Blog Posts by HealthyChild.org

creative commonsby Healthy Child Healthy World
www.healthychild.org

After the CDC lowered the threshold at which a child is at risk for lead poisoning by half last week, the number of children under six who are now considered at risk jumped from 77,000 to 442,000, according to the Huffington Post. The article quoted Dr. Phil Landrigan, Healthy Child Honorary Board member and chairman of the department of preventative medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City: "There is no safe level. Lead is toxic to the developing brain at low levels. Prenatal exposure causes brain damage. Exposure to an infant or toddler causes brain damage." Safety steps to take include "removing old leaded windows, repairing paint that is chipping or peeling, using a HEPA vacuum and keeping kids' hands washed."

Flame Retardants Tip the Balance

The Chicago Tribune broke the story and now Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times is picking up the thread. Could news about flame retardants be the tipping point we

Timeby Healthy Child Healthy World
www.healthychild.org

TIME raised a ruckus recently with a profile of "attachment parenting" guru Dr. Bill Sears, highlighted by a cover photo of a mother breastfeeding her three-year-old son, according to the Huffington Post. Healthy Child believes breast is best-especially for the first year, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics-and welcomes the discussion these photographs have incited (although not the flaming, that's just plain mean). Some additional information to add to the chatter: African Americans have the lowest breastfeeding rates, yet the community is hit hardest by health problems that breastfeeding protects against.

Our newest Mom on a Mission has set out to change these statistics.

Victory for Safer Cosmetics

Thanks to an amazingly vocal community, which sent thousands of letters, petitions, tweets and Facebook posts on the subject, the Safe Cosmetics Bill achieved a major victory last week, as Congress held the first

by Rachel LHealthy Child Healthy Worldincoln Sarnoff
Executive Director & C.E.O
Healthy Child Healthy World

Potential Autism Causes Identified

What causes autism? Dr. Phil Landrigan, professor and chair of preventive medicine at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York and Honorary Board member of Healthy Child Healthy World, recently released a comprehensive list of environmental triggers, published in Environmental Health Perspectives and concisely presented in a slideshow on Rodale News. This powerful research looks at environmental factors-including lead, mercury and pesticides-and connects the dots on early exposures to problems in childhood, with the goal of informing the medical community and changing chemical regulation to better protect kids.

Approval Sought for GE Corn

According to the Just Label It! campaign, of which Healthy Child is a member, the USDA may approve corn that is genetically engineered to withstand 2,4-D, a potent herbicide that may be linked to major health problems

Healthy Childby Healthy Child Healthy World
www.healthychild.org

On the heels of last week's CDC report that found higher rates of autism than ever before-now affecting 1 in 88 children and representing a 78% increase in the last 10 years- a new study published last week in the journal Clinical Epigenetics is especially interesting. The study looked at how substances such as high fructose corn syrup can lead to mineral deficiencies, how deficiencies in minerals such as zinc can reduce the body's ability to eliminate toxic substances such as mercury and pesticides, which have been linked to autism.

Another study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that obesity during pregnancy may increase a woman's chances of giving birth to a child with autism-by about 67 percent. When asked about theories linking obesity and autism, the study's author told The Washington Post that excess blood sugar and inflammation-related substances in the mother's blood may damage the fetal brain.

Dioxin Drama

by Healthy Child Healthy World
www.healthychild.org

There was a time when doctors told pregnant mothers it was okay to smoke and drink alcohol because their babies were protected. Obviously, now we know otherwise-but many women are still misinformed about the dangers of the common contaminants that their fetuses are exposed to. Last week, a new study published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that "an expectant mother's exposure to commonly used pesticides might pose risks to her developing fetus comparable to those long associated with tobacco smoking [such as lower birth weight and earlier labor]," according to the Huffington Post. The study subjects were not agricultural workers: "These are women exposed primarily through diet and perhaps pesticides used in and around the yard," said Dr. Bruce Lanphear, a study researcher. Should doctors recommend women avoid pesticides during pregnancy as they do cigarettes and alcohol? We think so.

Pre-Tween Puberty

Is puberty before age

canby Healthy Child Healthy World

So many news stories that relate to children's environmental health, it's hard to keep up!

The FDA Rejects BPA Ban in Packaging

Late in the day last Friday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)announced that it would not place on ban on BPA in packaging because there wasn't enough scientific evidence that it harmed humans. We wonder whether they've missed the volumes of studies finding BPA associated with some cancers, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and reproductive disorders. Manufacturers are moving away from the chemical even without FDA action. Last month, Healthy Child Healthy World and the Breast Cancer Fund announced that Campbell's Soup was moving away from BPA in its cans, in part due to dropping consumer demand and public campaigns to eliminate BPA from foods targeted at kids.

Despite the FDA's decision, concerned parents are vowing to reject BPA in products.Lori Popkewitz Alper, a blogger at Groovy Green Livin' and a Healthy Child

cleaningby Healthy Child Healthy World

Cleaning used to be a simple thing. You learned what to use from your parents and bought the same products when you moved into your own house. But new reports just emerging may make you rethink choosing some of those brands.

Earlier this month, a report conducted by the Silent Spring Institute in Newton, MA and published in the online Environmental Health Perspectives journal revealed chemicals linked to linked to asthma and hormone disruption in 200 common household products.

Personal care products such as soaps and lotions, household cleaners, sunscreens, air fresheners, vinyl shower curtains and pillow protectors-even kitty litter-were found to contain chemicals such as phthalates (linked to reproductive abnormalities and asthma) and parabens (linked to hormone disruption and associated with breast cancer), among others.

Many chemicals were not listed on labels of the products, which were manufactured by conventional and "alternative" brands. However,

Beyonce breastfeeding Blue Ivyby Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff
Executive Director & CEO
Healthy Child Healthy World
www.healthychild.org


I remember the first time I saw someone breastfeed. I was 27 and had just gotten married; one of my best friends had her baby the same year. We all sat around marveling at this amazing little being she had created and when he started to fuss, she fed him. It was miraculous.

A year later, I had my own baby to feed and I remembered what she told me: Put your baby on your breast the minute he is born. Even if there's nothing coming out, keep doing it until there is.

I was lucky to have that advice, and to be able to successfully feed my son until he was a year old, and my daughters until they were each six months. I breastfed everywhere-at the market, in the park, sitting on a mall bench, even at Disneyland-without incident. Which is why it's surprising to me how much fuss is being raised over breastfeeding today.

After Beyoncé discretely fed seven-week-old Blue Ivy in a New York