Fawn Pattison’s Posts

• Littler kids, bigger risks

  New report details pesticide over-use in child care centers 0

  Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago

  You make your home as green as you can -- but what happens when Jr. heads off to daycare? Fawn Pattison explains the risks, and what you can do.

• Candy-shaped rat poison on its way out

  EPA gives manufacturers three years to adjust to new regulations designed to protect children 6

  Posted 1 year, 5 months ago

  The U.S. EPA announced today that it would be tightening up the safety requirements on ten nasty rodenticides that are blamed for poisoning around 10,000 children -- mostly black and Latino inner-city kids -- every year. Those ten chemicals will no longer be available in the form of little pellets that look like candy, and that small children are so prone to stick in their mouths. The new rules will require non-agricultural users of rat poison to use it only inside tamper-resistant bait stations designed to protect kids.

  This is great news, and a long time in coming. There's… Read More

• Say goodbye to 'cides

  Home Depot announces an end to traditional pesticide sales in Canada 1

  Posted 1 year, 6 months ago

  For consumers concerned about pervasive toxics in the environment, this has been a very good Earth Week.  Especially if you live in Canada.

  Home Depot announced this week that it would stop selling "traditional" lawn and garden pesticides in all its Canadian stores.

  The reason? Consumers don't want them anymore. People in Canada seem to have discovered that you don't need to spread poisons around your yard in order to garden. Amazing! A huge part of that awakening is happening because of committed advocates, particularly from the public health community, that have helped lead hundreds of local by-laws… Read More

• Slurps of joy

  Nalgene dumps estrogenic ingredient 6

  Posted 1 year, 6 months ago

  Have you been fretting over the reports of gender-bending pollutants leaching from reusable water bottles? Finally, some good news: Nalgene is dumping polycarbonate plastic, according to a report in The New York Times today.

  Nalgene made its decision in response to Health Canada's announcement earlier this week that it would list bisphenol A as a toxicant. BPA is the estrogenic plastic additive that makes polycarbonate a dubious choice for food and beverage containers. Grist reported earlier this week that the National Institutes of Health is also expressing increased concern about the chemical, which has been… Read More

• Got food?

  Farmworker Awareness Week is a chance to recognize the people whose labor means we can eat 2

  Posted 1 year, 7 months ago

  This is Farmworker Awareness Week, a time to support the millions of farmworkers whose labor puts food on every American table, and who work and live in some of the worst environmental conditions in our nation.

  It's estimated that 2 to 3 million farmworkers plant, tend, and harvest American crops every year. Many farmworkers in the U.S. are migrants who move from place to place following the harvest. Where I live, in North Carolina, migrant farmworkers are the majority. The average annual income for a farmworker in the United States is about $11,000, or about $16,000 for a farmworking… Read More

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Fawn Pattison’s Recent Comments

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  Targeting kids & parents

  The Corn Refiners Association has been aggressively targeting worried parents with a series of ads in parenting and health markets disputing the public health campaigns against high-fructose corn syrup.  

  I can't wait to see their spin on this one.  I wonder how long before they start sowing doubt about the risk of mercury in your kid's popsicle. "Wow, you get your hair done by an environmental toxicologist?"  On The FDA sat on evidence of mercury-tainted high-fructose corn syrup posted 9 months, 2 weeks ago 13 Responses

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  reusables for the cheapskates

  I love the reusable pads, not least because they are so cheap compared to disposables.  I've got a Glad Rag, a few indie pads made by crafty ladies, and a few I've made myself from old flannel shirts, and they've all held up well for going on 10 years.  

  Here's a great tutorial on making your own rags (possibly the simplest sewing project you'll ever try):
  http://sewgreen.blogspot.com/2007/05/cloth-pads.htmlOn A review of eco-minded feminine products posted 12 months ago 46 Responses

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  I like the pine

  My cat has been doing his business on Feline Pine for many years and is a big fan.  We use the old-school original style.  I like that the bag includes instructions for slowly transitioning your cat over from your old litter to avoid rejection tragedies like the Unfortunate Comforter Incident of 08.On A review of non-clay cat litters posted 1 year, 1 month ago 32 Responses

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  Rats are not cool

  I just have to respond to the last comment.  If you were talking to someone who lived in west Harlem and actually had to deal with rats in their apartment building, I don't think you'd be talking about "tough love."  In urban areas where rats are a problem, they are key residents of an out-of-whack ecosystem characterized by crumbling infrastructure and horrible garbage-removal services.  It may be better to direct one's "heartless prejudice" at sleazy landlords or misguided city budget-writers.  But I sense a bit of heartlessness in caniscandida's comment towards those who have to suffer both the rats and the environments that give rise to them.On EPA gives manufacturers three years to adjust to new regulations designed to protect children posted 1 year, 5 months ago 6 Responses

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  Thank you Pricey!

  We are so lucky to have Rep. Harrison in our state house!On North Carolina bill would ban burning of coal from mountaintop-removal mining posted 1 year, 5 months ago 7 Responses