Laboratory tests commissioned by the Environmental Working Group have detected bisphenol A (BPA), a plastic component and synthetic estrogen, in umbilical cord blood of American infants.
Nine of 10 randomly selected samples of cord blood tested positive for BPA, an industrial petrochemical.
BPA has been implicated in a lengthening list of serious chronic disorders, including cancer, cognitive and behavioral impairments, endocrine system disruption, reproductive and cardiovascular system abnormalities, diabetes, asthma and obesity.
In all, the tests found as many as 232 chemicals in the 10 newborns, all of minority descent. The cord blood study has produced hard new evidence that American children are being exposed, beginning in the womb, to complex mixtures of dangerous substances that may have lifelong consequences.
And in a separate study, researchers found that complications of pregnancy, such as preterm labor, preterm birth, and infection were lowest in women with the highest vitamin D levels.Blood levels of activated vitamin D usually rise during very early pregnancy, and some of it crosses the placenta to bathe the fetus, especially the developing fetal brain, in activated vitamin D. But many -- in fact most -- pregnant women do not make as much vitamin D as they need.
4,000 IU of vitamin D per day during pregnancy was found to be safe (not a single adverse event). However, this amount only resulted in a mean vitamin D blood level of 27 ng/ml in the newborn infants, indicating that even 4,000 IU per day during pregnancy is not enough.
Dr. Mercola's Comments:Babies are born at considerable risk nowadays due to the toxic load of their mothers. If a baby is exposed to numerous toxic compounds in utero, changes may occur that either directly cause cancer, or lengthen the period of sensitivity to carcinogens, therefore making the child more susceptible to cancer, and other diseases, later in life.
This EWG study is the first to detect BPA in umbilical cord blood, which is a very concerning finding considering this chemical has been linked to endocrine system disruption, reproductive and cardiovascular system abnormalities, diabetes and more at very low levels.
However, it is not the first to show just how extensive a chemical cocktail newborn babies are being exposed to.
Exposure to Nearly 300 Toxic Chemicals … Before Birth
A prior study by EWG found that blood samples from newborns contained an average of 287 toxins, including mercury, fire retardants, pesticides, and Teflon chemicals.
Of the 287 chemicals EWG detected in umbilical cord blood, it’s known that:
•180 cause cancer in humans or animals
•217 are toxic to your brain and nervous system
•208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests
Children, meanwhile, experience greater exposure to chemicals pound-for-pound than adults, and have an immature and porous blood-brain barrier, which allows greater chemical exposures to reach their developing brain.
Children also have lower levels of some chemical-binding proteins, according to EWG, which allows more of a chemical to reach their organs, while systems that detoxify and excrete chemicals in adults are not fully developed. These factors, coupled with the fact that a child will be around for 80 years or more, allowing more than enough time for chemicals to do their damage, signals a major challenge for kids born today.
Experts believe rising rates of birth defects, asthma, neuro-developmental disorders and other serious diseases in U.S. children are a result of these early chemical exposures.
BPA: A Toxic Plastic Chemical to Watch Out For
Plastics chemicals are among the most pervasive and potentially damaging toxins for a fetus, so if you’re pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant, now is the time to start limiting your exposure.
This includes BPA, which EWG detected in newborn umbilical cord blood. BPA is an endocrine disruptor, which means it mimics your body‘s natural hormones and can trigger major changes in your body. Of 115 published animal studies, 81 percent found significant effects from even low-level exposure to BPA.
This toxic chemical first caught researchers’ attention after normal mice began to display uncommon genetic abnormalities. The defects were linked to plastic cages and water bottles that had been cleaned with a harsh detergent, causing BPA to leach out of the plastic. After determining how much BPA the mice had been exposed to, the researchers realized even an extremely small dose of 20 parts per billion daily, for just five to seven days, was enough to produce effects.
Some of the greatest concern surrounds early-life exposure to BPA.
This can lead to chromosomal errors in the developing fetus, which can cause spontaneous miscarriages and genetic damage. And being exposed to just 0.23 parts per billion of BPA is enough to disrupt the effect of estrogen in a baby's developing brain.
Again, for this reason women of childbearing age and those who are pregnant should be especially diligent at avoiding BPA, but practically no one is immune. A study last year found the chemical can lead to heart disease, diabetes and liver problems in adults, and previous research has linked BPA to:
•Structural damage to your brain
•Hyperactivity, increased aggressiveness, and impaired learning
•Increased fat formation and risk of obesity
•Altered immune function
•Early puberty, stimulation of mammary gland development, disrupted reproductive cycles, and ovarian dysfunction
•Changes in gender-specific behavior, and abnormal sexual behavior
•Stimulation of prostate cancer cells
•Increased prostate size, and decreased sperm production
•Diabetes
•Heart disease
•Liver damage
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