Health and Diet Scottish Recipes Ferret for Ferrets


[pf] Fw: Rachel #712: CHILDREN IN HARM'S WAY
by Kaleopono
26 November 2000 22:53 UTC

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apparently it has become clear that the chemical sea in which all of us
conduct our daily lives is toxic to human health.  It is destroying the
potential for normal life and possible outstanding achievement in millions
of children's lives (as well as increasing in untold measure the economic
and emotional burdens that our society insists parents must bear).

Here is one more example of the clinical insanity of mainstream U.S.
business and government decision makers.  The world is upside down.

Humanity's situation is very grim, indeed.  Circumstances cannot and will
not change until there is a majority groundswell insisting that enough is
enough, there must be immediate modification of industrial processes and
citizens' consumption practices to drastically reduce and, finally,
eliminate toxic chemical pollution of the environment on which human and all
other life depends.

The educational and organizing task is daunting but can be accomplished one
step at a time.  A patient, long term perspective is necessary.  The
important thing is to begin the journey.  Then it is important to take each
next step as quickly as possible, but not so fast that intent, will and
energy are dissipated.

At the bottom of the article the first footnote has a link to the Physicians
for Social Responsibility website where the full report can be found.  There
is also an address from which to obtain a hard copy.

Kaleopono


----- Original Message -----
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Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2000 7:41 PM
Subject: Rachel #712: CHILDREN IN HARM'S WAY


> =======================Electronic Edition========================
> .                                                               .
> .           RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH WEEKLY #712           .
> .                    ---November 23, 2000---                    .
> .                          HEADLINES:                           .
> .                   CHILDREN IN HARM'S WAY                      .
> .                          ==========                           .
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>
> CHILDREN IN HARM'S WAY
>
> by Rachel Massey*
>
> A new report by a group of physicians says that millions of
> children in the U.S. exhibit learning disabilities, reduced IQ
> and destructive, aggressive behavior because of exposures to
> toxic chemicals.[1] "Neurodevelopmental disabilities are
> widespread, and chemical exposures are important and preventable
> contributors to these conditions," the report says (pg. 117).
>
> Titled IN HARM'S WAY, the report was written by physicians Ted
> Schettler and Jill Stein and two of their colleagues and was
> published by Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility
> in partnership with the Clean Water Fund. IN HARM'S WAY links
> toxic exposures during early childhood, or even before birth, to
> lifelong disabilities including attention disorders, reduced IQ
> and poorly-controlled aggression.
>
> IN HARM'S WAY reviews scientific and medical information on a
> range of toxins to which most or all American children are
> exposed, and draws links to the rising number of children
> diagnosed each year with abnormal brain development or function.
> The report is a call to action for everyone interested in
> children's welfare and the future of our society. To avert brain
> damage in growing numbers of children, we have to reclaim our
> government from corporate special interests, the report
> concludes.
>
> Developmental disabilities such as autism, attention deficit
> hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia and uncontrollable
> aggression currently affect an estimated 12 million children
> under age 18 in the U.S. -- almost one child in five.
> Furthermore, the incidence of some of these disabilities appears
> to have increased dramatically in recent decades. For example,
> nationwide, the number of children classified with learning
> disabilities and placed in special education programs increased
> 191% between 1977 and 1994. The number of children taking the
> drug Ritalin to combat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
> (ADHD) has approximately doubled every 4 to 7 years since 1971.
> Experts estimate that autism rates have risen from around 4 per
> 10,000 in the early 1980s to between 12 and 20 per 10,000 in the
> 1990s. According to a recent article in US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT,
> the number of children in New York classified with learning
> disabilities rose 55 percent between 1983 and 1996. [2]
>
> Some argue that reported disabilities are increasing because of
> improved diagnosis and rising expectations as children are
> required to learn more complicated skills at younger ages. But
> many parents, teachers, and physicians who work with children
> think these explanations are only partially correct because "they
> can not imagine that such disabilities escaped notice in the
> past," the report says. (pg. 11)
>
> Experts may argue about the exact number of children suffering
> from individual disorders, but the undisputed reality is that
> huge numbers of children currently suffer with serious
> developmental disabilities and they are exposed to many toxic
> chemicals that are known to produce such disabilities. "We
> believe we can no longer ignore the mounting evidence that
> chemical exposures contribute to the epidemic of developmental
> disabilities," the report says. (pg. 9)
>
> IN HARM'S WAY walks us through a sampling of neurotoxic
> substances to which many or all American children are exposed --
> metals (lead, mercury, manganese); nicotine; pesticides;
> persistent organochlorine compounds (e.g., dioxin and PCBs);
> solvents, including alcohol; fluoride; and food additives -- and
> reviews existing human and animal data on developmental effects
> of these chemicals. These effects can vary dramatically depending
> on the exact timing of exposures. Tiny exposures that would have
> no noticeable effect at most stages of development can produce
> devastating permanent damage if they occur during a "window of
> vulnerability" when certain organs are developing rapidly. (pg.
> 9)
>
> Here is a sampling of the toxins that can misdirect the
> development of a child's brain.
>
> -- Lead exposure in infants and children is associated with
> attention deficit, aggression, and reduced IQ. Blood lead levels
> below those labeled "safe" by U.S. Environmental Protection
> Agency (EPA) are associated with learning problems, and no
> threshold has been identified below which adverse effects do not
> occur. Young monkeys exposed to lead show symptoms including
> heightened distractability and inappropriate responses to
> stimuli. One million American children currently live with blood
> lead levels above the threshold recognized by EPA as affecting
> behavior and cognition. Millions more would be added to this list
> if EPA's threshold were updated to take account of the most
> current science on the effects of lead in children.
>
> -- At low doses, mercury exposure can produce impairments in
> language ability, attention, and memory; at high doses it can
> cause mental retardation, vision problems, and problems walking.
> Mercury enters the environment through waste incinerators and
> coal-burning power plants. It bioaccumulates in fish in its most
> toxic form, methylmercury (see REHW #597). The EPA estimates that
> 1.16 million women of childbearing age "eat sufficient amounts of
> mercury-contaminated fish to pose a risk of harm to their future
> children." (pg. 64)
>
> -- Many pesticides kill insects by exerting a toxic effect on
> cells in the nervous system. Not surprisingly, such pesticides
> can disrupt the development and functioning of the human nervous
> system by the same mechanisms. Animal studies show that
> neurotoxic pesticides can produce permanent changes in brain
> structure and functioning when exposures occur on a single
> critical day of development. For example, some effects occurred
> in newborn mice if exposures occurred on day 10 of development,
> but not if exposures occurred on day 3 or 19. (pg. 82)
> Short-lived "pulse" exposures may have devastating developmental
> effects and yet can be difficult or impossible to identify after
> the fact (see REHW # 648).
>
> -- One pesticide exposure study examined children in two Mexican
> communities. The two communities were very similar in ethnic
> composition and culture, but one community practiced
> chemical-intensive agriculture while the other used few farm
> chemicals. Children in the community with chemical-intensive
> agriculture scored substantially lower on measures of memory,
> physical stamina and coordination, and had trouble with ordinary
> children's activities such as drawing a simple picture of a
> person. (pgs. 82-83) Children in the pesticide-exposed group also
> displayed more aggressive behavior than their unexposed
> counterparts (see REHW #648).
>
> -- Dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are
> organochlorine compounds that bioaccumulate in fatty tissue and
> are found at significant levels in human breast milk. Both animal
> and human studies show strong links between these pollutants and
> developmental disorders. Monkeys exposed before birth to dioxin
> in the range of human breast milk contamination levels were
> impaired in their ability to reverse a learned behavior in
> response to new stimuli. Young monkeys exposed to PCBs at levels
> typically found in human breast milk showed retarded learning as
> well as abnormally repetitive behavior. Studies of human children
> have found lowered IQs associated with PCB exposure in the womb,
> and a study of babies whose mothers ate PCB-contaminated fish
> from Lake Ontario found impaired development including abnormal
> reflexes and startle responses. (pgs. 76-79) These are just a few
> of the studies covered in IN HARM'S WAY.
>
> Government officials set "safe" exposure levels based on
> individual chemicals. But in the real world children are exposed
> to many chemicals simultaneously. Such multiple exposures can be
> far more damaging than exposure to single chemicals. For example,
> one study found that certain combinations of pesticides produce
> changes in thyroid levels that are not observed when the
> chemicals are tested individually, and thus the combination may
> produce unexpected developmental effects (see REHW #648). Proper
> thyroid levels are essential for brain development. Other studies
> reveal that exposure to a combination of mercury and PCBs, two
> pollutants that accumulate in fish, can produce even greater
> effects on neurological development than either pollutant alone.
> (pg. 67)
>
> Under our current regulatory system, industrial chemicals need
> not be tested for toxicity before they are marketed. (pg. 108)
> EPA estimates that somewhere between 2400 and 4000 industrial
> chemicals now on the market are neurotoxic. (pg. 107) However,
> this number is "highly speculative" (pg. 107) because most
> chemicals in commercial use have not been tested for
> neurotoxicity. EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) -- which
> covers just 625 out of 80,000 industrial chemicals -- reported
> that nearly a billion pounds of known neurotoxins were released
> directly into air and water in 1997. (pg. 103) Pesticides must be
> tested before marketing, but not for toxicity to the nervous
> system. Of 890 pesticide "active ingredients" EPA believes 140
> are neurotoxins. Some 20 million U.S. children under age 5 eat an
> average of 8 different pesticides on their food each day. (pg.
> 106)
>
> The authors of IN HARM'S WAY point out that there is no reason to
> delay protecting our children; we don't need more scientific
> information before taking precautionary action. "We should not
> need to identify with certainty exactly how much and through what
> mechanism a neurotoxic pesticide impairs brain development before
> coming to the conclusion that public health is not protected when
> the urine of virtually every child in this country contains
> residues of these chemicals. ... We do not need to exhaustively
> understand the mechanism by which methylmercury interferes with
> normal fetal brain development before concluding that it is not
> acceptable for freshwater and many ocean fish to be sufficiently
> contaminated with mercury to threaten developing brains. We know
> how to reduce the environmental releases of mercury so that fish
> are once again safe to eat regularly. We can modify manufacturing
> practices so that lead use in products goes steadily down instead
> of up. We can eliminate or modify outmoded technologies that
> produce the dioxin that contaminates fetuses and breast milk. We
> know how to do these things." (pgs. 121-122)
>
> In order to do these things, we have to take back control of our
> regulatory system. As things stand now, corporations that benefit
> financially by exposing children to toxic substances are accepted
> -- even by most environmentalists -- as valid "stakeholders" in
> the process that determines "safe" levels of exposure. As a
> result, we have failed to protect our children from industrial
> poisons. As the authors of IN HARM'S WAY put it, "The role of
> special interests in the regulation of environmental chemicals is
> an important matter for public debate, as it has direct relevance
> to the neurological development of children now and in the
> future." (pg. 121) In sum, our current regulatory system is like
> a trial in which the criminal defendant gets to serve on the
> jury. If we want to have children who can play, think and learn
> normally, we will have to change corporations and our government
> so that protecting brain development comes ahead of protecting
> profits.
>
> =======================
> * Rachel Massey is a consultant to Environmental Research
> Foundation.
>
> [1] Ted Schettler, Jill Stein, Fay Reich, Maria Valenti, and
> David Wallinga, IN HARM'S WAY: TOXIC THREATS TO CHILD DEVELOPMENT
> (Cambridge, Mass.: Greater Boston Physicians for Social
> Responsibility [GBPSR], May 2000). Available on the web at
> http://web.archive.org/web/20030424025600/http://www.igc.org/psr/ or as a paper copy from GBPSR in
> Cambridge, Mass.; telephone 617-497-7440.
>
> [2] Sheila Kaplan and Jim Morris, "Kids At Risk," US NEWS AND
> WORLD REPORT Vol. 128, No. 4 (June 19, 2000), pgs. 47-53.
>
> ################################################################
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