Global Chemical Contamination Threatens Child Development

[Guest guest]

http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/081905HA.shtml

 

Global Chemical Contamination Threatens Child Development

By Vicki Wolf

Environmental News Network | Guest Commentary

 

Friday 19 August 2005

 

As if cancer, an epidemic of childhood asthma and heart disease

weren't enough reasons to take precautionary action regarding

pollution of the air water and soil, global chemical contamination now

threatens the talent and intelligence of future generations.

 

Concern is growing worldwide over the long-term health effects of

chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Exposure to

POPs is shifting the IQ of the population downward - more

developmentally-challenged people and fewer gifted people, according

to Lynn Goldman, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins University pediatrician and

epidemiologist.

 

These pollutants are toxic and they don't go away. Instead of

degrading, they accumulate and remain in the tissue of humans and

animals and other ecosystems for a long period. This bio-accumulation

of toxic chemicals increases the risk for diseases such as cancer. It

also contributes to abnormalities in brain development and in the

reproductive systems of animals and human beings.

 

The U.S. Government continues to allow the petrochemical industry

and power plants to emit toxic substances without accurate monitoring

and without a national plan for reducing or cleaning up toxic waste.

When DDT, one of the pesticides classified as a POP, was banned in the

United States, the government shipped remaining supplies to developing

countries. The lack of precaution in this " goodwill " gesture is now

coming back to haunt this country. It is now known that contamination

of the environment with persistent organic pollutants is not contained

within a country's boundaries. POPs are often transported long

distances via air, water and migratory species.

 

Global efforts to eliminate POPs have been developing since the

early 1990s. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic

Pollutants, signed by several nations including the United States in

May 2001, calls for the elimination of 12 POPs, including the

pesticides aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor,

hexachlorobenzene (HCB), mirex and toxaphene, as well as PCBs. It also

calls for restricting use of DDT to disease vector control until safe,

affordable and effective alternatives are in place; mandating removal

of PCB equipment; and encouraging minimization of unintentional

release of dioxins and furans. The treaty has a provision for adding

other POPs to the elimination list and for preventing the introduction

of new POPs into commerce. It also calls for providing technical and

financial assistance to developing countries and countries with

economies in transition.

 

The list of serious health effects from exposure to POPs is very

long: POPs can cause endocrine disruption - changes in hormones that

can affect brain development and the reproductive system. DDT and DDE

are examples of two pesticides now banned in the United States but

still persists in the environment and used in other countries. One

study showed that birds exposed to these pesticides became infertile

because the hormone for maturation of eggs was blocked. Another study

of mothers exposed to DDT found that they had a shorter lactation

period. Mothers that were not exposed to DDT were able to breast feed

their babies seven-and-a-half months while mothers exposed to DDT had

a lactation period of only three months. Still other studies have

found that women exposed to DDE have preterm births.

 

Exposure to POPs, such as DDT and DDE may cause fertility problems

in future generations. One study found that for every 10 milligrams

per liter of DDT exposure in the mother, the daughter's pregnancy

probability dropped 32 percent.

 

Exposure to polychlorinated byphenols (PCBs), another POP, can

cause developmental delays. A decrease in birth weight and motor

development delay in newborns have been linked to mothers' PCB

exposure. Other studies show defects in visual recognition memory and

delays in cognitive development related to PCB exposure.

 

The replacement now being used for PCBs, polybrominated diphenyl

ether (PBDEs), is no safer than PCBs. Studies show this chemical is

similar to PCBs in the brains of animals, and is as harmful to the

environment.

 

Citizens, especially health care professionals who are seeing the

health effects of exposure to POPs, must urge the State and U.S.

Governments to develop and implement a plan for eliminating POPs from

the environment.

 

Australia has set an example for other countries to follow by

establishing a National Advisory Body to gather general community and

industry support. The national plans for management of toxic waste

developed by the group over a three year period were accepted by State

and Federal Government. Such a conscious, intelligent process for

eliminating hazardous toxins from the environment is overdue in the

United States. Solutions are needed now.

 

For more information on the on the Stockholm Convention on

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), and a listing and description of

POPs, go to www.oztoxics.org.

 

Vicki Wolf is an environmental and health writer. She also is a

consultant on website content and design, and leadership

communications. Vicki lives in Austin, Texas where she teaches yoga,

and studies Spanish and guitar. More of her writing can be found at

www.cleanhouston.org.

 

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