Smart Mama, Scary Book

I would like to QUOTE from this article (entire words in CAPITAL LETTERS are my emphases, I have made no other changes):
"That's why I'm always looking to experts for the best ways to combine MY parenting OBSESSIONS. So when a colleague handed me Smart Mama's GREEN Guide: Simple Steps to Reduce Your Child's TOXIC CHEMICAL EXPOSURE, a new book by Jennifer Taggart, my radar immediately went up . Finally, some tips on how to keep Gabe safe in a world surrounded by INDUSTRIAL dangers."
Sounds like Raina Kelley's actually glad to be getting some advice on protecting her son's health, doesn't it? DOESN'T it???

Well then, WHY does she spend most of the rest of the article denouncing this book and its author for pointing out "Simple Steps to Reduce Your Child's Toxic Chemical Exposure"? Now, I'm no professional book reviewer, but I would have thought that if a book delivered what its title promised, that would be quite a good thing.
However, Raina Kelley - Lord bless her! - knows better. SHE knows that when a book's title includes the word "Green" and the sub-title "Simple Steps to Reduce Your Child's Toxic Chemical Exposure", what we're REALLY looking for is assurance that all's well with the World, and that there are absolutely NO dangerous chemicals about that might harm our children, damage their chromosomes, or reduce their future sperm health by 50%. (You can Google that one for yourselves...)

And we want to be reassured that we can ABSOLUTELY trust our doctors and paediatricians without doing ANY further research for ourselves... or taking heed of the warnings of "scare-mongerers" like the author of this book. That's a load off my mind! Doctors and paediatricians are 100% guaranteed infallible! Like in the case of...
'Thalidomide was sold in a number of countries across the world from 1957 until 1961 when it was withdrawn from the market after being found to be a cause of birth defects in what has been called "the biggest medical tragedy of modern times". It is not known exactly how many worldwide victims of the drug there have been, although estimates range from 10,000 to 20,000.' (Forgive me for quoting Wikipedia. You may wish to look for more reliable sources.)
For between 4 and 5 YEARS, doctors were prescribing a drug that caused serious birth defects in children. And it was a "mild sedative" that was "especially indicated" for pregnant women. Some of those children are STILL fighting for fair compensation.

So, back to sleep, Raina Kelley... Sweet dreams! Your son is perfectly safe with all those chemicals in your home. No need to worry your poor little head about that...

I wish to echo another comment on this blog: Shame on Newsweek for paying good money for a review like this! Especially when I suspect that Ms. Kelley's also on the payroll of some household cleansing agent's PR department.

So you don't care about proven dangers in toys? Shame on you.

Well done, the author of this article! I don't think! First you say that you're concerned about your son's well-being and health. And that you're eager to learn how to better protect him.
So you buy a book with the word "green" in the title. And then you complain about it being... well... green.
You complain about the book failing to tell you about the dangers of passive smoking and cocaine use by parents.
Well, excuse me! But if I had paid out good money for a book that only told me what I ALREADY knew, I'd feel gypped.
What do you want? Abook with advice such as: "Now, it is generally considered unsafe for parents to allow their 2-year-old children to step off the kerb into busy traffic without some form of supervision"? "If you allow your chils to dive off a ferry into the harbour waters, he might well come to harm"? "Should you see your child about to stick a pair of scissors into an electrical outlet, you might consider persuading her to change her mind"?

If it hadn't been for ordinary citizens - including parents concerned about their children - complaining about toxic health risks, DDT would still be legal in this country. And the GREEDY manufacturers of DDT are STILL making their FILTHY profits selling it in countries who HAVEN'T yet banned it.
You call this book "disturbing". Well, people were "disturbed" by DDT... disturbed enough to do something about it.

You want my honest opinion? I believe that you're either personally opposed to green politics, or you're in the pay of someone with vested interests in toxic products to go out and buy an ecology-minded safety book just so you could savage it.

Ok, let's just back up a little. First of all, pediatricians are the second lowest paid group of doctors, right after primary care doctors. I have yet to work with a pediatrician who went into medicine for the money. As a registered nurse and a mom, I do my own research, but I start with my doctor. We don't agree with everything, but the majority of her advice seems pretty appropriate to me.

Second of all, the reason autoimmune diseases and cancer are more common now is partly because we don't die anymore of childhood diseases and infections and malnutrition, and partly because we are under such high levels of chronic stress. Stress also factors highly into heart disease, still the number 1 killer in this country.

While I'm all for getting toxic levels of heavy metals out of our day-to-day environments, the truth is there is more in your air and water than there is in your food, particularly if you live in the inner cities. The key to a healthy diet is the same as it has always been - variety, not a lot of extra fattening sauces or fried foods, and reasonable portion size.

This is not a contest, ladies, to see who can be the most neurotic in protecting their child. They need your love, not your paranoia.

"I think it is dishonest and worse, cruel, to let new parents worry that invisible substances in their homes are hurting their children." Oh, that's just genius. Better to bury your head in the sand and follow blindly while the government tells you everything is safe and fine. Knowledge is power and if Ms. Kelley wants to remain ignorant, that's her prerogative, but at her son's expense. Poor child...

"I think it is dishonest and worse, cruel, to let new parents worry that invisible substances in their homes are hurting their children." Oh, that's just genius. Better to bury your head in the sand and follow blindly while the government tells you everything is safe and fine. Knowledge is power and if Ms. Kelley wants to remain ignorant, that's her prerogative, but at her son's expense. Poor child...

why is it industry and doctors and such l involved in a cover up to push dangerous product on us for the almighty dollar?
come on..... aren't the researchers, manufacturing line workers and business personnel all people just like you with families and children of their own? are they not interested in keeping them (and us) safe by what they do? you would think everything is made by faceless, immoral money mongers intent on keeping everyone in the dark for a couple more margin points of profit.
use you brain and be safe while LIVING life. it is too short as it is.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!! For posting a review of a "Green" book that hits the nail on the head. I am a mother to a 5 year old, a 2 year old, and a soon-to-be born little girl. This is exactly the argument and problem I have had with other parenting aritcles and books. And like the reviewer, am very fearful at first and then angry. Angry at the exploitation of my fear and also angry at the powers that be who think I am too stupid to get some context or worse won't take the time.

I too let the fear get the better of me sometimes and I wear myself out with worry of life's "what ifs". The only way I have found to manage my fear has two parts...gain as much knowledge as I can...from any and all sources....and then pray and hope that I and my husband make the best informed decisions we can for our family.

The bottom line is that every parent wants their children to be safe, happy, and healthy. Gaining knowledge also means knowing when you aren't getting the full story and then researching and getting the full story to make truly informed decisions.

This review is pretty heavy-handed and sounds a bit like the industry arguments we hear over and over again. Yes, it's important to have context for all our parenting decisions, but simply because the adverse health effects of low-dose toxic exposures often are not "clear and present danger," but rather late-showing reproductive problems and lifelong behavioral problems that can be difficult to tie with certainty to any one cause, is no reason to dismiss them. The reality is that the US government is hardly doing all it can to minimize the exposures that parents *don't* control (air pollution, plastics, flame retardants, mercury in fish, and the list goes one).

At the Environmental Working Group we provide science-based guidance for parents (and others) on reducing toxic exposures: http://www.ewg.org/healthtips. Also, check out this video presentation or an overview of the low-dose chemical exposure issue: http://bit.ly/lGvoC.

Or head to the bookstore and pick up Sandra Steingraber's "Having Faith" if you need a heavy dose of very real -and often "scary" - science with your toxic chemical information.

Wow. I am a bit taken aback by this review. I don't understand people who say that we lived through it, so it must all be fine. For one, of course we lied through it, but how many did not? How many have been affected by cancer, infertility, diabetes, etc. that have been directly linked to exposure to toxic chemicals?

So you haven't been personally affected, yet. Well good for you. I for one am going to make the best choices I can so that hopefully my children will not have to suffer needlessly. Yes, it is entirely possible that they will live through it, but will they also never get cancer, the likelihood of which increases dramatically with increased exposure to toxins? Will they never have problems with infertility or other reproductive problems, the likelihood of developing also increasing dramatically with exposure to toxic chemicals?

These are not chemicals you find in a Superfund site. These are chemicals found in baby wash & shampoo, baby wipes, household cleaners. But! The solution given by Ms. Taggart is not to run in fear as this review suggests. She has simple, easy solutions that you can use around your home to minimize your and your children's exposure. Seriously no one is suggesting anything extreme. It isn't all or nothing and anyone can use her tips.

This isn't a game of who can survive and this isn't just another way for parents to hover over their kids, in fact far from it. It's common sense. Simply common sense.

If Ms. Kelley was worried about home invasions or her son hitting his head on the furniture, perhaps she should have read a different book, because that wasn't the point, the title or the content of the book that she reviewed. Learning about chemical and other toxic elements in our environment and simple steps to alleviate risk seems like a pretty non-threatening thing to me. The information in this book on plastics alone is priceless. As a parent of two children, I'm so happy for a resource that puts all of this great information in one place. I don't find well-researched information and practical tips scary or disturbing, and frankly I'm disappointed that Newsweek would hire a book reviewer that does.

thank heaven for a breath of common sense// anybody over the age of 40 survived without all this psycho parenting and were still here // the damage caused by hysterical panic mongers is incalculable// we just got rid of the neocons we dont need any replacements// beware the foodocons and the thoughtocons

I though this article was well written and very well-researched. Thanks for the good work, it was a humorous way to point out the fear mongers out there who take advantage of protective moms who are trying to do their best for the children. Thanks for the article!

I won't get into a lengthy discussion on this but I agree that we should read parenting books with a critical eye, and only really take a tenth of the information to heart. I read so many baby books when I was pregnant and they were 90% scare tactics and fear mongering, and 10% what I consider to be solid information. I prefer to get my information from medical professionals in my life that I trust (various friends and family in various fields), and from reading various journals and studies (never EVER read just one study on a subject - read multiple studies, as anyone can make a study come out in any manner, and as many studies are conveniently funded by the people trying to prove something in their own favor, I don't trust just one point of view anymore).

I think parenting guides have their place, but no one parenting guide is right for every person. And while we must live in awareness of what is around us and what is possible, we cannot live in a constant state of fear that every crayon is going to kill our children.

Testing your home for radon is simple. It shouldn't be "scary" like Ms. Kelley thinks.

I wholeheartedly agree with Amy Lupold, for me, Taggart provides an excellent roadmap and yes, this is scary but we need to take action and raise awareness to minimize the risks for our children.