Healthy Holidays with Safer States

As we wrap up this year, Safer States wishes you and your families a very happy and healthy holiday.

As you are celebrating with your families, please remember to keep them happy by following a few simple tips for gift buying and setting your dinner table this holiday.

1. Use the Healthy Stuff website to check for toxic chemical levels in the toys that you buy. The folks at healthy stuff have researched over 5,000 children’s products to see if they are contaminated with potentially harmful chemicals.

2. Choose fresh, local and organic foods for your Christmas dinner. Avoid as many pesticides as possible in your Christmas dinner by choosing organic foods. Pesticides often contain neurotoxins which, in high concentrations have been known to affect nervous system development, cognition and behavior.

Can’t afford to buy all organic? Concentrate on avoiding the Dirty Dozen —foods with the most pesticides, and use your budget to purchase those with the organic seal. The Environmental Working Group has identified the “dirty dozen” to be: peaches, apples, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce, imported grapes, carrots and pears.

By choosing fresh and local foods, you will be avoiding canned and packaged foods as much as possible. Cans contain bisphenol-A which has been linked to cancer, heart disease, obesity, and reproductive failure and causes problems with healthy development of children.

3. Washington Toxics sends along a reminder to dress up your table in a toxic free way. They say:

“Create all the frills without the fuss by choosing natural and homemade decorations. Avoid place mats and table settings that include vinyl. Vinyl has been found to contain lead and phthalates, unwelcome guests at any table! Many alternatives are safer for our health. Use natural materials, such as pine cones or multi-colored corn cobs, or check out Green Living for more ideas about how to decorate with in an eco-friendly way.”

4. Check out the Moms Rising Healthy Holiday Guide. Among many terrific tips, they remind us to assess our cleaning supplies, and make sure that lipsticks we buy as gifts don’t have lead.

Best wishes to you and your families!