Fwd: Ideal Bite: Stick Up

July 13, 2009

Ideal Bite <daily

cyndikrall

Mon, Jul 13, 2009 3:31 am

Ideal Bite: Stick Up

July 13, 2009

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PFC CHEMICALS

Stick Up

PFCs can be hard to avoid in certain products, but the benefits of a healthier life and planet outweigh the extra few minutes you'll spend shopping around.

Are stealthy chems robbing your health? Never fear - just hold up on using products with perfluorocarbons (PFCs), commonly found in stain guards, beauty products, and nonstick pans - there are plenty of alternatives. Neighborhood, watch:

Not mugging your well-being. Kinda scary, we know, but studies have linked PFCs to organ damage and hormone disruption, and they accumulate in our bodies and circulate there for years.

Planetary 911. PFCs never fully break down in nature; in gas form they warm the atmosphere up to 6,500 times more effectively than carbon dioxide (read: they cause global warming); and the EPA is looking to phase them out in many products.

Jen turned down the free stain guard treatment for her new sofa on a hunch that it wasn't eco or healthy. So we researched this tip in part just to confirm, and lo and beholdâ€¦

Avoid stain-resistant treatments on carpets, clothing, and furniture, or buy products that aren't stain-guarded and apply a non-PFC-based option such as Nikwax yourself.

Check your personal care product labels for "PFTE" or "perfluoro" in the ingredients, and avoid them when you can (lotions, nail polish, powders, and shaving cream often contain them).

Lower your greasy food intake - foods like French fries and microwave popcorn sometimes come wrapped in PFC-treated packaging.

Kick your Teflon cookware habit in favor of other, greener nonstick or cast iron options./ UL>

Environmental Working Group - check out lists of products and manufacturers that use PFCs.