Our Children's Health
We assume that many things in our children's daily lives are safe - but some are not.
The use of home and garden pesticides (weed and bug killers) is associated with increased likelihood of some kinds of childhood leukemia and brain cancer. Pesticides can also damage children's coordination, memory and stamina, including their ability to learn, play or draw a picture.
Hospitals often use IV tubing and other critical medical devices made of PVC plastic, which leaches a chemical that may cause testicular and respiratory damage in developing infants.
This chemical DEHP comes from a family of chemicals called phthalates that are commonly used in other plastic household products as well as in cosmetics and even pesticides.
Many cleaning products contain solvents. Studies show that men who use solvents are more likely to have fertility problems, and their children are more likely to get cancer. Toxic cleaning chemicals are also linked to asthma and cancer, and can damage our hormone and nervous systems. These chemicals are commonly used in daycare centers, schools, and even hospitals.
The Safer Cleaning Products Bill would require the use of safer cleaning products in facilities.
Breast milk is the most complete food for infants, and provides a vast array of health benefits. Yet breast milk contains many known toxins, including pesticides, solvents, toxic metals, dioxins, and even flame retardants from many common household products. Substituting mother's milk with baby formula is not the answer, since formula is not as healthy as breast milk, and may also contain toxins. Instead, we must protect breast milk from contamination.
Tuna fish is contaminated with mercury; women of child-bearing age and young children should limit how frequently they eat it. Mercury from eating contaminated fish can damage children's ability to pay attention, remember, talk, draw, see and play. Other fish contaminated with mercury include shark, swordfish, king mackerel and many fish from lakes, streams and ponds.
An Act Relative to Mercury Management, which AHT helped pass through the Massachusetts legislature in 2006, will restrict the sale of certain mercury-containing products which have safer alternatives available and on the market.
Many materials commonly used in school buildings, such as carpet, upholstery and particleboard, emit Volatile Organic Compounds VOCs) which cause headaches, nausea, and eye, nose and throat irritation, and can damage the liver, kidneys and nervous system.Some, such as formaldehyde, are known or likely to cause cancer and can trigger asthma attacks.
The wood used in playgrounds, picnic tables, decks, and benches has typically been treated with arsenic to prevent rot. Arsenic is known to cause cancer. Even very low levels can change hormonal functions. When a child touches arsenic- treated wood and puts his hand in his mouth, the arsenic gets into his body.
A recent study found that children playing sports frequently in high-smog areas were more likely to develop asthma than children who exercise the same amount in low-smog areas. Scientists have found air pollutants in the umbilical cords of pregnant women, and have linked air pollution to higher rates of heart defects at birth, low birth weight, and stillbirth.
These invisible daily dangers add up in a child's developing body - and have been linked to illnesses that are on the rise in the US - but they are all preventable!
