What is the price we pay for living in a toxic world? Estimates show nearly 12 million children in the United States under age 18-an astonishing 17 percent-have one more learning, developmental, or behavioral disabilities. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects 8 to 10 percent off all school-age children (a conservative estimate-the prevalence may be as high as 17 percent. Learning disablities may affect up to 10 percent of schoolchildren in public schools. Some 1.5 million children take Ritalin or a similar medication for ADHD, with the number taking this type of drug doubling every four to seven years since 1971. As parents, teachers and physicians, we struggle so desperately to help children affected by these developmental and emotional problems that we forget to focus on the fact that environmental substances might have caused these problems in the first place. And the scientific community is now certain that complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors cause the bulk of these neurocognitive and developmental problems. Most important, we now know that exposure to environmental toxins is preventable.
The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) showed that during 1997, atotal of 2.58 billion pounds of toxic chemicals were released in the United States by the large industrial companies required to report under the TRI. Of the Top 2 TRI chemicals (those twenty with the largest total releases), some 75 percent are either known or suspected to be neurotoxins. More shocking is that nearly a billion pounds of these neurotoxins were released by facilities into the air and surface water, allowing them to be inhaled, absorbed, or ingested through air, food and water.
Fortunately, savvy parents can substantially reduce their child’s exposure to potentially dangerous toxins, especially to the most damaging ones. We know we can’t keep our children free all chemical exposure, but we can certainly try to minimize thier exposure to the worst offenders, especially during the most critical-and vulnerable-period of brain growth.
Selasa, 14 Februari 2012
Minggu, 08 Januari 2012
AVOIDING TOXIN THAT MAY DEPLETE YOUR CHILD’S BRAIN POWER
From the moment they are conceived and for the rest of their lives, children are exposed to innumerable toxins that are potentially harmful to their brains, including lead, pesticides, plastic, solvents, and other industrial subtances. And even things that you may think perfectly safe for your baby, from his teething ring to the cuddly toys you put in his crib to the pajamas he wears every night, could pose a potential threat to your child’s brain.
Childrens’ developing brains, along with their immature reproductive and immune systems, are unable to adequately detoxify the scores of chemicals to which they are exposed. Because of children’s smaller size and lower body weight, chemicals have the potential to pack a one two knockout punch to their nervous systems. Pound for pound of body weight, children consume more food, breathe more air, and drink more fluids than adults. Because children’s metabolism are faster than adult’s, they also absorb toxins faster.For example, children absorb approximately half of the lead they swallow, while adults absorb only the most critical stages of brain growth, resulting in lowered IQ levels, behavioral problems, and learning disabilities that can last a lifetime.
If you think that goverment regulatory agencies are going to keep your child safe from toxic overload, think again. Even when the government attempts to regulate toxin, these regulations are based in search typically gauges the effects of the toxin on the physiology a 155-pound adult male, which bears little resemblance to that if children with young are still rapidly developing.
In all fairness, U.S. government agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), have taken steps to lower our exposure to many toxin to more acceptable levels. But many critics-including me-feel strongly that the legal levels are still far to high, especially for children. What’s even more alarming is the fact that government agencies regulating levels of toxic substance estimate the exposure for one an average-size young male. But children are exposed to multiple toxins in varying mixtures throughout their development and have immature detoxification systems that are easily overload.
Childrens’ developing brains, along with their immature reproductive and immune systems, are unable to adequately detoxify the scores of chemicals to which they are exposed. Because of children’s smaller size and lower body weight, chemicals have the potential to pack a one two knockout punch to their nervous systems. Pound for pound of body weight, children consume more food, breathe more air, and drink more fluids than adults. Because children’s metabolism are faster than adult’s, they also absorb toxins faster.For example, children absorb approximately half of the lead they swallow, while adults absorb only the most critical stages of brain growth, resulting in lowered IQ levels, behavioral problems, and learning disabilities that can last a lifetime.
If you think that goverment regulatory agencies are going to keep your child safe from toxic overload, think again. Even when the government attempts to regulate toxin, these regulations are based in search typically gauges the effects of the toxin on the physiology a 155-pound adult male, which bears little resemblance to that if children with young are still rapidly developing.
In all fairness, U.S. government agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), have taken steps to lower our exposure to many toxin to more acceptable levels. But many critics-including me-feel strongly that the legal levels are still far to high, especially for children. What’s even more alarming is the fact that government agencies regulating levels of toxic substance estimate the exposure for one an average-size young male. But children are exposed to multiple toxins in varying mixtures throughout their development and have immature detoxification systems that are easily overload.
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