Toxic chemicals and products made with them often play a silent role in our lives but they are omnipresent, especially among young children. Thanks to a grant from the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at UMass Lowell, Ryan Bouldin, Assistant Professor of Natural and Applied Science at Bentley University will collaborate with local child care facilities to reduce exposure to several toxic chemicals, namely phthalates and flame retardants - chemical classes known to disrupt hormones.
 

Making Early Childhood Education Safer

Bouldin’s team will test products such as plastic toys, sleeping mats and cushions for these specific chemicals, investigate more environmentally preferable product options, and replace all chemical-positive products with safer ones. “Children are our most vulnerable population and they bear a large portion of the burden from toxic chemicals,” says Bouldin. “Collaborating with TURI will go a long way in raising awareness of the dangers children face from endocrine disrupting chemicals, such as phthalates and flame retardants. Our project is just one small step toward reducing the risk children face from toxic chemicals in consumer products.”

The data collected from the project will be aggregated into model case studies that will help all Massachusetts early childhood education facilities implement their own toxics use reduction plans.  The project will focus on product testing, cost of product replacement, and child care providers’ awareness of environmental health and chemical exposure issues.

The grant for Bouldin’s project, titled “Safe, Healthy, Affordable, Responsible Environments (SHARE) for Early Childhood Education,” was one of five community grants TURI awarded in September 2015. “These various local organizations all share the same objective of raising awareness of the health effects of the toxic chemicals we encounter in our daily lives,” said Joy Onasch, community and small business program manager at TURI. “Our goal for these grants is to help these projects make a strong public impact by collaborating with businesses, educating the community at large, and promoting safer substitutes to toxics.”
 

What You Can Do

Worried that products in your home or office are dangerous or that your child is being exposed at day care? We are too, so we asked Asst. Professor Bouldin for tips on where to look, what to replace, and where to go for more information.

1. Ask and shop for flame retardant-free home furnishings.  The Center for Environmental Health (Oakland, CA) has put together an excellent guide for those planning to purchase furniture in the near future. 
2. Avoid products with flexible vinyl or PVC. Flexible vinyl products contain very high levels of phthalates. Vinyl is known as the poison plastic for a reason. For example, if your child is napping on a vinyl mat at day care, consider providing your own non-vinyl mat or bringing a cover for your child’s mat.
3. Go fragrance free. Fragrances are not required to list their ingredients and often contain phthalates.  
4. Stay informed by “liking” a prominent environment health organization on Facebook or following one on Twitter. Bouldin recommends the Environmental Health Strategy Center in Portland, Maine (@preventharm) or Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families in Washington, DC (@saferchemicals).
5. Download the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep app for your smart phone or check out their website at www.ewg.org/skindeep.  This allows you to quick scan most of your consumer personal care products for problematic chemicals.
6. Read and learn from the Toxic Use Reduction Institute’s Tip Sheets.

About the Toxics Use Reduction Institute

The Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell provides research, training, technical support, laboratory services and grant programs to reduce the use of toxic chemicals while enhancing the economic competitiveness of local businesses. For more information about the TURI Community Grant Program, visit TURI’s community web site. For more information about the Toxics Use Reduction Institute, visit www.turi.org.