Looking for answers...what can we do?

So what's the solution?

Basically, don't buy or use furniture.

At least furniture made in California. Or made to California standards. (See my previous post on toxic furniture.)

Ok, that's impossible.

Sandra Steingraber says early puberty doesn't only mean higher risk of cancer. Anxiety, suicide, depression, unintended pregnancy are also risks for early maturation of girls. Early maturing boys tends to accrue benefits like leadership and good grades. We have the longest childhood of any mammal. As young children we have a great deal of cognitive plasticity. We are designed to learn, particularly before puberty. Abstract thinking comes later, but mind body learning happens before puberty. So what does it mean for girls when childhoods are shortened? We're hijacking the well-being of our girls. Now toss some race and class on that little nugget. You get the picture, and yes, it's pretty depressing.

So what can consumers and producers actually do?

MBDC has a green chemical database which labels a long list of chemical inputs into industrial manufacturing with red, yellow, or green environmental rating. This Cradle to Cradle Design Protocol would be really useful if it were used broadly by furniture manufacturers. At the GSB, I worked with 3 classmates on a project to examine the impact of changing the chemical ingredients in a chair manufactured by Herman Miller. The bottom line of that study was that the switch to safer inpu saved the company money, fostered innovation, added to the marketability of the chair.

There's lots of information out there for consumers on this topic. It's pretty tough to avoid the toxic chemical ingredients, but at least we can educate ourselves.

Read Mark Shapiro's book Exposed to learn more.

Take a look this site, for a list of actions consumers can take:

Womens Health and Environment

Peggy Shepard of Columbia University has done some great work around environmental justice and the intersections of race and class and environmental toxicity. There are differential impacts on the accumulation of toxins and harms across race and class. Duh.

An audience member mentioned heavy metal chelation therapy as something to learn about if you've had a heavy metal exposure.

Basically, we have to change the rules.