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Healthy World Watch July 11th, 2008
Janelle Sorensen
Friday, July 11, 2008
This week in the world: your life is worth less but your green home can win money, the benefits of Vitamin D and the risks of DEA, risky micromaterials and safer craft materials.
- How much is your life worth? About a million dollars less than five years ago according to the US EPA. Though it may seem like a harmless bureaucratic recalculation, the devaluation has real consequences. The less a life is worth to the government, the less the need for a regulation, such
as tighter restrictions on pollution. - Micromaterials could pose health risks. A blue-ribbon scientific panel has waved a yellow flag in front of a rapidly expanding number of products containing nanomaterials, cautioning that the tiny substances might be able to penetrate cells and interfere with biological processes. Their small size, the report says, may allow them "to usurp traditional biological protective mechanisms" and, as a result, possibly have "enhanced toxicological effects."
- Low Impact Living is about to wrap up a contest to find the lowest impact home. Submit your own home for a chance to win a $500 credit for green products and services. Also, they’ll be giving a second prize of $250 to a randomly-selected entrant, even if you’re at the very beginning of your green path! So, even if you’ve just started out, throw your hat in the ring and see where you stand!
- From soy crayons to elephant poo-poo paper, Nature Mom describes the Eco-Art Supply solutions that will protect your pint-sized Picasso’s health.
- Over at The Good Human there’s simple coverage of the chemical DEA (diethanolamine) that’s typically found in personal care products. Take a couple minutes to read this succinct summary of the potential toxicity of this common chemical.
- Good old-fashioned sunshine is proving to have a variety of benefits including healthy tooth calcification and a reduction in Type-1 diabetes and cancer.
