Health News: Childen's Exposures

In March 2003, for the first time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment included children’s eventual cancer risks from early life exposure to environmental carcinogens. The new guidelines state that, compared with adults, children under two have ten times the risk of contracting cancer when exposed to mutagenic substances, which alter DNA; children ages 2-15 had approximately three times the risk. Because children are rapidly growing and developing, “they have a larger number of cell cycles and carcinogens have a greater ability to imprint changes on cells,” explains Dr. Lynn Goldman, professor of environmental health at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Children also have longer life expectancies than adults, giving cell changes more time to develop into cancer. As a regulatory agency, the EPA will use these increased risk factors when evaluating chemical safety. Mutagens include benzo(a)pyrene, a combustion pollutant, and vinyl chloride, used to make PVC.

Although “the EPA is definitely moving in the right direction,” says Dr. Goldman, she and other children’s-health advocates would like to see the agency apply the child-specific risk guidelines to all carcinogens. For example, the organochlorine pesticide DDT and flame-retardant chemicals called polybrominated biphenyls (PBDE) both cause tumors but don’t affect DNA.

Flame Retardants Under Fire

Recent studies have found flame-retardant PBDEs in the bodies of North American women at levels that create concern. PBDEs are similar in structure to PCBs, neurotoxins that were banned in the 1970s but still persist in the environment and have been linked to lower I.Q. in children whose mothers ate contaminated fish. Two studies published in the March 2003 Environmental Health Perspectives found that San Francisco Bay area women had three to ten times more PBDEs in their breast tissue than their European and Japanese counterparts; blood from Indiana women and their infants’ umbilical cords had concentrations 20-70 times higher than in European women. Scientists have found that exposure to PBDEs can interrupt brain development, can interfere with thyroid hormone levels and may cause cancer in mice. PBDEs appear in everything from electronics to furniture foam and fabric finishes, and have been shown to be released from products during use, collecting in dust that can be inhaled or ingested, according to an April 2003 study published by the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG).

Low Income, High Asthma

A February 2003 report by the EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection shows that outdoor air pollution can worsen asthma symptoms, and that the effects of smog and soot particles may be more severe among lower-income people. “The report is an important acknowledgment on the EPA’s part that air pollutants may have an impact on children’s developing respiratory systems,” comments Swati Prakash, environmental health director at West Harlem Environmental Action (WEACT).

Asthma is of particular concern in Harlem, where research by WEACT and the Columbia School of Public Health indicates a 25 percent asthma rate among children under 13—in contrast to a national rate of about 6 percent. The EPA report also shows that, between 1997 and 2000, a greater percentage of asthma attacks occurred in African-American children living below the poverty line than in other children at the same or higher family income levels.

A plausible culprit behind the high Harlem asthma rates is diesel emissions from truck and bus traffic. “It’s our hope that the EPA follows through with a rapid translation of research into more protective environmental policy,” Pratash says. The EPA has recently required lower sulfur content in diesel fuel and lower diesel-engine emissions for highway vehicles.

Nonstick Chemical Sticks Around

This spring, in the draft of a new risk assessment, the EPA found that girls with the highest measured blood levels of perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA) had less than one tenth the margin of safety that the agency considers safe. PFOA shows similarities to a banned substance, perfluorooctyl sulfonate (PFOS), formerly the active ingredient in Scotchgard. A 1999 EPA investigation found that PFOS persisted in the environment, presented unacceptably high developmental and reproductive toxicity in lab studies and accumulated in the bodies of animals and humans. PFOA is used to manufacture Teflon and can also be found in other “nonstick” consumer products, including carpet treatments, food wrappers and Gore-Tex.

What You Can Do

HOME PRODUCTS:

• To avoid PBDEs, steer clear of polyurethane foam furniture. IKEA makes PBDE-free products.

• Rather than fabrics treated with water/stain resistant finishes, choose wool, which is naturally flame- and water/stain-repellent, or untreated cotton, linen and hemp (see “Blankets and Comforters” and “Clothing” Product Reports at www.thegreenguide.com). For products/finishes to avoid, see www.ewg.org.

• Instead of Teflon, SilverStone or other “nonstick” cookware with PFOA, use stainless steel, enamel or cast iron.

• Electronics can release PBDEs as they heat up during use. PBDE-free brands include Toshiba, Sony, Philips, Ericcsson and Intel.

OUTDOOR AIR:

• Try to keep asthmatic kids inside with air-conditioning on smoggy days. Check local air quality at www.epa.gov/airnow/where.

• Seasonal allergies can worsen asthma. www.Pollen.com has daily pollen counts by zip code.

• Take Action: Before August 20, support the EPA’s proposal for low-emission nonroad diesel engines and fuel (in farm, industrial, construction vehicles). Use Docket ID No. OAR-2003-0012 at www.epa.gov/edocket. Also see www.environmentaldefense.org.