Stolen Future: How Lead Poisoning is Stealing America's Intelligence

Ever Wonder What is Wrong with Kids Today?

I have posed the question here on this blog many times before and am asking it once again, "What is wrong with our kids today?" Our standing in the world is dropping along with the concentration level, coping skills and intelligence of our children.  Sadly, this time when I ask the question, I feel like I am closer to an answer than ever before.

Our children are being bathed in an abundance of neurologically harmful heavy metals like mercury and lead as well as being immersed in a life full of unsafe consumer products.  When babies are born today, they already have over 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants in their umbilical cord blood.  Although we are working hard to create safer laws to combat the problem, I think it is important to be aware of exactly why we are fighting so hard for our children's future.

Let's start with lead.

What is the Environmental Health of Your Neighborhood? Find Out Here!

  
Last week the Associated Press released a new report on the water quality in schools in the United States.  It seems that water in about 100 school districts and 2,250 schools breached federal safety standards.  California, which has the highest number of schools in the country, had the highest level of violations at 612.  Ohio came in second with 451 violations followed by Maine with 417, Connecticut with 318 and Indiana with 289.

According to the AP article, "Many of the same toxins could also be found in water at homes, offices and businesses. But the contaminants are especially dangerous to children, who drink more water per pound than adults and are more vulnerable to the effects of many hazardous substances."

"The most frequently cited contaminant was coliform bacteria, followed by lead and copper, arsenic and nitrates."

This is even more of a reason for all of you moms,dads, grandmas and grandpas out there to buy  filtration systems for your homes (at least use a Brita water filtration pitcher you can pick up almost anywhere) and fill a reusable stainless steel container for them each morning.  You can find safe water bottles HERE with free shipping and a ton of cool designs they will love.

Reading about water quality at schools made me wonder about the quality of water and other environmental factors in my area.  Haven't you ever wondered about the environmental health of your neighborhood?  What exactly are the cancer risks?  How is your water quality?  What are the radon or ozone levels?  Well now you can check out the environmental health of the water (and get tons more important environmental info) in your area by using the widget above from the EPA.

Pretty cool widget.  Hope you find it useful and interesting.

Toxic Makeup

Toxic Makeup By Vriti Saraf
The Ticker

The dangerous effects of toxic chemicals in cosmetic products has been a topic of discussion for the Food and Drug Administration for many years.Thanks to persistent complaints by consumers and a 2002 report by the Environmental Working Group, which indicated that 72 percent of popular cosmetics contained dangerous chemicals, the FDA, along with major cosmetics companies, have worked to improve products.

A 2008 report by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics says that many leading companies have reduced the use of chemicals in their products. However, there are still several products that continue to use toxic chemicals in their ingredients.

Ambitious Research Into Child Health And Toxins Launches

It’s long been suspected that children are the most susceptible to environmental factors that adversely impact health. Now the largest study ever undertaken exploring just how is underway.

100,000 children will be followed from their first trimester before birth until age 21 as part of the ambitious National Children’s Study.

Researchers will look at whether exposure to environmental toxins such as plastics, fertilizers, and household chemicals, as well as diet interacts with genetics to adversely affect a child’s developing health.

Phthalates and other hormone-disrupting chemicals are found in thousands of everyday consumer items such as food and beverage containers, bug spray, shower curtains, perfume, pesticides and plastics.

The research is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The impact of environmental pollution on conditions such as autism, asthma, cerebral palsy, diabetes, and attention deficit disorder could begin to be available in three to five years.

Dr. Philip Landrigan of Mount Siniai School of Medicine in New York says the researchers will look for preventable factors.

"We are embarking on the road to discovering the preventable causes of the major chronic diseases that plague American children today," Dr. Philip Landrigan of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, one of the lead researchers, said to NPR.

A rising number of child disorders are believed to originate with environmental causes, as well many adult diseases that begin in childhood.

Pregnant women who live in 105 diverse areas that have been identified by a mathematical model will be recruited to participate and will be given compensation.

The areas represent environmental and demographic differences such as Queens, New York, and Duplin County, North Carolina.

Participation requires health interviews through pregnancy. Examinations including hair, blood and urine samples, and collection of water and dust in the homes. Babies will be checked regularly during the first years of life, then about every three years.

The National Children’s Study has been a decade in the planning stage but has been delayed by funding.

Results should form the basis of child health guidance and policy for generations to come.

Bisphenol A or BPA has been a suspected endocrine disruptor since pioneer zoologist, Theo Colburn began following the chemical train in her landmark book, Our Stolen Future (Dutton, 1996; Plume 1997), where she explored the many examples of plasticizers acting as a synthetic form of estrogen that disrupt the normal sexual development among wildlife.

Over 2.2 million tons is produced each year and resides in the majority of people and 80,000 chemicals are registered for use in the U.S. with more than 2,000 new ones introduced every year, all falling under the watch of the National Toxicology Program.

More than six billion pounds of bisphenol are produced in the U.S. each year by Dow Chemical, Bayer AG and others.

Posted by Jane Akre

Click on the title above to check out safe products for babies and children.