babies poisoned in womb from chemical cocktails

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Babies Poisoned in the Womb

Babies being poisoned in the womb.

Daily Mail 09:59am 8th September 2005

Chemical cocktail: Unborn babies are at risk

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/thehealthnews.h

tml?in_article_id=361677 & in_page_id=1770

Babies in the womb are being exposed to a shocking cocktail of

chemicals that can cause cancer in later life and have gender-

bending qualities, research has revealed.

Tests on blood taken from the umbilical cords of nearly 30 new born

babies and from more than 40 new mothers were analysed for chemicals

ranging from artificial musks used in cosmetics and cleaning

products to flame retardants and chemicals used to make plastics and

coatings.

Most of the chemicals are found in everyday products such as

cleaning fluids and sprays, tin can linings, perfumes and cosmetics

and even baby bottles. Others include banned pesticides such as DDT

that have lingered in the environment for decades.

Every single sample of mother or baby blood tested positive for an

array of chemicals, many of which are suspected of being linked to

health problems ranging from birth defects and genital abnormalities

to certain types of cancer.

The report, A Present for Life: hazardous chemicals in cord blood,

from WWF-UK and Greenpeace, says babies are being exposed to these

chemicals at the most vulnerable point in their development.

It also calls for urgent action to be taken to control the

production and sale of those chemicals that may damage the health of

babies and adults alike.

All umbilical cords contained a minimum of five of the 35 chemicals

tested for, some contained as many as 14. Two of the mothers tested

had 17 of the 35 chemicals in their blood.

The report also highlights the possible effects of chemicals on

children's brain development and intelligence.

It says proposed new EU legislation on chemicals called " REACH "

gives Europe a crucial opportunity to take the necessary action to

protect humans and the environment from the effects of harmful

chemicals and to make producers responsible for the impacts of their

products.

Helen Perivier, toxics campaigner for Greenpeace International

said: " Babies feeding through the umbilical cord are exposed to

toxic chemicals from products like vinyl plastics, cleaning

products, electronics, cosmetics and perfumes.

" It is shocking that such chemicals are in the human body at any

stage of our life, let alone at the very start, when the child is

most vulnerable. Governments need to act and require industries to

substitute these contaminating chemicals with safer alternatives. "