Healthy Children Project Monthly e-News

Feel free to let your friends, family and colleagues know about this valuable new resource. Instructions to subscribe or unsubscribe are at the end of this e-newsletter. MI Healthy Children's e-newsletter is part of a collaborative effort with the Learning Disabilities Association of America's Healthy Children Project, the Michigan Network for Children's Environmental Health website, and the Institute for Children's Environmental Health with support from the Beldon Fund. 

'Everywhere Chemicals' in Plastics Alarm Parents
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-10-30-plastics-cover_N.htm
To anyone not contemplating parenthood, phthalates and bisphenol A sound like something children bring home on chemistry quizzes, not cuddle in their cribs. But these chemicals are at the heart of worldwide scientific investigation and a debate over whether they are harmful to the very young.

New Data Link Low Birth Weight and Body Mass to Very Low Levels of Commonly Used Chemicals Found in Consumer Products Ranging from Teflon Coated Cookware and Stain Repelling Textiles
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/newscience/2007/2007-0815apelbergetal.html
Analyzing the relationship between vital statistics of newborns born at a city hospital in Baltimore, MD--measurements such as weight, length, and head circumference-- scientists found that babies with higher levels of perfluorinated compounds in their cord blood tended to be slightly but significantly smaller than those with lower exposure.

School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) 2006
http://www.ashaweb.org/journal_schoolhealth.html#shpps
Since 2000 when the School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) was last conducted, much has changed in the education and public health arenas.

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U.S. Agency Says Lead Content Tests Unreliable
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07296/827687-28.stm
Worried parents trying to get the lead out of their children's toy boxes have been taking matters into their own hands and buying home test kits. The problem, according to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, is test kits commonly available are not reliable. "In a lot of cases, we're seeing these false negatives and false positives, and parents are panicking," said Ed Kang, a spokesman for the commission. Yesterday, the agency advised consumers against relying on consumer test kits.

Lead Found in Toys and Backpacks in Stores
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1023090320071010
A Curious George doll bought at Toys "R" Us was found to be tainted with 10 times the legally-allowed lead level, and vinyl lunch boxes and backpacks also had high amounts of lead, the nonprofit group Center for Environmental Health said on Wednesday.

Research: The Contribution of Dental Amalgam to Urinary Mercury Excretion in Children
http://www.ehponline.org/realfiles/docs/2007/10249/abstract.html
Urinary mercury concentrations are highly correlated with both number of amalgam fillings and time since placement in children. Girls excrete significantly higher concentrations of mercury in the urine than boys with comparable treatment, suggesting possible sex-related differences in mercury handling and susceptibility to mercury toxicity.

New Product Tests Find Lead in Lipstick
http://safecosmetics.org/newsroom/press.cfm?pressReleaseID=26
Toys made in China aren’t the only products laced with dangerous heavy metals: lipstick manufactured in the United States and used daily by millions of American women also contains surprisingly high levels of lead, according to new product tests released today by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. The lead tests were conducted by an independent laboratory over the month of September on red lipsticks bought in Boston, Hartford, Conn., San Francisco and Minneapolis.

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New Environmental Health Resources Database Now Available
http://www.iceh.org/cgi-bin/searchresources.cgi
The Institute for Children's Environmental health has designed a new database so that users can select not only the medium (books, journals, videos, etc.), the environmental/toxics issues and the health issues of interest, along with the target audience. Once users make specific selections, links to online resources are provided. This resource benefits parents, researchers, policymakers, consumers and others.

Are Environmental Factors Contributing to the Growing Incidence of Cancer?

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/81na2.pdf
An international team of researchers has analyzed the carcinogenic effect of certain environmental factors and their role in carcinogenesis. The results suggest that chemicals related with pollution are of critical importance. Of major concern is outdoor air pollution by carbon particles associated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The results suggest that the recent increase in cancer incidence could be largely related to changes in our environment.
 

Pollution Cuts Life Expectancy, Threatens Child Development In Europe
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071010131201.htm
Environmental policy across the pan-European region is hampered by gaps in information and implementation, according to a new European Environment Agency (EEA) report.
 

Pollutant Linked to Bronchitis in Toddlers
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N11436001.htm
Toddlers who breathe polluted air are far more likely to be diagnosed with bronchitis than children living in cleaner environments, U.S. and Czech researchers reported on Thursday. They found a component of pollution known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, was strongly linked with cases of bronchitis among children aged 2 to 4 and a half.

Fact Sheets from The Collaborative on Health and the Environment - Washington

These fact sheets, formatted for printing, correspond to the topics in the CHE Clearinghouse.

• Fact Sheet on Outdoor Air Pollution

• Fact Sheet on Water

• Fact Sheet on Soil

• Fact Sheet on Contaminated Sites

• Fact Sheet on Food & Fish

• Fact Sheet on Indoor Environmental Quality

• Fact Sheet on Pesticides & Health

• Fact Sheet on Climate Change & Health

• Fact Sheet on Sprawl, Land Use & Health

• Fact Sheet on Asthma

• Fact Sheet on Cardiovascular Disease

• Fact Sheet on Adult Cancer

• Fact Sheet on Childhood Cancer

• Fact Sheet on Reproductive Disorders

• Fact Sheet on Birth Defects

• Fact Sheet on Developmental & Neurobehavioral Disabilities

• Fact Sheet on Body Burden

• Fact Sheet on Health Costs

The Falling Age of Puberty in U.S. Girls: What We Know, What We Need to Know
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/site/pp.asp?c=kwKXLdPaE&b=3266509
Girls get their first periods today, on average, a few months earlier than did girls 40 years ago, but they get their breasts one to two years earlier. Over the course of a few decades, the childhoods of U.S. girls have been significantly shortened. What does this mean for girls today and their health in the future?
 

Materials & Audio from LDDI Teleconference: "Priming for Prevention"
This informative call took place on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 and featured Elise Miller, MEd, and Ted Schettler, MD, MPH. Call Materials: Conference call audio recording (MP3), handouts from Elise Miller's PowerPoint presentation, Preventing Toxic Threats to Child Development: The Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (PDF file, 3.9 MB), and Ted Schettler's Science and Environmental Health Network manuscript, Ecological Medicine: Complex Systems, Health, and Disease (on the SEHN website).

Materials & Audio from LDDI Teleconference: "Overview of Science Regarding Environmental Contributors to Child Development"
This informative call took place on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 and featured Leslie Rubin, MD, David Bellinger, PhD, MSc, and Jane Houlihan. Call Materials: Conference call audio recording (MP3), article by Leslie Rubin and others, Environmental Health Disparities: Environmental and Social Impact of Industrial Pollution in a Community – the Model of Anniston, AL (PDF file, 611 KB), article by Phil Grandjean and Phil Landrigan, Developmental Neurotoxicity of Industrial Chemicals (PDF file, 132 KB), Executive Summary, Body Burden – The Pollution in Newborns on the Environmental Working Group website, and an article by Bernard Weiss and David Bellinger, Social Ecology of Children's Vulnerability to Environmental Pollutants (PDF file, 126 KB).

Upcoming Teleconferences: CHE Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative’s Fall 2007 Teleconference Series "Priming for Prevention"

http://www.iceh.org/LDDImeetings.html

This seven-part teleconference series is based on the agenda of the conference, "Priming for Prevention: An Ecological Approach to Research, Education and Policy," that was to be held in May 2007. Dial-in information will be sent to LDDI members in a separate email message before each teleconference. The first few calls have already taken place but are available as MP3 audio recordings on the ICEH website. Accompanying materials are included with each call's information on the ICEH website listed above.

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Upcoming CHE Partnership Calls

http://www.healthandenvironment.org/news/calls

Smith Helps Launch New Group to Promote Long-term Health of Nation’s Children
http://chrissmith.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=75859
U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today helped launch a new Congressional working group which aims to help Congress get an early jump on understanding the long-term health needs of children by advocating for and promoting the landmark National Children’s Study (NCS) on Capitol Hill.
 

LDA of Michigan's Healthy Children Project Offering Conference Co-Sponsorships

http://www.ldaofmichigan.org/conf.cosponsorships.pdf

Several years ago LDA of Michigan joined as a LDA Healthy Children Project (HCP) state partner. The HCP project is dedicated to helping families learn about existing and emerging science linking certain chemical exposures to learning, behavioral, and developmental disabilities. LDA would now like to partner with other organizations to help inform families throughout Michigan about toxic substances in the environment, how they may impact children’s health, and to find out how they may join with others to make a difference in protecting the health of our children. Specifically, LDA would like to co-sponsor up to three (3) statewide conferences of 501(c)3 non-profit organizations which are dedicated to children’s health issues and family memberships. Those selected will receive $500 from the LDA HCP to help support their overall conference. To learn more, download the PDF information sheet and Microsoft Word application form.

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Call toll free at 888-597-7809 or 517-485-8160
 

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Write to us at 200 Museum Dr. Ste. 101, Lansing, Michigan 48933

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For more information on The Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan's Healthy Children Project visit http://www.ldaofmichigan.org/healthychild.htm.

 
For more information on The Healthy Children Project visit http://www.healthychildrenproject.org/index.html.

 
For more information on the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative, coordinated by the Institute for Children’s Environmental Health visit http://www.iceh.org/LDDI.html. To join the the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI), please complete the form at http://www.iceh.org/LDDImembers.html.

 
For more information on The Beldon Fund visit http://www.beldon.org/.

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