What's safe anymore?

I am getting pretty tired of hearing about this product and that recall that poses serious health risks to the gen pop. We all know about the massive and on going toy recalls dealing with lead. I already picked through the kids toys and removed anything I thought could be suspect. Now I have to do it again. But be assured that China has agreed to stop making toys with lead paint in them from now on.....Go China! (what ever happened to toys made in the USA? Did that ever happen and why was this not an issue when the manufactures went overseas to get cheap labor? Wouldn't specifications about not using lead be communicated then?)

Then there is the plastics issues. I have heard everything from all plastics are unsafe and stop using them to putting them in the dishwasher or microwave is unsafe cause of the toxins they release to all of it is hogwash and they are just fine. What about baby bottles or in this article Bottles of Death? What do you believe? Throw it all away and use glass and boil them to sterilize or continue on with the status quo? With so much conflicting information I don't even know where to start if I wanted to rid my house of so-called toxic toys.

Then there is the milk issue. To go organic or not? Do the hormones that are found in non-organic milk really harm growing kids and cause them to develop faster? What about cancer? I am not disputing organic may taste better but if I decide not to buy organic or hormone-free milk one week will my girls get their boobs faster and what about the extra antibiotics cows get? Do they get passed onto their milk as well?

Here is the latest fear, air fresheners. Of course the risk here...cancer, again due to something called Phthalates. Just one of those little pleasures that I partake in (I love those plug in kind from Bath and Body Works) and my whole house smells like pumpkin.

I am not even going into the artificial sweetener debate. It shows up in so many foods and I have heard it all.

What does this all mean for me? Worry...worry and more worry. I am a constant worrier anyway and I really don't need more things to keep me up at night. Especially ones that are not yet proven to be unsafe and those that are so controversial that when you do an Internet search all you find are peoples slants one way or another. I am scared when I buy milk that doesn't say no hormones. I am scared to buy a new teether for my infant when it says Made in China or may contain plastic toxins. I am now worried about removing all the air fresheners in my house and just let it smell like three kids, food and dogs and worried when I heat up plastic ware and put bottles in the dishwasher.

But do these things really pose health risks or is the media partly to blame here? I try hard not to watch too much news on TV or read too many articles because I often feel that they are part of the problem in this country and not the solution, "Coming up at 11, how everything in your life can kill you - details at after the sports and weather". Are we living in fear because of potential Neilson ratings, lobbyists and other radical groups or are these new (and daily) reports supposed to really help us be healthier people? Will we ever really know the truth? But I am getting sicker and sicker of the constant reminder that I always have something new to worry about.