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Costumes and Masks
Whether your child wants to be Iron Man, Hannah Montana, or a fairy princess, drugstores and specialty shops across the country are lining their racks with scores of the perfect mass-produced getup. But while the store-bought Optimus Prime costume, plus accessories, seems perfectly suited to your child’s transformer fixation, many pre-made costumes and masks are made from PVC. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), also known as vinyl, is a non-recyclable plastic whose production releases cancer-causing dioxins into the atmosphere.  What’s more, soft vinyl products, like shiny imitation leather accessories, usually contain phthalates, hormone-disrupting chemicals that have been linked to reproductive abnormalities and liver cancer.

You can avoid the creepy unknown element in store-bought costumes by creating one yourself. Mix a few hand-me-downs with a handful of safety pins and a little imagination for a unique costume that isn’t nearly as scary as it looks. Here are a few ideas:

• With a little paint or pieces of fabric, transform solid-colored leggings and turtlenecks into any variety of animal or insect, such as a white stripe down the back of black basics for a skunk, or black polka dots on white for a Dalmation.
• Bend wire coat hangers into half moons or ear lobes and cover them with stockings for a pair of angel wings.
• Hang crepe paper and lace from a flashlight for a fairy wand that will light the way on dark neighborhood streets.
• Mask possibilities are endless with paper plates, construction paper and papier mache.
• Rummage through closets and thrift stores for forgotten fashions and uniforms to repurpose. An old cheerleader uniform can turn your child into a Highschool Musical star and worn out khakis can be the basis for Indiana Jones. Take scissors to any old outfit for a brain-dead zombie.
• With a little glue and a few strategically placed armholes, a gently used cardboard box can become anything from a rocket to Spongebob.

Makeup
Many costumes don’t seem complete without a face full of fake scars or a ghostly complexion. But many costume make-ups come with toxic ingredients, like lead, that can be readily absorbed in the skin. So before turning your child’s face green, blue, or any other ghastly color, make sure you’re makeup choice doesn’t come with any other frightening side effects. Here’s how:
 
Whenever possible, create the desired effect with adult cosmetics rather than play and costume makeup, which is often imported from a countries with less stringent regulations and can be vague about ingredients.

• Look for products that contain no more than 10 ingredients. The fewer the ingredients, the less likely your child is to be exposed to a potentially irritating or harmful chemical.
• Choose products that are listed in the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics database.
• Powdered products generally contain fewer potentially harmful ingredients, but if you do use oil-based makeup, pay attention to the type of oil that is used.  Mineral oils are harsher on your skin than plant-based oils, but plant-based oils can cause allergic reactions in some people.  
• Always check the expiration date before using any makeup product.
• Even when you’re confidant that the product is safe, it’s always a good idea to test out a small amount on your child’s arm a few days before to be sure they don’t have adverse reactions when you apply larger amounts.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seandreilinger/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

By Wendy Gordon

While it is true the United States has some of the best drinking water in the world, a disturbing new report conducted by The New York Timesrevealed that one in ten Americans has been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals, including carcinogens in the tap water of major American cities and unsafe chemicals in drinking water wells in more rural areas. The primary reason, according to the report: The laws intended to protect our water supplies, the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), are not being enforced. In fact, researchers found, barely 3 percent of violations resulted in fines or other significant penalties by state officials responsible for enforcing the law.

Whether you water is safe or contaminated depends on several factors: its source, what treatment it receives (if any), and the quality of the pipes in your home. Follow these simple steps to check out the quality of your water:

* Find out about your water system. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates the community water systems that supply drinking water to most Americans. Every water system is required to publish a yearly "consumer confidence report" detailing contaminants or violations of water quality standards. You can see the report for your water system by contacting the system directly. To find your water system, visitwww.epa.gov/enviro/html/sdwis/sdwis_query.html.

* Have water from your own well tested. Wells, which are not typically regulated by the SDWA, are more likely to contain contaminants than municipal water systems. The EPA advises that you test well water annually, especially if you see signs of trouble like corroded pipes, strange odors or stained laundry.

* Check to see if there are free or low cost testing services available. Your municipality, county or state health department may offer free or low-cost testing services; otherwise, you can use a laboratory certified in your state. The EPA has a list at www.epa.gov/safewater/labs/index.html. For further information on well water quality, the EPA suggests consulting nonprofit groups like the American Ground Water Trust.

* Decide which contaminants to test for. Ask for guidance from the lab or your local health department on which contaminants to test for. Find out whether radon or heavy metals like arsenic are present in underground rocks or soils in your area. Tell the laboratory if you live near a farm, an industrial cattle-feeding operation, a gas station, a mine, a factory, a dump or any kind of operation that might produce contaminants that can find their way into ground water.

NRDC recommends that you test your tap water for lead contamination, particularly if you have young kids, are pregnant, or thinking about becoming pregnant, since lead is especially dangerous and levels can vary enormously from house to house. A lead test costs about $25 (see, for example, University of North Carolina's low-cost testing information).

Once you have identified the problem, you can take the appropriate steps to fix it.

* If the problem is corroded pipes in your home, consider replacing them.

* If your well is contaminated by bacteria, you can have it disinfected or you can drill a deeper well.

* If your water contains other contaminants—including heavy metals, pesticides, volatile organic chemicals, minerals, parasites or bacteria—you should consider installing a filtration system. Consult our Checkout Counter: Water Filters for help selecting the filter that best meets your needs. 

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10451396@N00/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

There's plenty of reason for hope this Earth Day -- the United States seems ready to cap the pollution that causes global warming. But there's also a lot of work ahead to curb the damage already done. Here are four simple steps you can take that will have an immediate impact on the environment. By focusing on the areas that will have the most impact, you'll find that doing your part for a sustainable future isn't as difficult as you may have thought. It's that easy!

40 percent of residential energy use is for heating and cooling. To stop global warming pollution and clear our air, we have to be more efficient. Start at home by making a few improvements where it will have the most impact. Take the house tour now to see what you can do.

The typical American prepared meal contains, on average, ingredients from at least five countries outside the United States. Almost 250,000 tons of global warming gases released were attributable to imports of food products—the equivalent amount of pollution produced by more than 40,000 vehicles on the road or nearly two power plants. By choosing local produce and food, you can make a real impact by sitting down to dinner. Find better food, closer to home with NRDC's Eat Local widget and get recipes for in-season produce.

Only 13 percent of plastic water bottles are recycled. When it's tossed out, plastic never disintegrates, it fills up landfills and ends up in our oceans. Plastic pollutes at every step -- from production to disposal. Cut down on your plastic waste by using less plastic and recycling plastic whenever you can.

In 1970, the United States recycled about 5 percent of its waste. Now we recycle approximately 32.5 percent, not even a third. Consider the waste before buying new products, avoid excessive packaging and unrecyclable materials.

Dr. Gina, I am sick over learning about the conventional mattresses I bought for my twins (mattresses stamped December 2006). I am positive they include all the bad chemicals I am reading about, no doubt. They have been sleeping one them for over a year. My twins are now 15 months old. Until I can return the mattresses or get rid of them, what precautions can I take while the babies are sleeping on them? Do you think it is still a good idea to replace them or is it too late? Is the damage already done?

The good news is that you purchased your mattress before 2007, when the new more stringent flame resistant standards went into effect, so it probably has fewer chemicals than a new conventional mattress. It's difficult, if not impossible to know which chemicals were used on a particular mattress. Most manufacturers won't tell you which chemicals they use as flame retardants because they consider it a trade secret.

Mattresses made from petroleum based chemicals, such as polyurethane foam, are highly flammable and require the addition of flame retardant chemicals to make them flame resistant. Mattresses made from natural materials, such as cotton or wool, are more inherently flame resistant, so they require the addition of fewer chemicals.

Most of us are exposed to flame retardants not from directly lying on flame-retarded mattresses, but because they come off of the product and attach to dust particles. We either then inhale the dust or kids ingest it when they crawl around and put their hands in their mouths. Therefore, the best way to avoid exposure is to dust regularly and use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter. I would recommend covering the mattress with a tight fitting pad or an allergy cover. These should minimize the amount of dust that escapes from the mattress.

Got a question for Dr. Gina? Ask her!

GINA SOLOMON is a senior scientist and physician in NRDC's health program. Gina specializes in internal medicine and occupational/environmental medicine. She is also an associate clinical professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco where she is a teaching physician at the pediatric environmental health specialty unit. She received her medical degree from Yale University and her specialty training at Harvard. She is a co-author of Generations at Risk: Reproductive Health and the Environment.

I have heard that there are good phthalates and bad ones, and that a lot of the perfume industry uses the good one, but the public thinks they use the bad ones. What is right?

You're right to be concerned about phthalates. Many phthalates (pronounced thal-ates) interfere with hormones (especially testosterone), and have been shown to alter normal reproductive development. Phthalates are found in a wide array of consumer products, including cosmetics and fragrances, pharmaceuticals and vinyl products. A number of different phthalates have been found in perfume products in the past but a recent report published by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found that many perfume manufacturers had lowered the levels of phthalates in perfume and were primarily using one phthalate, DEP or di-ethyl phthalate. DEP is also used in air fresheners as revealed in a NRDC report.

DEP has been reported to be a "safe" phthalate because there is no evidence from animal studies that it causes hormone disruption or interference with the development of the male reproductive tract as other phthalates have been shown to do. However, in human studies, DEP has been associated with numerous impacts on male reproductive health including changes in hormone levels and genital development in baby boys. There is scientific debate about why these differences in the animal and human studies exist and in the meantime, the widespread exposure to DEP continues. CDC studies have shown that every single person in their sample of over 2,500 Americans from ages 6 to greater than 65 years carried residues of DEP in their bodies. It is possible to make perfume and air fresheners without DEP or other phthalates, so I’d recommend avoiding exposure where possible by avoiding synthetic fragrances or choosing brands that have removed phthalates from their formulation. Learn more about phthalates in cosmetics and personal care products and what you can do to avoid them.

Got a question for Dr. Gina? Ask her!

GINA SOLOMON is a senior scientist and physician in NRDC's health program. Gina specializes in internal medicine and occupational/environmental medicine. She is also an associate clinical professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco where she is a teaching physician at the pediatric environmental health specialty unit. She received her medical degree from Yale University and her specialty training at Harvard. She is a co-author of Generations at Risk: Reproductive Health and the Environment.

This year, make a few resolutions that are easy to keep. Take a couple of these simple steps to be well, make smart choices and save a little money in 2009. And as always, now's the time to get rid of the old and make a fresh start. Find out which three things even the most avid environmentalist should throw in the trash.