Healthy Pregnancy Classes - Simsburry / Farmington Connecticut

If you are pregnant with a goal of having a healthy chemical-free pregnancy, and are in the Simsbury / Farmington Connecticut area this classes is for you!

Do you want :

• a natural birth?
• to avoid unnecessary pain in labour?
• help planning fot the birth experience you want?
• to feel prepared even if complications or surgery is necessary?

This is a free class introducing the Bradley Method where parents learn about having healthy pregnancies and birthing experiences.

Maureen Hilsdon is a certified Bradley Method instructor, a Montessori teacher and Mom of three happy children all birthed chemical-free at home.

When: Tuesday August 19th at 6:30pm.

Where: The Cobb School, 112 Sandhill Rd. Simsbury CT.

For more information contact:

Maureen Hilsdon

maureenhilsdon@gmail.com

To find out more about the Bradley Method BradleyBirth.com

New Online Dispensary at Naturopathic Thoughts

You can now purchase your natural health products through our online dispensary. To register use the code "mynontoxiclife". Flat Rate $5 shipping across Canada.

Our professional lines include: AOR, Ascenta Nutrasea, Douglas Labs, Thorne and many more.

Avoid Vinyl Flooring: Detox Your House

Renovating? Avoid vinyl flooring. Older vinyl flooring should also be removed. The older vinyl get the more toxic dust (estrogen mimicking phthalates - which will bind to house dust) it will shed. This is really critical for preconception, pregnancy and young children.

All vinyl should be avoided, other sources include: conventional black out window coverings, vinyl blinds, and children's "play mats", vinyl rain jackets & boots, faux leather vinyl clothing, shoes, etc...

The Type of Flooring You Want to Seriously Think About Before Installing - Dr. Mercola

Serious Risks from PVC Flooring Revealed

If your home contains soft, flexible plastic flooring, such as vinyl or those padded play-mat floors for kids (often used in day cares and kindergartens, too), there’s a good chance it is made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC). One of the main problems with PVC is that it contains phthalates, or "plasticizers," which are a group of industrial chemicals used to make plastics like PVC more flexible and resilient.

They're also one of the most pervasive endocrine disrupters so far discovered. A new study conducted by Swedish researchers found levels of certain phthalates were higher in the urine of babies that had PVC flooring on their bedroom floor.¹

Researchers concluded:
“The findings indicate that the use of soft PVC as flooring material may increase the human uptake of phthalates in infants. Urinary levels of phthalate metabolites during early life are associated with the use of PVC flooring in the bedroom, body area, and the use of infant formula.This study shows that the uptake of phthalates is not only related to oral uptake from, for example, food but also to environmental factors such as building materials. This new information should be considered when designing indoor environments, especially for children.”

Together, we can change the world one home at a time. Detox Your Life.

Together, we can change the world one home at a time. Please share this video with one friend.

How Dangerous is your Couch? Detox Your House.

Most upholstered furniture, including couches, chairs, mattresses contain polyurethane foam that has been treated with a variety of chemical flame retardants.

Flame retardants are added to products to reduce the flammability to an open flame, however the benefit of chemical flame retardants does not justify the known and unknown harm caused to our children. According to the Green Science Policy Institute, Flame retardants have been linked with: 

• Reduced IQ
• Learning Disorders
• Reduced Fertility
• Thyroid disruption
• Cancer
• Antisocial behavior
• Autism
• Decreased birth weight
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Memory Loss
• Undescended testicles
• Lowered levels of male hormone

Dr.Arlene Blum is on a crusade to educate and remove dangerous flame retardants out of everyday products. The New York Times article How Dangerous is your Couch?  really put the flame retardant problem into perspective. 

“When it was baby pajamas, you could toss them out and get cotton pajamas,” Blum says. “But what can you do about your couch? How do you replace it?”

Heather Stapleton, a Duke University chemist who conducted many of the best-known studies of flame retardants, notes that foam is full of air. “So every time somebody sits on it,” she says, “all the air that’s in the foam gets expelled into the environment.” Studies have found that young children, who often play on the floor and put toys in their mouths, can have three times the levels of flame retardants in their blood as their parents. Flame retardants can also pass from mother to child through the placenta and through breast milk.

The various chemical flame retardants would not be a problem if they stayed IN the upholstered furniture. The flame retardants end up migrating out of the furniture as dust, this dust then easily makes it into our bodies and our children's bodies. 

High concentrations have been found in the bodies of creatures as geographically diverse as salmon, peregrine falcons, cats, whales, polar bears and Tasmanian devils. 

EWG... conducted the first investigation of toxic fire retardants in parents and their children, showing that toddlers and preschoolers typically had three times as much of these hormone-disrupting chemicals in their blood as their mothers. In all, the study found 11 flame retardants in the children tested.

Dr. Arlene Blum and the Green Science Policy Institute recommends:

1. Keep dust levels down by wet mopping and vacuuming with a HEPA filter.
2. Wash your hands and those of your children often, as handto mouth contact exposes us to flame retardants in dust.
3. Purchase baby products and furniture filled with cotton, polyester, or wool instead of polyurethane foam.
4. Avoid products that use polyurethane foam and have a TB117 label which likely contain chemical flame retardants.
5. Contact manufacturers to inquire whether retardants were added to products.

6. In my opinion (which I also have in my house) using a good quality air filter will also reduce dust.  IQ Air or a Blu Air filters are great investments in your health. We have 2 IQ Air Multi gas filters in our house one in our bedroom, and one in our main living space.

Additionally in the EWG's guide on Reducing Your Exposure to PBDE's* in Your Home: they also recommend:

• Be careful when removing old carpet. (The underpadding may contain flame retardants)
• Inspect foam items. Replace anything with a ripped cover or foam that is misshapen and breaking down.
• Do not reupholster foam furniture. 

Dr. Arlene Blum: Toxic Chemical Soup: Part 1

Dr. Arlene Blum: Toxic Chemical Soup: Part 2

TEDx Dr. Arlene Blum: Plastic Pollution in Our Homes