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The Public Remains Uninformed of the Escalating Incidence of Childhood Cancer and Its Avoidable Causes
We're Poisoning Our Children Without Knowing It!
Toxic Chemicals and the Human Body
Why Children are at Higher Risk
How Toxic Chemicals affect the Health of Children
How Safe are Household Products?
What is the Alternative?
Is Your Home a Healthy Home?
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Unreasonable RISK 
by Samuel E. Epstein, M.D.

How to Avoid Cancer from Cosmetics and Personal Care Products: The Neways Story

This book explains how to recognize carcinogens on product labels, boycott such products, and shop for safe alternatives from non-mainstream industries and thus reduce your avoidable risks of cancer.  This is critical as we are losing the winnable war against cancer, which now strikes one in two men and one in three women in their lifetimes

 
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How Toxic Chemicals Affect the Health of Children
According to Philip Landrigan, M.D., of Mount Sinai Medical Center, the most pressing health issues for children today are:
  • the rise of asthma
  • the rise in childhood cancers
  • the rise in central nervous system disorders, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and other learning disorders as the result of environmental neurotoxins.
  • the effects of endocrine disruptors. 15

All of these are related to toxic chemical exposure in the home.  Other common childhood problems that arise from exposure in to toxic chemicals include birth defects and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.  Let's take a look at each of these health issues, and how toxic chemicals may contribute to them

ASTHMA

Childhood asthma affects more than 4.8 million children under the age of 18 nationwide. 15  One study concluded that the majority of the 400,000 annual emergency room visits for severe asthma attacks are brought on by poor indoor air quality, 5 and, of course, many of those emergency patients are children.
Doctors know that irritation of the lungs by chemicals can trigger asthma attacks, and this is especially true for children.  One example, David began having asthma problems almost the day he was born.  His parents brought him to the emergency room weekly, until his mother realized that his worst attacks were on the day she cleaned her home with supermarket cleaning products.  When she switched to safe cleaning products without toxic ingredients, the weekly trips to the emergency room ended.  Now, at age seven, David has only a few asthma attacks each year.
The average child visits the doctor twenty-three times in the first four years of life, with the most common complaint being respiratory ailment. 16 Could toxic household products be the cause of these breathing problems? They are the most likely suspect.
CANCER
I would venture to say that almost everyone knows someone who has died of or has battled cancer.
We now know that carcinogens (cancer-causing substances) can cross the placental barrier, and that exposure to carcinogens while the fetus is in the womb can lead to childhood cancer.  Nancy and Jim lost their only child, Colette, to a rare form of cancer known as Wilm's Tumor in 1991.  After tests proved Colette's cancer was not genetic, they learned that it was possible that something Nancy had ingested or was exposed during her pregnancy could have caused Colette's cancer to develop after she was born.  Four years later, a newly-released study, published in the American journal of Epidemiology, revealed a link between parental pesticide use before pregnancy and the age of the child at the time of the diagnosis of Wilm's Tumor.  The study said that a mother's exposure to pesticides was the most likely cause of the disease when the tumor was diagnosed 48 months after child's birth.  Colette was diagnosed at exactly 48 months of age. 17
While the death rate from cancer has declined, due to improved detection and treatment, cancer still remains the leading cause of death from disease for children over the age of vie. 3
Almost all cancers are due to environmental factors. 18  While most expert agree that as many as 80% to 90% of all cancers can be avoided by making lifestyle changes, including changing one's diet and quitting smoking, some argue that up to 30% of all cancers are caused by exposure to toxic chemicals.18  Of my own family and friends who contracted cancer, none of them smoked, and all had at least relatively good diets -- two friends were vegetarians, and both developed colon cancer.  What they all had in common was the amount of chemical exposure in their homes, like most Americans.  And, according to the EPA, toxic chemicals typically found in the home are three times more likely to cause cancer than airborne pollutants.
The National Cancer Institute has a list of twenty known chemical carcinogens, and over 2,200 chemicals that are probable carcinogens.1  Many of these chemicals are in the cleaners and personal care products you buy at your local supermarket.
ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER AND OTHER LEARNING DISABILITIES
It is estimated that nearly 12 million children in the United States suffer from one or more learning, developmental, or behavioral disabilities.19 According to the Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, "An epidemic of developmental, learning, and behavioral disabilities has become evident among children," and environmental neurotoxins are to blame.  "Neurotoxicants are not merely a potential threat to children." they say.  "Adverse impacts are seen at current exposure levels." 19
Neurotoxins affect the nervous system and brain development.  Of the top 20 chemicals reported by the Toxics Release Inventory in 1997, almost three-quarters are known or suspected neurotoxins.  They include ammonia, chlorine, toluene, xylene, methyl ethyl ketone - all common in cleaning products.
Dr. Doris Rapp, an expert on the treatment of environmental illness, has treated hundreds of children for learning problems and behavior changes caused by exposures to neurotoxins.  One of Dr. Rapp's young patients, Linda, showed a dramatic change of personality and ability to think in response to chlorine, a chemicals found in the laundry rooms of most American homes, as well as in other cleaning products such as scouring powder and dishwasher detergent.  The problem was first discovered when Linda was about four years old.  Her mother noticed that, after Linda swam in a chlorinated pool, she would cry much more easily than normal, and would complain of a headache and leg cramps.  Even though she was very bright and did well in school, she could not follow even simple instructions after swimming class.  This problem happened so frequently that eventually she had to end her swimming lessons.
When Linda was thirteen, the chlorine problem recurred.  One afternoon she was doing her homework in her brother's room, and, as she wrote, she became extremely irritable and tearful -- both the content of her composition and her handwriting suddenly began to deteriorate.  Her mother found that here was a duct leading directly from the basement laundry room into the area where Linda was writing.  At the time Linda's behavior changed, her mother had just used chlorine bleach in the laundry room.  Even a trace of the chlorine odor had affected Linda's brain. 20
There is clear evidence that neurotoxins can cause permanent brain damage if children are exposed to them while their brains and nervous systems are still developing.  At high doses, neurotoxins can result in coma, convulsions, respiratory paralysis, and death.  At lower doses, neurotoxin exposure can show up as disturbed mood, altered behavior, impaired thinking, and attention problems.3
It's important to remember that only 10% of the chemicals that appear in household products have been tested for their ability to cause nervous system disorders,4 which can range from headaches and dizziness to multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease.
We know little about the long-term effect of exposure to these chemicals, but doctors have identified a condition known as toxic encephalopathy, which is brought on by repeated exposure to solvents, such as those found in cleaning products, over several years.  Symptoms include memory loss, behavioral changes, emotional instability, confusion, inability to concentrate, neurological and personality changes, and problems with manual dexterity. 21
Do you have or know a child on Ritalin?  the numbers are rising.  In 1993, 4.5 million children took the drug Ritalin so they could sit still long enough to learn to read and write.  by 1998, 11.4 million children were being drugged with Ritalin.8  Ritalin is a "Class-2" narcotic!  What could be wrong?  Why is such a powerful drug being used to control our children's behavior?  Most veteran teachers will tell youth at the increased use of Ritalin is not the result of an increased awareness in ADD, as some would argue, but an increase in the actual number of cases.  Think back to when you were in school.  Was half of your class out of control?  Were most of your friends taking medication for hyperactivity?
Dr. Rapp says that many of these children are being misdiagnosed.  She believes as many as two-thirds of the millions of children on Ritalin are actually suffering from acute allergic reaction to environmental agents found at home and in schools.  These children do not need powerful drugs.  Removal of certain chemicals, and a change of diet often solve the problem, and Dr. Rapp has proven this over and over again.4
When Ryan was four, he started school.  He would leave home in the morning feeling fine but come back weak and tired.  while in the gym at school, he became so weak he had to be carried out.  Ryan's mother noticed that they sprayed the tabletops and rest area of his classroom with a popular aerosol disinfectant.
Dr. Rapp tested Ryan by spraying a four-inch piece of paper towel with the same disinfectant and placing it a few feet away from Ryan.  Within thirty minutes, Ryan was obviously different.  He could no longer hold his pencil, and his writing skills completely collapsed.  Several tests confirmed his reaction. 4
Eight-year-old Peter's first class in the morning was taught by a teacher who smoked heavily and smelled strongly of perfume.  In this class, arithmetic, Peter typically had difficulty remembering, thinking, and completing his work.  His teacher noticed on some days he could not even add two and two.  Peter improved over the course of the morning when he had another teacher who did not smell of either tobacco or perfume. However, the smell of perfume from lunchroom aides, and the odor of cleaners from the dish room, caused his ability to learn and concentrate to deteriorate again.
Dr. Rapp confirmed Peter's sensitivities to many chemicals.  Perfumes, colognes, and fragrances can contain harmful chemicals such as formaldehyde, toluene, ethanol, acetone, methyl chloride, and benzene derivatives.  All can damage the nervous system. Peter now goes to school with an oxygen tank, in case he needs to counteract a reaction. 4
These reactions might be considered severe, but they represent a growing number of young people who are reacting to chemicals in the air in their homes and at school.  Just how many children experience learning problems because of chemicals in their environment?  It's impossible to know.  It may be that a significant number of children have only a slight reaction.  Wouldn't it be a tragedy if one of your children should fail to live up to his learning potential because of neurotoxins in his environment?  It's a tragedy that should never happen because we can easily remove these toxic chemicals from our children's home and school environments.
According to Sherry Rogers, M.D., another environmental specialist, the symptoms produced by chemical sensitivity are as varied as the people who are affected.22  While some children react with a breakdown of learning ability, other children become hyperactive.
When chuck was six years old, he would make very loud noises, become uncontrollably bouncy, and hit other children when exposed to certain chemicals. Fumes from furniture polish affected him so strongly that he told his mother he wanted to jump off the roof!4
These stories barely begin to describe the array of reactions children can have to chemical neurotoxins.  Reactions are unpredictable and often change over time. It's better to protect your children by significantly reducing their exposure.  by switching to brands that do not use chemicals like phenol and formaldehyde you can help your children reach their full potential.
THE VARIOUS EFFECTS OF ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS
Awareness of toxic chemicals as endocrine disruptors is fairly recent.  Endocrine disruptors are synthetic chemicals that mimic or block the body's natural hormones, thus interfering with its normal hormonal activity.
Most of the functions of the body are triggered by the interaction between hormones and their receptors.  Receptors are like locks; hormones and other molecules are like keys.  The "Keys" circulate through the body until they find the right "locks," then they make the connection to send messages to cells for proper functioning.
The problem is that certain toxic substances also fit the receptors like keys, interfering with the body's ability to make its own natural connections.  This can cause problems in every body system.  The immune, nervous, endocrine, and reproductive systems can be affected, leading to a variety of illnesses that may not seem to be chemically related at ll.23
Although research in this field is very new, scientists suspect that it takes a very small amount of these chemicals -- even a single exposure -- to disrupt normal functioning.  Studies have shown a close correlation between exposure to endocrine disruptors and developmental problems which include incomplete and deformed reproductive systems, reduced fertility, and compromised immune systems in wildlife, and, in humans, impaired mental development, learning difficulties, hyperactivity and clear cell vaginal cancer. 24
BIRTH DEFECTS
Birth defects are the leading cause of death among children ages one to four.  According to the March of Dimes, one in twelve children is born with a congenital defect.  Environmental factors, including exposure to toxic chemicals, cause 7% to 11% of these defects. Sixty percent of birth defects have "unknown" causes, and toxic chemicals are suspected in these cases as well. 2
Dr. Martin Moses, of the Environmental Sciences Laboratory at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, strongly recommends that the unborn child should have NO exposure to household toxics and carcinogens, and, where there is doubt about any chemical, that we should err on the side of the child and prevent as much exposure as possible. "If we wait until we have absolute proof for all agents, it may be too late for the child,"  Dr. Moses stresses. 2
A NIOSH study stated that 314 chemicals present in personal care products can cause biological mutations.25  Many of these chemicals, including known carcinogens, can reach the unborn child in the womb.
Chemicals can also cause defects by damaging the eggs cells in women.  By the fifth month of her fetal life, the 3 to 4 million eggs a woman is born with have already localized in her ovaries. Chemical exposure at any point of development can destroy or damage these cells, leaving her infertile, or prone to birth defects or miscarriage.3 Once damage has occurred, repair is virtually impossible.
In men, exposure to chemicals can have a profound effect on sperm development. A study of male Vietnam veterans found they were 70% more likely to father a child with a birth defect due to chemical exposure.4 Many chemicals found in products used every day around the home can have similar effects.
SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME (SIDS)
There was a study in 1984 in which formaldehyde was implicated as a possible contributing factor in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).  Though I no longer have the original study, common sense tells me this is a possibility.
Among the symptoms known to be associated with formaldehyde exposure are swelling of the throat, respiratory problems, bronchial constriction, and asthma attacks, any one of which could cause a baby to stop breathing during sleep.  I would be willing to bet anything that every child who has ever died from SIDS was sleeping on bed sheets with a formaldehyde-based finish, since these finishes are on all polyester/cotton and no-iron cotton sheets.  formaldehyde is a common ingredient in cleaning products that may have been used to clean the nursery, and is a preservative in many personal care products that may have been rubbed on baby's skin.  Also, there's a documented higher incidence of SIDS in the wintertime. Closed windows increase the likelihood that outgassing chemical vapors will be inhaled.
We don't need to wait for the scientific and medical communities to get grant money and do a study.  We can put the facts together ourselves and determine when something is a risk not worth taking.

  1. We're Poisoning Our Children Without Knowing It!
  2. Toxic Chemicals and the Human Body
  3. Why Children are at Higher Risk
  4. How Toxic Chemicals affect the Health of Children
  5. How Safe are Household Products?
  6. The Happy Ending

RESOURCES

 
1.  World Resources Institute, The 1994 Information Place Environmental Almanac (Houghton-Mifflin1994)
2.  Paula DiPerna, "Environmental Hazards to Children" (Public Affairs Pamphlets, 1981).
3.  H. Needleman & P. Landrigan, "Raising Children Toxic-Free" (Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux, 1994)
4.  Doris Rapp, M. D., "Is This Your Child's World?" (Bantam Books, 1996)
5.  Mary Ellen Fise, Indoor Air Quality (Consumer Federation of America, 1997).
6.  Woodruff T, Grillo J, Schoendorf K. "The Relationship Between Selected Causes of Postneonatal Infant Mortality and Particulate Air Pollution in the united States." Environmental Health Perspectives, June 1997; 105(6).
7.  "Environmental Health Threats to Children", EPA 175-F-96-001, September 1996
8. "Your Children and Ritalin," The Detroit News (March 8, 1998)
9.  Lance A. Wallace, The Total Exposure Assessment Methodology (TEAM) Study:  Summary and Analysis, Volume 1. Washington, DC. EPA, 1987.
10.  Nancy Sokol Green, "Poisoning Our Children" (The Nobel Press, 1991)
11.  Echobichon DJ and Stevens DD. "Perinatal Development of Human Blood Esterases." Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics 1973;14:41-47.
12.  Landrigan PJ, Carlson JE, Bearer CF, Crammer JS, Bullard RD, Etzel RA, Groopman J, McLachlan JA, Perea FP, Reigart JR, Robison L, Schell L, Suk WA. "Children's Health and the Environment:  A New Agenda for Prevention Research." Environmental Health Perspectives 106 Supplement 3:787-794 (June 1998)
13.  Bearer CF. "Environmental Health Hazards:  How Children Are Different From Adults." Future of Children, Summer/Fall 1995;5(2):11-26
14.  Landrigan PJ and Carlson JE. "Environmental Policy and Children's Health." Future of Children, Summer/Fall 1995;5(2): 34-52
15.  Mindy Pennybacker and Aisha Ikramuddin, "Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet Guide to Natural Baby Care" (John Wiley & Sons, 1999)
16.  National Center for Health Statistics, 1997
17.  http://www.checnet.org
18.  John Harte, Toxics A to Z (University of California Press 1991)
19.  Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, In Harm's Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development
20.  Dr. Doris Rapp, "Is This Your Child?"
21.  N. Ashford and C. Miller, Chemical Exposures, Low Levels and high Stakes (van Nostrand Reinhold, 1991)
22.  Sherry Rogers, Chemical Sensitivity (Keats Publishing, Inc 1994)
23.  Theo Colborn, J. P. Myers and Dianne Dumanoski, Our Stolen Future (Viking Penguin, 1996)
24.  http://www.birthdefects.org/absracts/edcs.html
25.  Judith Burns, "The Cosmetic Cover-up," Human Ecologist (Fall 1989)
26.  Debra Lynn Dadd, Home Safe Home
27.  The National Safe Kids Campaign, Poisoning.
The ideal way to expose yourself to most toxins 
and carcinogens over your lifetime is to use 
mainstream personal care products.
"We only Care That You Know. 
Now Your Future Is In Your Hands
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Revised: February 22, 2008.