Come explore eco green and healthy building tips galore at the West Coast Green conference coming up September 25 - 27, 2008 in San Jose, California.

The conference is open to the public, with homeowners day on the 27th. The conference features the latest and greatest in sustainable, green and healthy building. It will cover everything from clean tech, global warming, solar, wind and waste reduction to healthy building products. And, lots of educational presentations and networking opportunities.

There will even be a showcase house right in the middle of the San Jose Convention Center. It’s made out of shipping containers and it is dubbed the “Harbinger House”. Gregory Schaefer, the chef on Planet Green’s Daily news show, “The G Word”, came up with the name and it was voted in as the favorite.

How about that! A building conference where you can actually learn how to make your home castle - or work castle - efficient and healthy. That’s a surefire breath of relief for those of us with chemical sensitivity, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia or mold sensitivity. Asthmatics too, and…well, you get the picture.

This year Al Gore is the Saturday plenary speaker. There will be 400 exhibitors, 200 presenters and 14,000 attendees. And, even if you can’t make it, the presentations will be videotaped and available online.

Yep…West Coast Green has got you covered.

So, come check it out…you’ll get lots of cool, eco-healthy building and home ideas.

Sustainable, Guilt Free and healthy…

On the heels of a Bisphenol-A study in humans showing possible links to diabetes, heart disease and liver abnormalities, the FDA reaffirms that it thinks BPA in products is just fine.

The study was published in JAMA today (here’s a link to the whole study), the same day that the FDA met to further discuss whether or not BPA in food packaging and bottles is safe.

What this study did was look at some of the health problems that have already been linked with BPA in animal studies to see if the same health problems have any correlation with BPA levels in people. In animal studies, problems have turned up such as liver enzyme abnormalities and oxidative stress, lipid accumulation, pancreatic B-cell function (which can influence insulin and diabetes) and obesity. Then they looked for those types of links, as well as heart disease, in people.

What they found was that those folks who had the highest BPA levels were 2.4 times more likely to have diabetes. Those with high BPA levels were 3 times more likely to have heart disease. And, three types of elevated liver enzymes were seen when BPA was higher.

But they didn’t look at infants and children. From past study, we know that they are the ones most likely to have the highest levels of toxins in general and be at the highest risk for toxicity. They only looked at people 18-74 years old.

The actual BPA exposure levels were below what is considered safe, so the study points to low levels as potentially being a problem. We’ve seen that in animal studies as well. That is especially something that industry doesn’t want to hear. Industry likes to say there is not being enough of a toxin in products to cause a problem. But that’s not what we’ve been seeing in animal studies and that’s not what we are seeing in this study.

Just last month, the FDA stated that BPA in food packaging and bottles is safe. This study challenges that view. Actually, that view was also challenged by the National Toxicology Program which is another federal agency. They determined there was “some concern” that BPA could cause developmental problems in the brain and hormone systems of infants and children.

So, what to do?

Bisphenol A is found in polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. For instance, some plastic bottles with the number 7. It’s also found in the lining of canned goods. These are things that we have a choice in when purchasing.

Luckily, manufacturers are producing more alternative products. So, rather than wait for more evidence on the subject, it is becoming easier to be a proactive shopper now. The precautionary principle in action. And also, industry response to public demand. That’s why Nalgene has phased out BPA in their water bottles.

Never put anything hot in plastic containers. Say no to #7. Use #2 plastics that are HDPE (high density poly ethylene). Another option is polypropylene which is #5.

Of course, there is always good old glass.

The latest Apple Nano is here and it is the coolest of lean green fun machines.

According to Steve Jobs, they are the “cleanest” most “toxic free” iPods yet. Greenpeace thinks “Less toxic iPods rock”. And Treehugger and their readers bring up some good points.

Here’s the bottom line:

No Arsenic glass.
No Mercury.
No Brominated flame retardants.
No PVC.
Very recyclable.

Yes, it would be nice if all of Apple’s products were as green. And it would be nice if things lasted forever and wouldn’t need recycling. But we like what we see.

Especially, considering the problems that toxins can cause during production, during use and after products are discarded. And, not just environmental problems, but people problems.

Arsenic has just been linked to diabetes. Mercury is a neuro toxin that winds into the environment and then into the food chain, leaving us trying to figure out which fish we can eat. PVC emits deadly dioxins in production as well as after it’s discarded and it’s incredibly difficult to recycle. And, brominated flame retardants are endocrine disturbers and they also end up in breast milk. Not good for sexual development or for the thyroid!

Since body burden studies show almost every last one of us have these nasties hiding out in our bodies, every little bit we can do to get them out of our environment is helpful.

So, thank you Apple. Keep at it. You make it easier to stay eco-healthy and have fun at the same time.

We’ll take our Nano in Green, please.