Toxins and Brain Damage in Children

Published in British medical journal The Lancet

(November 7, 2006) - According to a study published in the British medical journal The Lancet, millions of children worldwide may have brain damage from the effects of industrial chemicals. From a summary published in the on-line Medical News Today:

"Industrial chemicals may be detrimentally affecting the developing brains of fetuses and children globally, say scientists. It is hard to know for certain what effect industrial chemicals are having because so little is known about most of them, say the researchers. The list of potentially damaging chemicals is extremely long, to say nothing about the ones we already know about, such as methylmercury, arsenic and lead.

"There are thousands of chemicals which are registered for commercial use - in 1981 the EU had 100,000 of them registered, while the USA had 80,000. Under half of all chemicals most commonly used in commerce have had token lab tests. The researchers fear that the few chemicals we do know about, regarding harm to brain development, could be just the tip of a gigantic iceberg."

Green Schools Initiative advocates eliminating toxic chemicals from schools so we can protect children's health:

• As a first step, get your school to switch to non-toxic cleaners. Print these articles and give them to your school's principal and PTA.
  
• Get more ideas for greening your school on our Take Action and Resources pages.

ABC News: Are Industrial Chemicals Killing Kids' Brains?