Mason's First High School Homecoming

Mason has his first high school homecoming. He went with a group of friends and had a really good time. I love seeing him grow into a young man and having these life experiences. He and his best friend Dylan are really good boys, I hope they continue on the path of honesty and don't find themselves questioning what's right. 

Dave, Jen and I went to see Clay Walker Sunday night in Folsom. It was so much fun! Thank you Clay Walker for yet another great show. The memories from yesteryear are priceless and the new ones we made last night are invaluable. ❤️

Finally, there are SO many reasons CA is not where we will live out our lives, but today, hearing that I cannot buy my favorite holiday baking spice because cinnamon is now on the Prop 65 list (oregano is new to the list, too), well, this state is batshit crazy. Yeah, this is not breaking news, I know, but WTF, how is it I am still alive according to the "we have to save the world one dragee' and teaspoon of cinnamon at a time" legislators?

Warn me, put the label on all the things that will contaminate our water, make us infertile, and help to kill us faster, but don't put the small businesses making the products have to fight you in court to be able to sell to us. I don't have every detail of how that works, but it's safe to say my info sources are those little businesses who are being hurt, and not just in CA.

Here's just one simple explanation of this ridiculousness - Comparison of the Prop 65 Standards vs National Standards

Let’s use lead as an example. Lead is a naturally occurring element that is found in the environment, including soil. According to the EPA, natural levels of lead in soil can range between 50 parts per million (ppm) and 400 ppm. Human-spread lead contamination widens this range, of course, with reports of over 10,000 ppm in certain types of areas, such as industrial facilities. [Source 2] International standards for lead in dietary supplements and food are often set at no more than 5 ppm. The Prop 65 Safe Harbor Maximum Allowable Dose Level for lead is 0.5 micrograms per day, meaning that a person may not be exposed to lead above this amount, by any product, without a Prop 65 warning. Setting aside the difficulties of translating this exposure level to a concentration level in a specific product, applying this standard to herbs and supplements means that lead content levels would need to be many times lower than federal levels in order for a product to be sold without a Prop 65 warning. Above the Safe Harbor Levels, a Prop 65 warning must be given to avoid lawsuits and potential liability.

When grown in soil with a relatively “low” lead content (500 ppm), spinach and radishes can have lead levels that exceed 3 ppm, while beets and carrots can exceed 6 ppm. [Source 3] Also, herbs may contain over 90% water by weight, so lead levels in dried herbs can be up to 10 times higher than their fresh counterparts. In addition, it is difficult to get root crops entirely free of the soil they are grown in. Under these circumstances, it is easy to see how it might be difficult to keep lead levels low in natural herbal products and especially in herbal root products.

For comparison, Lead Prop 65 warning required at 0.5 micrograms/serving and higher
FDA tolerable daily intake level
Adults: 75 micrograms
Children: 6 micrograms

A 4oz. serving of nuts, Brussel sprouts, or spinach can deliver up to 10 micrograms of naturally occurring lead. Indeed, virtually all foods contain lead and other heavy metals. In a study by the European Food Safety Authority the estimated mean lifetime dietary exposure from all sources [Source 5] to lead was estimated to be almost 50 micrograms per day in the overall European adult population. This is 100 times the Prop 65 limit. As you can see the potential amount of lead exposure from herbs and spices is at most a small amount of the total exposure to lead for the average person.

When manufacturing herbal products, it is often impossible to meet Safe Harbor levels. When Safe Harbor levels cannot be met Starwest applies the appropriate Prop 65 warning to its labels.