baby boy eating with a spoon

4 Tips for Stocking a Kid-Friendly, Nontoxic Kitchen

You shun Styrofoam tableware, buy organic oranges and even get your kids to eat leafy greens. But are you doing all you can to protect your children from toxic chemicals that may lurk inside their favorite foods? "When it comes to pesticides, preservatives and other toxic chemicals, you need to set priorities for your family," said Kristi Pullen Fedinick, a staff scientist with Natural Resources Defense Council's health program. 

January 5, 2018 | Source: EcoWatch | by Molly M. Ginty

You shun Styrofoam tableware, buy organic oranges and even get your kids to eat leafy greens. But are you doing all you can to protect your children from toxic chemicals that may lurk inside their favorite foods? 

“When it comes to pesticides, preservatives and other toxic chemicals, you need to set priorities for your family,” said Kristi Pullen Fedinick, a staff scientist with Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) health program. “You may not be able to eliminate all potentially harmful chemicals from your kitchen, but you can work to minimize them.”

Because their bodies are still developing and their neurological and endocrine systems are more sensitive than those of adults, kids are especially vulnerable to toxic chemicals that pollute food. A recent study in the medical journal Lancet concluded that “children are at high risk of pollution-related disease.” Health issues that are linked to toxic chemicals found in food include asthma; reproductive deformities; attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); the early onset of puberty; and learning disabilities, lower IQ and other neurological problems.

When pollutants in food are ingested by kids who happen to be going through growth spurts, it’s especially risky. “The stage from infancy to age three and the pubescent phase are critical times when these chemicals’ influence can be even larger because of how the body is developing,” said Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, a senior scientist in NRDC’s Health program. “During these windows, even small exposures can potentially have long-term effects.”

Here are four tips for reducing that risk at home.

1. Mix it up.

Stay vigilant about your family’s menu choices. But don’t allow your kids to get too fussy in turn. “Young children have a tendency to like eating only certain foods,” Rotkin-Ellman said. “But there was a documented case of a kid who had mercury poisoning because of eating the same type of mercury-laced tuna-fish sandwiches day in and day out.”