8-Step Green Course for Pregnant Women

Eight things you can do to protect yourself and the coming baby from toxic elements:

1. Food

Start eating whole foods. Avoid packaged foods and try to eat a varied diet that includes plenty of protein, calcium, whole grains and folic acid.

2. Water

Test the tap water at home for contaminants. A Brita-style carbon carafe pitcher will take care of most issues. Stop drinking bottled water and carry your beverages in something safer like glass or stainless steel, avoiding chemical-leaching plastic.

3. Air

You can’t always control what you’re breathing – the carpet at the bank or toxic bathroom cleaners at work – but wherever possible (in the car, at work, at home) open the windows and keep your environment as well-ventilated as possible.

4. Kitchen

Lose the Teflon and nonstick pans because they are a probable human carcinogen. Store food in glass instead of plastic, and never microwave food with plastic wrap on it or in plastic containers.

5. Beauty Products

Stop using the ones with chemicals that are potentially harmful to a fetus. This takes more effort than eating organic because, regardless of what their label claims, there’s no certification process for these products. Go to the "Skin Deep" section at the Environmental Working Group site and enter the name of your preferred cosmetic into a database for a rating of its ingredients.

6. Cleaning Products and Insecticides

The ingredients in non-green cleaners are often toxic, not to mention considered trade secrets and rarely listed. Most green products will list their ingredients, and less is usually more. Apply the same approach to any fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides you use to garden.

7. Renovation
Resist the urge to renovate, unless you're able to be out of the house for the duration of the work, and then some. There are toxins in the paint, dust, caulk and glue that you shouldn’t inhale while gestating, and there are too many potentially toxic dusts and chemicals unearthed when you start tearing things apart. Also replace crumbling foam in cushions – they contain brominated flame retardants (PBDE’s) that can negatively affect brain function.

8. Testing
Test your home for contaminants like radon and lead and carbon monoxide, and paint over any chipping lead paint with a zero-VOC fresh paint.

Source: The Environmental Working Group

Safer Cosmetics for Kids

According to a study by the Environmental Working Group, children are exposed to an average of 61 different chemical ingredients every day, and 27 of these ingredients have not been found safe for children by the government or the cosmetic industry's expert safety panel.

Gaps in health protections leave children exposed to potentially harmful ingredients when their developing tissues and organs are sensitive to chemical damage. Children's skin is 30% thinner than an adults', on average, and can absorb greater amounts of chemicals from the skin surface. They breathe in more air (and air contaminants) relative to their weight than adults, and the blood-brain barrier that helps block chemicals from penetrating brain tissue is not fully formed until a baby reaches 6 months of age.

Top Four Tips:

1.Use fewer products and use them less frequently.
2. Don’t trust the claims. Check ingredients.
3. Buy fragrance-free products.
4. Visit cosmeticsdatabase.com.

Check the Parent's Buying Guide released by EWG. It provides recommendations on choosing safer products for your children.