Raising Children and Grandchildren in a Toxic World
Posted August 11th, 2009 by Alice ShabecoffAs we watched each of our five grandchildren and their friends enter this world and begin their life’s journey, it became more and more clear that something is amiss with this generation. How are your children and your friends’ children doing?
Most likely, one of three of the children you know in this generation suffers from a chronic illness. Perhaps it’s cancer, or birth defects, perhaps asthma, or a problem that affects the child’s mind and behavior, such as Downs Syndrome, learning disorders, ADHD or autism. Though one in three may sound exaggerated, unbelievable, the figures are there amidst various government files.
This generation is different. Childhood cancer, once a medical rarity, has grown 67 percent since 1950. Asthma has increased 140 percent in the last twenty years and autism rates without a doubt have increased at least 200 percent. Miscarriages and premature births are also on the rise, while the ratio of male babies dwindles and girls face endometriosis even in teenage.
This generation is the first to be raised in a truly toxified world. Even before conception and on into adulthood, the assault is everywhere: heavy metals and carcinogenic particles in air pollution; industrial solvents, household detergents, prozac and radioactive wastes in drinking water; pesticides in flea collars; artificial growth hormones in beef, arsenic in chicken; synthetic hormones in bottles, teething rings and medical devices; formaldehyde in cribs and nail polish, and even rocket fuel in lettuce. Pacifiers are now manufactured with nanoparticles from silver, to be sold as ‘antibacterial.’ What’s wrong with rinsing a pacifier in soapy water?
Despite naysayers (who pays them to say nay?—that’s a whole story in itself), it’s clear there is both an association and a causative connection between the vast explosion of poisons in our everyday lives and our children’s “issues.” Over 80,000 industrial chemicals (tested only by the manufacturer) are in commerce in this country, produced or imported at 15 trillion pounds a year. Pesticide use has leapt from the troubling 400 million pounds Rachel Carson wrote about in the 1960s to the mind-boggling 4.4 billion pounds in use today. Nuclear power plants, aging and under-maintained, increasingly leak wastes, often without notifying their community.
What could be more elemental than our desire to protect our children. Children and fetuses, because of their undeveloped defense systems, are ten to sixty-five times more susceptible to specific toxics than adults. These toxics diminish the capacities of our children…the future of our families, our communities, our nation.
Illness does not necessarily show up in childhood. Environmental exposures, from conception to early life, can set a person´s cellular code for life and can cause disease at any time, through old age. This accounts for the rise in Parkinson´s and Alzheimer´s diseases, prostate and breast cancer.
Yet this is not the dispiriting ‘Bad News’ it might seem. It is, actually, a message of hope and optimism. We are fearful only when we are ignorant and powerless. Now that we know what is happening, we can determine not to let it happen further.
These poisons are manmade; manufacturers can take them out of our children´s lives and make profits from safe products. ‘Green chemistry’ can replace toxic molecules with harmless ones. We can connect global climate change actions to environmental health strategies. If we replace coal-fired power, in the process we reduce not only carbon but also emissions of the tons of lead, mercury, hydrochloric acid, chromium, arsenic, sulfur and nitrogen oxides that cause autism, Alzheimer’s and other public health menaces.
In a riff on Pogo, let’s say, “We have met the heroes and it is us.” We cannot bury our heads and hope it will all go away. We cannot leave the job to someone else. Some may feel the problem is so massive, it’s best to pretend it doesn’t exist. But it isn’t more massive than we allow it to be. It’s totally within our reach.
We are mothers and grandmothers. There are 23 million children adversely affected by our toxic lives. That makes (more or less) 23 million mothers, 46 million grandmothers. We are a powerhouse. It is in our power to learn about what harms our children and to share our knowledge. It is in our power as a community of citizens and parents to demand action against the current harmful policies and practices and against the indiscriminate use of processes and practices that destroy and degrade all life on our planet.
And so, through this blog, we will make each other smarter and stronger. We will share ideas about how to go through pregnancy avoiding dangerous substances, how to manage a household that shields our children from exposures. We will sound the alarm when there’s legislation to get behind. We will expose companies that persist in harmful practices and praise the good guys. We will share designs for local and national action campaigns, and we will share knowledge of treatments that move our children to cures.
–
Alice Shabecoff is the co-author with her husband Philip of Poisoned Profits: The Toxic Assault on our Children, Random House. See her website, www.poisonedprofits.com.
8 Comments
November 15, 2009 at 2:43 am by diane mooreAs I read this, the tears just start to flow. What kind of world are we leaving behind for our children and grandchildren?
What a sad world we live in. We sadly put our home up for sale, as a failed attempt to protest a NewPath cell phone tower is resulting in one coming just 2 doors away from us in January. We can run, but we can’t hide. This is what scares me. The FCC, FDA, etc etc don’t give a damn about our health, happiness and well being, or that of our children.
Its all about the money. It should NOT have to be such a battle to stay healthy. The water we drink, the foods we eat, the air we breathe, the detergents we wash our clothing in… all toxic. Even if we buy everything organic it seems to be a neverending battle. Its heartbreaking. I was brought up to recycle, respect the environment and nature, and other people, and LOOK! I was taught to not waste water, paper, electricity, etc… and what for??? I don’t understand. What can we do to stop this madness? How can we help? Everywhere we go, toxins surround us, cellphone towers are being put up everywhere in our communities, protesting gets us nowhere… our government doesn’t give a damn about any of us, just corporate bank accounts.
[Reply]
August 27, 2009 at 10:48 pm by Patricia SmirhMrs. Shabecoff,
I believe I saw you on Boston’s Chronicle seveal months ago. You are so right about needing to get the word out. I was a nurse until I was poisoned by a pyrethroid pesticide used indoors at my office. It took me right out of the picture and I am left with multiple neuro/immune/hormone issues. There is some talk about the effects of toxins on infants and children but it is way beyond that. These toxins are getting us full grown adults as well as the children. How do we get the government to act? How do we get the women informed? Once the mama bear knows her cub is in danger she is a formidable opponent. We human mamas are the same so we need to get the word out and harness the strength of the women. Any ideas?
[Reply]
August 17, 2009 at 2:42 pm by Pamela RichIt would be easier to see to our children’s health and well being if the US would bring manufacturing and production back to our country and, oh yeah, create jobs again for many of the unemployed. We would then have control over what went into the product instead of importing things from Japan, Mexico, China, etc., where we have no control over what they are using to manufacture the products. Sure would cut down on the recalls too, wouldn’t it?
Americans used to take pride in what we made and sold, not so of the cheap labor etc., the major companies get overseas.
[Reply]
August 12, 2009 at 10:28 pm by Noe AntheralGood artical a lot one sided.
And look at their long span?
Wow the Neandrtal An extinct human species (Homo neanderthalensis) or subspecies (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) living during the late Pleistocene Epoch throughout most of Europe and parts of Asia and northern Africa and associated with Middle Paleolithic tools.
They did not have any exposure to the “Over 80,000” industrial chemicals (tested only by the manufacturer) are in commerce in this country. This generation is the first to be raised in a truly toxified world. Even before conception and on into adulthood, the assault is everywhere: heavy metals and carcinogenic particles in air pollution; industrial solvents, household detergents, prozac and radioactive wastes in drinking water; pesticides in flea collars; artificial growth hormones in beef, arsenic in chicken; synthetic hormones in bottles, teething rings and medical devices; formaldehyde in cribs and nail polish, and even rocket fuel in lettuce. Pacifiers are now manufactured with nanoparticles from silver, to be sold as ‘antibacterial.’ What’s wrong with rinsing a pacifier in soapy water?
We are not perfect not as an individual or community or as a world nor will we ever be. So how about in the short time that we have (plus or minus 80 years ) we focus on what good and as well as the bad (some balance to the reporting ) of the human creations and ideas that impact current day to day life.
[Reply]
August 12, 2009 at 8:12 pm by Lawrence Plumlee, M.D.Dear Alice,
A superb integrative pediatrician is Doris Rapp, M.D., of Scottsdale, AZ. She is pediatrician, allegist, educator, and a former president of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine. I am
the editor of The Environmental Physician, the newsletter of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine. I have worked for the U.S. Public Health Service and the Environmental Protection Agency as medical science adviser.
A difficult article would be to try to inform the public about the risks of cell phones. Much of the science is tainted so that there is confusion about the extent to which they impact on learning and concentration.
Appreciatively,
Larry
[Reply]
Alice Shabecoff Reply:
August 13th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Dear Dr Plumlee,
I could write an article about cell phones, based on what seems to me to be solid science from Devra Davis. It’s a good idea.
Thanks, too, for the suggestion of Dr. Rapp. I will indeed contact her.
Philip and I made a presentation at the past annual conference of AAEM, in Florida, some months ago. We were honored to meet Dr. Rea. Some members, however, objected to our opinions of the chemical and nuclear industries.
Please stay in touch,
alice
[Reply]
This is such a well-written and comprehensive summary of the current situation! Alice doesn’t mention that the media don’t give us much information about the toxic chemicals in our lives because the ads of products made of toxic chemicals are a major source of revenue for the media. And I certainly intend to include the increasing ads on PBS and NPR. Even the more socially responsible media shy away from this subject because they think people will find it depressing. But I agree with Alice that it is not depressing if we think of it as offering us opportunities for making effective changes in our world. Surely our media can advocate for a reduction in disease and death in children in a positive way that empowers people to participate.
[Reply]
Alice Shabecoff Reply:
August 12th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Dear Dr. Plumlee,
It’s so heartening to read your comment on my opening salvo as a new blogger for MomsRising. I chose this group to write for because I hope it reaches just the people who might make a difference in the future.
You are totally right about the media (my husband and co-author Philip formerly worked for the NY Times as their environmental correspondent, but was pressured to play down global warming…20 years ago).
My next blog article will be about integrative pediatrics.
What kind of medicine do you practice?
If you have any suggestions for future pieces for me, please do let me know.
regards,
Alice
[Reply]
Leave a Comment