We’re toxic “from womb to tomb”

There’s an excellent story by Simran Sethi at The Huffington Post on toxic chemicals found in everyday household products making their way into our bodies. Featured is information from the Environmental Working Group on studies showing hundreds of chemicals in the umbilical cord blood of newborns. The full story is laced with links to more information. Note that all the products mentioned as toxic are the same products to which people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity have bad reactions from low level exposure.

Here’s an excerpt from Sethi’s report:

We can thank WWII for inventions like SPAM, plastic wrap, and modern-day chemical cleaning products. When hostilities ended, the same companies that had been manufacturing chemicals for nerve gas and other weapons began to bottle their concoctions for the general public, who used them to disinfect their homes. Sixty years later, Mr. Clean may seem well intentioned, but a toxic chemical is still a toxic chemical, no matter how diluted or how many “Danger! Do not swallow” warnings a bottle is branded with. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that household chemicals label info on poison control and toxicity, but doesn’t mandate ingredient disclosure. We each have our own allergies and sensitivities, so what may be deemed “safe” for one person may be harmful for another.

Kids are among the most vulnerable peeps. Children under the age of six are more likely to die from ingesting dish soap than any other product in the home. Luckily, most of us ingest or inhale dish soap residue in doses much too small to be lethal, but the chemicals are still having an effect. Women who work at home are 54% more likely to die from cancer, because of a higher exposure to household cleaning products. And the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that indoor air quality may be twice as polluted as outdoor air.

Environmental Working Group (EWG) has found that everyday products like dish soap and laundry detergent are polluting our air and our bloodstreams with toxic chemicals linked to cancer, infertility, and stunted development. You’re probably thinking sure, you’re fill-in-the-blank age, you’ve been exposed to a lot in your short/long life. But here’s the kicker: we’re toxic from womb to tomb. A recent EWG study tested the umbilical chord blood of 10 unborn babies, and found a total of 287 toxic chemicals, an average of 200 per fetus. (You can find out more in the accompanying video.) The chems in babies included 28 waste by-products, 47 consumer products like Teflon and Scotch Guard, and 212 industrial chemicals and pesticides (such as PCBs and DDT) that were already banned more than 30 years ago. Our newborns are coming into the world with a heavy “body burden” of toxins that will impact their health and development.

Link to full story and video at The Huffington Post.

Link to more videos on the topic of chemicals and children from a conference sponsored by Seventh Generation.

Photo by Brittany Bush.