Not easy being green

Josh Mankiewicz Correspondent • Profile

CALIFORNIA - Better living through chemistry. It may be an old joke, but it's the modern way of daily life in America.

You can't get away from chemicals if you try, and the truth is, in many cases you wouldn't want to.

Chemicals clean your clothes, help breakfast slide onto your plate, and make life a lot more convenient.

But a flurry of new research shows that some chemicals from food and household products are seeping into our bodies. While many are harmless, others may be downright toxic.

Dr. Phillip Landrigan: All of us, all of us in America are exposed to dozens, even hundreds, of chemicals our grandparents and our parents weren't exposed to … They're in blood, they're in urine, they're in breast milk, they're in the cord blood of newborn infants ... We really know very little about the toxicity of these chemicals and to me as a pediatrician, that's worrisome.

How do you live? What choices do you make? Are you just cozying up to chemical America without even thinking about it?

Scientists can measure the levels of toxins in our systems by analyzing our blood and urine in what are called "body burden" tests.

The tests are expensive, and not readily available to the public. But Dateline arranged to have the tests done on two families who were willing to share their results publicly and find out just how "toxic" they really are.

Meet our first family. We'll call them "the Greens." They live in Sonoma, Calif.

Andrea is a strict vegan, saying "I don't eat dairy. I don't eat eggs. No butter, of course. And I don't even use animal products. I don't wear leather or wool or silk."

Her husband Steve is a vegetarian, and they've raised their daughters, 13-year-old Marielle and 11-year-old Jordan, as vegetarians as well.

Josh Mankiewicz, Dateline NBC: Your girls have never had any meat?

Steve: Never had any meat.

Josh Mankiewicz: Any interest in it?

Marielle: No.

Jordan: No, not really.

Josh Mankiewicz: No?

Girls: Nope.

Andrea: Well, maybe they had a little bit. I'm thinking when they were learning to crawl they did get into the cat chow once.

But it's not just the decision to leave the meat-eating to their cats that makes "the Greens" so green.

Andrea: Starting with household products, cleaning products … When we buy them, we buy more natural versions … We purchase food, mostly organic foods, anywhere from produce to dry pasta, our mustard. You know pretty much everything in our cabinets or 80 percent is organic.

This organic, all-natural approach even extends to the roof over their heads. Their home is solar-powered and built chemical-free.

Josh Mankiewicz: Do people consider you extreme? Nutty? Wacky? Are you guys those wacky Californians everybody makes jokes about?

Andrea: We're the wacky Californians to the non-Californians...

Steve: We've decided this is how we want to live our lives. And we think there are long term benefits to living our life this way. That, number one, we'll be healthier. That we potentially will live healthier, more vibrant lives, especialy as we get older.

Josh Mankiewicz: But you're not really actively out there proselytizing for this?

Andrea: I’ve started a Web site, greenworkinprogress.com. And it's you know for people who are interested...

Steve: We're not knocking on doors and saying “Hi, we're the green people, here to help you live your life.” You know, we're never going to go that far.

Because they've put so much thought into their diet and their environment, "the Greens" are especially curious to see what a body burden test will show.

Josh Mankiewicz: I get the feeling that you guys are going to be a little disappointed--

Steve: Yeah...

Josh Mankiewicz: --if you're not at least a little bit lower than our other family.

Andrea: We'll have to see. We'll have to see...

Meet "The Browns"
That other family, we're calling them "the Browns," are much closer to your average American family.

Josh Mankiewicz: What did you have for breakfast and what did you have for lunch?

Dale: Breakfast, I had two eggs and two slices of provolone cheese, then for lunch I had top sirloin steak...

Joan: I had an egg sandwich that Dale made me and for lunch I had a turkey sandwich and a tangerine and that's it.

Robert: For breakfast I had a bowl of cereal and for lunch I had pizza with some orange soda.

Chris: For breakfast I had a Balance bar and then for lunch I had two fish tacos.

Dale, Joan, 15-year-old Robert, and 18-year-old son Chris also live in California, and they say their hectic lives often lead straight to the drive-thru.

Josh Mankiewicz: How many of the dietary choices you make every day are made because you got a job, you got a job, you're in college, and you're in high school and everybody's in a hurry?

Dale: We work 40 to 60 hours a week. You know, my wife works at least that much. The boys are involved in athletics, so even when we're not working more than an eight hour day at work, we're going off to some sporting event after that. By the time you're home, it's 8, 9 o'clock at night frequently.

Josh Mankiewicz: And you want to grab whatever's most convenient?

Dale: Right. There's no time to prepare and put the effort there.

Josh Mankiewicz: What about home products? Soap, detergents, lotion, cosmetics, stuff to get out stains. Who buys those things in the family?

Dale: I buy all those.

Josh Mankiewicz: Do you worry about what's in them? Or do you just worry about how effective they are?

Dale: I worry about how effective and cost.

Josh Mankiewicz: And the reason for that is what? That if it was really harmful it would say so on the bottle or if you're not, I’m not eating it, I’m spraying it on the rug?

Dale: Correct. It's not something we're ingesting.

Josh (to the boys): Do you ever think about “Gee, what's in that detergent? Or what's in hand soap? Or what's in that orange soda I had?”

Chris: No. I always think those things are probably, like soap especially, will probably be like safe because it cleans your hands and stuff.

Josh Mankiewicz: You've by now heard about the other family that we're talking to that sort of lives green. All four of them are vegetarians. Their mom is a vegan. The kids have never had any meat in their whole lives and they're very careful about what products they buy and bring into their home.

Dale: God bless 'em...

Josh Mankiewicz: How do you think you'll stack up relative to the other family?

Dale: I’m not that concerned.

Joan: Well, I'm hoping we'd be the same, but all you hear about on the news is about the chemicals and how your body's absorbing the chemicals from makeups and bottled water and everything, so there could be a difference.

Josh (to Dale): You're not worried?

Dale: I’m not worried on that one.

Joan: I hope your blood results can back that. (laughter)

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