EASY STEPS TO SAFEGUARD YOUR PREGNANCY, BABY, AND GROWING KIDS FROM EVERYDAY ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS
with Dr. Sarah Evans, and Alexandra Zissu, Author and Editorial Director of Healthy Child Healthy World
WHEN: Wednesday, November 12th, 2014 6:30-8PM
WHERE: The Downtown Community Center 120 Warren Street NYC NY
COST: Free. Registration Required. Space is Limited.
As a parent there's suddenly so much to consider these days. From non-organic lunches in plastic containers, to crib mattresses, to cleaning products, to home renovation projects--even the playground sandbox! Do you find yourself wondering what is safe and what is not-and exactly how unsafe is unsafe?
Time to get your questions answered!
Join Healthy Child Healthy World & HRP Mamas for an informative talk to learn what’s what—and how to protect your family’s health—with Dr Sarah Evans postdoctoral fellow in the Children’s Environmental Health Center (CEHC) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Healthy Child editorial director Alexandra Zissu, the author of The Complete Organic Pregnancy and The Conscious Kitchen.
This is a conversation anyone can understand, not just doctors or chemists. Parents will walk away with a greater understanding of:
- what environmental health is (and how everything from cleaning products to asbestos wrapped pipes to hair dye fit under its umbrella)
- why growing babies and kids are so vulnerable to environmental exposures
- which diseases and developmental issues environmental exposures have been linked to
- what’s really toxic and what is not
- where and how exposures to hazardous substances occur
- how to minimize exposure to potentially harmful chemicals
- how to place hazards into context (i.e. lead paint vs. hormone disrupting chemicals in plastic)
- anything else on your mind; a lengthy Q&A period will ensure your specific questions will be answered
The goal is to offer parents real, attainable steps they can take to protect the health of their growing children—and a greater understanding of why to bother.
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Dr. Sarah Evans
Sarah Evans, PhD MPH is a postdoctoral fellow in the Children’s Environmental Health Center (CEHC) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. As a classically trained neuroscientist, she is particularly interested in the impacts of in utero and early postnatal environmental exposures on nervous system development and child behavior. Her research at the CEHC focuses on the endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) phthalates and bisphenol A, both found in many common household products. Here analysis of data from human pregnancy cohorts suggests that EDC exposures during pregnancy are associated with worse behaviors in boys. To further understand the mechanism by which EDCs affect the brain, she has established a rodent model of phthalate exposure. These studies show molecular changes in the brains of animals exposed to phthalates in utero that may explain the associations seen in human studies.
Dr. Evans received her doctorate in neuroscience from Weill Cornell Medical College where her research focused on the regulation of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a molecule critical for the development of the human brain. Following graduation, she spent a year as a teaching fellow in Human Physiology at Fordham University before becoming a Fellow in Environmental Pediatrics at Mount Sinai, where she obtained her Master’s in Public Health. A mother of a six year old, Dr. Evans is also involved in public outreach and advocacy efforts to protect families from toxic chemicals.
Alexandra Zissu
Alexandra Zissu, Editorial Director for Healthy Child Healthy World, is a writer, editor, and consultant with a focus on environmental health and green living. She’s the author of The Conscious Kitchen—a Books for a Better Life Awards finalist—and co-author of Planet Home, The Complete Organic Pregnancy, and The Butcher’s Guide to Well-Raised Meat. She has worked for New York Magazine, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Lifetime and Details magazines, The New York Observer, and Women’s Wear Daily. Over the past decade plus, her stories have also appeared in The New York Times, The Green Guide, Plenty, Cookie, TheDailyGreen.com, Bon Appétit, Health, Vogue, Teen Vogue, Self, Child, Time Out New York, Harper's Bazaar, and The Huffington Post, among other publications.
About Healthy Child Healthy World
A trusted resource for parents for more than 20 years, Healthy Child Healthy World is a California non-profit public benefit corporation with a mission to empower parents to take action and protect their children from harmful chemicals. By working with manufacturers and supporting policy initiatives, Healthy Child Healthy World provides access to critical information that encourages smarter lifestyle choices that reduce chemical exposure in homes and communities. Healthy Child Healthy World's vision is a world where every child has the opportunity to grow up in a healthy and safe environment. Learn more at www.healthychild.org