Scientists are doing an extraordinary amount of research about BPA, and it can be hard to keep up with the latest news. Here’s a short summary from a pediatrician from Dartmouth Medical Center:

• “Widespread human exposure” to BPA has been demonstrated; over 90% of us have BPA in our bodies.
• “Animal studies have documented a variety of endocrine effects of this chemical” (endocrine effects are disruptions of normal hormone function, and can lead to birth defects and/or other reproductive problems)
• “Recent studies involving humans are resulting in growing concerns,” including heart disease and diabetes
• “Scientists hypothesize that the impact on children will be magnified”; in other words, health problems from BPA may be more likely if young children are exposed to the toxic chemical.

That’s a lot of health hazards.

Since we can’t yet rely on California  law to keep this harmful chemical out of baby products, we’re giving you some tips on how to avoid BPA in these products:

1. Baby Food and Formula: Avoid canned baby food and liquid formula in metal cans.  Almost all food cans are lined with an epoxy made from BPA. A quick, easy, and cheap way to avoid BPA, as well as giving your baby healthier food and supporting environmentally-friendly agriculture at the same time is to make your own baby food using organic fruits and vegetables.  Click here for our simple recipes.

2.  Bottles and Sippy Cups: Until recently, BPA-containing plastic was commonly used to make clear plastic items like bottles and sippy cups. BPA-  baby bottles and sippy cups are now widely available; glass is another option

3. Your own water bottle: Your baby/toddler probably will occasionally drink water that’s been in your water bottle. For their health, and yours, look for BPA-free water bottles. Stainless steel bottles are widely available, as are BPA-free plastic ones.

One of our summer interns, 18 year old Salvador Mateo from Mandela High School in Oakland, took a moment to share his experience working at the CEH office and his passion for the environment:

This summer, I was an intern at the Rose Foundation, and they placed me at the Center for Environmental Health.

The most important thing I learned at CEH was that there are dangerous things for sale in stores.  CEH asked my [intern] partner Ashley and me to visit stores like Hot Topic & Express.  We bought jewelry there, then we brought it back to the office, and the CEH people tested it.

We learned that some of the  jewelry we bought contained high levels of lead and cadmium, which are chemicals that make people sick.

I was truly amazed when they told us.  I thought we weren’t going to find anything in any of the jewelry we had bought.  I was wrong!  Up to right now, I am happy that we helped people stay away from those products for good.

In my time here I have learned things that I never thought I would learn until I was in my 30s.

It might sound boring, but it’s really not. It was interesting to learn more about what’s in the things we buy.  It also felt good to help kids, parents, and everyone avoid products with dangerous chemicals in them.

I am astonished at what has become of the Earth.  I hope to help it and help my people understand why we have to take care of our beloved planet.

We only have one planet.  If we don’t take better care of it, we’re all in trouble.

Since it began in 1983, the panel has done the essential work of evaluating more than 300 chemicals—everything from pesticides to air contaminants—and advised the state on how these chemicals should be regulated.  Without this panel, hundreds of additional health-threatening chemicals would be used in consumer products and manufacturing.

The chemical industry has criticized panel members for regulations that they say are costly to business. Panel members were targeted for a number of their strong positions in support of environmental health, including panel chairman John Froines’ public criticism of the state’s proposal to approve the toxic strawberry fumigant methyl iodide.

Among the industry flacks other complaints about the panel’s designations:  the 1998 conclusion that diesel particulate is toxic to human health—a decision that has formed the basis of the very trucking industry regulations that CEH has fought for.  The Pacific Legal Foundation, which has a long history of receiving funding from right-wing Foundations, filed a lawsuit directly after these trucking industry regulations were put in place, charging that panel members should not be allowed to serve such long terms.

Read the full story here.

In 2008, the Port of LA adopted the Clean Truck Program, which made each trucker a port employee who earns a living wage, works under improved conditions (opulent luxuries such as access to a bathroom), and enjoys health and other benefits.  The plan paid for 6,600 new, clean trucks and reduced diesel emissions by 80%.  Most importantly, the plan transferred responsibility for truck ownership and maintenance from the drivers to bigger companies.  (In return, those companies received financial incentives and subsidies.)

In response to the adoption of the plan, the American Trucking Association, an association made up of companies that lease and run the LA Ports trucking industry sued to stop the plan’s implementation.  And because the laws that govern these issues are outdated, the lawsuit stopped the Clean Truck Plan not only in LA, but in other ports around the country similarly fighting for good jobs and clean air.

The case was heard in three different court processes, and in the most recent decision, the CA district judge rules in favor of the Los Angeles Clean Truck program!

This victory is major, but we aren’t stopping our fight yet.  The Center for Environmental Health is fighting to bring the clean air and good jobs to port communities across the country.

“Our fight doesn’t end until Congress passes the Clean Ports Act, because mothers like me shouldn’t have to show our 3-year-olds how to use an inhaler,” says Silvia Martinez, a Long Beach mother of a child who suffers from respiratory illness due to port truck pollution.  “This victory inspires me to keep fighting for the health of my child.  Ports around the country should not have to waste taxpayer’s money to fight the trucking industry bullies that want our children to continue breathing toxic diesel pollution.”

Families and workers in every port community across the country deserve the same clean air and good jobs.  That’s why the Center for Environmental Health is be asking our supporters to support the Clean Ports Act of 2010, so that no one has to face dirty diesel’s nasty health threats.  Take Action today with the click of a mouse: Support the Clean Ports Act of 2010!

For more information on the historic ruling, read the AP article.

Some more tips:

1.  Cook Eggs Thoroughly: Cooking and baking generally kills salmonella, as long as eggs are cooked thoroughly. So soft boiled, over-easy, and runny scrambled eggs are out. Children especially should avoid these foods.

2. Avoid Raw Egg Ingredients: Foods with raw eggs, including some salad dressings, mayonnaise, smoothies, and other foods should be avoided.

3.  Store Eggs at 40 Degrees (F) or Below: Eat them within about three weeks of purchase.

4.  In the Kitchen, Treat Eggs Like Raw Poultry: after using eggs, wash any utensils, containers or surfaces they came in contact with (ie, wash countertops even if only eggs in the shell were on the counters), and wash your hands well after handling eggs.

5.  Don’t Be Fooled By Misleading Labels: Since the recall, many reports have conflated organic eggs with eggs labeled “cage free,” “free range,” or with other unverified claims. Most of these reports suggest that organic eggs are no different when it comes to salmonella. But for shoppers, organic is surely making a difference. Organic Valley, the nation’s largest cooperatively-owned organic farming business, supplies eggs across the country through its network of small, organic family farmers. The company reports that none of its eggs have been recalled, so consumers can look for the Organic Valley name on egg cartons.

In the wake of the recalls, Congress decided to look into the egg companies involved. Representative Rose DeLauro (D- CT) wanted to know whether the USDA school lunch program received any tainted eggs.

It turns out that there is a connection  between the second Iowa company named in the egg recalls, Hillandale LLC, and USDA’s food buying. Just days after the August 17 report of Hillandale’s Iowa operation being responsible for the recall, the USDA released its latest report on egg purchasing for federal food programs, presumably including USDA-run school food programs. The agency’s August 20 report notes that USDA is purchasing eggs from Hillandale’s Pennsylvania plant.

Now, this connection doesn’t suggest that USDA is buying tainted eggs. It does however raise the broader question: why is USDA buying eggs for school lunches from companies running factory farms with dubious safety, animal welfare and worker rights histories?

In addition to Hillandale, USDA regularly buys eggs from Rose Acre Farms, which was cited earlier this year by the Humane Society for its animal abuses, and was named a “factory farm offender” by the animal rights group Farm Sanctuary. Another USDA supplier, Deb-El foods of New York is currently subject of an NLRB investigation for its egregious union-busting tactics.

But corruption in the egg industry isn’t only related to food safety, animal abuses, worker rights violations, and environmental crimes. The industry also preys on consumers: in June, several major egg companies agreed to pay $25 million to settle claims that their price-fixing was responsible for bilking consumers out of millions of dollars.

Despite this lengthy record of crimes, the government seems intent to continue putting egg producers’ interests over public health. An FDA spokesperson has acknowledged that the “recalled” salmonella-tainted eggs may be sold to food companies after being pasteurized. FDA probably forgot that, in 2001, a batch of pasteurized eggs were recalled due to salmonella poisoning.

Perhaps the best news for the egg industry came late yesterday, when USDA announced a recall of 380,000 pounds of Tyson foods ham and beef lunch meat sold at Walmart, due to contamination with Listeria bacteria.

Guess that means ham and eggs are off the menu. Bon Appetit!

And our tax dollars helped pay for these abuses and nasty eggs.

This isn’t the first time that DeCoster faced food poisoning-related problems: in 1992, DeCoster operations in Maryland faced criminal charges for violating a salmonella quarantine order. And it’s hardly the first time that DeCoster’s animal factory farms have landed the company in hot water with authorities.

(see How to Avoid Salmonella and Other Tips at the end of this post)

For example, in 1996, then-Labor Secretary Robert Reich called conditions at DeCoster’s Maine egg operations “as dangerous and oppressive as any sweatshop we have ever seen.” DeCoster has also paid millions to settle discrimination lawsuits, lawsuits by women employees charging that they were raped by company supervisors, environmental fines, OSHA fines, animal cruelty violations, and other government and civil actions.

The burning question of the day seems to be: now that DeCoster has poisoned hundreds of Americans, will anyone finally do something to stop this corporate criminal that has flourished despite a decades-long record of abuses?

If this seems hyperbole, let’s review just some of the company’s record:

Just this summer, DeCoster was forced to pay the state of Maine more than $130,000 for animal cruelty charges related to its egg operations there. In a statement, Jack DeCoster claimed the problem was “an isolated incident” and that care of its birds “has never been a greater priority.” In fact, the widespread animal abuses at DeCoster’s operations were called “deplorable, horrifying and upsetting” by a state veterinarian. Mercy for Animals uncovered the abusive practices with undercover video showing live hens suffocating in garbage cans, twirled by their necks in incomplete euthanasia, kicked into manure pits to drown and hanging by their feet over conveyer belts. Footage also showed an employee pointing out the suffering animals to DeCoster’s son Jay, who says to disregard it.

At the time of the Mercy for Animals expose, the DeCoster plant was certified by United Egg Producers (UEP) for animal “care” standards. UEP is an industry association that the Humane Society cites as an apologist for animal abuses. UEP says that while 97% of all eggs sold in the US come from battery cage operations, about 85% of those are certified as “caring” by the industry group.

Heard enough? Here’s some more of DeCoster hit parade of crimes, lies, and outrageous acts:

> In 2008, Ohio officials said they did not know that DeCoster was involved in a takeover bid when they permitted troubled producer Buckeye Egg, which had been cited for dozens of environmental violations. DeCoster named John Glessing, his “right-hand man,” as chief operating officer, despite Glessing’s troubled past. Glessing’s own egg company had previously been repeatedly cited for environmental violations, and he had been sentenced to four months in prison for supplying illegal workers to DeCoster operations.

> In 2002, DeCoster paid $1.5 million to settle charges brought by 11 women who were raped or sexually harassed by their supervisors while working at the company’s North Iowa facilities. The EEOC found that DeCoster supervisors had threatened the undocumented Mexican and Hispanic women with deportation if they reported the abuses. One year earlier the company paid $6 million to settle a discrimination case brought by workers in its Iowa operations.

> In June 2000, DeCoster was named the first “habitual violator” of Iowa environmental laws, paying a $150,000 penalty for repeated violations related to the company’s massive confined hog factory farms. In 2001, the state Supreme Court barred DeCoster from building new confined hog facilties for his son Peter’s company Midwest Pork (the state had previously failed in its attempt to ban Midwest Pork from operating as a “sham” business established “to promote illegality.”)

But wait, there’s still more. In Maine alone, investigations uncovered a litany of violations and criminal acts from DeCoster’s operations, including:

* In June 1988, DeCoster was fined $46,250 for184 workplace violations, including knowingly hiring illegal aliens.

* In May 1992, DeCoster was charged with violating state law by preventing outside officials from contacting Hispanic migrant workers living in DeCoster-owned trailers.

* In February 1994, DeCoster was sued by workers for failure to pay overtime. Later that year, Maine’s Catholic diocese accused DeCoster of depriving workers of their religious rights.

* In 1996, Maine Fire Marshal’s Office found 300 safety violations in 44 trailers and bunkhouses at DeCoster’s operations. In July, the US Labor Department fined DeCoster $ 3.6 million after an extensive investigation.

* In May 1997, DeCoster agreed to pay a $2 million fine to OSHA, for horrendous conditions in its housing for immigrant workers. Later that year, DeCoster announced that it would split up into six companies, with DeCoster owning the chickens and leasing them to the new companies, while forcing workers to begin paying $450 a month for housing. The move comes just weeks before a new state law allows workers to unionize and receive overtime pay on large farms like DeCoster’s.

Despite this track-record, DeCoster received over $15 million in subsidies from the federal government between 1987 and 1996. The fallout from our tax dollar investments: rape, environmental abuse, animal cruelty and tainted eggs.

How to Avoid Salmonella and Other Tips

Salmonella is a bacterial illness, with symptoms ranging from stomach discomfort to fever, abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhea, starting anywhere from a few hours to two days after eating contaminated food. Salmonella infection usually resolves without medical intervention, but some children, the elderly, and immuno-compromised people may need antibiotics and/or hospitalization.

Salmonella bacteria enter poultry operations via rodents or insects, and hens and/or their eggs can be infected; salmonella can infect the eggs and/or can contaminate the egg shells.

Eggs should be stored at 40 degrees (F) or below, and should be consumed within about three weeks.

In the kitchen, treat eggs like raw poultry: after using eggs, wash any utensils, containers or surfaces they came in contact with (ie, wash countertops even if only eggs in the shell were on the counters), and wash your hands well after handling eggs.

Egg Buying and Cooking Tips

Brand-names and carton code numbers in the egg recall are on the FDA website.

As noted above, eggs “certified” for animal care standards may be a complete greenwash. Avoid eggs certified by the industry group United Egg Producers; instead, look for the “Certified Humane” label backed by Humane Farm Animal Care, and/or look for organic eggs (organic standards require that animals have access to the outdoors). Terms like “free range”, “free roaming”, or antibiotic or hormone-free are not regulated and are thus not considered meaningful label claims.

Cooking and baking generally kills salmonella, but some preparations may not reach high enough temperatures to do the job. Eggs served with runny yolks (poached, sunny-side up, etc) may harbor the bacteria, and even some cooked custards may not reach adequate temperatures to kill salmonella. Children especially should avoid these foods.

Foods with raw eggs, including some salad dressings, mayonnaise, smoothies, and other foods should be avoided unless you know and trust the origin of the eggs.

The Roundup I’m talking about here is not cowboys chasing down straggling cattle or horses. Roundup, along with other brand names that contain the same ingredient, is a weed-killer that is the most widely used pesticide in the U.S.

What I’ve learned from all those years of Roundup reading is that what’s on the bottle, like most advertising, is not the whole story. Getting the rest of the story is not nearly as easy as getting the part of the story that’s on the bottle, but here’s a start:

1.  What the Roundup bottle says: “fast & easy”

The rest of the story: Roundup, like most pesticides, is good at killing pests. But that doesn’t mean it solves weed problems. As any gardener knows, there’s no shortage of other weeds to take a dead weed’s place. “Fast & easy” really means “fast & easy over and over and over again.” Long-term “fast and easy” weed management means creating landscapes that don’t encourage weeds. Want more specifics? Cornell University has detailed suggestions of what you can do to create a garden/landscape that doesn’t encourage weeds.

2.  What the Roundup bottle says: “targets an enzyme found in plants, but not in people or pets”

The rest of the story: Roundup can interfere with a variety of important life processes in both people and pets. For example, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health identifies the major ingredient in Roundup as a mutagen.  (If your high school biology class was such a bore that you don’t remember, a mutagen is a chemical that damages genes, those amazing molecules that direct all of our body’s activities. Damaged genes can mean cancer or birth defects, depending on which genes are damaged.)

Another example: Texas Tech University biochemists found that Roundup decreased production of sex hormones in human cells. And not just a small decrease either – about 90%.

One last example: European researchers who looked at which herbicides were responsible for pet poisonings found that being exposed to Roundup and its chemical cousins after they were sprayed was the second most common cause.

3.  What the Roundup bottle says: “breaks down into natural materials without moving in or on the soil”

The rest of the story: Roundup can move fairly easily from the spot where it was sprayed. It often ends up passing through storm drains and water treatment plants into streams and rivers. The US Geological Survey recently surveyed 10 streams around the country upstream and downstream from wastewater treatment plants. The main ingredient in Roundup, and its breakdown product, were frequently found.

Read on for the full 10 Reasons Not to Use Roundup presentation.

Old electronics are dumped in “digital graveyards” in countries around the world, like China and Ghana, where all of their toxic insides are purged out into massive waste yards, polluting the land and posing grave cancer, developmental, and health threats to the workers (who are often children) and other souls unfortunate enough to live near these horrifically toxic sites.

Just look at these devastating New York Times images from a computer graveyard in Ghana.

CEH works hard for computer take-back programs and responsible e-waste recycling so that this toxic, wasteful cycle doesn’t continue.