There is clear and growing evidence that children today are exhibiting higher rates of allergies, attention deficit disorders (ADD, ADHD), autism, developmental defects, learning disabilities, brain cancer and acute lymphocytic leukemia. The prime suspect in all of these conditions is increased exposure to environmental toxins and our children are especially at risk. Even babies are being born “prepolluted” and the pollutants are often present in higher concentrations in the babies compared to their mothers.
Why are our babies and children so much at risk?
There are several reasons.
1) In utero, toxins may be secreted by the fetus but then they are reabsorbed again when the fetus swallows the amniotic fluid.
2) Fetuses, infants and young children do not have fully developed detoxification systems and so are more at risk from the chemical effects of toxins.
3) Cells are rapidly growing and dividing as tissues and organs develop and these processes are vulnerable to the action of toxic chemicals.
4) Infants and children consume more food and drink relative to their body weight than adults do and so they take in higher amounts of toxins relative to their body weight.
5) Babies and young children are crawling on surfaces that may have been treated with chemicals such as fire retardants and stain repellents and these substances will get onto the babies skin and into their bodies as the children put their hands in their mouths.
6) By the time children are 6 years old in the U.S.A. they may have been exposed to as many as 49 doses of 14 different vaccines (1). Some of these vaccines may contain aluminum salts used as adjuvants ( “boosters” ) and mercury ( in the form of the preservative Thimerosal ) as well as formaldehyde, phenoxyethanol, glutaraldehye, sodium acetate, sodium borate, sodium chloride, monosodium glutamate (MSG), hydrochloric acid, hydrogen peroxide, lactose, gelatin, yeast protein, egg albumin, human and bovine serum albumin, and some antibiotics.
We have to be so vigilant today, especially with our babies and young children, not only to protect them from obvious hazards such as road traffic but also from exposure to toxic chemicals.
What are these toxins?
In the latest study sponsored by the non-profit Environmental Working Group, umbilical cord blood of newborn babies in five states was tested between December 2007 and June 2008 and a total of 232 polluting chemicals found (2). These included lead, mercury, the plastic component BPA (bisphenol A) and chemicals normally found in cosmetics, fragrances, flame retardants, non-stick coatings, pesticides, rocket fuel and waste byproducts. These chemicals were clearly not filtered out by the placenta. This is the first time that synthetic musk chemicals and BPA have been reported in newborns.
Have they been tested for safety?
There are now over 80,000 chemicals that may be used in products in our environment and more than 3,000 of them are manufactured in quantities of over a million pounds each per year. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has required testing of only a few hundred and these tests are certainly not as rigorous as those required for pharmaceutical drugs. And yet we know that drugs approved for clinical use often have side effects and contraindications, some of which can be very serious. So it stands to reason that exposure to industrial chemicals which have never been properly tested could pose a serious threat to our health and wellbeing.
What’s being done about this?
Judging from the present state of affairs, the current law regulating toxic chemicals in the USA, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), passed in 1976 and never amended, is woefully inadequate. When passed, it grandfathered in approx. 62,000 chemicals already in use, declaring them to be safe when there was little supportive evidence. Since that time, over 20,000 more chemicals have been introduced, again with little to commend their long-term safety. Now there is a new bill before Congress entitled the “Safe Chemicals Act of 2011” introduced by Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and co-sponsored by Senators Barbara Boxer, Amy Klobuchar, Charles Schumer and others. It is designed to protect Americans, and especially children, from toxic chemicals in everyday consumer products. Further details are contained in a report from Senator Lautenberg’s office (3). To summarize, the new bill would address each of the failings of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and would require chemical companies to demonstrate the safety of industrial chemicals.
It is imperative that this act be passed so that current and future generations will be protected from exposure to chemicals which can endanger our health.
© Christopher J. Jones M.Sc., Ph.D.
References
1) http://www.nvic.org/Downloads/49-Doses-PosterB.aspx
2) Environmental Working Group (2009) Cord Blood Contaminants in Minority Newborns. 60pp. http://www.ewg.org/files/2009-Minority-Cord-Blood-Report.pdf
3) http://lautenberg.senate.gov/assets/SafeChem-Summary.pdf
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