You stroll down a store's aisles scanning cleansers, bottled
water, cosmetics. Now over to the produce section, pause at the
meat counter, and then head to the checkout line. Count up the
items in your basket: That's how many decisions you just made
about the kinds of chemicals you're allowing into your house. O
asked three women who monitor environmental toxins what they're
most concerned about and how they minimize their own daily dose
of chemicals. I work on banning toxic chemicals from children's
products, and I'm involved in U.S. and California chemical
policy reform, so I'm aware of the hazards of plastics. I avoid
using food and drink containers made of clear, hard
polycarbonate plastic (usually designated with a #7 recycling
code—look for it on the bottom of the container). Bisphenol A,
the chemical that makes this plastic tough, is a hormone
disrupter linked to behavioral problems such as impaired
learning and brain damage, early onset puberty, altered immune
function, and prostate cancer. So I use a