The environment is fraught with hazards, particularly for children. Parents worry about everything when it comes to their children — and then do what they can to protect them from it. Worried about falling? Put rubber bumpers on the coffee table. Don’t want them to stick a fork in the electric socket? Get a safety cover to block their way. But what about the bigger things like the environment — dangers in the air, in the water, in the materials of modern living?
Air pollution
There was a time when it seemed the country was overrun by smog. The Clean Air Act helped with this, but cleaner isn’t the same as clean. Particulate matter, a catch-all term for what’s released by vehicles, power plants, and industry, is prevalent — and dangerous. Recent studies suggest exposure can lead to lung ailments, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
In children, the particles have been linked to asthma and, in the case of traffic pollution, increased risk for autism.
Fertilizers
What can be so bad about fertilizers? They’re simply plant food. But fertilizers can contain mercury, lead, cadmium, uranium and heavy metals, which can cause cancer and lung, kidneys, and liver problems. One common industrial fertilizer is nitrite, a chemical form of nitrogen. Nitrite often finds its way into groundwater. In the body, it interacts with hemoglobin.
It’s particularly dangerous to fetuses and newborns, where it can essentially suffocate them. This is called blue baby syndrome, and it’s not uncommon in farm country for local water departments to issue warnings when nitrite levels spike.
Pesticides and herbicides
Harm from pesticides and herbicides can be as varied as the species they’re meant to exterminate. Some pesticides can attack the nervous and endocrine systems, and cause cancer. A huge concern is when they get into groundwater and the food chain. The herbicide atrazine often shows up in urban water systems, far from any fields. Atrazine is particularly dangerous to pregnant women, where one study claims it can result in smaller babies and a higher potential for genital malformations. Other studies have tied pesticides to lower IQ in children and food allergies.
Arsenic
Arsenic is so scary it’s been a popular murder weapon for centuries. In large amounts, it attacks the skin, lungs, kidneys and liver, eventually resulting in death. In smaller amounts, it can cause heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer. So as long as parents aren’t slipping arsenic into sippy cups, everything should be fine, right? Not if the rocks that leach into groundwater contain it. Water contamination is a big problem, especially since recent studies suggest a link between arsenic and lower IQs in children. There’s now a question of whether rice and other foods contain dangerous amounts of arsenic. Consumer Reports investigations discovered unsafe levels in apple and grape juice and a host of rice drinks and baby foods.
Lead
Lead has been plaguing children for so long, it’s almost old hat. But Wu says people shouldn’t take lead for granted. “It’s pretty much the biggest issue when it comes to children and developmental issues,” she says. Children are vulnerable to lead from the womb up through about age 6, with effects including low birth weight, impaired mental development, low IQ, kidney problems and behavioral issues.
Recent studies suggest permanent damage occurs at far lower levels than previously thought. It used to be believed that children were exposed when they ate lead paint chips or licked leaded glass. But lead contamination is far more varied and can easily be tracked into a home, where it settles in dust or on things lying around.
Mercury
One of the first things pregnant women hear is to avoid a host of fish because of mercury, including tuna, swordfish, shark, king mackerel and tilefish. The reason is simple. Mercury, says Ahluwalia, “can harm a child’s thinking, language, fine motor skills, memory, attention and visual spatial skills when exposed in the womb.”
Although terrifying, this is a nice one for parents, in a way, because any damage is totally preventable. Avoid fish, and you avoid mercury.
Hazardous waste
Everyone of a certain age remembers Love Canal. Thirty-five years ago, the Niagara Falls neighborhood sparked the Superfund program, which identified and helped cleaned-up thousands of sites. But thousands of smaller dump sites dot the landscape, threatening the health of neighbors. The dangers depend on what’s there, and whether it stays there.
BPA
Is Bisphenol A dangerous? Maybe. Most studies show BPA, which can be found in many hard plastic bottles and metal food and beverage cans, is safe at low levels. But others now raise concerns about potential effects on brain development and the prostate gland in fetuses and young children. The EPA is conducting studies of its own and has urged manufacturers to remove it from baby bottles and sippy cups. But it’s still present in soup cans, liquid infant formula (aside from Simulac), store receipts, and nonmetal dental fillings.
Around the house
Parents know to keep cleaners and other chemicals away from children. Is that enough? Many health advocates, including Lunder, say no. The Environmental Working Group has run several campaigns against what it says are dangerous substances throughout the home. She says that new evidence questions the safety of carpet and stain treatments. Flame retardants in baby clothing, in the foam for car seats and changing tables could lead to poor neurological development in children, according to new studies. And tests on household dust have shown what Lunder calls disturbing levels of lead and chemicals.
-healthyliving.msn.com
