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The biomedical approach for the treatment of autism is built around the idea of detoxification. Many of our children lack the ability to rid their bodies of everyday toxins that most people take for granted. We spend a great deal of time talking about diet and cleaning up the gut - healing from the inside, but we need to remember to clean up our child's environment and provide as chemical free an environment as we possibly can.
Like embracing a new philosophy towards health or starting a new diet, 'going green' can seem overwhelming. Like everything else - take it one step at a time. As you need to replace household products, buy things that will promote health instead of illness - but you need to become educated as to what's good, what's bad and why.
A few helpful books:
- Easy Green Living by Renee Loux (Excellent!)
- Green This! and Growing Up Green by Deirdre Imus
- Home Safe Home by Debra Lynn Dadd
- How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 House Plants that Purify Your Home or Office
- The Green Beauty Guide by Julie Gabriel
- Shaklee Corporation (http://www.shaklee.com) - Green Products website
Since we are very concerned with diet and eating as organically as possible, we also need to pay attention to our cookware and food storage. The healthiest choice is unscratched stainless steel and cast iron or enamled cast iron. It is a good idea to replace Teflon and nonstick-coated pots and pans. Be careful of rice cookers and hot air popcorn makers.
Microwave popcorn bags are also coated with nonstick chemicals (you can use a brown paper bag with a little olive oil and salt).
Plastics are a petroleum based product that are impossible to avoid completely - but some are safer than others. Plastic water bottles, juice containers, peanut butter jars, and other food storage containers contain plastics known as PETE (Polyethylene terephthalate ethylene) and HDPE (High-density polyethylene) These are not 100% ideal, but they do not leach very much and are recyclable. Everyday drinking from non-disposable stainlees steel water bottles is best.
Another safer plastic is known as PLA (Polylactic Acid), it is used for take-out food containers, cold cups, straws and bags among other things.
The bad-boys of the plastics world are :
- PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) - Plastic cling wrap, cleaning products, water pipes - These plastics contain phthalates (softeners) that leach into food and can cause hormone disruption. They also contain DEHA, a chemical linked to liver and kidney problems.
(Glad Storage, Freezer, and Sandwhich bags, Ziplock bags and Double Gaurd Freezer Bags are fine).
- PS (Polystyrene) - Styrofoam containers and opaque plastic cutlery. This substance is highly toxic to the brain and nervous system.
- Polycarbonate - Hard plastic baby bottles, sippy cups, sport water bottles, and metal food can liners. This plastic leaches Bisphenol A (BPA), which acts like estrogen and disrupt the endocrine system and can lead to altered immune function.
An alternative to the chemical leaching hard plastic baby bottles are a brand called Born free (www.newbornfree.com). These are BPA-free clear plastic bottles. These are available at their website and at some Whole Food stores. Another option would be glass bottles by Evenflo.
Avoid pacifiers with plastic nipples, look for silicone nipples.
A rule of thumb with plastics is to remember to not heat them up - this is when their chemical properties leach out (to varying degrees). Do not use plastics in the microwave or the dishwasher. It is preferable to store food in glass containers in the refrigerator.
Microwaves
Becoming less microwave dependent is a huge step towards a more organic lifestlye. (When we moved we left ours behind). If you keep one in your kitchen make sure that it is at the highest level it can be, it's not a good idea for our reproductive organs to be absorbing any possible radiation leaks. Always remember to never microwave baby bottles, heat food in a microwave in a plastic container, and never place food in the microwave that is covered in plastic wrap.
Toys! Toys! Toys!
We all want our children to play with the safest toys possible. This is incredibly important if they are at the developmental phase where everything goes into their mouthes! We are of course concerned about the plastics, but really watching for lead. Many people (ourselves included) have spent a lot of time and money chelating our children from the lead exposures of toys covered in lead paint (we still have the half-chewed miniature metal
P.T. Cruiser to prove it!)
Be careful of toys and art supplies that are made in China, especially those painted bright red or yellow (that's a lot of toys right there!). Be careful of costume jewelry and metal charms, toy trains or die-cast cars, vinyl (not a natural fabric!) bibs and backpacks, also zippers. Try to minimize the exposure of hand-to-mouth contact. Other everyday items to be mindful of are keys, colored newsprint and comic books, old ceramic dishes, and imported eyeliner or face paint for children.
Hardware stores sell an easy do-it-yourself lead-test kit, or try these websites: www.leadinspector.com, or www.leadtesttoys.com. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission will report any recall information on specific toys (www.cpsc.gov)
The best toys are wooden toys with non-toxic finishes. Toys made in the USA are held to much higher safety standard than those imported from other countries.
Personal Care Products
Our skin can absorb up to 60% of the things we put on it! That's a lot of absorbtion - start reading the lables of the product you use and your children and yourself. A good place to check for the toxicity of particular product is a site run by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a Washington based public interest watchdog group - www.cosmeticdatabase.com
Try to avoid parabens (synthetic preservatives) such as Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, and Propylparaben. Phthalates (fragrance). Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (these cause products to produce lather). These chemicals are particularly dangerous to anyone whose immune system may be already compromised. Avoid products with the words: PEG, xynol, cetareth, and oleth, they contain I,4-dioxane and Nitrosamines, which are carcinogens.
Beware of Formaldehyde, used as a preservative. It is hidden under the names, Diazolidinyl urea, Imidazolidinyl urea, Dimethyl - dimethyl hydantoin, Quaternium-15, and Bronopol.
Avoid Propylene Glycol (used to retain moisture in the skin), Toluene (nail polish and some hair coloring), Talc (contains asbestos), DEA (Diethanolamine), MEA (Monoethanolamine), and TEA (Triethanolamine) - these contain carcinogenic nitrosamines.
Your family should use a toothpaste that does not contain flouride (a metal). Many varieties are available at health food stores.
Buy a sunscreen for you child at a health food store (California Baby, Aubrey Organics, Kiss My Face...) Look for a sunblock that contains minerals like zinc dioxide or titanium dioxide, these won't penetrate the skin.
Cleaning Supplies
Go Green! Get rid of ammonia, bleach, regular dish soap and toilet cleaners and use natural based products that are safe, and use essential oils to smell nice instead of harmful chemicals. There are so many wonderful products on the markets to choose from, or you can find recipes for cheap homemade cleaners (baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice,...) in books about 'greening' your home.
Filter your water, don't bath in or drink unfiltered chlorinated water.
Clothing
Like food, organic cotton is ideal. Especially for pajamas and sheets - which our children spend a lot of time in! Beware of anything that says it is 'flame-retardant' - this contains the metal Antimony. Clothes that are 'wrinkle-resistant' are covered in unnecessary chemicals too.
Household
Use paints that don't contain that 'new paint smell' or VOCs - Volatile Organic Compounds. The lable should say 'No VOCs'. The chemicals continue to off-gas for years after the paint is dry.
Try to use natural flooring options or rugs made of natural fibers (wool, cotton, jute). That nice 'new carpet smell' is also full of chemicals that will off-gas for years to come.
Try to only buy candles that you know are chemically safe - that won't put out dangerous chemicals into the air of your home. Don't buy candles made of paraffin (it is a petroleum product and contains toxins like benzene and acetone). The black soot on the rim of a candle is what is also in the air when that candle is burning! |
