3 Ways to Protect Babies from Toxins

It seems just about everyone I know is pregnant these days, so I thought I’d share a few of the healthy baby posts we’ve had on naturalhomeandgarden.com lately.

1. Create a Healthy Nursery
Your baby will spend the majority of its newborn time sleeping, which makes creating a healthy sleeping space paramount. Babies undeveloped immune systems aren’t capable of fighting off toxins nearly as well as adults’, so they are far more vulnerable to the chemicals that can be offgassed from furniture and paint. Unfortunately, many children’s products–especially the less-expensive ones–contain synthetic fabrics and particleboard, both of which give off fumes that may be harmful to your baby’s health.

To create a healthy nursery, choose cribs, mattresses and bedding made of natural, nontoxic materials such as solid wood, wicker, rattan, wool and organic cotton. Avoid cribs and furniture made of MDF (medium-density fiberboard), plywood and particleboard, all of which often contain formaldehyde. Choose mattresses made of wool to avoid the chemicals in synthetic materials. Here are several resources of retailers who sell healthy cribs and mattreses.

Of course, having a baby is expensive. If you’re looking for a less-expensive alternative, consider used baby furniture (make sure it’s up to current safety standards). Furniture more than a few years old has likely already outgassed any harmful chemicals used in its manufacture. If you must buy materials that may contain VOCs, don’t worry too much: Buy them more than a month before your baby is born, and store them in the garage, under cover outside, or in a room with open windows to allow them to release many of their chemicals before your baby comes in contact with them. You could also consider “sealing in” chemicals that might outgas by covering furniture with a nontoxic sealant, such as those from AFM Safecoat.

Carpet is another source of VOCs. If you already have carpet, it’s likely outgassed many of its chemicals, but if you’re installing new flooring, eschew carpet in favor of wood, cork or natural linoleum flooring. Use natural fiber area rugs to create a chemical-free, washable soft spot for baby to play. Finally, always choose zero-VOC paints when painting your nursery. Nearly every major paint manufacturer offers a zero-VOC line of paints, or you can choose healthy clay or milk paints (see The Real Raw Milk Paint Company or Old-Fashioned Milk Paint. (Read our fun guide to choosing nursery colors.)

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Sarah M.

2:44PM PST on Feb 28, 2012

Thanks

February 28
send a green star

Carmen S.

11:25AM PST on Feb 20, 2012

thanks for this article

February 20
send a green star

Annemarie W.

12:52AM PST on Feb 20, 2012

thanks

Lynn C.

8:19PM PST on Feb 19, 2012

February 19
send a green star

Kate A.

4:52PM PST on Feb 19, 2012

very interesting

Rebecca S.

3:46PM PST on Feb 19, 2012

@Ira, babies are exposed to toxins not just once born, they are exposed to them in the womb. Anything the mother touches or eats can affect the developing baby.

andrew h.

11:04AM PST on Feb 19, 2012

regarding the post i added below, please use intuition and good judgement about what to do too

11:01AM PST on Feb 19, 2012

thanks

DECT baby monitors are an issue to be aware of too (not a toxin)

"Note also that these wireless baby monitors are placed inside teddy bears and are very close to infants (see photograph of child with teddy bear monitor). So proximity of wireless baby monitors is similar to cell phones, for which Health Canada issued “advice on safe use.”

Let’s look at the second important factor that affects absorption–duration of exposure.

The baby monitor is on when the baby is asleep, and for infants this amounts to as much as 16 hours a day. During this period both the infant and the caregiver are exposed to RF radiation. A worst-case scenario for the infant is 16 hours of exposure resulting in an annual exposure of 5,840 hours!"

"Let’s compare this to the INTERPHONE study with cell phones that reported an increase in brain tumours for those who used a cell phone for more than 1640 hours over a 10-year period. This amounts to 164 hours exposure per year or 30 minutes exposure a day!"

"Let’s look at another important factor that affects absorption–intensity of the radiation.

I measured the radiation generated by a wireless baby monitor (Philips Avent) and an iPhone at various distances. The intensities were surprisingly similar."

http://www.magdahavas.com/health
-canada-needs-to-issue-warning-about-wireless-baby-monitors/

Magda in the link gives suggestions about what to do about this (please use intuition and g