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American Morning

Showbiz Today Reports: Activists, Performers Discuss Organization Dedicated to Educating Public About Chemical Risks to Children.

Aired May 08, 2001 - 11:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Time for "Showbiz Today."

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Laurin Sydney with two impressive ladies.

Laurin, good morning.

LAURIN SYDNEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Actually, it's three very impressive, Daryn and Leon, because it will be Hollywood on the Potomac tomorrow when Olivia Newton-John and actress Kelly Preston go before Congress to talk about a subject that they are very passionate about. They will be representing the Children's Health Environmental Coalition, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about environmental toxins that affect children's health.

Joining us now are Olivia, Kelly, and Nancy Chuda, who is the founder of this amazing organization.

Welcome to "Showbiz Today Reports."

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN, PERFORMER: Thank you so much.

KELLY PRESTON, ACTRESS: Thank you.

NANCY CHUDA, FOUNDER, CHEC: Thank you.

SYDNEY: Nancy, I have to start with you because it is founded on a very devastating story. The story is yours; could you please share that with us?

Sure. Actually, we're celebrating our tenth anniversary. In 1990, the only child of my husband, Jim, and I was diagnosed with a nonhereditary form of cancer called Wilm's tumor. Olivia and I had gotten pregnant together within four weeks of one other and had had our children within six weeks of one another, and Olivia lived with Jim and me through this terrible tragedy. Colette was only able to survive nine months, and after she passed, we asked the question why -- what was it in the environment that could have affected her? What it was that caused her cancer? So we began with a research agenda to determine the causes, not the cure. There were so many things in the environment that could have affected her particular form of cancer. In the early years, we did nothing but research.

Then in 1992, Olivia and Elizabeth Sword, our executive director, decided that we needed to form a national organization that could be a voice for all parents that were concerned about this incredible toxicity that our children were facing, pregnant women were facing, and that all of us are facing.

SYDNEY: In fact, Kelly has a personal story as well.

PRESTON: Our son Jett at the age of two took very ill because of the carpet-cleaning products that we used. We thought we were doing the right thing: We would clean relentlessly, thinking we didn't want bacteria or different things to harm him. Because of the fumes coming up from carpet, and his body being so small, he was in intensive care, and we actually almost lost him.

From that point on, we both became very aware and did a lot of research on the different chemicals and pesticides in our environment.

SYDNEY: Olivia, the stats are incredible: We all live with 80,000 chemicals a day, and 90 percent of them have never been tested. On the Hill tomorrow, what do you hope to accomplish?

NEWTON-JOHN: We hope to immerse all the congressmen and senators get to the problem and to create a right-to-know act, so that everything that we use in our homes -- everything we eat and the drink, hopefully, in the future -- will have labelling on it so we know it's safe. A right-to-act is the main purpose in the long view.

So we have created this video "Not Under My Roof" to educate mothers and caregivers for young children. There are going to be 4 million babies born this year in this country, and we hope to reach all the young mothers, to educate pregnant women on keep themselves healthy through the pregnancy and through the early years of the child's life.

This one is about the house. We intend to go into other areas, but this is about our homes and how to keep them safe for our children.

SYDNEY: And you also have a Web site that is very instructional, checnet.org.

For our viewers that are watching, what are the first things they can do, after this segment is over, to make the home safer for their children?

PRESTON: There's a myriad of things that you can do. If you're renovating, there are different things you can renovate safely with. You can possibly not put carpets down. There are nontoxic paints. There are cleansers that you can use that are nontoxic -- baking soda and water, for instance. CHUDA: Vinegar, too.

PRESTON: Vinegar and water.

NEWTON-JOHN: You can wash your fruits and vegetables very carefully and peel them if you can't get organics. Organics are, obviously, the ideal, but if you can't get organics, wash and peel your fruits and vegetables, buy locally, or grow you own, if you can, in season.

Keep windows open. We forget and keep the windows closed a lot, and there are a lot of fumes that come off our carpets and our furniture. And the sprayers that we use all the time -- we think a house smells clean because it smells good, but the smell is a chemical, it's not natural. You can use natural oils if you want to create a nice smell. These things are things that we are working on.

Don't let people smoke in your home. Take your shoes off before you come inside because the pesticides that we shouldn't be using...

SYDNEY: I never would have thought of that.

NEWTON-JOHN: ... are trudged in, and a baby lives, when it's crawling, 4 inches off the ground, and puts its hand in its mouth about 20 times an hour.

So we're taking those things off the floor -- we don't think of those things. I didn't until I had Chloe, and my friend would call up and ask, Do you think it's clean -- then smell that. It's chemicals.

CHUDA: And the sad irony of all this is that every mother who is about to give birth is doing the right thing. She wants to feather the nest. Her instincts are right, and dad's instincts are right, so they go to the hardware store and to the supermarket, and they bring all of these various products into home environment...

SYDNEY: The sad irony is that we're out of time.

But we know that people can buy the video and learn all that there is to know about this.

I thank you so very much for going.

NEWTON-JOHN: Thank you.

SYDNEY: I know you want to hand me this wonderful pen.

CHUDA: I want to hand you this pen.

SYDNEY: I'm going to accept it graciously.

Thank you so much.

NEWTON-JOHN: Thank you so much.

CHUDA: Thank you. PRESTON: Thank you.

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