Study: Comprehensive Review of Mercury Provoked Autism

Emerging evidence supports the theory that some autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) may result from a combination of genetic/biochemical susceptibility

This is especially when the body is not able to excrete mercury and/or when one is exposed to mercury at critical developmental periods, such as during pregnancy and in childhood.

Mercury Causes Autism Symptoms

Mercury has been found to cause immune, sensory, neurological, motor, and behavioural dysfunctions similar to traits defining/associated with ASDs, and that these similarities extend to neuroanatomy, neurotransmitters, and biochemistry.

These symptoms span social relatedness and communication, repetitive behaviors, and stereotypic abnormal movement patterns.

The Research Findings

• Mercurials may be found in drugs for the eye, ear, nose, throat, and skin; in bleaching creams; as preservatives in cosmetics, tooth pastes, lens solutions, vaccines, allergy test and immunotherapy solutions; in antiseptics, disinfectants, and contraceptives; in fungicides and herbicides; in dental fillings and thermometers; and many other products.

• Mercury has been to cause immune, sensory, neurological, motor, and behavioural dysfunctions similar to traits defining/associated with ASDs. These similarities extend to neuroanatomy, neurotransmitters, and biochemistry.

• A review of molecular mechanisms showed that mercury exposure can induce death, disorganization and/or damage to selected neurons in the brain similar to that seen in recent ASD brain pathology studies. The researchers suggest that these neuronal alterations may likely produce the symptoms by which ASDs are diagnosed.

• A review of treatments suggests that ASD patients who undergo protocols to reduce mercury show significant clinical improvements in some cases.

The researchers note that in conclusion, the overwhelming preponderance of the evidence favours acceptance that Hg exposure is capable of causing some ASDs.

Environmental Toxins Can Inflame the Brain

Here’s another study that reviewed how heavy metals can cause autism through brain inflammation. The article in the Journal of Immunotoxicology is entitled "Theoretical aspects of autism: Causes--A review."

The author is Helen Ratajczak, who used to be a former senior scientist at a pharmaceutical firm.

Ratajczak did what nobody else apparently has bothered to do: she reviewed the body of published science since autism was first described in 1943. Not just one theory suggested by research such as the role of MMR shots, or the mercury preservative thimerosal; but all of them. You can read about her study here.

References:

• Geier DA, King PG, Sykes LK, Geier MR. A comprehensive review of mercury provoked autism. Indian J Med Res. 2008 Oct;128(4):383-411. PMID: 19106436.

• Heavy metals are a risk factor for autism since, according to previous studies, it has been recognised as a neurotrophic toxin. Check out the study here.

Study: Relationship Between Heavy Metals and Autism

What do autism and spectrum disorders in tiny children have in common with older people suffering with dementia? Their brains are chockful of heavy metals. These heavy metals be may exist in our environment naturally, or as impurities introduced through raw materials that are used in the production process -- of anything from cosmetics, household materials like paint, to the water you consume.

What Are Heavy Metals?

By definition, heavy metals are elements that can elicit adverse effects on the central nervous system and cognitive function. It is a huge and growing concern with far-reaching implications for human health, especially for the development of young children.

The most common heavy metals are elements, such as lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), and chromium (Cr), which can exert toxic effects on living organisms at even very low exposure levels.

When you are poisoned by heavy metals, you suffer severe and long-term consequences on the brain, resulting in cognitive impairment. Chronic exposure to heavy metals may interrupt the development of physical, muscular, and neurological conditions, that look a lot like diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disorders.

The Study: The Relationship between the Level of Copper, Lead, Mercury and Autism Disorders: A Meta-Analysis

We know about the likelihood of a possible relationship between the concentrations of copper, lead, and mercury and autism. Researchers in this study wanted to review various studies to determine the relationship between the concentrations of these elements and autism by meta-analysis.

They eventually chose 18 out of 95 selected studies, involving 2–16-year-old children from different countries from 1982 to 2019.

The Results

The results were significant.

In these 18 studies, 1797 patients (981 cases and 816 controls) aged 2 to 16 years were examined. Concentration of the samples (blood, hair, and nails) for both case and control groups was evaluated. There was no significant relationship between copper concentration and autism (SMD (95% CI): 0.02 (− 1.16,1.20); I2=97.7%; P=0.972); there was a significant relationship between mercury concentration and autism (SMD (95% CI): 1.96 (0.56,3.35); I2=98.6%; P=0.006); there was also a significant relationship between lead concentration and autism (SMD (95% CI): 2.81 (1.64,3.98); I2=97.8%; P=0.000).

These heavy metals were found in various parts of the children through tests, especially in their blood plasma and nails. You can check out the concentrations of copper, mercury and lead in samples of hair, nails, and plasma of the children with autism and a control group in studies— the results of the meta-analysis are presented in Table 1 of the study.

Due to the chemical properties of certain metals, excessive metal exposure can cause brain abnormalities.

The study was published in Pediatric Health Medicine.

Why is this study important?

The review examined multiple studies and found a very strong link between lead and mercury concentration and autism.

Yet, are you aware of just how pervasive these toxic heavy metals are in our environment? It's found in things from cosmetics, interior decor and materials like paint, down to our water supply and quality of air.

Compared with adults, children are more exposed to environmental toxic elements and also absorb them at a higher rate.

On the other hand, the chance of warding off elements’ toxicity in children is less than adults.

Evidence of mercury’s toxicity has been growing for decades, and in recent years is focused on the metal’s association with neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Brain health is what makes us happy, creative, vital individuals. We can build all the muscle we want and look good on the outside, but it is our super powerful computing system that powers how we live every day. If you are serious about averting neurological crises and general degeneration, prioritise eliminating every source of heavy metals in your own home.

References & Notes:

• Jafari Mohammadabadi H, Rahmatian A, Sayehmiri F, Rafiei M. The Relationship Between the Level of Copper, Lead, Mercury and Autism Disorders: A Meta-Analysis. Pediatric Health Med Ther. 2020;11:369-378
  https://doi.org/10.2147/PHMT.S210042 Link: https://www.dovepress.com/the-relationship-between-the-level-of-copper-lead-mercury-and-autism-d-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-PHMT

• Mercury is a risk factor for autism. Mercury is considered as a risk factor for autism since, according to previous studies, it has been recognized as a neurotrophic toxin. Check out the study here.

STUDY: Flame Retardants Linked to Lower IQs, Hyperactivity in Children

Polybrominated diphenyl ether, PBDE, flame retardants are now a world-wide pollution problem reaching even remote areas. But the most common exposure is more personal that you might think. It is most commonly found at home in household products, furniture, and even clothing.

Research is finding that exposure in the womb to fire-beating chemicals in furniture and carpet pads may hinder child development. One new study found that spikes in the levels of one class of flame retardant, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) is correlated with behavior and cognition difficulties during early childhood.

What are behavior and cognition difficulties?

First, let’s clarify this catch-all term that is becoming a catchphase in many childhood issues.

Behavior and cognition difficulties can refer to any behaviours that create problems with social interactions, such as: disorders of attachment, disruptive behavior disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety and mood disorders, and disorders of self-regulation of sleep and feeding in children younger than 6 years.

When children have such difficulties, it can greatly interfere with not only how they play and interact with others, but also harm parent–child relationships, physical safety, their ability to participate in child care, and school readiness at later ages.

It is a huge concern because these cognitive behaviours are linked to measurable abnormalities in brain functioning and persistent emotional and behavioral problems.

The study

Researchers investigating the health impacts of prenatal exposure to flame retardants collected blood samples from 309 pregnant women early in their second trimester.

The researchers tracked children through the first five years of their lives, looking at a battery of tests for IQ and behavior. They found that children of mothers who had high PBDE levels during their second trimester showed cognition deficits when the children were five years old as well as higher rates of hyperactivity at ages two to five.

the findings

If the mother’s blood had a 10-fold increase in PBDEs, the average five-year-old had about a four-point IQ deficit.

“A four-point IQ difference in an individual child may not be perceivable in…ordinary life. However, in a population, if many children are affected, the social and economic impact can be huge due to the shift of IQ distribution and productivity,” —lead author Aimin Chen, an assistant professor of environmental health at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

The researchers did not track the children’s PBDE blood levels after they were born, so the deficits could also have resulted, at least in part, from the additional exposures to the chemical that the children encountered directly after they were born. However, although the lack of blood level data in the children is a limitation, other researchers have measured both mother and child PBDE levels and found similar deficits, strengthening his conclusions.

The team also found that association of PBDEs and child IQ and behavior did not result from the mother’s blood levels of lead, a well-known neurotoxic metal.

exposure to flame retardants is linked to lower IQs

The findings are similar to what two recent large U.S. studies found, showing that the greater the prenatal exposure to flame retardants, the greater the developmental deficits and the lower of IQ of the child.

children are most vulnerable

Children are at high risk of encountering this poison because they spend so much time close to the floor and often put their hands in their mouths.

They are also being exposed during critical windows of development in utero and in the early years of childhood. If you mess up development when brain structures or neuropathways are forming there may not be an ability to repair them later on.

Products treated with PBDE are usually not labeled. You can take precautions to reducing exposure by having children wash their hands to diminish dust ingestion, and by replacing old furniture and changing old carpet padding.

Toxic home exposure

Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDEs) flame retardant chemicals, used in the manufacture of furniture, infant products, and electronics, are ubiquitous in most.

For example, did you know your infant car seat may contain such hazardous PBDEs?

Unfortunately, the side effect of fire safety regulations mean that many clothing, household products are made to “resist fire”. For example, California’s Technical Bulletin 117 (TB 117)—a fire safety law promulgated in the 1970s requires that furniture, baby, and other household products resist open flame (California Department of Consumer Affairs 2000; Zota et al. 2008). The unintended consequence is that PBDE concentrations in California children are now among the highest measured worldwide (Eskenazi et al. 2011).

Babies all the way through toddlerhood want to explore everything and you’re setting yourself up for a near-impossible task to police what they put into their mouths! The best policy for such environmental toxins is to reduce and eliminate the sources AT HOME as much as you can.

References & resources

1. Chen’s findings are similar to two recent large U.S. studies that showed associations between prenatal exposure to flame retardants and developmental deficits and reduced IQ. One of those earlier studies, from the University of California, Berkeley, looked at children and PBDE levels through age seven, and was published online last fall in Environmental Health Perspectives. https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.1205597

2. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), which are used as flame retardants, have been found to be higher in residents of California than of other parts of the United States.

Sneaky Places At Home Hiding Toxic PFAS Forever Chemicals

By now you’ve heard about PFAS chemicals - the “forever chemicals” most notably associated with non-stick cookware. Its also with plastics pollution and endocrine dysfunction.

But PFAS can be found in many common household items and it is linked to many chronic diseases down the line.

If you have infants or toddlers at home, it's especially important to consider the chemicals that could be in your carpet. For example, rugs are a major source of PFAS exposure for little ones who are likely to put their hands in their mouths after touching the material. 

What are PFAS?

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, is a class of thousands of man-made substances that are common in everyday objects. Peer-reviewed studies have linked them to some cancers, decreased fertility, thyroid disease, and developmental delays, among other health issues.  linked to serious health issues like testicular and kidney cancer, liver damage, thyroid disease, and more, are also hiding out in some pretty surprising places in our everyday lives.

Thanks to their super-strong carbon–fluorine (C–F) bonds, PFAS are extremely stable, making them persistent and resistant to degradation.

PFAS last for decades without breaking down, earning them the "forever chemicals" nickname.

Sneaky places at home that hide PFAS

It may be impossible to completely avoid PFAS, but there are a few simple ways to reduce your exposure. By tackling some of the sneaky places they hide:

Wall paint: One study at Duke University last year found PFAS in six of 10 popular paint brands sampled. The study also determined that in some brands there was off-gassing of PFAS, which reduces the overall concentration of the chemical in the paint on the wall, but disperses it into the air, where it can be inhaled.

Food packaging: PFAS were developed in the 1940s to resist heat, grease, stains, and water. That means they've ended up in a lot of food packaging. That includes pizza boxes, microwave popcorn bags, some wrappers, and grease-resistant paper.

A 2019 study found that people had lower PFAS levels in their blood after eating at home, and higher levels after eating fast food or at restaurants.

Nonstick cookware: The coating used in nonstick cookware usually contains PFAS, and they can easily leach into your food at high heat and once the coating gets scratched.

In fact, overheating nonstick cookware at 570°F or higher leads to the release of harmful chemicals that can cause an illness called "Teflon flu," or polymer fume fever.

In makeup: Cosmetics that are smoothing, long-wear, or waterproof are the ones most likely to contain PFAS chemicals. Without it, your mascara would run. It's a good idea to read ingredient labels (look for any ingredients with ‘fluoro’ in the name).

The Green Science Policy Institute keeps a list of PFAS-free products, including cosmetics brands.

In dental floss: for years, dental floss brands have used PFAS chemicals, which is concerning since it’s a product that goes in our mouths! A 2019 study found that women who flossed with Oral-B Glide had higher levels of a specific PFAS chemical in their blood than women who didn’t use that particular floss. Make sure your floss is PFAS-free!

Soft contact lenses: a random sampling of 18 popular brands of soft lenses sent to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-certified lab all tested positive for PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

Menstrual care products: Mamavation and Environmental Health News conducted a study of PFAS in menstrual care products, including tampons, pads, sanitary napkins and period underwear, and found most of them contaminated to one degree or another with the forever chemicals.

Clothing and textiles: One of the ways fabrics become water resistant is by using PFAS chemicals! Jackets, raincoats, backpacks, and other outdoor gear are often treated with these chemicals.

These fabrics shed fibers that can travel through the house as dust, eventually getting ingested or inhaled.

These same chemicals are used in stain-resistant treatments for upholstered furniture, carpeting, and even curtains. There’s no easy way to know if your items have been treated, especially if they’re older. When it comes time to replace them, seek out brands that don’t use PFAS chemicals.

House dust: Those floaters in the air you see are made up of many things, including chemicals breaking down from various household products, including PFAS. One study found that certain PFAS chemicals were detected in 97-100% of samples! One straightforward solution is to keep your house as clean as possible. Use a water-damp cloth to remove dust (referred to as wet dusting), is a simple way to lower PFAS exposure in your home. lingers in the air and allows humans to breathe the chemicals into their lungs or ingest them. By cleaning regularly, along with opening windows to allow for airflow and ventilation, you can keep dust levels low in your home and reduce the amount of PFAS you swallow.

Tap water: Communities located near military bases, such as Newburgh, New York, often find their water supplies contaminated with PFAS. The pollution can also affect local fish populations and the people who eat them.

PFAS levels in community tap water in Massachusetts reveals a trend of increasing contamination, with total fluorinated compounds exhibiting a 5- to 320-fold rise over 25 years.

People living near military bases are more vulnerable to water contamination. For example, it emerged through internal U.S. documents obtained by journalist Jon Mitchell for The Japan Times that accidental leaks of PFOS-containing fire extinguishing foam at Kadena Air Base may be linked to the contamination of drinking water on the island.

Cellphones / Fingerprint-resistant smartphone screens: PFAS are used in pretty much anything to make things more resistant to grease and water. The circuit boards, semiconductors, and insulated wiring that use PFAS, as well as the touch screen, which has PFAS coating to resist fingerprints.

What Are EMFs? 7 Things You Need to Know as a Mother

You probably hear about EMFs and its associated risks in the devices, content, and habits that we have, but what exactly does it mean? And what does it mean if you have children or are planning for a family?

In this article, you’ll learn what is EMFs and how they’re negatively affecting the health of children, in particular concerns around fertility, conception, birth and all through the crucial years of child development.

What are EMFs?

EMFs are invisible and completely beyond most people’s awareness. However, some people can actually feel them. Especially those that are manmade (non-native electromagnetic radiation).

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

The simplest way to understand how important EMFs are to our health – is by learning about the electromagnetic spectrum.

contains the entire range of all electromagnetic radiation. It also shows the field’s approximate frequency – which relates to its wavelength.

At the absolute lowest frequencies in the hertz range, we see the largest wavelengths. These are the size of several thousand miles! The lowest of frequency fields includes the Earth’s Schumann Resonance, which is also very healing for us when we are grounded in Nature to its energy.

The higher in frequency, the field gains more energy, and also reduces in wavelength. (That’s why wireless radiation is often called pulse radiation to describe its very high energy field.) In fact, at the frequency of Wi-Fi, your body is being exposed to 2.4 or 5 billion pulsations per second. Compare that to the natural Schumann Resonance, which has just 8 gentle cycles per second.

EMFs may be triggering your child’s hungries

In healthy participants and compared with no exposure, 50-minute cell phone exposure was associated with increased brain glucose metabolism in the region closest to the antenna. Link to the study: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/645813

Light can cause breast cancer

75 studies and articles showing effects of EMFs and the initiation and promotion of breast cancer.

https://emfrefugee.blogspot.com/2019/06/emfs-and-breast-cancer.html?m=1

2008 – Austria – Cell Phone Towers and CancerA study by Austrian Dr. Gerd Oberfeld (EMFacts 2008) showed a 23-fold increase in breast cancer and a 121-fold increase in brain tumors for those who lived with 200 meters of a cell phone base station for five years or longer! http://www.verwaltung.steiermark.at/cms/ziel/21212/DE/

EMFs may be harming your chances of conception

There’s enough compelling evidence to show how higher levels of exposure can reduce sperm quality in men.

It can also increase miscarriage risk in women. Two miscarriage studies, conducted by Kaiser Permanente and funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, are particularly interesting because they're some of the only ones to date that actually measured EMF exposure in subjects using a magnetic field monitoring device.

"We took [913 pregnant women] and asked them to wear the monitor for the duration of their pregnancy. Studies right now aren't using the meters because most of them are focusing on cancer. [But] Cancer can take 20 years to develop—you can't measure your exposure from 20 years ago, so in those cases, you just ask how much the person uses their cell phone." — eproductive epidemiologist De-Kun Li, MD, PhD, the principle investigator on both studies (one published in 2002, one published in 2017).

Singapore breast cancer statistics

What does your bedtime routine have to do with your breast cancer risk?

-

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women anywhere you're from. In Singapore,

Researchers looked at how short wavelength visible light in the blue region emitted from digital screens TANKS this crucial process.

also examined different levels of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) such as cellular phones (29-40), mobile base stations(41, 42), Wi-Fi routers

We have shown that both the blue light and RF-EMFs generated by mobile phones are linked to the disruption of the circadian rhythm in people who use their phones at night.

women who carry mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2, or women with family history of breast cancer should avoid using their smartphones, tablets and laptops at night.

Why bother with a sleep sanctuary if any will do?

Protecting your sleep/wake cycle is paramount to prevent cancer. Melatonin, the hormone dominant at night, is your ANTI-CANCER hormone. "has been shown to produce strong anti-cancer actions and also promotes sleep."

All mice were kept in the light for 12 hours each day. One group of three mice was in the dark the other 12 hours, which helped them produce high levels of endogenous melatonin. Another group spent 12 hours in light followed by 12 hours in dim light at night, which suppresses their nocturnal melatonin production. The dim light was 0.2 lux, which is less than a night-light or a display light from a cell phone

And the number disruptive to your

Women are more sensitive to melatonin disruptions.

BOTH the blue light and RF-EMFs generated by mobile phones are linked to the disruption of the circadian rhythm in people who use their phones at night.

Your breastmilk can be changed by your light enviroment

Human breast milk is more than a meal – it’s also a clock, providing time-of-day information to infants.

https://theconversation.com/human-breast-milk-may-help-babies-tell-time-via-circadian-signals-from-mom-118492?fbclid=IwAR2kplJ4RVUugLqqc7poMbCmZGYCnZvcxwDFXzmE_URmkbTS4ExjArOIZjo

Children are especially susceptible

Children are more vulnerable than adults to the effects of EMF (electromagnetic frequencies or fields) for a number of reasons, and most are submerged in an electrosmog soup all day, every day. What are the risks?

In 2016, the National Toxicology Program released the results from the largest cell phone study ever performed on the link between nonionizing radiation and cancer. Rats exposed to the frequency of radiation emitted by cell phones developed two kinds of tumors: gliomas in the brain and schwannomas in the heart. These results align with several observational studies finding links to the same types of tumors in humans - plus acoustic neuromas and meningiomas.

• Sleep deprivation

• Low energy, “brain fog”, mommy brain

• Mood issues, such as anxiety, depression, aggression and impulsivity

• Increased stress

• Affect sleep/wake cycles in babies through breastfeeding

• Developmental issues (especially in young kids)

• Dry-eye disease

• Decreased hand-eye coordination

• Reduced ability to form social connections and relationships

• Reduced executive function

In 2010, Powe et al. reported that among 25 Boston-area women,  mothers of sons produced ~25% higher energy density in milk than mothers of daughters. More recently, Fujita and colleagues (2012) revealed sex-biases in the milk fat concentration among 72 women in rural Kenya. On average, mothers of sons produced significantly higher fat concentrations in milk.

Children are also sensitive to their environment

Some people are "exquisitely sensitive" to places where EMFs are present. Some literally cannot be in certain places because of the Wi-Fi there—they end up with fatigue and headaches and ringing in the ears and a sense of brain fog to the extent that it may affect thinking and speech patterns.

I had a glimpse of this as a child that worsened as a teenager until it hit a peak when I was working fulltime. It took me until I was into my 30s to understand where all these symptoms were coming from.

The thing is, at that time I had no idea what was going and kept going, kept struggling despite the bouts of malaise that would hit me. It takes time for children to learn how to express their bodily aches in calm ways for our adult ways; before then, it often manifests as temper tantrums, general fatigue and “laziness”, and spectrum-type disorders.

Brain development in children

A child’s hippocampus and hypothalamus absorb 1.6 to 3.1 more MWR than an adult’s, and his cerebellum absorbs 2.5 times more[6][7]

Resources and references:

1. [6] Christ, Andreas, Marie-Christine Gosselin, Maria Christopoulou, Sven Kühn, and Niels Kuster. "Age-dependent Tissue-specific Exposure of Cell Phone Users." Physics in Medicine and Biology55, no. 7 (2010): 1767-783. doi:10.1088/0031-9155/55/7/001

2. [7] Gandhi, Om P., L. Lloyd Morgan, Alvaro Augusto De Salles, Yueh-Ying Han, Ronald B. Herberman, and Devra Lee Davis. "Exposure Limits: The Underestimation of Absorbed Cell Phone Radiation, Especially in Children." Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine31, no. 1 (2011): 34-51. doi:10.3109/15368378.2011.622827.

3. the Agency has issued opinions on the health effects of 5G deployment, high-voltage lines, body scanners and light-emitting diodes.

4. READ MORE about the link between night time light exposure and breast cancer here ((Melaniechua.com)).

5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5811748/?fbclid=IwAR3nAtsjrYTSCzDy5S7ayvcRmEgs4QZNyTBkhe6qoLEgTTkAyaWC7wOue0U#!po=1.51515

6. https://m.medicalxpress.com/news/2019-03-breast-cancer-likelier-bone-nighttime.html?fbclid=IwAR114v839lOxffTGnuuWVPfsVcMWaRf9fntJsxIi0NW7f-Shm_en3-OLE9M

Study: Toxic chemical exposure during pregnancy linked to serious health issues by elementary school

A study adds to the body of research showing that the mother’s exposure to toxins affects her child’s health well into the growing years. This study is one of the most comprehensive endeavors delving into early-life environmental origins of metabolic risk, further bolstering prior toxicological and epidemiological evidence in this area

Link to study: Prenatal Exposure to Chemical Mixtures and Metabolic Syndrome Risk in Children, jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.12040

the study

The researchers looked at 1134 mother-child pairs from 6 European countries (France, Greece, Lithuania, Norway, Spain, and the UK), and their prenatal exposures to common endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) mixtures. The mean age of the mothers at the birth of their child was 30.7 years, and they were recuited into the study April 1, 2003, and January 30, 2009.

These common toxic chemicals included “metals, organochlorine pesticides, polybrominated diphenyl ethers [that’s PBDEs, or flame retardants], and perfluoroalkyl substances”.

They then measured the children born to the mothers at 6 to 11 years of age. They focused on markers of metabolic syndrome, which combines measurements of blood sugars, lipids such as cholesterol, the existence of fat tissue and the impact on the heart.

We almost always consider health risks from single chemicals, one at a time, as if we are exposed to just one chemical at a time. Here the research team shows that children’s risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes later in life can be driven by the complex mixtures of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the body at any moment and it highlights the particular risk of chemical exposures during pregnancy. —Jane Houlihan, the national director of science and health for Healthy Babies Bright Futures

what the researchers found

They found that the exposure to toxins were associated with increased metabolic syndrome risk score and altered proinflammatory proteins, amino acids, and glycerophospholipid levels in childhood.

The childrens’ comprehensive tests had elevated levels of metabolic syndrome at ages 6 to 11. Metabolic syndrome can include obesity, elevated blood pressure, and abnormally high cholesterol and insulin resistance, which is a precursor to type 2 diabetes.

Within the group of children exposed to the highest levels of chemicals, 62% were overweight or obese, compared with 16% of children within the low-risk group.

Moreover, the levels of blood insulin and triglycerides, as well as systolic and diastolic blood pressure, were significantly higher in the high-risk group than in the low-risk group.

Pregnancy and childhood are especially important times to limit exposure to chemicals as the brain and body are in key stages of development. Sign up for a free guide to common pollutants AT HOME that you can reduce now.