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Site is under construction and will be fully operational soon. Thanks for your patience! Welcome. Every child has the right to be free of toxic exposure in their food, their toys, their homes and schools so they may reach their full potential. Toward that end, it is our hope you’ll find useful tools and valuable links at NonToxicChildhood to keep your child’s world as safe as possible. In the last twenty five years, there has been a tragic decline in children’s physical and mental health, showing no signs of slowing. Children’s Health Statistics: Diabetes - “...a sizable and growing problem among U.S. children” according to the Centers for Disease Control. Rates in American children are predicted to soon reach levels where a staggering 1 in every 3 children will be afflicted. Childhood cancer - According to the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute, from 1975 to 1998 bone and joint cancers in young children rose by 65%, brain cancers rose by over 38%, and nervous system tumors rose by 30%. Female teenagers during that time experienced a 78% increase in ovarian cancer, male teens saw a 65% increase in testicular cancer, and all teens saw a 128% increase in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in the U.S. in children ages 1-14. An estimated 80% to 90% of all cancer in humans is caused by exposure to carcinogens found in the environment. (Philip Landrigan, M.D. and Herbert Needleman, M.D., Raising Children Toxic Free 1996). Learning disabilities, hyperactive behavior, emotional disturbances, and the inability to maintain attention have soared and now, 1 in every 6 children is afflicted. Autism is epidemic affecting 1 in 150 children. From 1977 - 1994, the number of children in special education programs increased by 191%. (Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility 2000). Today, there are approximately 12 million American children with a learning, developmental, or behavioral disability. (Philip Landrigan, M.D. and Herbert Needleman, M.D., Raising Children Toxic Free 1996). Asthma rates in children increased 160% from 1980 to 1994 and is now the leading chronic disease and cause of hospital admissions for children. According to the American Lung Association, asthma nearly doubled in just the past 20 years. Asthma deaths among children increased by 118% from 1980 to 1993 according to a 1996 Environmental Protection Agency News Release. Mental Health - According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in every 5 children today experience symptoms of mental health problems that cause some level of impairment in a given year. Aggression and depression in children have increased greatly. Mental health manifestations, like suicides and homicides, performed by children are up. Since the 1950s, the suicide rate among young people has risen more than 200 percent, according to the American Association of Suicidology. Suicide is now the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. among people ages 15 to 24. Homicides and suicides in schools were virtually nonexistent before 1960. Unfortunately today, they are more and more common. According to the Feb 15, 2008 U.S. News and World Report Timeline of School Shootings, there were 2 school shootings in the 1960’s, 2 in the 1970’s, 3 in the 1980’s, 15 in the 1990’s and 34 already in the 2000’s. There were 7 school shootings in 2008 in the first two months of the year with 6 in February alone. Hormone related conditions in children have also increased. Hypospadia in boys, where the urethra exits near the base of the penis instead of the end, doubled in the U.S. between 1968 and 1993. It now affects one in every 125 boys born in this country, an astonishing rate. Males seeking breast reduction surgery increased by 48% from 1997 to 2001 according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. According to a 1997 study, some 15 percent of white girls were budding breasts and growing pubic hair by age 8. For African American girls almost 50 percent were developing breasts or pubic hair by age 8. Why? This rising incidence of childhood diseases, mental illness, and developmental disorders reflects a child’s unique vulnerability to toxic exposures, like a canary in the coal mine. The unprecedented and steady rises in rates of childhood asthma, cancer, developmental and learning disabilities, reproductive and lung dysfunction, depression and aggression cannot be explained only by genetics, bullying, or better diagnosing. Scientists consider environmental factors, for example the increase in toxic chemicals present in our personal care products, toys, food, cleaners, pesticides, and pharmaceutical drug products, to be significant because they are the only factor we can easily change. Thousands of chemicals, some extremely toxic like lead, mercury, PBDEs, pesticides and formaldehyde, are contained in products intended for and used by our children like plastic teething rings, personal care products, toys and crib mattresses. Few of these chemicals have been properly tested for potential adverse effects on humans. Almost none have been evaluated for their risks to children. According to the Scientific Consensus Statement on Environmental Agents Associated with Neurodevelopmental Disorders, of the more than 80,000 chemicals currently in use, scientists “suspect” that 1,000 cause negative effects on learning and development. There is “good evidence” that 200 of these chemicals cause negative effects on learning and development and they know for sure that 10 definitely cause negative effects on learning and development. Recent critical discoveries on environmental factors and children’s health: 1. Even very low doses of some chemical contaminants can alter gene expression that are important to learning and developmental function. 2. Exposures to these chemicals during fetal development can adversely affect learning and development of the individual and the adverse effects last a lifetime. 3. Humans are exposed to complex mixtures of chemicals on a daily basis through common, everyday products that can interact to enhance adverse effects. 4. Due to genetic variation, or polymorphisms, people differ in susceptibility to exposures which helps explain why some children are affected more than others. Not identifying and studying susceptible subgroups can result in failure to protect those at high risk. 5. Children are often more susceptible than adults to the effects of exposure to environmental agents. While toxic chemicals are pervasive, you can make choices that will protect yourself and your family. Please click on the tabs to the left for the most common toxic exposures. On each page you’ll find a brief explanation, links to science and news, and safer alternatives. While these steps are important, they are only part of the solution. Please see “Take Action” above and call your legislator, write a letter to the editor, or see “Join Others!“ to volunteer with a group to help establish policies to keep toxic chemicals out of consumer products, homes , parks and schools where children play and learn. More Information: 1. Playing it Safe: Childproofing for Environmental Health here or http://tinyurl.com/7o6leo 2. "In Harm's Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development” A Report By Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility http://www.ehinitiative.org/pdf/in_harms_way.pdf 3. For our small fry the hazards are so much greater Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, 22 October 2007.Their tiny bodies work against them, absorbing more poison than adults do through a combination of increased exposure and decreased capacity to metabolise the pollutants. here 4. Johnny can’t read, sit still, or stop hitting the neighbor’s kid. Why? Mt. Sinai Children’s Environmental Health Center ad in the NY Times http://www.pbs.org/odyssey/odyssey/toxics_kids.pdf 5. “Scientific Consensus Statement on Environmental Agents Associated with Neurodevelopmental Disorders” signed by more than 50 scientists and health professionals. These experts are confident that some synthetic chemicals cause learning and development disabilities. And with recent evidence linking the very same environmental toxins to disorders later in life, like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, the group says it's best for everyone to stop the exposure. http://www.iceh.org/LDDI.html 6. Toxic chemicals and childhood cancer: A review of the evidenceThis report examines the evidence linking exposures to solvents, pesticides, petrochemicals, and certain industrial byproducts with cancer in children. In one study of pesticide exposures, children with leukemia were 4 to 7 times as likely to have been exposed to pesticides used in the yard or garden compared to children without the disease. Another study found that children with leukemia were 11 times as likely to have mothers who were exposed to pesticide sprays or foggers during pregnancy compared to healthy children. http://sustainableproduction.org/downloads/Child%20Canc%20Full%20Report.pdf 7. The EPA’s America’s Children and the Environment - trends in levels of environmental contaminants in air, water, food, and soil; concentrations of contaminants measured in the bodies of mothers and children; and childhood diseases that may be influenced by environmental factors. http://www.epa.gov/envirohealth/children/index.htm 8. World Health Organization - Preventing disease through healthy environmentsEnvironmental risk factors play a role in more than 80% of the diseases regularly reported by the WHO. Globally, nearly one quarter of all deaths and of the total disease burden can be attributed to the environment. here 9. Developmental Neurotoxicity of Industrial Chemicals, The Lancet, November 8, 2006 http://www.generationrescue.org/pdf/harvard1.pdf 10. A Silent Pandemic: Industrial Chemicals Are Impairing Brain Development Of Children Worldwide ScienceDaily Nov. 9, 2006 Fetal and early childhood exposures to industrial chemicals in the environment can damage the developing brain and can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs)--autism, attention deficit disorder (ADHD), and mental retardation. Still, there has been insufficient research done to identify the individual chemicals that can cause injury to the developing brains of children. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061108155004.htm 11. Endocrine Disruptor Found in Everyday Products in Question Bisphenol A is a man-made chemical first understood to be a synthetic estrogen in 1936. The chemical is now widely used in hard, polycarbonate # 7 plastics, sippy cups, compact disks, baby bottles, toys, as well as the epoxy resins used in the linings of some food and beverage containers, dental sealants and many other consumer products. Bisphenol A is a developmental, neural, and reproductive toxicant that mimics estrogen and can interfere with healthy growth and body function. Animal studies demonstrate that the chemical causes damage to reproductive, neurological and immune systems during critical stages of development, such as infancy and in the womb. The levels sufficient to cause harm in animals are beneath the average levels reported in people living throughout the developed world. Many scientists now suggest similar damage may be occurring in the human population.” http://www.ehinitiative.org/BabysToxicBottleFinal-1.pdf |
