Our world is saturated with dangerous chemicals. So much so it’s becoming impossible to protect our kids. A new study reveals North American toddlers are routinely exposed to a broad range of poten-tially harmful chemicals…
Children are exposed to environmental chemicals through
everyday activities, such as eating and drinking…
They say numbers don’t lie. Sometimes life would be more convenient – and less concerning – if some numbers could be more easily contested. Like the latest results on exposure of American toddlers – aged 2 to 4 – to a broad range of environmental chemicals.
Hard to believe
A survey by researchers at the University of California – Davis Health analysed urine samples from 201 children aged 2 to 4 years, from 4 different states. They tested for 111 chemicals and were amazed by what they found…
Children are exposed to these environmental chemicals through everyday activities, such as eating, drinking, breathing indoor and outdoor air, and touching contaminated surfaces.
Frequent hand-to-mouth contact, playing close to the ground, and higher intake rates relative to their smaller body weight make kids especially vulnerable to chemical exposure, researchers noted.
What they found
Key findings included:
- 96 chemicals were detected in at least five children.
- 48 chemicals were found in over half of the children.
- 34 chemicals were detected in more than 90 percent of children – including nine chemicals not currently tracked in national health surveys like the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
Survey report Lead Author Dr Deborah H. Bennett, also a UC Davis professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences, says the numbers are shocking, given that, “Many of these chemicals are known or suspected to interfere with hormones, brain development and immune function.” And the age group of children studied is a particularly ‘critical window for brain and body development’.
The takeaway
“Exposure to certain chemicals in early childhood – such as pesticides, plasticisers and flame retar-dants – has been linked to developmental delays, hormone disruption and other long-term health issues,” said Jiwon Oh, first author of the study and a postdoctoral scholar in the UC Davis Department of Public Health Sciences.
My take
If the numbers by themselves were not so troubling, consider that some of the chemicals tested for are not currently officially monitored, and may pose as yet unknown health risks. Consider, also, that some of the children had higher levels of several chemicals than their mothers did during pregnancy.
It’s a mess. And the situation is just getting worse, researchers say.
“This new study highlights the urgent need for expanded biomonitoring and stronger regulations to protect children from harmful exposures,” Oh warns. But what chance of that, given that President Donald Trump wants his problematic Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to dismantle big chunks of the US national health monitoring and regulatory infrastucture?
~ Maggie J.