Polution in New Borns.. continued

Cord blood pollutants in this study, linked to health problems. Scientific studies implicate some of the chemicals we detected in cord blood with serious, ongoing human health problems:

• Dioxin exposures during fetal development have been implicated in endocrine-related cancers in women (breast and uterine, for example) by altering hormone levels, increasing the sensitivity of
  children and adolescents to other carcinogens (Birnbaum and Fenton
  2003). In men, tiny levels of dioxin in the range of 0.02 to 10 parts
  per billion alter testosterone levels and are linked with diabetes (EPA
  2004a). Dioxin at 80 parts per trillion in paternal — but not maternal —
  serum causes a significant change in the sex ratio of children
  (Mocarelli, et al. 1996, Mocarelli, et al. 2000). At this tiny dose, men
  father nearly twice as many girls as boys. As body burdens increase
  within and above these ranges, the likelihood, severity, and potential
  spectrum of non-cancer effects increases (EPA 2004a). Fetal dioxin
  exposure can harm the immune system, thyroid, and brain (Van Loveren et
  al. 2003, Faroon et al. 2001, ten Tusscher and Koppe 2004). Dioxin from
  garbage incinerators is associated with increased incidence of infant
  death and birth defects (Tango et al. 2004).
• Methylmercury exposure in the womb causes measurable declines in brain function in children exposed to levels corresponding to 58 parts per billion in maternal blood (NAS 2000b). Researchers in the
  Netherlands found a doubling in the risk of heart attacks and death from
  coronary heart disease at methylmercury hair levels of 2 mg/kg, which
  corresponds to about one fifth the assumed safe maternal blood level
  (Salonen, et al. 1995). Increased diastolic and systolic blood pressure
  and decreased heart rate variability in developmentally exposed children
  have also been observed at doses below what the EPA considers a safe
  maternal blood level (NAS 2000b, Sorensen et al. 1999).
• PCBs at 9.7 ppb in maternal serum during fetal development can impair brain development, with resultant attention and IQ deficits that appear to be permanent (Jacobson and Jacobson 1996). Notably, IQ
  deficits are linked to the mother's PCB levels, not the PCB levels in
  children at 4 and 11 years of age (by which time the children's PCB
  levels had decreased substantially compared to levels at birth),
  underscoring the limitations of studies that look for correlations
  between current body burdens and health effects in the absence of data
  on in utero exposures. Levels of PCBs in the general population
  are also associated with abnormal menstrual cycles (Cooper et al. 2005).
• DDE above 15 ppb in maternal blood is associated with preterm birth and low birth weight, with weight corrected for gestational age (Longnecker et al. 2001). DDE is a metabolite of the banned, persistent
  pesticide DDT. Using the associations derived from tests of archived
  blood samples from a pool of 42,000 women, researchers estimated that
  DDT exposures in the U.S. population could have accounted for up to 15
  percent of infant deaths during the 1960s. Low birth weight is
  recognized as a risk factor for type II diabetes, high blood pressure,
  and cardiovascular disease later in life (Prentice and Moore 2005,
  Godfrey and Barker 2001, Hales and Barker 2001). Even if these lower
  birth weight babies "catch up" later, the damage may have already been
  done. A substantial number of studies have found that low birth weight
  followed by an accelerated growth rate during childhood is a significant
  risk factor for high blood pressure, stroke, insulin resistance and
  glucose intolerance (Eriksson, et al. 2000a, Eriksson, et al. 2002,
  Eriksson et al. 2000b, Eriksson et al. 1999, Eriksson and Forsen 2002,
  Forsen et al. 2000, Ong and Dunger 2002, Stettler et al. 2002).

Some facts about human health trends

Cancer. Cancer incidence has steadily increased over the decades for many forms of the disease, including breast, prostate, and testicular (NCI 2005). The incidence of childhood cancer increased by
27.1 percent between 1975 and 2002, with the sharpest rise estimated for
brain and other nervous system cancers (56.5 percent increase) and
acute lymphocytic leukemia (68.7 percent increase). The incidence of
testicular cancer also steadily rose 66 percent between 1975 and 2002
(NCI 2005). The probability that a U.S. resident will develop cancer at
some point in his or her lifetime is 1 in 2 for men and 1 in 3 for women
(ACS 2004). A broad array of environmental factors plays a pivotal role
in the initiation and promotion of cancer. Just 5 to 10 percent of all
cancers are directly linked to inherited, genetic factors (ACS 2001).

• Breast cancer. Among girls born today, one in seven is expected to get breast cancer and one in 30 is expected to die from it. Invasive female breast cancer increased an average of 1.5 percent per
  year between 1973 and 1996, for a total increase of 25.3 percent. Among
  those 65 and younger, breast cancer incidence rose 1.2 percent per year,
  corresponding to a doubling every two generations (58 years). If trends
  continue, the granddaughters of today's young women could face a one in
  four chance of developing breast cancer (NCI 1996, NCI 1997).
• Testicular cancer. At its current pace, the incidence of testicular cancer is doubling about every one and a half generations (39 years). In the U.S. the incidence of testicular cancer rose 41.5
  percent between 1973 and 1996, an average of 1.8 percent per year (NCI
  1996, NCI 1997). Testicular cancer is now the most common cancer in men
  age 15 to 35 (NCI 2005).
• Prostate cancer. Prostate cancer rates rose 4.4 percent a year between 1973 and 1992, or more than a doubling of risk in a generation. Since 1992, the incidence has declined, but it is still 2.5
  times its 1973 rate. Part of this increase can be explained by better
  detection, but increased incidence has also been accompanied by an
  increase in mortality - which better detection cannot explain. Prostate
  cancer is now the most common cancer among U.S. men, and the second most
  lethal, killing an estimated 31,900 men in the year 2000 alone (NCI
  1996, NCI 1997).

Major nervous system disorders. Several recent studies have determined that the reported incidence of autism is increasing, and is now almost 10 times higher than in the mid-1980's (Byrd 2002,
Chakrabarti and Fombonne 2001). The number of children being diagnosed
and treated for attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has also increased dramatically in the
past decade (Robison et al. 1999, Robison et al. 2002, Zito et al.
2000). The causes are largely unexplained, but environmental factors,
including chemical exposures, are considered a likely contributor.
Environmental factors have also been increasingly linked with
Parkinson's disease (Checkoway and Nelson 1999, Engel et al. 2001).

Preterm births and low birth weights. Preterm births have increased 23 percent over the past 2 decades; low-weight births have become more common (Ananth et al 2001, Branum and Schoendorf 2002). The
causes are largely unknown, but environmental factors such as chemical
pollutants and nutrition are thought to play a role. Low birth weight
has been linked to adult obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease,
schizophrenia, and other conditions (Barker 1995, Wahlbeck et al. 2001,
Thompson et al. 2001, Hales and Ozanne 2003). It has also been linked
to lower academic performance, neurosensory impairment, and lower rates
of pregnancy in the offspring (Hack et al. 2002).

Defects of the reproductive system. Studies show that sperm counts in certain parts of the world are decreasing (Swan, et al. 2000, Toppari, et al. 1996). Scientists have measured significant regional
differences in sperm count that cannot be explained by differences in
genetic factors (Swan et al. 2003). Girls may be reaching puberty
earlier, based on comparing current appearance of breast development and
pubic hair growth with historical data (Herman-Giddens, et al. 1997).
Rates of hypospadias, a physical deformity of the penis, have risen in
recent years (Paulozzi et al. 1997). The incidence of undescended
testicles (cryptorchidism) and testicular cancer also appear to be
rising in certain parts of the world (Bergstrom et al. 1996, McKiernan
et al. 1999, Toppari et al. 1996, Paulozzi 1999). Several studies have
suggested links between developmental exposure to environmental
contaminants and cryptorchidism or testicular cancer (Hardell, et al.
2003, Hosie, et al. 2000, Toppari, et al. 1996, Weidner, et al. 1998).

• Declining sperm count. An analysis of 101 studies (1934-1996) by Dr. Shanna Swan of the University of Missouri confirms results of previous studies: average sperm counts in industrialized
  countries appear to be declining at a rate of about one percent each
  year (Swan et al. 2000).
• Hypospadias. Incidence of hypospadias, a birth defect of the penis, doubled in the United States between 1970 and 1993, and is estimated to affect one of every 125 male babies born (Paulozzi et al.
  1997). Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show
  that rates in the U.S. began climbing in about 1970, and continued this
  increase through the 1980s. This condition is a physical deformity of
  the penis in which the opening of the urethra occurs on the bottom of
  the penis instead of the tip.
• Undescended testicles. This birth defect, where testicles fail to completely descend into the scrotum during pregnancy, occurs in two to five percent of full-term boys in Western countries. Rates of the
  defect increased greatly in the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s. Men born
  with this defect are at higher risk for testicular cancer and breast
  cancer (Paulozzi 1999).

Together with 287 industrial pollutants in 10 newborn babies, this body of science and the litany of serious, continuing human health concerns reveals the critical need for reform of our system of public
health protections, which fails to require proof that chemicals are safe
for children.

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