BABY SAFETY FIRST

"I did a study with the Environmental Working Group where we measured umbilical cord blood in babies. We found an average of 200 different industrial chemicals in their cord blood at birth. Of the total 287 chemicals we detected, 180 are known to cause cancer in humans and 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system. So I realized that what's "out there" is in us -- even in the most inner sanctum of the womb. Being green and getting pregnant and raising a baby are so intimately connected." Dr. Greene, Grist Interview 07

In  speach for Healthy Child, Healthy Word, Dr. Green tells us the following:

In  the last 10 years, in the U.S.,  all childhood cancers have gone up steadily about 25%.  Brain cancers in kids have gone up 56%,  and leukemia has gone up 68%. Just in babies, brain tumors have gone up 60% and reproductive tumors, (cancers), in babies have gone up 124%.  It is not that their genes, their genetic make-up, has changed in the last 25 years.  It is the environment.  

We have released into our environment, in our sofas, our computers, our carpets, our drapes and our lawns, a wide variety of chemicals. Eighty five thousand new synthetic chemicals were developed in the last sixty years.  Many of them we know are carcinogens, neurodevelopmental toxins, endocrine disruptor hormones. In kids we are seeing a rise in all the conditions related to those things. ADHD up 250% in just 10 years and linked to ADHD is not just lead and cigarette smoke, but also organophosphate pesticides exposure. Today, the average child has three times the EPA safe dose. 

So, chronic diseases are increasing very rapidly. Children are more vulnerable to toxins. As Dr. Greene puts it, "the children have unwittingly become the canary in the mine." They are letting us know that things need to change now.  It can feel overwhelming but there are simple, actionable steps, proven general knowledge, telling us what plastics are OK, what foods, even what baby formula!   We just have to know that there is a good reason to take those steps. Dr. Greene Opening Speech, Healthy Child, Healthy World