 showed that concentrations of 1 microgram of lead per deciliter of blood negatively impacted children’s IQ levels.
Sources of Lead
Lunchboxes made of vinyl

Drinking water from lead pipes, or lead solder used on copper water pipes

Old painted toys

Old furniture

Tin soldiers

Food and/or drink kept in old lead-glazed pottery, lead crystal, or dishes

Hobbies such as stained glass or antique toy trains can bring lead into the home

Telephone cords made of vinyl (the older the cord, the more likely there is lead)

Some imported jewelry (make sure a child doesn’t put a necklace in their mouth)

Soil, especially near house siding

Old house paint (note that lead-based paint dust is a big cause of lead poisoning)

Homes older than 1978 or so (some houses painted a few years later could have lead if the paint in cans manufactured before 1978 were used)


Note It! Related news story:
http://www.care2.com/news/member/204426917/169645

Resource: Lead-testing kits are available from your county health department or a local hardware store.

Posted: Tuesday September 5, 2006, 1:05 pm
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Annie Bond (107) 		Wednesday September 6, 2006, 1:19 pm
From Annie:
Here is a great resource about lead in children's jewelry:
http://www.cehca.org/jewelry.htm

Tarena Davis (2) 		Wednesday September 6, 2006, 1:58 pm
I have a question that is slightly off topic, but still relative: I just moved into a new apartment and we are needing to bug-bomb, there are so many spiders and brick bugs from the brick walls, plus many other species that fall in the flying/crawling bug catagory. What recommendation do you have to rid of these multi-legged mini beasts? I would rather just live with them, but there has been more than one occasion of my son and I being bit by unknown species of spiders. Any suggestions on brand/type of earth and people friendly bug-be-gone? I have lined the front porch and around the windows with borax and am working on a sealent for the brick.

Kerry Hill (1) 		Wednesday September 6, 2006, 9:36 pm
EEK my 15 month old daughter plays with an old telephone & spends a lot of her time chewing on the vinyl cord!! I had no idea it could contain lead. Thanks for the information!! Kerry

Kare Anderson (0) 		Monday September 1, 2008, 12:29 pm
Another key to keeping our children safe at home is how clean we keep the air. . The most damaging “dirty air’ at home is called Respirable Suspended Particles (RSP).

RSP includes mold, pollen, smoke, toxic hydrocarbons, carcinogens, and other pollutants. They are more than 1000 times more likely to be inhaled indoors than outdoors. The tiny RSPs - those from 0.3 to 2.5 microns - are the primary triggers for asthma, allergies and other critical health problems.

According to a survey of over 10,000 houses, the air in 86% of U.S. homes US has particulate concentrations above safe levels. That is specially bad news for the over 60 million people in the US with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is aggravated by RSP in their homes.

A relatively new air filter “grille” provides the first truly effective electronic air cleaner that can remove RSPs in a home. In fact it makes in-door cleaner than fresh air. Luckily, it does not require a whole new HVAC system. It comes in different models to fit any home size – and it can be bolted directly onto the existing home HVAC system in 40 minutes or less. Plus it only needs about ten minutes of maintenance (replacing filters) a year. It is made by a firm called AspenAir Inside.

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AUTHOR: ANNIE BOND

female, age 55
committed relationship, 1 child
Rhinebeck, NY, USA
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