By SARAH HOLMES
The News Tribune
March 06, 2011
My first career was in the Army. I served a year in Iraq and 15 months in Afghanistan, where I worked as a combat medic with the Infantry and Special Forces in their mission to rebuild the remote villages along the Pakistani border.
The job was hard and the conditions grueling, but I loved being a soldier, protecting the weakest, and promoting health of the women and children of the community.
My second career has been as a mother.
Transitioning from military life to civilian, from a role of guardian of a nation to guardian of an infant, was a tumultuous one for me. Being a new mother is hard work, and I’m used to that, but I wasn’t prepared for dealing with toxic chemicals linked to cancer and learning disabilities that can be found in baby bottles, baby blankets and toys.
As a mother dedicated to raising a strong and healthy daughter when I’m not busy with my side jobs to make extra money, I have to be both a nurturer and a warrior. I would love to live in a world where my job is to cuddle her and nurse her to bed; sadly, it also means I have to research every toy she plays with or cup she drinks from.
The change that took me from soldier to mother opened my eyes to risks to children here at home that I had not known about before. As a woman who stood in protection of our nation, I am appalled that our laws do not protect our babies from the easily preventable damage caused by toxic chemicals in children’s products.
In a world where rates of autism have more than tripled, asthma has increased 75 percent, and diabetes type 2 has increased 32 percent – all since the 1980s – it obvious that something more needs to be done to protect our children. I am beginning to realize that my skills as a medic and soldier are useful as an advocate for my daughter’s health and safety.
Right now in Washington state, chemicals used in children’s products don’t have to be tested for safety before being used. As a result, everyday products can contain chemicals linked with health effects such as learning and behavioral problems, hormone disruption and asthma.
I am an intern with Earth Ministry, which has a long history of working on environmental health issues from a religious perspective and has joined with the Washington Toxics Coalition to lobby our state Legislature to pass Senate Bill 5321, the Children’s Safe Products Bill.
This bill will help companies find safer chemicals to use in their products so that parents won’t have to worry about whether a toy or baby blanket contains chemicals that will harm their child.
To raise the kind of woman I hope my daughter will become, it is my responsibility to fight for her. I have to fight actively for her education, for her safety and for her health.
I encourage other mothers to stand in protection of all our children. Talk to your friends, neighbors, church members, children’s teachers and other parents. And most importantly, urge your state legislators to pass the SB 5321.
Whatever you do, do something. The health of our children depends on it.
Army veteran Sarah Holmes is interning at Earth Ministry while attending Seattle University. She lives in Tacoma with her daughter and husband.