I have a confession. I’ve known for a long, long time that Teflon coated surfaces are not so good for you – I have actually pretty actively avoided reading too much about it, but I knew it. It’s sort of hard to ignore – when the studies funded by the makers themselves show the risks.  You shouldn’t use it around birds because it can kill them. Canaries in coal mines, people – you don’t need to read a book like “Slow Death by Rubber Duck” [...]

Triclosan is a commonly used anti-bacterial agent – it shows up in things like hand-soap, deodorant… and even toothpaste. Bacteria is germs and germs make you sick – so killing them (especially in a household overrun with those little Petri dishes called children) sounds like a good plan. For years, I was the anti-bacterial queen. During the SARS scare (remember that one?), I had a hand sanitizer in every pocket…. and a spray for every surface. Many billions have no doubt been made on that [...]

Boobies in the news for the week ending November 26: three views of milk-sharing, oxytocin as a sales tool & false reporting in breastfeeding research.

Why you should choose something other than Nestle candy for Hallowe’en…

A rare formula-focussed news roundup – don’t get too used to it.

More adventures in ‘alternative’ laundry, including making fake iced tea with soapnuts and tricking my old-school cleaning lady into using them.

Why bad regulation of babywearing in the US matters even if you don’t live there or even buy from there.

So it ends up that the US actually does have barium limits on toys introduced as part of the Feb 2009 overhaul (you might remember it caused a huge uproar on etsy due to testing requirements that put a lot of small crafts people out of business). While the regulatory body hasn’t been testing, the Canadian test results would put the toys above the current US limits as well, it’s just not being enforced. I don’t have the energy to retype it all and zrecommends [...]

Thoughts on Melissa & Doug recall of toys due to barium levels in paint and what it means as bigger signal to consumers.

With Health Canada finally taking the sensible position on BPA, there are lots of worried parents out there, both because of what they may have been outwittingly exposed their children to and because of the significant cost of replacing all their bottles, sippy cups and even breast pumps. Add to this the fact that the #7 plastic is not easily recycled and most municipalities don’t accept it and what you’ve got a big heap of garbage! There is a huge long list of items that [...]