May 29, 2014
Time to eliminate plastic micro-bead exfoliants
By Sarah “Steve” Mosko
Appeared:
Surf City Voice, 29-May, 2014
E-Magazine Blog, 29-May, 2014
Fullerton Observer, Early June, 2014, p. 9
Algalita Marine Research Blog, 04-June, 2014
Southern Sierran, 18-June, 2014
San Diego Free Press, 25-June, 2014
Natural Life Magazine, July/August, 2014
Biodegradable alternatives to plastic micro-beads (Wikimedia Commons)
The beauty industry hits hard on the importance of frequent exfoliation to keep skin looking younger and healthy. Spherical plastic micro-bead scrubbers, no larger than a half millimeter, have been introduced into hundreds of skin care products in recent decades, but scientists are discovering that the ocean food web, and maybe human health, could be imperiled as a result.
As babies, skin cells are replaced every two weeks, but by age 50 the turnover rate has slowed to six weeks or longer, fostering wrinkles and other unwelcome signs of aging. Products containing plastic micro-beads profess to speed up cell rejuvenation, and their popularity signals that consumers have bought into the promise of exfoliating your way to a more youthful look. Whether or not such products deliver on this promise, scientists have discovered that these innocent-looking plastic micro-beads are insidious little transporters of chemical pollutants into lakes, streams and oceans and maybe onto our dinner plates.
Micro-beads are usually made of polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP), and like other plastics, they’re thought to persist in the environment for a hundred years or more. They’re added to facial scrubs, body washes, soap bars, toothpastes and even sunscreens and designed to be washed down the drain. However, micro-beads commonly escape waste treatment plants and pollute bodies of water, because the plants aren’t designed to eliminate them or because wastewater is diverted directly to local waterways in heavier rains.
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California, health, plastics, politics, pollution, science, sustainable living, toxics, waste, wildlife | Tagged: exfoliants, ocean food web, plastic micro-beads, polyethylene, toxic chemicals | 
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Posted by Sarah (Steve) Mosko
November 1, 2011
Greening Laundry Day: Avoid Polyester Fabrics
by Sarah (Steve) Mosko, PhD
Appeared in:
- Algalita Marine Research Blog, 20 Aug ’12
- Natural Life Magazine, Mar/Apr issue 2012
- Surf City Voice as “Microplastics: Avoid polyester fabrics to help prevent ocean pollution,” 06 Nov 11
- Culture Change, 05 Nov 11
A single polyester garment can shed >1900 plastic microfibers per wash
If you have already switched to an eco-friendly laundry detergent, as many people do to contribute less to water pollution, you might be surprised to learn that the pollution you generate on wash day has as much to do with the kind of fabrics your clothes, bedding and towels are made of as the detergent you wash them in. Recent studies have revealed that a single garment made of polyester can shed innumerable tiny fibers into the wash water, and those fibers are finding their way to the ocean. The pollution they cause is worsened by the fact that, like plastic materials in general, polyester attracts oily pollutants in seawater so is a vehicle for the transfer of potentially dangerous chemicals into the food web when the fibers are ingested by sea creatures.
Although we don’t usually think of polyester fabrics as plastic per se, polyester is nonetheless a plastic material synthesized from crude oil and natural gas. And, like other plastics, polyester is a long polymer chain, making it non-biodegradable in any practical human scale of time, especially in the ocean because of the cooler temperatures.
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9 Comments | health, plastics, pollution, sustainable living, toxics, waste, wildlife | Tagged: DDE, laundering, marine pollution, microfibers, microplastics pollution, nonylphenols, ocean pollution, PCBs, plastics, polyester, toxic chemicals, washing machines | Permalink
Posted by Sarah (Steve) Mosko
September 22, 2009
by Sarah (Steve) Mosko, PhD.
Appeared in:
- Orange Coast Voice, Dec. 16, 2009
- Southern Sierran, Dec. 2009
- Fullerton Observer as A Few Less Toxins in Toyland, Nov. 2009, page 9
- San Fernando Valley Sierra Club newsletter, Nov. 2009
This is an updated version of
Fewer Toxins in Toyland that incorporates recently stalled legislation in California aimed at protecting young children from risky chemicals.
This holiday season, parents shopping for children can rest just a tad easier because of a recent California law restricting the use of toxic phthalate plasticizers in toys and childcare products made of plastic. Additional legislative efforts to rein in two other classes of chemicals suspected of posing health risks to youngsters, bisphenol A and halogenated flame retardants, emerged this year in the State Senate, although neither met with success.
But, perhaps the best news is that California has enacted laws establishing a groundbreaking precautionary approach to the oversight of chemicals that should soon make such painstaking chemical-by-chemical regulation a thing of the past.
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Posted by Sarah (Steve) Mosko
August 13, 2009
by Sarah (Steve) Mosko, PhD
Also see an update to this article, Too Fewer Toxins in Toyland, that incorporates stalled legislation in California aimed at protecting young children from risky chemicals.
California has moved to restrict use of toxic phthalate plasticizers in PVC children's toys. Photo courtesy of Center for Environmental Health and Justice.
This holiday season, parents shopping for children can rest a tad easier because of a recent California law restricting the use of toxic phthalate plasticizers in toys and childcare products made of plastic. Additional classes of chemicals suspected of posing health risks to children, bisphenol A and halogenated flame retardants, could be reined in before long too, pending the fate of two struggling state senate bills.
But, perhaps the best news of all is that California has enacted laws establishing a groundbreaking precautionary approach to the oversight of all chemicals that should soon make painstaking chemical-by-chemical regulation a thing of the past.
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4 Comments | California, health, plastics, politics, pollution, science, sustainable living, toxics | Tagged: bisphenol-a, California, cancer, endocrine disruptors, flame retardants, Green Chemistry Initiative, halogenated flame retardants, health, infant formula, PBDE, phthalates, plasticizers, plastics, politics, polybrominated diphenyl ether, polyvinyl chloride, PVC, SB 772 Leno, SB 797 Pavley, toxic chemicals | Permalink
Posted by Sarah (Steve) Mosko
April 1, 2009
Appeared in:
- Vall-E-Vents, July 2010.
- Fullerton Observer, May 2009, page 10
- Orange County Progressive as Don’t Worry About Swine Flu When You Can Worry About Nanotech, May 2009
- Orange Coast Voice newspaper blog, April 2009
Alarms Sound Over Safety of Nanotechnology
by Sarah S. Mosko, Ph.D.
Multi-walled carbon nanotubes exhibit unique properties. Photo courtesy of PEN.
For the nine in ten Americans who know next to nothing about nanotechnology (NT), there is little time to waste in getting up to speed because, ready or not, the ‘NT revolution’ is well underway with new nano-engineered consumer products entering the market weekly.
Another reason, as voiced by consumer protection, health, and environmental organizations, is that NT products are being sold without adequate safety testing and government oversight.
The actual number of NT products in commerce is unknown because there is no labeling or reporting requirement. However, over 800 have been tabulated by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN), an online inventory of manufacturer-identified NT goods funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. In 2007, at least $147 billion in global manufactured goods incorporated NT, encompassing such varied products as cosmetics, clothing, food, food packaging, and dietary supplements. PEN estimates that figure will reach $2.6 trillion by 2014.
Nanotech Basics
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1 Comment | California, health, politics, pollution, science, sustainable living, toxics, wildlife | Tagged: AB935, California, California Department of Toxic Substances Control, carbon nanotubes, Colin Finan, cosmetics, environment, EPA, FDA, food additives, food supplements, Mike Feuer, nano, nano foods, nano-engineered, nano-engineered foods, nano-engineered products, nanoscale, Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program, nanosilver, nanosilver pollution, nanotechnology, nanotube, NT, PEN, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, Samuel Luoma, science, sustainable living, sustainable technology, technology, toxic chemicals, Toxic Substances Control Act, TSCA | Permalink
Posted by Sarah (Steve) Mosko
February 18, 2009
Surfing might seem like an earth-friendly sport, but a closer look reveals that the environmental impact may be more than you realize. Photo c1967 at Old Man’s Beach, San Clemente, California.
Appeared in:
- Orange Coast Voice, Dec. 18, 2009
- Santa Monica Daily Press, May 15, 2009
- Orange Coast Voice blog, April 24, 2009
A Wave of Green Hits Surfing Industry
by Sarah S. Mosko, Ph.D.
At first glance, surfing might seem like an inherently earth-friendly sport. Surfers paddle out and catch waves by sheer force of will and muscle. No need for fossil fuel-burning speed boats to get around. And, surfers have a reputation for caring about ocean pollution.
But a closer look reveals that, like most human activities, the environmental impact is far from nil and, consequently, there’s a nascent movement within the surfing industry to clean up it its act.
The Essentials
The bare necessities of surfing are surfboard, wetsuit, good waves and wheels to and fro. The waves are courtesy of Mother Nature, but the choices surfers make to otherwise outfit themselves determine the toll on the environment.
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4 Comments | California, global warming, green business, health, pollution, sustainable living, toxics, waste | Tagged: alternative transportation, beach cleanups, California beaches, climate change, coastlines, eco-friendly surfing, energy, environment, epoxy, EPS, expanded polystyrene, global warming, green business, health, ocean pollution, ocean protection, organic foods, pesticides, plastics, politics, pollution, polyurethane, recyclable sporting equipment, recyclable surf boards, science, sport surfing, surf boards, surfing industry, Surfrider Foundation, sustainability, sustainable living, synthetic fertilizers, toxic chemicals, vegetarian diets | Permalink
Posted by Sarah (Steve) Mosko
January 8, 2009
Appeared in:
- OurPlanet (E-Magazine’s weekly newsletter) as Cell Phone Ecology, Jan. 5, 2010
- Santa Monica Daily Press as The Ecology of Cell Phones, Aug. 31, 2009
- Southern Sierran, May 2009
- Vall-E-Vents, newsletter for Sierra Club San Fernando Valley, May 2009.
The Ecology of Loving and Leaving Your Cell Phone
Sarah S. Mosko Ph.D.
Given all the environmental costs of cell phones, certainly the most eco-friendly cell is the one you already own.
It’s not much of a stretch to liken America’s relationship with cells phones to a once sizzling romance that ends in good bye.
Fated love affairs typically begin with blind infatuation and fiery passion before reality sets in, cooling the embers enough to allow more guarded, sometimes less attractive aspects of the self to surface. Interest wanes until the love object is abandoned or replaced by an alluring new one.
Americans relate to cell phones in much the same way. An old phone, with once novel features that drew fascination, is discarded with hardly a thought when an updated model makes it seem obsolete. That consumers replace cell phones about every two years – with Californians purchasing in a single year nearly one new cell for every two state residents – makes this analogy seem less silly.
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2 Comments | global warming, green business, health, pollution, sustainable living, toxics, waste | Tagged: cell phone waste, cell phones, cell phones in california, disposal of cell phones, gold in cell phones, gold mining, plastics, rechargeable batteries, recycle cell phones, sustainability, sustainable living, toxic chemicals, toxic metals | Permalink
Posted by Sarah (Steve) Mosko
December 17, 2008
Appeared in:
- Orange Coast Voice newspaper as Gov. Schwarzenegger earns mixed reviews, Jan. 2009, p. 3.
- Vall-E-Vents, newsletter for Sierra Club San Fernando Valley, as Gov. Schwarzenegger’s Latest Scorecard on the Environment?, March 2009.
Schwarzenegger’s Latest Scorecard on the Environment?
Mixed as usual
by Sarah S. Mosko, Ph.D.
Gov. Schwarzenegger hosted a summit on global climate in November, 2008 in Los Angeles.
Throughout his tenure as governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger has earned mixed reviews from the environmental community for his positions on environmental issues. Last September, during the final throes of the 2007-2008 legislative session, reactions again ranged from standing ovations for his signature on groundbreaking new protections against hazardous chemicals to cries of foul play for the veto of legislation to clean up polluted air in the state’s port cities.
The following highlights the fate of several bills impacting California’s environment as they passed through the governor’s desk in the eleventh hour.
Toxic Chemicals
Roughly 100,000 chemicals are in use today, most without any environmental or human safety testing under antiquated federal regulation dating back three decades.
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Posted by Sarah (Steve) Mosko
November 24, 2008
Appeared in:
- Southern Sierran, January 2009.
- An edited version of this post appeared in the Orange Coast Voice newspaper, December 2008, page 11.
Disneyland Boasts Eco-Friendly Policies
But could it be doing more?
by Sarah S. Mosko, Ph.D.
Walt Disney designed Disneyland Resort for enchantment, an oasis free of cares where everything wondrous seems possible. Worries over the park’s environmental impact were probably not at the forefront of his mind, although he is often quoted for voicing appreciation that natural resources are not inexhaustible and that nature must be preserved for future generations.
But the environment is in a lot more trouble today than it was when Disneyland opened in 1955, so it’s fair to ask, “How green is the Happiest Place on Earth today?”
Disneyland is really akin to a small city, employing 20,000 employees and passing double that many guests through the turnstiles daily. Entertaining, feeding and managing the waste of a mob that size in an environmentally responsible fashion is no easy task.
Evironmentality is the Disney trademark program that aims to keep Walt Disney’s conservation legacy alive through diverse environmental policies, some visible to parkgoers. For example, the lagoon scenes in the recently opened Nemo Submarine Voyage were colored using crushed glass from discarded bottles, and the subs are propelled by an innovative zero-emission magnetic coil system, eliminating the need for hundreds of thousand of gallons of diesel fuel each year.
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Leave a Comment » | energy, green business, health, Orange County, pollution, sustainable living, toxics, waste | Tagged: bisphenol-a, Center for Health Environment and Justice, conservation, disney-go-green, disneyland, environmentality, nemo submarine voyage, phthalates, plastics, sustainability, sustainable living, toxic chemicals, toys, walt disney | Permalink
Posted by Sarah (Steve) Mosko
March 1, 2007
Appeared in:
- Orange Coast Voice, August 2007, page 10.
- Southern Sierran, March 2007.
Trust in Chemicals Unhealthy: U.S. Can Learn from European Union
Sarah S. Mosko, Ph.D.
About 80,000 chemicals have been introduced since World War II, produced at facilities like this one.
WWII marked the introduction of man-made chemicals into modern society, revolutionizing many of the consumer products we use every day.
Consider the following. Plastic cotainers, non-stick cookware, and cleaning products stock our kitchen pantries. Our foods are grown with liberal use of synthetic fertilizers. Hardly a wall anywhere goes unpainted. We sit, walk, and sleep on materials that do not derive from nature. Few of us can image getting through a hectic day at work or school without the aid of computers, telephones or other chemical-laden electronic devices. Even popular high-tech clothing fabrics are 100% synthetic.
We do not give much thought to what chemicals went into the manufacture of these everyday commodities. We trust whole-heartedly that any chemicals used are safe and well regulated by the government. But, are they?
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Posted by Sarah (Steve) Mosko
Boogie Green 
