[Pharmwaste] Hidden Dangers In Home Could Impact Child Development

[DeBiasi,Deborah]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/health/16925484/detail.html


TheDenverChannel.com
Hidden Dangers In Home Could Impact Child Development
'Toxic Sandbox' Author Points To Plastics, Mercury, Dust

POSTED: 4:30 pm MDT July 18, 2008
UPDATED: 4:52 pm MDT July 18, 2008


Over the past few decades, researchers have begun to focus on
environmental exposures as contributing factors to the decline in
children's health.

Experts say children are more vulnerable to environmental toxins partly
because of their high metabolic rate. Children breathe more oxygen and
ingest more fluids and food, pound for pound, compared to adults.
Therefore, more contaminated air will pass through their small bodies
than through adults.

In addition, compared to adults, children have more skin area relative
to their volume, resulting in increased exposure through physical
contact.

Children are also more susceptible to toxins because they are still
developing. In their first few years, a child's brain and nervous
system, lungs and reproductive organs are rapidly developing, which
toxins may disrupt. The kidneys and liver are also not completely
formed, making it more difficult to remove toxins from the body.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 25 percent of
children in the United States are exposed to lead in their homes. Lead
paint was banned in 1978; however, 80 percent of U.S. homes were built
before that ruling. In children, lead has been linked to lower IQ,
reading problems, stunted growth, hearing impairment, attention and
speech deficits, as well as antisocial and aggressive behavior.

The National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys (NHANES)
revealed the average level of lead in the blood of children has reduced
by about 80 percent since the 1970s. Roughly 310,000 children in the
U.S. between age one and five have blood lead levels greater than 10
micrograms of lead per deciliter, the level the CDC's set at which
public action should be taken. Lead poisoning often goes unnoticed
because of the lack of obvious symptoms.

Libby McDonald, author of The Toxic Sandbox, recommends purchasing a
home testing kit from a hardware store to test lead levels in your
house. She says you can also enlist an environmental company to have a
more in-depth investigation of your home performed.

In old homes, maintain all painted surfaces to prevent chipping of
possible lead based paint. Keep the area around your windows clean to
prevent dust from lead paint from being released into the air when
they're opened. Have your child's blood levels tested. If you have lead
pipes, run the cold water for 30 to 60 seconds before drinking or
cooking with it. Use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA air filter, which can
remove airborne particles, including lead.

Coal-burning power plants release mercury into the atmosphere where it
can then enter our water system. People are mostly exposed to the
methylmercury, an organic form highly toxic to the nervous system, when
they consume fish and shellfish. Almost everyone has small amounts of
mercury present in their bodies.

The CDC said the most common way children are exposed to methylmercury
is by eating fish or during their time in their mother's womb. According
to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), children exposed to
mercury in the womb have been shown to have impaired cognitive thinking,
memory, attention, language, and fine motor and visual spatial skills.

The CDC estimates that about 16 percent of U.S. women have blood mercury
levels high enough to double their risk of their child having learning
disabilities and/or neurological impairments. Until 2001, ethylmercury
could be found in many childhood vaccines, but studies have shown it is
not harmful and does not contribute to the development of autism.

Phthalates, or the chemicals that make plastic soft and flexible, can be
found everywhere -- toys, shower curtains, medical tubing, perfume, nail
polish, lotion and shampoo -- including baby lotion and shampoo. They
have been linked to the feminization of baby boys. A June 2005 study
found the babies of mothers with the highest levels of phthalate levels
had the smallest penises and scrotums. A 2008 study at the University of
Washington in Seattle found 81 percent of infants had detectable levels
of 7 or more phthalate metabolites in their urine.


Deborah L. DeBiasi
Email:   dldebiasi at deq.virginia.gov
WEB site address:  www.deq.virginia.gov
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Office of Water Permit Programs
Industrial Pretreatment/Toxics Management Program
PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents
Mail:          P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA  23218 (NEW!)
Location:  629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA  23219
PH:         804-698-4028
FAX:      804-698-4032