Safer For Your Home And Self

Live environmentally friendly, healthy, and helpful. Be happy!

There’s been a lot of talk about white and blue-collar workers, and you may have even heard of gold collar workers, but lately a new color of collar is making its way into China’s urban vernacular — green.

Green collars say no when work is life and life is work. They choose to get out of the fast lane, and explore new ways of living ‘green.’

Living green doesn’t mean someone is working as an environmentalist, biologist or scientist. Instead it is more of a lifestyle choice. A typical green collar is well educated like a white-collar but physically tough like a blue-collar, likely born in the 70s or 80s and living in one of China’s big cities, with a monthly income well above 5,000 yuan (about US$605).

The life of a green collar may go something like this: turn off the mobile phone after work, eat only healthy food rich in vitamins, go out on hikes every weekend, and like to help the underprivileged.

Green collars even have their own club. In Beijing, the Green Collar Club is for people who share a “be happy, healthy and helpful” spirit. The Club often holds charity parties and uses the donations for environmental protection and poverty relief projects in China.

“They are successful in their careers, but do not miss the pleasures in life. They have a lot of money, but do not fall slave to it,” said Zuo Shiguang, one of the founding members of the club.

Source: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn

This is such a great article. After reading it I “felt” happy and healthy. Some excellent thought here.
DON’T MISS THE PLEASURES IN LIFE!
Many moms do just that! Yes our children are our pleasures but how many moms (and dads) put themselves last?? Make the time to enjoy life’s pleasures.

www.StayAtHomeAndSucceed.com

Linda

INSTITUTE FOR CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
a project of the Tides Center
1646 Dow Road Freeland, WA 98249 (360) 331-7904 Fax: (360) 331-7908 iceh@iceh.org www.iceh.org
CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH FACT SHEET
Our World is a Toxic Soup WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN?
 Approximately 80,000 synthetic chemicals have been developed for use in the marketplace,
a great majority of which did not exist before the 1940s. (1)
 More than 1500 new chemicals are introduced annually. (2)
 The Toxics Release Inventory for 1997 reveals that a total of 2.58 billion pounds of toxic
chemicals were released in the U.S. by facilities required to report. This does not include
toxic chemicals incorporated into products, or pesticides, which amounted to another 4.5
billion pounds. (3)
 Of the 15,000 of the chemicals registered for commercial use with the Environmental
Protection Agency had moderate to high potential for human exposure. Less than half of
these had been tested for toxicity at all, and fewer than 20% had been tested for toxicity in
developing organisms. (4)
 Complete tests for developmental neurotoxicity have been submitted to the EPA for only 12
chemicals as of December 1998 and testing for developmental neurotoxicity is not required.
(5)
 None have been tested so far for their human health effects when they interact with one
another and we are all exposed to dozens if not hundreds of chemicals in any given day. (6)
 As testing procedures become more sophisticated, we are learning that lower and lower
doses can be harmful, particularly to vulnerable populations like children. For example, the
“safe” blood lead level has gone from 60 micrograms/deciliter (ug/dl) in 1960, to 10 ug/d/ in
1990, to current studies which suggest that lead may have no identifiable exposure level that
is safe to the developing brain. (7)
Children are Uniquely Vulnerable to Toxins
 Proportional to body weight, children eat, breathe, and drink more than adults, and thus take
in far higher concentrations of the toxins in our environment. For example, proportionally
they drink seven times more water and take in twice as much air as adults on average. (8)
 As children’s bodies and biological systems developespecially in the womb and as
newbornsthey are uniquely vulnerable to damage from toxic substances. (9)
 For example, small single doses of certain pesticides on critical days of a child’s
development can cause lifelong impacts on brain and body function, from learning
disabilities such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to reproductive
problems. (10)
 Many neurotoxicants, such as mercury, dioxin and PCBs, bioaccumulate in body fat and are
passed on from mother to child in utero or through breast milk. (11)
Chronic Childhood Illness is on a Dramatic Rise
 The incidence of cancer in children jumped 26% between 1975 and 1998. (12)
 The incidence of testicular cancer in young men has increased by 60% and the incidence of
hypospadias (abnormal positioning of the opening of the urethra on the penis) in newborn
boys doubled from 1968 to 1993. (13)
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 The percentage of U.S. children with asthma doubled from 3.6% to 7.5% between 1980 and
1995. In 2001, 8.7% (6.3 million) of all U.S. children had asthma. (14)
 It is estimated that nearly 12 million U.S. children (17%) under the age of 18 suffer from
one or more learning, developmental, or behavioral disabilities. (15)
 Autism in the U.S. doubled between 1966 and 1997. (16)
 In 1997 to 2000, 6.7% of children ages 5 to 17 were reported to have been diagnosed with
ADHD. (17)
 One million children in the US exceed 10 ug/dl blood lead level exposure that affects
behavior and cognition and 36% of those children are African-American and live in inner
cities. (18)
Health-affected Children Have a Huge Social Impact
 The impact of children’s learning and developmental disorders on children and families is
immense. Parents, teachers, school administrators, and communities spend increasing
amounts of time, money and energy trying to help children acquire skills that once came
more naturally. For example, providing special education services to students with
disabilities amounted to $77.3 billion, or an average of $12,474 per student in 1999-2000,
which is almost 22 percent of the 1999-2000 total spending on all elementary and secondary
educational services in the U.S. The total expenditure per regular education student is only
$6,556. (19)
 Children with these disorders are more likely to engage in substance abuse, become
delinquent, commit crimes as adults, and have higher rates of suicide and mental illness.
Thirty-one percent of adolescents with learning disabilities will be arrested 3 to 5 years
after leaving high school. Fifty percent of juvenile delinquents tested were found to have
undetected learning disabilities. The cost of juvenile incarceration is between $35,000 and
$60,000 per year per person. (20)
 Overall, economic costs for society of neurodevelopmental deficits amount to $81.5
billion to $167 billion per year (Environmental Health Perspectives 109 (supplement 6):885-
903. 2001. (21)
We Need To Take Action Now
 Protecting our children from preventable and potentially harmful exposures requires a
precautionary policy that can only occur with basic changes in the regulatory process.
Remaining scientific uncertainties should not delay precautionary actions.
 We need to take preventative actions by developing and using alternatives to the
substances known to contribute to learning disabilities, asthma, cancer and other childhood
diseases. These actions can start at home!
 We need more mandated support for research on environmental contributors to these
chronic childhood diseases.
_________
Compiled 2003 by the Institute for Children’s Environmental Health; www.iceh.org; 360-331-7904
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Sources for Children’s Environmental Health Fact Sheet
1. Approximately 80,000 synthetic chemicals are in use in the U.S. marketplace, a great majority of
which did not exist before the 1940s. U.S. EPA. Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances.
Endocrine Disruptor Screening and Testing Advisory Committee. Final Report. Washington DC. 1998.
2. As many as 1500 new chemicals are introduced annually. Oleskey, Christopher, PhD and McCally,
Michael, MD, A Guide to Biomonitoring and Body Burdens of Industrial Chemicals, Center for
Children’s Health and the Environment, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 2001.
3. The EPA Toxics Release Inventory for 1997 reveals that a total of 2.58 billion pounds of toxic
chemicals were released in the U.S. by facilities required to report. U.S. EPA, 1997 Toxics Release
Inventory Public Data Release, May 13, 1999. This does not include toxic chemicals incorporated
into products, or pesticides, which amounted to another 4.5 billion pounds. In Harm’s Way: Toxic
Threats to Child Development, 2000; Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility. Pages 105-6.
4. 15,000 of the chemicals registered for commercial use with the Environmental Protection Agency
had moderate to high potential for human exposure. Less than half of these had been tested for
toxicity at all, and fewer than 20% had been tested for toxicity in developing organisms.
Commission on Life Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Toxicity Testing: Strategies to Determine
Needs and Priorities. National Academy Press, Washington DC 1984.
5. Complete tests for developmental neurotoxicity had been submitted to the EPA for only 12
chemicals as of December 1998 and testing for developmental neurotoxicity is not required. U.S.
EPA. Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. Endocrine Disruptor Screening and Testing
Advisory Committee. Final Report. Washington DC. 1998.
6. None have been tested for their health effects as they interact with one another. “Oleskey,
Christopher, PhD and McCally, Michael, MD, A Guide to Biomonitoring and Body Burdens of Industrial
Chemicals, Center for Children’s Health and the Environment, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York,
NY 2001.
7. As testing procedures advance, we learn that lower and lower doses are harmful. For example, the
initial “safe” blood lead level was set at 60 micrograms/deciliter (ug/dl) in 1960. This was revised
down to 10 ug/dl in 1990. Current studies suggest that lead may have no identifiable exposure level
that is safe to the developing brain. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1997. Integrated Risk
Information System (IRIS) Risk Information for Lead and Compounds (Inorganic). Washington, DC:
National Center for Environmental Assessment. http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0277.htm#reforal. And:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1991. Preventing Lead Poisoning in Young Children.
Atlanta, GA. http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/publications/pub_Reas.htm. CDC report references:
Schwartz J. Low-level lead exposure and children’s IQ: a meta-analysis and search for a threshold.
Environ 1994;65:42–55.
8. Proportional to body weight, children eat, breathe, and drink more than adults, and thus take in
far higher concentrations of the toxins in our environment. National Academy of Sciences:
Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1993.
Landrigan, PJ, Carlson JE: Environmental policy and children’s health. The Future of Children
1995;5:34-52.
9. As children’s bodies and biological systems developespecially in the womb and as
newbornsthey are uniquely vulnerable to damage from toxic substances. For example,
according to EPA estimates, about 1.16 million women in the U.S. of childbearing years eat
sufficient amounts of mercury-contaminated fish to risk damaging their children’s brain
development. EPA. Mercury Study Report to Congress. Volume 1, p.3-39. EPA-452/R-97-003. 12/97.
10. For example, small single doses of certain pesticides on critical days of a child’s development can
cause lifelong impacts on brain and body function, from learning disabilities such as Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to reproductive problems. Guillette, E.A. et al. “An
Anthropological Approach to the Evaluation of Preschool Children Exposed to Pesticides in Mexico,”
Environmental Health Perspectives (1998) 106:347-353.
4
11. Many neurotoxicants, such as mercury, dioxin and PCBs, bioaccumulate in body fat and are
passed on from mother to child in utero or through breast milk. Rogan, W.J. et al. “Pollutants in
Breast Milk,” New England J. Med. (1980) 302:1450-1453. Labreche, F.P. and M.S. Goldberg.
“Exposure to Organic Solvents and Breast Cancer in Women: A Hypothesis,” Am. J. Industrial Med.
(1997) 32:1-14. Schreiber, J.S. “Predicted Infant Exposure to Tetrachloroethylene in Human Breast
Milk,” Risk Analysis (1993) 13:515-524.
12. The incidence of cancer in children jumped 26% between 1975 and 1998. America’s Children and
the Environment: Measures of Contaminants, Body Burdens, and Illnesses, 2003, U.S. EPA, Pages 13
and 77. http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/publications.htm.
13. The incidence of testicular cancer in young men has increased by 60% and the incidence of
hypospadias (abnormal positioning of the urethra on the penis) in newborn boys doubled from
1968 to 1993. Environmental Health Threats to Children: A Look at the Facts; Dr. Phillip J. Landrigan,
http://www.informinc.org/fact_children.php from information under the auspices of the Office of
Children’s Health Protection of the US Environmental Protection Agency.
14. The percentage of U.S. children with asthma doubled from 3.6% to 7.5% between 1980 and 1995.
America’s Children and the Environment: Measures of Contaminants, Body Burdens, and Illnesses,
2003, U.S. EPA, Pages 13 and 69. In 2001, 8.7% (6.3 million) of all U.S. children had asthma.
America’s Children and the Environment: Measures of Contaminants, Body Burdens, and Illnesses,
2003, U.S. EPA, Pages 13 and 69.
15. It is estimated that nearly 12 million U.S. children (17%) under the age of 18 suffer from one or
more learning, developmental, or behavioral disabilities. Boyle CA, Decoufle P, Yeargin-Allsopp M.
Prevalence and health impact of developmental disabilities in US children. - Pediatrics March 93(3):399-
403, 1994; and U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Washington DC.
www.census.gov/population/estimate/nation/inttfile2-1.txt.
16. Autism in the U.S. doubled between 1966 and 1997. Gillberg C, Wing L, Autism: not an extremely
rare disorder. Acta Psychiatry Scand 99(6):339-406, 1999.
17. In 1997 to 2000, 6.7% of children ages 5 to 17 were reported to have been diagnosed with ADHD.
America’s Children and the Environment: Measures of Contaminants, Body Burdens, and Illnesses,
2003, U.S. EPA, Pages 14 and 96.
18. One million children in the US exceed 10 ug/dl blood lead level exposure that affects behavior and
cognition. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Update: Blood lead levels-United States, 1991-
1994. MMWR 1997; 46(07):141-146.
19. The impact of children’s learning and developmental disorders on children and families is
immense. Parents, teachers, school administrators, and communities spend increasing amounts of
time, money and energy trying to help children acquire skills that once came more naturally. For
example, providing special education services to students with disabilities amounted to $77.3
billion, or an average of $12,474 per student in 1999-2000, which is almost 22 percent of the 1999-
2000 total spending on all elementary and secondary educational services in the U.S. The total
expenditure per regular education student is only $6,556. U.S. Department of Education 1999-2000
Report, American Institutes for Research. March 2002.
20. Children with these disorders are more likely to engage in substance abuse, become delinquent,
commit crimes as adults, and have higher rates of suicide and mental illness. Thirty-one percent of
adolescents with learning disabilities will be arrested 3 to 5 years after leaving high school. Fifty
percent of juvenile delinquents tested were found to have undetected learning disabilities. The cost
of juvenile incarceration is between $35,000 and $60,000 per year per person. Dickman GE. The link
between learning disabilities and behavior. In Cramer SC, Ellis E (eds.). Learning disabilities: Lifelong
issues. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company, Inc., Baltimore, 1996. Pgs. 215-228. Wagner M, Newman
L et. al. In Cramer SC. Ellis E (eds.). Learning disabilities: Lifelong issues. Paul H. Brookes Publishing
company, Inc., Baltimore; 1996. P.xxx (introduction); McGee TP. Reducing school behavior and
preventing criminal behavior, In Cramer SC. Ellis E (eds.). Learning disabilities: Lifelong issues. Paul
H. Brookes Publishing company, Inc., Baltimore; 1996. Pgs. 229-233.
21. Overall, economic costs for society of neurodevelopmental deficits amount to $81.5 billion to $167
billion per year. Environmental Health Perspectives 109 (supplement 6):885-903 (2001).

www.LindaBlanco.HealthyHomeTour.com

I just wanted to tell all moms, you are a work at home mom. Many think having a business is what it means to be a “work at home mom”. Moms work all day long from their homes, cleaning, running errands, cooking, homework and general household tasks.
Some woman work outside the home AND at home. Imagine what they are worth IF they were paid for their work at home and outside JOB. Ladies I suggest you take a look at the many home businesses out there that encourage you to work a business around your current work at home life as a mom! This way YOU control your time and income. You even have control of your raises!
www.ImaginePerfectBalance.com