Toddlers absorb more toxic chemicals than mothers

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Sep 3, 2008 | by Suzanne Bohan

In a world permeated with chemicals, toddlers' penchant for crawling on floors, chewing on assorted objects and touching everything within reach expose their bodies to a disproportionate amount of toxic pollutants.

That's the conclusion of a new study by the Environmental Working Group in Oakland, which is utilized 20 pairs of moms and their young children in a study released today. The group reported that the children, on average, carried more than three times the amount of flame retardants in their blood than their mothers.

It's only the second study to examine this chemical load in U.S. toddlers, and breaks new ground in taking a national glimpse at its prevalence.

MediaNews, in its pioneering 2005 series "A Body's Burden," first opened researchers' eyes to the particular perils faced by young children in a world where more than 80,000 chemicals are found in all manner of products.

This latest research, which focused on blood levels of flame retardants in samplings of mothers and toddlers across the country, dovetails with findings of the award-winning newspaper series by reporter Douglas Fischer, according to Linda Birnbaum, a senior toxicologist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The series reported that a 20-month-old boy and his 5-year-old sister consistently bore higher levels of flame retardants and other chemicals in their bodies in comparison with their parents. The results were condensed into a journal article, published in 2006 by the National Institutes of Health, and it's now cited in scientific literature.

"Not only does this (new) study agree with what we saw with the Fischer study," said Birnbaum, "but it indicates that children and teenagers have (higher levels of chemicals) than adults."

She added, "This is not something we would have predicted a few years ago."

The new study found that in 19 of the 20 families, concentrations of flame retardants were significantly higher in children than in their mothers. In all, 11 different types of flame retardants were found in these children.

Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducts periodic monitoring of blood levels for more than 140 chemicals in a cross section of adults across the United States, analyses of young children hasn't been part of that effort.

But it should be, insists Dr. Anila Jacob, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group's Washington, D.C., office.

"Children are so much more vulnerable to toxic chemicals," she said, describing animal studies linking permanent changes in growing brains with exposure to flame retardants.

Birnbaum is one of the country's experts on the health effects of flame retardants, also called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs. She said research suggests that flame retardants circulating in the body damage nerve tissue, affecting learning and memory.

A 2008 report from the EPA stated that animal studies on PBDEs found that the chemicals were damaging to the kidney, thyroid and liver. One flame retardant in particular, Deca, is also a "possible human carcinogen," the EPA report noted.

But the minute amounts of flame retardant detected in the Environmental Working Group study hardly raise reason for alarm, stated John Kyle, North American director for the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum, representing Deca manufacturers, in an email.

Flame retardants save lives, Kyle emphasized, and no one has ever reported any "illness, ailment or harm" from exposure to the chemicals, even among those working with it, he stated.

Nonetheless, because of mounting concerns over their possible health effects, even in minute quantities, the forum supports close monitoring and analysis by scientists and regulators, Kyle added.

Charlie Auer, director of the EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, said the agency will soon be asking U.S. manufacturers of flame retardants to sponsor additional studies on exposure effects in children.

Deca is the only type of flame retardant still produced in the country.

The manufacturer of two other varieties voluntarily ceased production in 2005, and the EPA since enacted a regulation banning U.S. production or import of those two chemicals, due to health and environmental concerns. Loopholes, however, allow import of products made with these chemicals, today's study noted.

In addition, they're still in furniture and foam items purchased before the phase-out.

Deca is used to keep the plastics in televisions, computers, stereo equipment and other electronic gear from catching fire, as well as products like the lining of some curtains. Like other flame retardants, it slows the ignition and spread of fire, providing time to escape or extinguish a fire. They've been remarkably effective in reducing death, injury and damage from fires.

Other varieties of flame retardants are also found in furniture, carpets, couches, baby seats, pillows and other products made of foam or plastics. Some manufacturers are voluntarily phasing out these products and replacing them with other flame retardants, or redesigning their products to lessen fire danger. But there's no way for consumers to know which flame retardant, if any, is in a product.