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LINDSAY IN MARYLAND ASKS:

We want to remodel our kids’ bathroom. It’s out of date, dark, and gets a lot of wear and tear. Is there something we should be aware of in terms of health and home renovations? Like, are there safer materials or anything to avoid?

Tell Congress: Protect Our Families From Harmful Toxic Chemicals

MOM DETECTIVE ANSWERS:

Bathrooms are among the most remodeled rooms in any home. Confession: My own ancient bathrooms are only spruced up, not remodeled. Here’s why: Demolition—of any room—can release an unknown cocktail of dust into indoor air, potentially harming it with small particles of hazardous-to-health materials, including asbestos, lead paint, and mold.

What’s in your demolition dust depends on the age of your home and the materials you’re demolishing. In general, demolition could cause respiratory issues as well as long-term health problems for the people living in your home. Kids are most vulnerable. And some new bathroom materials can also harm indoor air quality.

When demolishing and building new, there are precautions to take to make the process as safe as possible. But there are also ways to spruce up any bathroom—even dark ones that get tons of use—that will be cute and better for indoor air quality. This is especially good news for renters, who can’t demolish and remodel as homeowners can. I don’t know if you’re a renter or a homeowner, Lindsay, so I’m going to answer your question broadly.

Gutting a bathroom 101

1. Choose your team wisely

The first and most important step in a bathroom remodel is to hire a contractor and workers versed in environmental hazards. If your home is older than 1978, it could contain lead paint, so this means working with people certified in lead-safe practices. But lead is found in more than just paint! It’s in old porcelain tub glazes and is still permitted in modern ceramic glazes. That means that when tiles are demolished or cut for new installation, they can release lead dust. So can old tubs when sanded prior to reglazing.

If someone dismisses your environmental concerns, or says they work with, say, asbestos all the time and it’s no big deal, don’t hire them. It is a very big deal. Microscopic fibers of asbestos released in demolition—maybe from old linoleum floors—can cause cancer.

Which materials to be careful about depends entirely on the scope of your project—are you ripping out old walls and replacing ancient pipes? Are you keeping things mostly intact and merely updating cabinets and a toilet? All the more reason to hire certified workers who will know what precautions to take—things like wearing masks, venting outside, sealing off the demolition area, minimizing dust, and doing things like cutting tiles outside, not inside. Leave room in your budget to hire a post-construction cleaning crew similarly knowledgeable about environmental hazards that listens to your concerns and uses cleaners that won’t further pollute your indoor air.

If you insist on DIY, educate yourself beforehand, and be careful! And either way, if you can live outside your home during the duration of the remodel, please do.

2. Consider doing less

The less you tear apart, the less you stir up. The fewer new construction materials you bring in, the less they will release their chemical components into the indoor air—a process called off-gassing. Each new material from drywall to caulk to paint can off-gas potentially harmful fumes.

What would it look like to upgrade your kids’ bathroom with less impact, less demolition? Can you keep old cabinets but just update the doors? What can you repair and reuse instead of renovating? New paint can go a long way to upgrade a bathroom. Just choose it wisely. Some release many more fumes—also called volatile organic compounds, or VOCs—into the air. There are many VOC-free paints on the market—some available at big box home stores, some more nontoxic than others. Some even have third-party certification to back up their no-VOC claims—look for these. “Green” products are available for everything from caulk to paint to glue. Seek these out to minimize indoor air pollution.

One exception to the rule of repairing before renovating is if you have carpet in your bathroom. Got some? Rip it out (carefully)! It harbors moisture and is a breeding ground for mold. Replace carpet with an easy-to-wash eco-friendly surface. If you choose tile for the floor that requires a sealant, use a no-VOC product, not conventional water- and mold-proofing agent. These can contain indoor air pollutants that can harm health.

3. Building new

When remodeling, weigh all options about all new materials to use in your kids’ bathroom. Beyond no-VOC paint, choose hard wood over particleboard, which can off-gas formaldehyde, a known carcinogen. Options abound for every choice, from glass tiles to formaldehyde-free medium-density fiberboard (MDF). Do your research. Not sure where to start? Check out the Healthy Materials Lab. And look for durable materials. Acrylic and fiberglass can not only off-gas into indoor air for a long time post-installation, they can also break down when cleaned. If you’re buying new appliances, opt for water-saving showerheads and toilets and energy-efficient lighting.

Ventilation and mold

A uniquely problematic issue with bathrooms is humidity. Moisture can breed mold, especially in inadequately ventilated spaces. Often you can even smell the mold in bathrooms lacking proper ventilation and see it, too, in darkened tub grout. Mold can trigger respiratory illness and skin infection, depending on the strain. Air flow is critical to dry up moisture and decrease mold. It’s also the safest way to combat mold, as fungicides can contain hazardous ingredients.

Interior bathrooms without windows are supposed to have ventilation fans, but not all do. Even bathrooms with exterior windows can have condensation post shower. Add an exhaust fan when remodeling and make sure windows open. If you’re a renter or are not doing an extensive bathroom remodel, small fans can circulate air and move it out of the room. Paint and wallpaper do not protect against mold—which can feed and grow on wallpaper and paste.

“Deco-renovate”

For renters and people who don’t want to deal with demolition hazards, there are ample ways to improve a bathroom’s look that won’t harm indoor air. Just follow the same principles above: reuse when possible, do your research, and choose the safest possible and plastic-free new materials. Paint, lighting, art, and new towels go a long way. Squishy bathroom mats are comfy on the feet but are likely vinyl—a particularly toxic plastic that a lot of bath toys are also made of. Seek out cotton, organic cotton, metal, wood, and natural rubber toys. And look up some hacks. Simple optical tricks like placing a new (cotton!) shower curtain up very high can open a room and make ceilings look higher.

I hope this helps. Have fun with your project.

Tell Congress: Protect Our Families From Harmful Toxic Chemicals

Earlier this week, Moms from Georgia to California spoke out at a virtual EPA hearing about a new proposal to exempt “advanced recycling” plastics incinerators from Clean Air Act pollution protections. This proposal is a gut-punch to all who care about clean air and children’s health—because “advanced recycling” is neither advanced nor recycling. The proposal would allow toxic plastic incineration facilities to blanket nearby communities with air pollution linked to cancer, birth defects, reproductive system damage, developmental issues, cardiovascular problems, respiratory impairment, hormonal irregularities, and neurological problems.

Tell EPA: Our Families Need Strong Protections From Plastics Incinerators

Moms have been sounding the alarm about “advanced recycling” in our communities for years. Many of these facilities use “pyrolysis,” a heavily polluting technology that incinerates plastic trash at high temperatures, turning it into harmful air pollution and chemical wastes. Pyrolysis facilities that burn plastic are wreaking havoc on families, threatening our health and our communities, as the stories Moms’ members shared during the hearing showed. Here are a few of this week’s most powerful and relatable testimonies.

Amanda Rowoldt, Ohio

“About a year ago, I visited a facility that uses pyrolysis to incinerate plastic waste in Licking County, near the Village of Hebron. On my first visit, I could see billowing black smoke from miles away. When I arrived, I sat in my car, rolled down my window, and took a video. Within minutes, I felt a wave of nausea come over me, a stinging headache, and dizziness. I was legitimately frightened for my health.

“As someone who recently battled cancer and is still enduring treatment, I was alarmed by the quick onset of negative physical symptoms. I immediately rolled up my window and drove away… It’s absolutely essential for the health and safety of Ohioans living near pyrolysis incineration facilities that pyrolysis stays under the purview of Clean Air Act pollution controls, monitoring, and reporting requirements.”

Read Amanda’s full testimony.

Barbara Weber, California

“We have already seen what happens when communities are faced with these facilities. In Rohnert Park, California, a company proposed a so-called ‘advanced recycling’ plant … just a short distance from a high school. Residents (many of them parents) raised serious concerns about toxic emissions, including benzene and heavy metals, and the risks to children’s health. After months of public outcry, protests, and thousands of comments, the company ultimately withdrew and left the state altogether.

“What this example shows is that when communities are informed about pyrolysis, they overwhelmingly reject it. Families do not want these polluting facilities near their homes, schools, or neighborhoods.”

Read Barbara’s full testimony.

Kiya Stanford, Georgia

“Seeing where these plants are commonly located is deeply personal and incredibly disappointing. As a Black woman who has lived in communities disproportionately exposed to air pollutants, I recognize this pattern all too well. Nexus Circular already operates an ‘advanced recycling’ plant in Atlanta in a community that is 94% people of color and 44% low income. Their proposed McDonough facility sits in an area that is 75% people of color and 37% low income. When we talk about these facilities exacerbating health outcomes, we are talking about real people in my community who are already at a disadvantage simply because of their zip code. This isn’t just a policy shift; it’s an environmental justice crisis.”

Read Kiya’s full testimony.

Lani Wean, West Virginia

“There are several ‘advanced recycling,’ or plastic-burning facilities proposed in my home state of West Virginia. The one closest to me is currently being built right across the street from a high school, local library, outdoor sports facilities, health center, and down the road from another chemical plant in the area…

“Families in this area already face generations of harm from petrochemical pollution. ‘My child already has severe asthma; we can’t stay if this will make it worse.’ ‘How am I supposed to ever sell my house when it’s near a plant like this?’ ‘I don’t drink the water or go outside when the air is bad.’ These are all things I have heard from community members regarding pyrolysis plastic-burning facility proposals—and I know firsthand that they are not uncommon. Soon after moving to the Kanawha Valley, I was diagnosed with asthma—something my pulmonologist said is ‘unfortunately very normal’ in this state.”

Read Lani’s full testimony.

Rachel Meyer, Pennsylvania

“Because I live near a facility that produces plastic, I have become acutely aware of its air pollution and the toxicity of plastic. I worry how both could be impacting my six-year-old daughter’s health. There are more than 16,000 chemicals found in plastics. Over a quarter of these chemicals are known to be toxic while most of the rest—more than 10,000 chemicals—have not even been tested for toxicity and may also be causing harm…

“Because plastic waste is piling up all around us, industry has come up with a scheme to visibly make plastic disappear from sight by pyrolysis incineration, deceptively branded as ‘advanced recycling.’ Plastic pyrolysis incineration facilities do not lessen the plastic pollution problem. They take plastic waste and burn it, polluting the air with PFAS, dioxins, and other chemicals and creating hazardous waste. Pyrolysis plastic waste incinerators are hardly turning old plastic into new plastic. According to a study on recycling techniques for common plastics by U.S. Department of Energy scientists, only between 0.1% and 6% of the plastic waste that goes into a pyrolysis facility ends up in new chemicals or plastic.”

Read Rachel’s full testimony.

Tell EPA: Our Families Need Strong Protections From Plastics Incinerators

Each month, we highlight a Super Volunteer of the Month, a member who has gone above and beyond to advocate for clean air and children’s health. Our members in states across the country are more important than ever as we work to preserve clean air and climate protections. Will you join us?

This month, we are celebrating Shaena Crossland, a mom, store owner, and community organizer based in Tucker County, West Virginia. Shaena was nominated by Moms’ West Virginia organizer, Lani Wean, for her work fighting the proposed Ridgeline Project—a large gas-fired power plant with backup diesel generators that will power an AI data center campus straddling Tucker and Grant Counties. Construction on this massive project is expected to begin early next year, and when fully built out, it could cover thousands of acres with several data centers, making it one of the largest polluting data center campuses in the world. Projects like this are the reason air pollution associated with AI is expected to result in as many as 1,300 premature deaths per year by 2030.

Tell Congress: Protect Families From Dangerous Data Center Air Pollution

Shaena is a community organizer for Tucker United, a local organization that came together specifically to fight the Ridgeline Project and protect the surrounding area from more extractive, polluting industry. We talked to her about what it’s like to be living a David and Goliath story and how she’s helped get her whole community involved.

How did you first become interested in environmental and air quality issues?

I was born in the 1980s, so I’m definitely in the generation where you learned the risks of, say, plastic straws and what they do to sea turtles and things like that. But I became motivated to learn more—and extremely active—after plans for the Ridgeline Project became public knowledge in April 2025. This complex would be less than a mile from the town, less than a mile from Davis Thomas Elementary Middle School, and less than a mile from my home.

How did you learn about the Ridgeline Project, and what was your initial response?

We learned about Ridgeline when the local paper published a notice about an air quality permit. A local resident saw the notice, looked up the permit, and found that it was heavily redacted. That raised a red flag. She called some local officials here in the town, and nobody knew anything about the project.

Tucker United formed really fast after that. We hosted a town meeting at the local fire hall here in Davis. There were 300 people there, in person and on Zoom, and we all had a lot of questions.

We started diving in, trying to figure out what we could about Fundamental Data, the company behind the Ridgeline Project. This company just popped up in 2024. There’s really no information about it online. It’s just a logo and a copyright. The gentleman who owns the company is a developer, but there’s no history of them building a major energy project like Ridgeline. We did reach out to him last year, but the answers he gave to the questions we had were vague to say the least.

What are your biggest concerns about the Ridgeline Project?

One of the biggest issues that we have with the project is the air quality permit for the power plant, which labels Ridgeline a minor source of pollution as opposed to a major source. Facilities like this need a lot of permits, but when you’re considered a minor source of pollution, it’s a lot easier to get those permits.

We started reaching out to scientists, environmentalists, people who know what they’re talking about. We pulled together funds to commission a study from a lab at Harvard University about the impact this will have on our air. It’s a very conservative study, but it showed the Ridgeline Project would actually be technically a major source of pollution—not minor. It was heartbreaking as a resident to think that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection [which had issued the permit] wasn’t protecting us. Their job is to protect the environment, to protect the people, right?

So we partnered with West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the Sierra Club to go before the state Air Quality Board to argue against the Ridgeline permit. We told them we didn’t think that they had issued the permit correctly, and we wanted them to revoke it. The Air Quality Board heard our case but, in February of this year, said WVDEP was within their rights to issue the permit.

So now we’re working on taking this case to the West Virginia Supreme Court. [If the state Supreme Court vacates the air permit, it could delay construction on the project.]

Has your daughter been involved in this advocacy too?

My daughter is 16, and she has been independent from day one. You won’t necessarily see her at a rally or press conference, but she helps me through education. She’s been involved in youth government since she was seven. She goes to youth leadership camp in the summer. So when I talk to her about Tucker United, we have in-depth conversations where she suggests other ways to think about things or explains parts of legislation to me. She’s highly supportive.

Have you experienced any recent wins?

The people of Tucker County coming together as fast as they did and organizing was a big win. If you drive around locally, you see local businesses and private residencies with signs in their yards and in their windows opposing Ridgeline. We’ve come together as a community to say, “Hold up. We have questions, we deserve answers, and we definitely deserve better than what you’re giving us.”

Learn more about the air, climate, and health impacts of AI data centers.

Tell Congress: Protect Families From Dangerous Data Center Air Pollution

How can two widely used chemicals found in our daily products possibly lead to millions of preterm births and tens of thousands of infant deaths? A new study links two specific phthalates—petrochemicals derived from fossil fuels and added to plastic to make it flexible—to both terrifying outcomes. Specifically, they were associated with nearly 2 million premature births and the deaths of 74,000 newborns worldwide in 2018. And they’re still everywhere—in perfumes, cosmetics, cleaning products, detergents, bug repellents, and many household products.

To make sense of these upsetting new findings, Moms’ Co-Founder and Director Dominique Browning spoke earlier this week with the study’s senior author—and Moms’ go-to expert on all things plastic, hormones, and children’s health—Dr. Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, and the Jim G. Hendrick, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. In the livestreamed interview, Dr. Trasande broke down how phthalates enter our bodies and bloodstream through food or drink in plastic packaging or through contact with our skin. From there, they can disrupt our sex hormones, which are crucial to many of our body’s functions, including the functioning of the placenta.

Tell Congress: Protect Our Families From Harmful Toxic Chemicals

In their wide-ranging discussion, Dr. Trasande unpacked how hormone disruption can lead to pregnancy complications, how much this is costing our families, and what we can do about it. Here are 4 important takeaways from the conversation.

1. Plastic chemicals are a preventable risk factor for preterm birth.

When phthalate exposure disrupts placenta function, it can trigger preterm labor. This latest study from Dr. Trasande and his colleagues at NYU Langone Health builds on decades of research from populations of moms and babies that has shown a direct association between prenatal exposure to phthalates and increases in premature or preterm birth. Babies born early have had less time in utero for body and brain development. This means premature babies can experience decreases in cognitive potential, early heart disease, and years of life lost. And in many parts of the world, premature birth is fatal.

“Plastics are a preventable risk factor for preterm birth, in contrast to genetics and other factors we can’t control,” says Dr. Trasande. “If we can reduce plastic pollution, we can reduce preterm birth.”

2. We can’t fully fix a problem we don’t fully understand.

The scientific community currently knows a lot about the chemicals used in plastics, how they can affect human health, and even what we can do to reduce harmful chemical exposures. “The part we don’t understand,” says Dr. Trasande, “are the micro- and nanoplastic effects.” Micro- and nanoplastics are tiny particles of plastic that can penetrate skin pores and cell membranes. They are in our food and beverages and even in the air we breathe. Dr. Trasande thinks they could be the delivery systems for the toxic effects of chemicals like phthalates—but more study is needed to be sure.

Dr. Trasande wants to see “a massive research agenda” that includes testing for exposure to microplastics and plastic chemicals at local clinics and doctors’ offices. Data from a large-scale study like this could help us understand how micro- and nanoplastics burrow into tissue and pass the blood-brain barrier. This information could not only help doctors better treat and prevent plastics-related health issues but could help chemists and engineers design healthier, more sustainable products. “It opens up a broader roadmap for solving this problem,” argues Dr. Trasande.

3. Diseases related to plastic chemical exposure cost us all.

“When we talk about plastics, we’re talking about $250 billion in disease costs in the U.S. alone,” says Dr. Trasande. That’s 1.2% of our gross domestic product—a massive number that will likely grow larger in the coming years. Plastics production is expected to triple by 2050. More production means more exposure to plastic chemicals, more plastics-related disease, and greater health care costs related to this toxic industry.

4. We need to attack the plastic problem from every angle.

We can all take simple steps in our daily life to reduce our plastic exposure, like switching to glass and stainless steel food containers and avoiding microwaving plastics or putting them in the washing machine. But it can’t be entirely up to individuals to solve this problem.

“We need steps taken in the U.S. and in individual states to reduce the use of toxic chemicals in the materials in our furniture, our personal care products, our cosmetics, our food packaging,” says Dr. Trasande. He points to the 2016 update of the Toxic Substances Control Act as an example of an important step forward because it returned the U.S. to a paradigm of testing chemicals for safety before using them in products. This foundational law is currently under attack in Congress, with draft bills in the House and Senate that aim to make it easier for industry to bring new chemicals to market. This is extremely alarming. As Dr. Trasande insists, “We cannot have an innocent until proven guilty toxicological approach.”

He points to state-based regulations as a potent antidote to the loosening of industry standards at the federal level. “Manufacturers can’t produce 50 different versions of a material,” Dr. Trasande points out, suggesting they would instead make one or two materials that adhere to the most stringent state chemical safety rules.

Ultimately, says Dr. Trasande, we have to “attack this problem from multiple angles.” Studies like his latest are one critical part of the solution.

Watch Dominique’s full conversation with Dr. Trasande here.

Tell Congress: Protect Our Families From Harmful Toxic Chemicals

A top priority of the Trump administration is making our nation the “AI Capital of the World.” But the data centers needed to support artificial intelligence (AI) require enormous amounts of energy and, if powered by fossil fuels, can release significant harmful pollution, including cancer-causing benzene and formaldehyde.

Our leaders in Congress must commit to building a future that includes safe, healthy, and sustainable AI infrastructure. Will you join Moms in urging your lawmakers to introduce legislation to protect our families from fossil fuel-powered data centers?

Tell Congress: Protect Families From Dangerous Data Center Air Pollution

I’ve seen firsthand the damage a massive AI data center can cause in a community. I live in Memphis, where last year Elon Musk opened his xAI supercomputer facility, called Colossus, in the historically Black—and historically overburdened with industrial air pollution—Boxtown neighborhood.

Within months of Colossus turning on the 35 heavily polluting gas turbines that power it, my 12-year-old son ended up in urgent care and his doctor’s office four times because he needed a nebulizer to help him breathe. And we weren’t alone. On one visit, five children in the waiting area were there for wheezing, and one had to be transported to the hospital by ambulance.

I don’t know for sure what caused my son’s asthma to flare. But I do know our children are most at risk from fossil-fuel-powered data centers’ toxic pollution. This pollution is linked to not just asthma attacks, but heart attacks, neurological issues, and cancer.

Despite recent growth in renewable energy technology, two-thirds of the additional electricity needed to power AI data centers is projected to come from expensive and dirty fossil fuels—unless strong, affordable clean energy requirements are put in place. We need to protect our families from bearing the costs of data center development infrastructure, as their massive energy demands drive costly grid expansions and higher electricity bills for families.

That’s where you come in. Add your voice to Moms’ across the country who are calling for data centers in our communities to be powered by clean renewable energy and subject to strong clean air protections. We need safeguards to protect our families’ health and future.

Tell Congress: Protect Families From Dangerous Data Center Air Pollution