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New Onesies Available!

If you're looking for the perfect baby shower gift for Mother's Day, search no more!

Our new onesies are now available in the MOMS store! These cuties feature a cartoon baby face with tagline "Don't mess with my milk!" in purple on the front, with MOMS logo in black on the back. These gender-neutral sage green onesies are made by Hae Now with 100 % organic cotton using non-toxic dyes and a certified sustainable process. Available in the MOMS store now for just $16. 


Good hygiene decreases exposure to toxic chemicals

PBDE flame retardants can stick to people's hands, suggesting that hand-to-mouth contact may be a major route of exposure.

We all know that we can reduce our risk of exposure to viruses and bacteria by washing our hands before we eat. New research in ES&T (DOI: 10.1021/es7029625) suggests that good hygiene may also help protect people—especially children—from taking up persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from everyday objects like TVs and cell phones.

A team led jointly by Heather Stapleton, an assistant professor at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment, and Tom Webster, associate chairman of the Boston University School of Public Health's environmental health department, measured the concentrations of PBDE flame retardants on the hands of 33 U.S. volunteers, including 6 children. They used sterile gauze pads in a hand-wipe procedure developed for assessing exposure to contaminants like pesticides in occupational settings.

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Safe Alternatives to Baby Lotions and Wipes

Simple ways to avoid phthalates

By Deirdre Dolan
The Daily Green

Phthalates (a group of synthetic chemicals that act as a softening agent) have been getting more bad press lately. A recent article in the February issue of Pediatrics about how infants are exposed to phthalates in baby lotions, cream and wipes got me thinking. I’m moving to an apartment with a bigger kitchen in a few weeks and I’ll be able to set up a changing area close to the kitchen sink so that I can hold my daughters under the faucet instead of using wipes. A French pediatrician in lower Manhattan named Michel Cohen recommends this to all his new moms, and a friend of mine said it’s worked for her. "He calls it 'ze waterfall,'" she said. "It gets them way cleaner than wipes, and cuts down on diaper rash."

The study in the February issue of Pediatrics, led by Sheela Sathyanarayana, looked at the relationship between phthalate metabolite concentrations in the urine of infants whose moms used infant care products on them. They measured nine phthalate metabolites in 163 infants and found that 81% of the phthalate metabolites were above the limit of detection and that "most associations were stronger in younger infants." Other studies have found that some phthalates can interfere with male reproductive development and cause early female puberty.

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Environmental Toxins, Radiation May Be Tied to Breast Cancer

Exposure to plasticizers and other chemicals in childhood may hike adult cancer risks, report says

WEDNESDAY, March 19 (HealthDay News) -- In the decades following World War II, both breast cancer rates and the use of synthetic chemicals soared in the United States -- and a new report contends there's a strong connection between the two.

Produced by the Breast Cancer Fund, a non-profit group whose mission is to identify environmental links to breast cancer, The State of the Evidence: 2008 concludes toxic chemicals in the environment, along with increased radiation exposure, are the main culprits in the sharp rise of breast cancer incidence.

The report cautions that "in-utero" [in the womb] and early childhood exposure to carcinogens through plasticizers, estrogen-mimicking substances and other chemicals may increase the risk of breast cancer in adult life.

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