Unborn Babies Soaked in Chemicals, Survey Finds

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Unborn Babies Soaked in Chemicals, Survey Finds

 

In a day and age when environmentalists are equated

with terrorists...maybe this study will open some eyes

as to what most environmentalists are so passionate

about. Anna

 

Unborn Babies Soaked in Chemicals, Survey Finds

By Maggie Fox

Reuters

 

Thursday 14 July 2005

 

Washington - Unborn U.S. babies are soaking in a

stew of chemicals,

including mercury, gasoline byproducts and pesticides,

according to a

report to be released Thursday.

 

Although the effects on the babies are not clear,

the survey

prompted several members of Congress to press for

legislation that

would strengthen controls on chemicals in the

environment.

 

The report by the Environmental Working Group is

based on tests of

10 samples of umbilical cord blood taken by the

American Red Cross.

They found an average of 287 contaminants in the

blood, including

mercury, fire retardants, pesticides and the Teflon

chemical PFOA.

 

" These 10 newborn babies ... were born polluted, "

said New York

Rep. Louise Slaughter, who planned to publicize the

findings at a news

conference Thursday.

 

" If ever we had proof that our nation's pollution

laws aren't

working, it's reading the list of industrial chemicals

in the bodies of

babies who have not yet lived outside the womb, "

Slaughter, a Democrat,

said.

 

Cord blood reflects what the mother passes to the

baby through the

placenta.

 

" Of the 287 chemicals we detected in umbilical

cord blood, we know

that 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are

toxic to the brain

and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or

abnormal development

in animal tests, " the report said.

 

Blood tests did not show how the chemicals got

into the mothers'

bodies.

 

Mercury and Pesticides

 

Among the chemicals found in the cord blood were

methylmercury,

produced by coal-fired power plants and certain

industrial processes.

People can breathe it in or eat it in seafood and it

causes brain and

nerve damage.

 

Also found were polyaromatic hydrocarbons, or

PAHs, which are

produced by burning gasoline and garbage and which may

cause cancer;

flame-retardant chemicals called polybrominated

dibenzodioxins and

furans; and pesticides including DDT and chlordane.

 

The same group analyzed the breast milk of mothers

across the

United States in 2003 and found varying levels of

chemicals, including

flame retardants known as PBDEs. This latest analysis

also found PBDEs

in cord blood.

 

The Environmental Working Group report coincided

with a Government

Accountability Office report issued Wednesday that

said the

Environmental Protection Agency does not have the

powers it needs to

fully regulate toxic chemicals.

 

The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, found

that the EPA's

Toxic Substances Control Act gives only " limited

assurance " that new

chemicals entering the market are safe and that the

EPA only rarely

assesses chemicals already on the market.

 

" Today, chemicals are being used to make baby

bottles, food

packaging and other products that have never been

fully evaluated for

their health effects on children - and some of these

chemicals are

turning up in our blood, " said New Jersey Democrat

Sen. Frank

Lautenberg, who plans to co-sponsor a bill to require

more testing of

toxic chemicals.

 

Pollutants and other chemicals are believed to

cause a range of

illnesses. But scientists agree the only way to really

sort out the

effects is to measure how much gets into people and

then see what

happens to their health.

 

Source >

http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/071405HA.shtml

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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