Indoor Pollution - Are Toxins Killing Us?
Toxins Linked to Disabilities & Attention Problems in Children
Jul 16, 2009
A woman pushes a shopping cart down the aisle of a local grocery store with a small child sitting in the baby seat. She picks an item off the shelf, microwave popcorn, spins it around in her hand, checks the label, and tosses it into the cart.
There are many things for which she could have been looking: calories, fat, fiber, sodium and other nutrients. Chances are she was not looking for fluorotelomer. Who would? But the inside of a microwave popcorn bag is usually coated with this perfluorinated chemical (PFC), which can break down to form perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Designed to prevent oil from seeping through the bag, PFOA can migrate into the food when heated. It has been linked to cancer and birth defects in animals and preliminary epidemiological studies suggest that a pregnant woman's exposure to PFOA may reduce her baby's birth weight. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency's scientific advisory board has recommended that the chemical be listed as a likely human carcinogen.
That’s just one household toxin about which you might not be aware.
According to Sue Koger, professor of Biopsychology and Environmental Psychology at Willamette University in Oregon, two main sources of household toxins are plastics and pesticides.
“Any chemical designed to kill a pest, like mice or fleas or weeds, is toxic by design,” Koger said. “Humans are affected by these chemicals as well. Some attack the nervous system and hormone systems. Young children are particularly vulnerable because their brains and nervous systems are underdeveloped.”
Also, children are exposed to more toxins per body weight than adults; they live closer to the ground, playing on floors, dirt and grass. And as any parent knows, children love to put almost everything they touch into their mouths.
Plastics are dangerous because chemicals leach from containers into the liquid inside. According to Koger, there are toxic chemicals in some water bottles, baby bottles and baby toys.
“For many years the thinking was that the dose makes the poison,” Koger said. “But that’s not really true. It’s the cumulative and interactive effects of exposure to toxins over time that’s really important. If someone is exposed [to a toxin] as a baby, the effects probably won’t show up until the child is in school.
“Basically, if it smells bad, and you’re not supposed to drink it, it’s probably toxic,” she said.
Disabilities and Toxins
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2004 approximately 17 percent of children in the U.S. (i.e. 12 million individuals) under the age of 18 are affected by one or more developmental disabilities, many of which include attention problems.
This statistic is featured in a 2005 paper Koger co-authored with Ted Schettler, from the Boston Medical Center, and Bernard Weiss, from the University of Rochester Medical Center, titled, “Environmental Toxicants and Developmental Disabilities, A Challenge for Psychologists.”
The paper also states that although the origin of developmental disabilities is based on many complex factors, the case is building for a “significant role for environmental toxicants,” such as lead, mercury, ethanol and pesticides.
“Anywhere from 3 percent to 25 percent of developmental defects result from exposure to environmental toxins,” Koger said.
As of 2005, estimated costs brought on by developmental disabilities were between $85 and $167 billion each year.
For more tips about how to avoid contaminants in schildren’s toys, baby bottles, and other products, check out the Institute for Children’s Environmental Health.
To access fact sheets on common pest problems and safer alternatives to pesticides, see the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides Web site.
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