Richard Wiles, the Environmental Working Group's Executive Director, and development associate Jocelyn Lyle joined more than 2,300 women for the 12th Annual Heinz Women's Health and the Environment Conference in Boston, sponsored by Teresa Heinz and Heinz Family Philanthropies.
Jocelyn's report:
When asked the question -- why women? -- Nena Baker didn't miss a beat but launched into a crisp, smart explanation of what she calls the" womb-to-tomb" exposure cycle." I had never heard the phrase before, but as I sat among 2,000 women nodding in unison, I realized how deeply we all felt about toxic chemicals that enter our bodies and those of our children through the air we breath, our food and water and consumer products
Before a baby is born, all its organs and tissues got through critical stages of development. The chemicals to which babies are exposed in the womb may cause permanent health problems.
Baker, author of The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-being, spent 20 years writing for The Arizona Republic and The Oregonian, then left daily journalism behind to embark a journey seeking answers to questions about her world. What makes water-repellent jackets water-proof? Perfluorooctanoic acid. What exactly is in that yellow rubber ducky in your child's bathtub? Phthalates. Both are toxins.
"We are running a collective chemical fever that we cannot break," she says. "Everyone everywhere now carries a dizzying array of chemical contaminants, the by-products of modern industry and innovation that contribute to a host of developmental deficits and health problems in ways just now being understood."