As a redhead with blue eyes, I have to be very careful about going into the sun. I don’t tan; I burn!
I’m very wary about the chemicals that are used in typical sunscreens. Many of these chemicals, such as oxybenzone, vitamin A (retinyl) palmitate, fragrance, parabens and phthalates, cause endocrine or neurological damage.
However, I believe it’s important to get some sun so I can activate the cholesterol in my skin and turn it into vitamin D. There’s a vitamin D deficiency in this country that is especially high in kids with autism as well as other autoimmune diseases.
The trick is to get a little bit of sun for maybe 10 minutes or so, right before my skin turns pink, and then put some safe sunscreen on.
How do you know if you have a safe sunscreen? Check out the Environmental Working Group’s Guide to Sunscreens. The EWG is my go-to source checking the safety rating of personal-care products, cleaning products, cellphones and produce.
About two thirds of the sunscreens tested contain toxic ingredients!
Formaldehyde in Johnson and Johnson products? For decades, Americans have come to believe that Johnson and Johnson’s products are perhaps the best choice for their babies. I know that when my boys were little, I was given lots of little samples of their shampoos, body washes and powders for babies.
I’m sorry to say that most people just don’t know this. I didn’t either, despite the fact that it was published by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in 2005, the year my older son was born.
They’re oh so cute, but oh so toxic. 75% of children’s Disney, Spider-Man and Dora the Explorer back-to-school products had high levels of phthalates. Phthalates give plastics that “rubber ducky” feel.
What? Yep, french fries and any other browned, starchy foods like potato chips and cereal contain acrylamides, which are both neurotoxic and carcinogenic.
Shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico is widely contaminated with carcinogens. 53% of sampled shrimp contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as xylene, toluene and benzene, which are carcinogenic.
New research shows that radiation emitted from cell phones may damage DNA and disrupt DNA repair, which could ultimately lead to cancer.
A new study strengthens the tie between breast cancer and toxic exposures to plastics and carcinogens in the workplace.
Aspartame-sweetened sodas exposed to higher temperatures turn into poisonous wood alcohol (methanol). Methanol turns into carcinogenic formaldehyde, which can cause multiple sclerosis. 
