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Here's our family's story and the path we took to help Mark recover from lead poisoning and some learning issues. Read Mark's Story
The authors state that this silent pandemic of chemical toxicity has caused a decrease in IQ and behavior problems which results in the need of medical care and therapy. Today, it's estimated that the economic costs of lead poisoning in U.S. children are $43 billion annually; for methylmercury toxicity, $8.7 billion each year. The essay stated that one out of every six children has a developmental disability that involves the nervous system and they claim that chemical toxins are to blame. The authors of the essay also noted that they have identified 202 chemicals, but this list is not to be considered exhaustive, because the number of chemicals known to cause neurotoxicity in lab rats is well over 1,000.
Philippe Grandjean, adjunct professor at Harvard School of Public Health and Philip Landrigan, Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine are the authors of the essay. Philippe Grandjean went on to comment: "Even if substantial documentation on their toxicity is available, most chemicals are not regulated to protect the developing brain," says Grandjean. "Only a few substances, such as lead and mercury, are controlled with the purpose of protecting children. The 200 other chemicals that are known to be toxic to the human brain are not regulated to prevent adverse effects on the fetus or a small child."
Obtaining Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) that are provided by companies can also be futile. This is because most of the products hold patents and therefore they do not have to disclose all ingredients because they are proprietary. An example is Simple Green that is used in some schools and marketed as non-toxic. Their MSDS states that the cleaner contains butyl cellosolve which according to the Cancer Prevention Coalition is toxic to forming cells and to the kidney and liver. Simple Green had its own test conducted that shows it is safe and therefore can still use the non-toxic label. Based on this information, changing the chemicals in our home and school is imperative so that our children are protected.
