25/07/2005 - Until recently
scientists believed that the placenta shielded
the developing baby from most chemicals and
pollutions in the environment. However a new
study from the United States has found that
cord blood is actually carrying hazardous
chemicals to the unborn babies.
In a study for the Environment Working Group
in the United States two major laboratories**
tested the cord of 10 newborn babies for 413
chemicals. They found that the blood in the
babies’ cords contained an average of 200
industrial chemicals and pollutants. As cord
blood reflects what is being carried through
the placenta, this shows that man-made chemicals
that have entered the women’s bodies are being
passed directly to the unborn baby.
Altogether 287 chemicals were detected in
umbilical cord blood, including 209 of which
had never been detected before in cord blood.
One hundred and eighty of these are carcinogenic,
217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system
and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development
in animal tests.
The chemicals found included eight perfluorochemicals
used as stain and oil repellents in fast food
packaging, clothes and textiles (including
the Teflon chemical PFOA) and dozens of widely
used flame-retardants.
The results were published in Body Burden:
The Pollution in Newborns and were taken from
blood samples of10 babies born in US hospitals
in August and September 2004.
Society’s responsibility to ensure new-born
babies are not polluted
As the report points out, "a developing
baby depends on adults for protection, nutrition
and survival. As a society we have a responsibility
to ensure that babies do not enter this world
pre-polluted, with 200 industrial chemicals
in their blood. The umbilical cord carries
not only the building blocks of life, but
also a steady stream of industrial chemicals…
that cross the placenta as readily as residues
from cigarettes and alcohol".
The laboratories tested for and found the
following chemicals.
Commenting on the findings, Environment Working
Group Research Vice President Jane Houlihan
said "for years scientists have studied
pollution in the air, water, land and in our
food. Now we find this pollution is reaching
babies during vital stages of development."
Unborn babies far more vulnerable than adults
Because unborn babies’ defence systems are
incomplete they are incapable of detoxifying
and excreting industrial chemicals. Consequently
a developing child’s chemical exposures are
greater per gram for gram weight than adults.
In addition, because the blood-brain barrier
is immature and porous the developing brain
is more exposed to chemicals.
The results have drawn shocked reactions
from US politicians. New York Democratic Representative
Louise Slaughter, said "These 10 newborn
babies were born polluted. If ever we had
proof that our nation’s pollution laws aren’t
working, it’s reading the list of industrial
chemicals in the bodies of babies who have
not yet lived outside the womb."
The EWG explains that they were only able
to test for a certain range of chemicals because
testing umbilical cord blood for industrial
chemicals is technically challenging and very
expensive - laboratory costs for these cord
blood analyses were $10,000 per sample. It
believes that had they been able to test for
a broader array of chemicals, they would certainly
have found them.
US industries manufacture and import approximately
75,000 each year and health officials do not
know how many of them pollute foetal blood
or the possible health consequences of in
utero exposures. Inexplicably, chemical manufacturers
do not have to divulge the methods they use
to detect their chemicals in humans; so few
laboratories are able test for these chemicals
in unborn children.
Senator Frank Lautenberg from New Jersey
is planning to co-sponsor a bill requiring
more testing of toxic chemicals. As he explained,
"Today chemicals are being used to make
baby bottles, food packages and other products
that have never been fully evaluated for their
health effects on children – and some of these
chemicals are turning up in our blood".
** AXYS Analytical Services (Sydney, British
Colombia) and Flett Research Ltd (Winnipeg,
Manitoba).
