By Alex Formuzis, EWG Director of Communications
What's the world coming to when your freakin' flip-flops are laced with toxic chemicals dangerous to human health and the environment?
I mean, the main pillar of my decades-old No Socks policy between May and September include the purchase of a new pair beginning each spring.....INSERT EXPLETIVE-FUELED RANT HERE:
So, when I saw the headline in the Manila Bulletin "Sandals, flip-flops found with harmful chemicals" it really harshed my mellow.
Then there's this from yesterday's Business Report:
"In a study released last week, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) found high levels of a toxic chemical known as diethyl-hexyl phthalate (DEHP) in 17 out of 27 pairs of shoes manufactured in various countries including India, Indonesia, Tanzania, The Philippines, Sweden and South Africa.The chemical can cause cancer, severe damage to a developing fetus and the central nervous system."
Now, I love the Swedes and all they've done to advance science throughout the years, and the meatballs at Ikea are the best in town, but this is one study I'd just as soon had not been done.
I won't hang up my flip-flops but, what gives, sandalistas?
[A big thx to flickr and theogeo for the pink flops]
