Following a presentation about toxic cleaning products I made to the board of the daycare, they decided to adopt the Toronto District School Board’s Scented Products Awareness Program. But there is still more change needed to make the facility a truly nontoxic and safe place.
By guest blogger Nancy in Toronto.
When my family toured my son’s new daycare at the end of the summer 2010, I spied dryer sheets in the laundry room attached to the preschool room. At the time, I figured that if the daycare stopped using the dryer sheets, I would be comfortable sending my child to the program.
But after the dryer sheets were taken out of the classroom, my son still came home with so much chemical fragrance in his hair and on his clothes that it literally made me sick to have him sit on my lap. I was worried about what the health risks were for him being in that environment all day.
After some mostly promising and then progressively colder back-and-forth emails, the president of the board of the daycare asked me to speak to the board about my concerns about chemical cleaning products and personal care products in the classroom.
I decided to do a presentation and in my research, I learned that the science was already there identifying the risks that chemicals pose to children (including cancer, learning problems and aggression problems). As well, it was a surprise to learn that 100% plant-based products designed for the commercial/institutional setting are already available and that they cost less locally than the products currently in use at the daycare.
There was no quorum at the board meeting where I was asked to speak, but I spoke informally to the people that were there. I was not provided with the date of the board meeting where the matter was finally discussed, however, as a result of my presentation, I was informed that the daycare board made the decision to, as they phrased it, “go green.” They tasked the daycare director to choose a brand for the first four target products and, within a few months, an order was placed for Ecomax Laundry Wash and Hand Cleanser.
Despite the changes, my son was still on occasion coming home with fragrance in his hair and on his clothes, and on some days the classroom still had a heavy smell. Sure enough, one day I asked about it and let my nose sniff around and it turned out that one of the teachers was wearing perfume. The conversation deteriorated quickly and soon enough I got a nasty email. I replied by drawing their attention to the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) Scented Products Awareness Program, the Environmental Working Group’s 50- page report on perfume and toxicity , and a one hour lecture on childhood cancer:
In response, the daycare decided to adopt the TDSB’s Scented Products Awareness Program. This program promotes voluntary compliance with scent reduction, including avoiding scented products and scented laundry products. The board members told me very clearly, however, that this may not be the daycare for my family. I was also aggressively told at the same meeting that for this board, “green” means the adoption of the products I focused on in my presentation, and that they would not be doing anything more. I proposed they make use of an environmental health checklist put out by a reputable group based in Toronto and they said very quickly “no” without putting the matter to a vote.
The board also advised me they would not be spending any time on the matter, would not form a committee to look at environmental health issues (which I’ve been asking for since my first communication and offered to lead), and would not make the landslide of decisions that would be necessary on the “green” path, simply because it would involve a lot of work. They stated flat out that for the most part people don’t care (they said most certainly people don’t care about preventing cancer or learning problems). They said that this is not “that kind” of daycare, and that I am the only parent who has ever expressed any concern like this.
The daycare has elected a new board and I have now asked them to reduce the chemicals in the daycare menu:
- Step one: eliminate food colouring.
- Step two: eliminate other additives.
- Step three: reduce pesticides by avoiding the Dirty Dozen and taking advantage of resources such as purchasing organic food in bulk from the Ontario Natural Food Coop and Foodshare.
This time I did as much research as possible in finding economical alternatives before raising the topic and I have received an enthusiastic response from the very person who seemed least supportive last time around. I am sure this wave of change will take several months, but I feel good about lessening my own child’s risk of developing disorders like Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder and diseases like cancer and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.
Click here to view a PDF of my presentation to the daycare board about cleaning products.
Nancy in Toronto
