November 30, 2006

Lead’s toxic toll
Everyday items can hurt kids, activist

Robyn Young

Halifax Chronicle Herald

You might have thought lead poisoning was a thing of the past.

But a number of products on the market, such as plastics, vinyl lunch boxes, crayons and chalk, still contain lead, says Myriam Beaulne of Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment.

"The effects of lead are really much stronger in infants and (fetuses) prior to birth and in children because they are still growing and their brain is still developing," she said, explaining that exposure to lead can result in decreased IQ and learning difficulties in children.

Ms. Beaulne, the health promotion co-ordinator for the partnership, will speak at a public forum at 7 tonight at Dalhousie University law school, offering a talk titled Playing It Safe: Children’s Health and the Environment.

The Canadian non-profit organization Environmental Defence released a report in June that was the first Canadian study to test for harmful chemicals in children’s bodies, said Rick Smith, the group’s executive director.

"The most surprising result of the study is that in a number of cases, kids had higher levels of pollutants than their parents did," he said.

The study found higher levels of new chemicals such as those found in stain repellents, flame retardants and non-stick products such as Teflon.

"There’s a whole family of non-stick and stain repellent chemicals that are put in everything from the interior of microwave popcorn bags to the coatings on upholstery," Mr. Smith said.

The organization found these chemicals were likely to cause cancer.

Barri Cohen of Toronto and her daughter Ada, took part in the study and Ms. Cohen found out her 10-year-old daughter Ada had the highest level of manganese in her blood among 13 participants.

"The concern is, it’s a neurotoxin and it’s a hormone disruptor; you know it’s a heavy metal," she said, adding that manganese can be found in some types of fuel and cheap household piping. She also learned that her daughter had higher levels of perfluorinated chemicals, found in non-stick appliances, and has since gotten rid of all Teflon products.

Environmental Defence hopes the Canadian government will take action and put further study and research into the harmful effects of everyday chemicals.