Environmental Issues: Health

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All Documents in Health Tagged consumer products

Protecting People from Unsafe Chemicals
Reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act
Overview

More than 80,000 chemicals now in use have never been fully assessed for toxic impacts on human health and the environment. The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), enacted in 1976, has failed to regulate the chemical industry and does not protect the public from exposure to unsafe chemicals. Congress must enact strong legislation to reform TSCA.

Harmful Pet Products
FAQ

Answers to questions including: How can I tell which pet products contain dangerous chemicals? Which products should I buy? How can I tell if my child or pet has been harmed by these pet pesticides?

Pet Products May Harm Both Pets and Humans
Products intended to kill fleas and ticks can also poison pets and the people who handle them.
News

Americans purchase and apply to their pets a vast array of toxic chemicals intended to kill fleas and ticks. Though consumers may assume that these products have been tested rigorously for safety, the truth is that the poisons in many of these products are not safe, either for pets or humans.

Poison on Pets II
Toxic Chemicals in Flea and Tick Collars
Issue Paper

Americans spend more than $1 billion each year on products designed to kill fleas and ticks on household pets, especially dogs and cats. While some of these products are safe, others leave harmful chemical residues on pets' fur and in our homes. This April 2009 paper details a first-of-its-kind study by NRDC showing that high levels of pesticide residue can remain on a dog's or cat's fur for weeks after a flea collar is put on an animal.

Hidden Hazards in Air Fresheners
NRDC testing finds hormone-altering chemicals in common air fresheners.
News

Over the past few years, air fresheners have become a staple in many American homes and offices, marketed with promises of a clean, healthy and sweet-smelling indoor atmosphere. The labels do not mention, however, that many of these products also release potentially hazardous chemicals.

Clearing the Air
Hidden Hazards of Air Fresheners
Issue Paper

Air fresheners have become a staple in many American homes and offices, marketed with the promise of creating a clean, healthy and sweet-smelling indoor atmosphere. But this September 2007 issue paper shows that many of these products contain phthalates -- hazardous chemicals known to cause hormonal abnormalities, birth defects, and reproductive problems.

Safe Ways to Control Pests Around Your Home
These alternatives to toxic pesticides will protect the health of your household, while keeping insects, rodents and other pests at bay.
Guide

These alternatives to toxic pesticides will protect the health of your household, while keeping insects, rodents and other pests at bay.

Poisons on Pets
Health Hazards from Flea and Tick Products
Report

This report highlights the potential health hazards to humans and pets from flea collars and other flea and tick control products. The report recommends that the EPA ban the use of an entire class of these products -- those using organophosphates. It also offers recommendations for pet owners on combating fleas and ticks with a variety of simple non-chemical steps and/or by applying safer products, including insect growth regulators.

How to Protect Your Children from Environmental Risks
Pollution-related illnesses may be on the rise, but there are things parents can do.
Guide

Pollution-related illnesses are on the rise, increasing concerns about the role environmental toxins might play in diseases, especially in children, as rates of asthma and childhood cancers increase. There are steps you can take to protect your children from the five worst environmental threats to their health: lead, air pollution, pesticides, environmental tobacco smoke, and drinking water contamination.

Our Children At Risk
The Five Worst Environmental Threats to Their Health
Report

A report identifying the special vulnerability of children to environmental hazards and highlighting the growing evidence pointing to a link between pollution and childhood illnesses. The report makes recommendations, at both the policy and personal levels, for the protection of the next generation.

The Story of Silent Spring
How a courageous woman took on the chemical industry and raised important questions about humankind's impact on nature.
History

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962) was one of the landmark books of the 20th century. It described how DDT entered the food chain and accumulated in the fatty tissues of animals, including humans, causing cancer and genetic damage. Silent Spring not only exposed the hazards of the pesticide DDT, but eloquently questioned humanity's faith in technological progress and helped set the stage for the environmental movement that followed.

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