Low levels of chemicals affect your child's developing brain - News Block

Watch this video to learn how toxins affect your child’s developing brain:

The inescapable conclusion is…

There is no safe level of exposure.

Extremely low levels of chemicals have a major impact on your child’s developing brain.

Risk assessments conducted by the EPA show that infants and young children are approximately ten times more vulnerable to chemicals than adults. Their neurological, immune, respiratory, and other biological systems are still developing. Their ability to detoxify all substances that enter their fragile systems is limited.

Low-level chemical exposures during the developmentally susceptible period can cause more damage than high doses later in life. Chemical exposure during the critical period of brain development is particularly alarming.

Are the products tested for safety?

You can assume that baby and children’s products are proven and would not be on the market if they were not safe.

The fact is that most chemicals in your furniture, mattresses, and household products have never been tested for safety, not even the most basic safety check. Most have never been tested for toxicity in infants and young children.

Even when science shows that a chemical is toxic and exposure is causing brain or health problems, it can take years before manufacturers ban its use in products, if at all. Usually, when a chemical is finally banned, manufacturers can replace it with untested alternatives that are likely to be just as toxic.

It can take 5-10 years or more between the time we suspect harm and the time there is enough scientific evidence of cause and effect to ban the substance. This period of time can cover your child’s most important years of brain development, and by then it might be too late.

We simply cannot depend on our government or manufacturers to keep products safe.

Therefore, it is up to us, as parents, to make informed decisions about which products we will allow in our children’s environments. And take precautions to avoid exposure as much as possible.

When it comes to the fragile brain development of infants and young children, there is no safe level of toxic exposure.

There are good news!

Although you may find this alarming, my intent is not to spread fear. It is to empower you with knowledge and to let you know that there are options.

As a new parent, you probably get all kinds of well-intentioned advice. The best advice of all is to educate yourself and then just do the best you can with the resources you have and what feels right to you.

The good news is that there is a lot you can do to reduce or eliminate some of the major exposures and provide a safer environment for your child. Fortunately, there are alternatives to many of the toxic products on the market.

At Healthy Child, we have been studying the issue of toxicity in baby and children’s products for more than 20 years. Our mission is to find safe and healthy alternatives.

Where do you start?

Here are the most important ways that children are exposed to toxins in the home:

Toxic Mattresses
Toxic Air
toxic tap water

Toxic Mattresses

Start with what your kids are sleeping on. Your child’s mattress is likely the most frequent toxic exposure, as it is close, extensive, and long-term.

Babies sleep on a mattress for 10 to 14 hours or more a day during their most fragile years of development. During this time, they are lying directly on the mattress, inhaling and absorbing the released chemical gases.

More information about crib mattresses

Children continue to need protection and grow up and sleep in their own “big boy” beds. Typical twin, full, queen, and king beds contain hazardous materials, including flame retardants.

More information about children’s mattresses

Toxic Air

The air inside your home may be more toxic than you think. Indoor air pollution can cause many different symptoms and can create chronic health problems.

Know the solutions to Indoor Air Pollution

toxic water

Most household tap water is not safe to drink. There are many contaminants in water that have been linked to cancer, hormone disruption, nervous system damage, developmental problems, and fertility problems.

Here is a partial list of contaminants in tap water: