Share and Voice: ABC news story

So I have really been on this kick lately where I am convinced that there are toxic chemicals that the general public is unwittingly ingesting. Not only that but what bothers me most is that there are so many regulations regarding pharmaceuticals and food regulation. For example, when you take a pill you know what the common side effects are or when you eat a granola bar you get to know what the ingredients are. But not so for chemicals, I think Matt discussed this in a post that leaching occurs and the saddest part is that its in our baby products. So I found this article on the issue and this is just one of many but it's interesting and easy to read.

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 2: Weekly Update

1. My SMART goal was : By Wednesday November 17th I will decrease my tobacco usage to two smokes per day. To be honest I fell short but I am not discouraged!
2. I cut down my tobacco usage by about 75% and I bought the patch. The biggest challenge is not kicking the addiction, it's kicking the habit. What helped me was to get distance from the people in my life who smoke and this is almost a heartbreaking process because about 3/4 of my closest friends smoke in addition to my mom and step dad. What I found to be helpful is to purposefully throw off my routine so that I was not waiting for my friends to come smoke with me. 
3. I told all of my non-smoker friends that I was quiting and I think they were expecting immediate results so some of them were disappointed and that was hard to let my friends down but I want to quit and I don't want to get discouraged.  
4. I learned that when I was little and everyone said "just say no" that that may have been a good idea. In all seriousness I learned that quitting is an uphill battle and that if I wait for the "right time to quit" it will never happen, so now is the right time.
5. I want/ need to continue with the patch. I'm at level one right now and by next Wednesday I will be at level 2 and hopefully not smoking at all. I want to continue the change but it is really hard so I am going to modify the goal (of just having 2 smokes per day) to allow 3 smokes per day on days/nights that I work.

And to borrow a line from Louie Anderson: I'm starting to wish that Nicorette made jackets

Advocacy Project: Healthy People 2010/THOMAS

HEALTHY PEOPLE 2010:

1. Goal: Promote heath for all through a healthy environment. Objective: Reduce pesticide exposures that result in visits to a health care facility. This objective has moved 32% towards the target of 11,398 visits to a healthcare facility due to pesticide exposure.

2. There is no data regarding disparities given in the website.

3. I found an act that has is waiting for committee approval is called the “Safe Chemicals Act of 2010” This states that the producers of chemicals must submit data regarding the safety of the chemicals they produce.

THOMAS:

S.3209 : Safe Chemicals Act of 2010 (introduced in the senate)

Title: A bill to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to ensure that risks from chemicals are adequately understood and managed, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Sen Lautenberg, Frank R. [NJ] (introduced 4/15/2010)  

Cosponsor: None

Latest Major Action: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Recommended Action: Vote Yes for S.3209 : Safe Chemicals Act of 2010

My Senator: Al Franken