By Rachel Evans-Biermann,
Spotlight Health
With medical adviser Stephen A. Shoop, M.D.
Actress Kelly Preston and Grease icon Olivia Newton-John have a lot more in common than just their tie to John Travolta. Each has taken on her most serious role yet — protecting children from household chemicals and toxins.
Kelly Preston, left, and Olivia Newton-John hold a copy of the CHEC video, 'Not Under My Roof.'
On the Web
This summer, Preston and Newton-John took their message to Capitol Hill as spokeswomen for the Children's Health Environmental Coalition (CHEC), a nonprofit founded by Nancy and Jim Chuda.
"We met with senators and congressman asking for a National Right to Know bill, which essentially forces companies to disclose all the ingredients in a product," says Preston.
Preston credits Newton-John and the Chudas with inspiring her activism.
"I wholeheartedly jumped into this. Being a mother and a parent and always being environmentally aware and concerned, I thought it was really important and couldn't wait to become more involved," says Preston, who stars with Travolta on a daily basis as his real-life wife.
For Newton-John, her participation in CHEC was both a moral imperative and a mission of compassion for her best friend Nancy Chuda. Ten years ago, Newton-John's goddaughter, Colette Chuda, succumbed to a non-genetic form of cancer. Even more devastating was the fact that Colette was her own daughter, Chloe's, best friend.
Nancy Chuda attributes her five-year-old daughter's cancer to environmental pollutants Chuda was exposed to when she was pregnant. To insure that Colette's death was not meaningless, the Chudas established CHEC to educate parents on environmental threats to their children's health by revealing the perils of household chemicals and other seemingly harmless exposures.
A survivor of her own breast cancer ordeal, Newton-John has been a tireless CHEC advocate ever since.
And along with Chuda and Preston, she stars in CHEC's latest video, Not Under My Roof: Protecting Your Baby from Toxins at Home. The video provides parents with 10 simple ways to environmentally safety-proof their home, such as wash fruits and vegetables to rid them of pesticides.
To promote CHEC's ongoing national campaign, the three went knocking on Capital Hill doors. Sens. Hilary Clinton and Barbara Boxer were among the Washington lawmakers who met with them.
"Though they seemed eager to help," says Elizabeth Sword, CHEC's executive director, "industry has deep pockets, so unfortunately this bill probably won't pass for a long time."
'Chec-ing' the numbers
"It is shocking how many people are just unaware of all these hazards," says Chuda. "There are 4 million parents out there and 40% of them are new parents. There is a lot of work to be done."
The statistics are disturbing, including:
• The cause of 60% of birth defects is unknown — only 5% are known to be genetic.
• Childhood cancer rates have increased 10.8% in the past decade.
• In children age 1-14, cancer causes more deaths than any other illness.
• Approximately 10 million children under the age of 12 live within four miles of a toxic waste dump, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Asthma rates in children have nearly doubled in the last 20 years.
• Over 1 million children a year will suffer permanent damage from lead exposure.
Dr. Robert Adler, associate chair of pediatrics at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, thinks organizations like CHEC are essential, as he has seen many children adversely affected by environmental toxins, especially lead. Lead-based paint continues to be a troublesome source of lead in homes, he says.
"The fact is lead is an elemental compound. It never deteriorates. It never goes away ... "So the issue becomes how can we make it safe for kids, in light of the fact that it is impossible to make a lead-free environment."
Adler suggests that if you are renovating, have the undercoats of old paint tested. "You don't want any lead residue from sanding to become airborne."
Preston laments that she continues to detect pollutants in her home. "We had an entire purifying system installed in our home. It is a very expensive system and there are still high levels of lead, uranium and arsenic. In fact, we had our levels tested and our arsenic has gone up, no thanks to our new president. It's horrifying."
Fortunately, the Bush administration recently agreed to abandon relaxing the current arsenic standards. But this is a minor victory for environmentally concerned individuals.
'CHECs' and balances
Lead and arsenic in water are just the tip of the iceberg according to Chuda, who is alarmed about the increases of children suffering from cancer and brain damage due to chemicals and toxic residues.
As the holiday season approaches, candles with lead-based wicks present a significant health risk. Safety experts advocate making sure your candles are lead-free so that the dangerous toxin is not unleashed in your home.
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