News Coverage
Chemicals linked to autism, ADHD and brain disorders in children
Published November 8, 2006
A study published in a leading medical journal has identified 202 potentially harmful industrial chemicals that may be contributing to increases of autism, attention deficit disorder and other mental development conditions among children.
The study, published online in the journal The Lancet, warns of the potential "silent pandemic" that may be a result of the exposure to an array of toxic chemicals in the environment.
Lead author of the study, Philippe Grandjean, of the Harvard School of Public Health, warned that there would be an enormous cost to society if childhood exposure to the many developmental disrupting chemicals was not regulated.
Grandjean warned that once the damage had been done to children's developing brains, which were much more susceptible to the effects of small doses of chemicals, it was irreversible.
According to the study, one in six children in society today has a developmental disability such as autism, attention deficit disorder or cerebral palsy.
The co-author of the study is Philip Landrigan of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, who have been very active in issues related to chemical exposure and health. The organisation was responsible for a series of advertisements that were published in mainstream US newspapers warning of the harmful effects of chemicals in cosmetics.
The Mount Sinai School of Medicine had also been involved in a series of studies with watchdog organisation, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which looked at levels of chemical contaminants in people.
The six studies, considered the comprehensive ever of their kind, are published on the EWG website. The studies found 455 industrial pollutants, pesticides and other chemicals in blood, urine and breast milk in newborns, grandparents, mothers and teens.
The EWG studies, which have significantly increased awareness of chemical pollution in people in the health sector and the general public, have shown that chemical exposure begins before birth, and is likely to have multigenerational impacts on health.
The studies have also highlighted the significant amount of untested chemicals that people are exposed to in the home via cosmetics, cleaning products and general household products like carpets and furniture.
