I am teaching in
San Francisco today where the
San Francisco Chronicle reports
that glass baby bottles are making such a comeback that skittish parents can't
find them in stores or online. This rush
to glass bottles is fueled by a series of studies that say plastic baby
bottles may leak toxins when heated.
The
Chronicle says:
Independent tests done for the
Chronicle and reported in November found bisphenol A, a chemical that mimics
estrogen, in a baby bottle and several toys. Bisphenol A is also found in the
lining of food cans, some anti-cavity sealants for teeth, and electronics.
Then,
in late February, Environment California, an advocacy group, released a report
titled "Toxic Baby Bottles" that drew intense national media
coverage.
When heated, five of the most popular brands of
polycarbonate -- the clear, shatterproof plastic used in baby bottles --
leached bisphenol A at levels that have been found to cause harm in laboratory
animals, Environment California found.
Even at low levels, bisphenol A has been linked to abnormalities
in the mammary and prostate glands and the eggs of laboratory animals,
scientists say. Animal tests also show bisphenol A can speed up puberty and add
to weight gain, and may cause changes that can lead to breast and prostate
cancer.
"Parents are so concerned," said Dan Jacobson,
Environment California's legislative director. Jacobson said the baby bottle
report prompted more calls and e-mails, from all over the country, than any
other study the organization has issued.
"When parents get ready to have a kid, they put plastic
covers on the outlets, they test their walls for lead paint, they get the right
kind of crib," Jacobson said. "Then you find out the baby bottle, of
all things, is a problem."
Al's Morning Multimedia: Singing the Headlines
This is just too clever. The
Boston Globe's online editor Dave Beard explained to me how the
paper's site now has a
daily song keyed to the day's headlines.
Listen
to Monday's song, which linked to the Roger Clemens baseball story. Dave explained
to me how it works:
Jake Brennan, who won a
local folk songwriting competition (he's from Somerville) came
to us with the idea of trying this out for two weeks.
We're also encouraging
other local bands to submit to us, as well. Jake reads something
online or in the paper, gets me and our feature staff lyrics by 10 a.m., we edit (or just say OK), then he records and does a video. If all goes well
(like it did today), we're posted by 4 p.m. with the video and his
updated blog.
We're still working on a
few things (I want the lyrics displayed alongside the video so that a
reader could follow along.), but so far, so good.
Nonprofit
Mailing Rates Rise
Nonprofits may have to decide if they should reduce the size of their mailings from flats to
letters if substantial postage increases permanently take effect. More from The NonProfit Times. Standard flats could increase up to 30 to 40 percent with the new rates.
Cheaper Court Documents
Colorado just passed a law
that lowers the price of public records in that state. The old ceiling was
$1.25 per page. The new rate is 25 cents. Many states'
public-records laws say copying fees must be "reasonable," like Maine's law, or limit the fees to
the actual costs of copying, like Kentucky's law.
It
is worth a look to see what various local agencies charge. It can really add up, not just for journalists
but for anybody who copies records.
Rural Journalism Struggles
The Rural Blog reported from a
national summit on rural journalism with these reports available free online:
- Issues Facing Rural America: policy with Brian Dabson and politics with Brian Mann (video)
- How three newspaper chains meet the bottom line and provide good
journalism on rural issues (video)
- Covering rural issues and exploring alternative ownership forms
with an independent publisher who sold to, and works for, a new kind of chain;
and three independent editors and publishers (video)
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's
Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story
excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as
original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly
from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided
whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the
accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and
inaccuracies found will be corrected.
Even at low levels, bisphenol A has been linked to...
