Chemicals are a part of our children's everyday lives and many are harmless, however, some chemicals act in a way that poses risks, often during the most vulnerable stages of development.
A new study has found that thousands of products including children’s toys and bottles could be harboring chemicals that cause autism, ADHD and cancer. The NYU study looks at the chemicals bisphenol A and phthalates, common in bottles and lining the inside of cans.
These chemicals are also found in all sorts of products children play or come into contact with. The concerning aspect is that they mimic naturally occurring hormones such as oestrogen and androgen. Hormones and their signals are critical to the normal functioning of every tissue and organ in the body.
According to the study's lead author Dr Leonardo Trasande, the impact of the chemicals on our health needs to be taken seriously,
'Our research adds to the growing evidence on the tremendous economic as well as human health costs of endocrine-disrupting chemicals.'
Kids are particularly vulnerable to hundreds of hidden chemicals. Image: iStock
What effects can they have on kids?
The impact of exposure to EDC's are most commonly neurological such as ADHD, autism and loss of IQ.
However the dangerous chemicals are also credited with causing or increasing the incidence of Endocrine disorders such as:
- boosting the incidence of male infertility
- earlier onset of breast development in young girls, which is a risk factor for breast cancer,
- type-2 diabetes.
Why children are more vulnerable
The alarming thing for parents is that our little ones are more likely to be affected by these harmful chemicals. Humans are most vulnerable to exposure to EDC’s during critical times, such as during foetal development and puberty.
Babies and young children are at high risk of exposure due to increased hand-to-mouth activity and a higher metabolic rate.
Following on from research about the impact of EDC’s on foetal development, the Danish government took measures to inform their citizens of possible causation.
They created an information website for expectant mothers, stating, “If you are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant, you should pay extra attention to chemicals, because the small child you are carrying is very sensitive to external in influences."
EDCs can also be transferred from a pregnant mother to her developing baby through the placenta and are also transmitted through breastmilk.
A study mentioned in the Journal Environmental Health perspectives quotes scientist Retha Newbold who raises the issue of long-term concerns,
“Developmental exposure to low doses of EDCs may not lead to malformation or to anything you can look at and immediately recognize as a problem,” she said.
“But it still could have long-term effects, such as alterations in metabolism, alterations causing cancer later on, or alterations causing infertility.”
Plastic bottles could be feeding your kids more than you bargained for. Image: iStock.
How can we make life safer for our children?
Speaking with the ABC's Catalyst program, Senior Clinical Research Fellow at The University of Queensland Professor Peter Sly, said we should take certain measures when heating baby'ss milk in bottles. One of the most avoidable exposures people should adopt with plastic baby bottles is using in pyrex or glass containers when heating food in microwaves rather than plastic containers.
"They won't have the same problem. Heating baby's milk in plastic bottles in a microwave is completely unnecessary. If you are going to heat it, don't put it in the plastic bottle."
He also raises the cute practice of little kids chewing the ends of their books. Apparently children's books with recycled paper are laden with plasticisers. This should be avoided as kids are unintentionally exposing themselves to these plastic products.
Avoid, avoid, avoid!
The Danish government website recommends limiting your exposure to chemicals when pregnant, stating that, “Whether or not the chemicals could affect your child will depend on the type of chemical as well as the quantities to which you are exposed. “
A large part of products worth steer clear of seem to be scented products and perfumes.
I know many of my friends and I couldn’t bear strong artificial smells during our pregnancies. Perhaps this was Mother Nature’s way of telling us to ease off on whiffy chemical-laden perfumes when we’re expecting!
What to avoid when you're expecting. Image: iStock
Perfumes are listed as a single ingredient on products, but contain multiple chemicals under that one banner, so we can never really be sure what we’re exposing our children to. Ways to minimise exposure include:
- Buying unscented toys
- Throwing away old soft plastic toys.
- Remember to wash everything before you start using it.
- This includes dinner mats and bibs. Also, give your baby’s stuffed toy a rinse in
the washing machine, if it won’t be damaged
Also avoid common products when they’re scented such as:
- wet wipes
- hygiene products
- washing powder
There can be a long time between exposure to an endocrine disruptor and when the effects are manifested, and these can span several generations so, a pregnant woman's exposure may ultimately affect her grandchildren.
Although this particular study, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, focuses on the financial costs of exposure, it reminds us that it's a good idea to be mindful when it we hand our kids a toy to play with or use certain products.
The researchers worked out the financial impact by reviewing blood and urine samples from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which has been collating data since 2009 on major disease risk factors from 5,000 volunteers.
Computer models were then used to understand how much each of the 15 diseases or conditions was attributable to chemical exposure, and the estimated health costs for each one.