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Industrial Chemicals Harm The Developing Brain

Industrial chemicals are detrimentally affecting the developing brains of fetuses and children according to a study published November 8th online in the journal The Lancet.

Everyone absorbs manmade chemicals, toxic or otherwise, in our tissues through air, water, food and soil exposure. This is a concern for adults, but for pregnant women, toxicants that have built up in the body and other exposures have direct access to the developing baby. Exposure is also particularly problematic for young children, whose bodies are still growing and maturing.

The study, conducted by Children’s Environmental Health Partnership of NY member, Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., professor at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and Philippe Grandjean, adjunct professor at Harvard School of Public Health, explains that exposures to chemicals while in the womb and early childhood can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as autism, attention deficit disorder (ADHD), cerebral palsy and mental retardation. Grandjean warned that once damage has been done to a child’s developing brain, which is more susceptible to small doses of chemical exposures, it is irreversible.

1-in-6 children have a developmental disability, which mostly affects the nervous system. Co-authors Grandjean and Landrigan identified 202 potentially harmful industrial chemicals, including metals, solvents and pesticides, that may be contributing to the dramatically rising pandemic of irreversible neurological disorders.

The study states that prevention of neurodevelopmental disabilities is hindered by large gaps in testing chemicals for toxicity and the high level of proof required for regulation.

Less than half of the chemicals mass produced in commerce today have yet to be tested to assess toxicity, and even less for growing bodies. Rarely does that testing determine a chemical’s impact on brain development. Conservative numbers estimate the number of synthetic chemicals in the environment to be over 82,000. In 1998, the federal government reported that more than one billion pounds of developmental and neurological toxins were in U.S. air and water.

Over half of the study’s 202 chemicals known to be toxic to the brain are among the chemicals most commonly used today.

Consequences of exposure are significant because the brain, a valuable organ, is so fragile. A decrease in intelligence or a change in behavior is important, but not something a doctor might notice during an office visit. “And because optimal brain function depends on the integrity of the organ, even limited damage may have serious consequences,” said Grandjean.

The study asserts that new, precautionary policies that recognize the unique vulnerability of the developing brain are needed for testing and control of chemicals.

Building New Schools: A Need for Protective Standards

Schools built on or near polluted land are unsafe and heighten children’s risk of disease, hyperactivity, immune dysfunction, learning disorders or lower IQ levels.’

235 schools in New York State are within a half mile of a state identified toxic waste site or a federal Superfund site affecting over 140,000 children in 39 counties.

Schools often seek out inexpensive land to build new schools due to budget shortages and expanding enrollments. Often, that land has been contaminated or is near sources of environmental pollution.

New York State currently has no policies in place that exclude contaminated sites from consideration when building new schools, and no state policies provide for site remediation measures or standards for the clean up of contaminated school sites. New York State is also without funding provisions to reimburse school districts for the remediation of a site and no policy calls for information to be made available to the public during school site selection regarding environmental investigations or conditions of potential school sites.

Industrial contamination, radio active waste, and other toxic hazards surround schools and threaten children throughout New York State.

Nearly every community in New York State is affected by Brownfield sites. Without proper protective legislation, future school buildings could put children at risk of being exposed to unhealthy levels of pollution that could interfere with their health and learning.

Article reprinted from November 2006 Issue - Children’s Environmental Health, a partnership of Alliance for a Toxic-Free Future, Healthy Schools Network, Learning Disabilities Association of New York.