Healthy Children Project Monthly e-News

Feel free to let your friends, family and colleagues know about this valuable new resource. Instructions to subscribe or unsubscribe are at the end of this e-newsletter. MI Healthy Children's e-newsletter is part of a collaborative effort with the Learning Disabilities Association of America's Healthy Children Project, the Michigan Network for Children's Environmental Health website, and the Institute for Children's Environmental Health with support from the Beldon Fund. 

Clearly Concerning: Do Common Plastics and Resins Carry Risks?
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20070929/bob9.asp
It's hard to avoid bisphenol A. One of the highest-volume chemicals in commercial production, it's the starting material used to make polycarbonate plastics. Those are the hard, clear plastics used in baby bottles, flatware, watercooler bottles, and the work bowls of food processors. Bisphenol A (BPA) also serves as an essential ingredient of epoxy resins used to line food and beverage cans and even to seal cavity-prone teeth. But BPA doesn't stay put. It inevitably leaches into foods and people's mouths, such that traces of the chemical now show up in everyone's body.
 

Formulating Environmentally Friendly Flame Retardants
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/sept/tech/kb_flameretard.html
Regulations, consumer demand, and innovation are inspiring manufacturers to design more environmentally friendly flame retardants.

Household Hazards: Potential Hazards of Home Cleaning Products
http://www.womenandenvironment.org/campaignsandprograms/SafeCleaning/ExecSumm
How clean is clean? We all have different answers and personal preferences regarding the cleanliness of our homes and surroundings. The many types and brands of cleaning products available on store shelves is staggering. In most cases, when we choose a cleaning product, we are primarily concerned with whether or not it will do the job, going on the assumption that if a product is sold in the grocery store, it must be safe for use in our homes. This report questions that assumption.

A Primer on Chemicals, Fertility, and Reproduction
http://www.grist.org/feature/2007/09/18/chemicals/
Feeling unusually infertile lately? You're not alone: according to a December 2005 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 12 percent of American couples reported having a hard time conceiving a child and bearing it to term in 2002, up 20 percent from the 6.1 million couples reporting such "impaired fecundity" in 1995. Although the reasons are complex and overlapping, one major factor may be nonstop exposure to low-level environmental pollutants like pesticides, dioxins, and phthalates.

Canada Lags Behind U.S. in Great Lakes Protection
http://www.environmentaldefence.ca/pressroom/viewnews.php?id=203
Urgent action needed to clean up and protect the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, new Blueprint says.

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Fact Sheet: Children’s Toys & Products: What’s in Your Child’s Toy Box and Around Your Home? (PDF)

http://ldaofmichigan.org/hcpfs1.pdf

How can you know whether or not the toy train that your toddler loves is tainted? What about the teething ring that your niece chews on daily or the baby bottles that you use? Here are some resources that will allow you to check the content of your children’s toys and other products used in and around the home. This fact sheet is from the LDA of Michigan's Healthy Children Project.

Feds Sending Michigan City $2 Million to Help Fight Lead Poisoning
http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1190126806318530.xml&coll=8
Muskegon will receive more than $2 million to "get the lead out" of older houses over the next three years, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced. Sixty cities nationwide -- and only two in Michigan -- will share in a $143 million allocation aimed at protecting young children from the dangers of lead poisoning.
 

Information and News on Children's Products from the Michigan Network for Children's Environmental Health (MNCEH)

• The Michigan House of Representatives passed legislation on lead in children's products with an overwhelming majority. Click here for details.

• Click here to ask your Senator to protect Michigan's children from lead in products.

• Click here for the latest information on lead in children's products and product recalls.

Recalls Make Toy Shopping a Source of Anxiety
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/29/business/29toys.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
With more than 20 million toys manufactured in China recalled for lead paint and other hazards this summer — and some children being hospitalized after swallowing the magnets of recalled toys — a lot more parents are looking carefully at what they buy and where it comes from. But it is not easy to find many exceptions to the rule that most toys come from China.
 

Lack of Evidence: Vaccine Additive Not Linked to Developmental Problems
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20070929/fob6.asp

A mercury-containing vaccine preservative (Thimerosal) is not associated with problems in speech, intelligence, memory, coordination, attention, or other measures of childhood development, a large new study finds.

 
In a Contaminated World, Play Isn’t the Only Hazard
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/29/business/29lead.html?ref=business
Lead in house paint, in dirt, in drinking water and in some rare but deadly folk medicines are all far more threatening or likely to cause brain damage — as are a few toys meant for older children or antique toys that are actually made of lead.
 
Some Parents Test Toys at Home
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/29/business/29testkits.html?ref=business
Andrew Jones sat cross-legged on his living room floor, facing a lineup of his 3-year-old daughter’s toys. In one hand he held a painted metal spinning top, and in the other a home test kit for detecting lead in paint.
 
Testing for Lead Around the House
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/realestate/23home.html
With recent reports that some toys made in China contain lead paint, it is also timely for homeowners and renters, particularly those with small children, to test their homes for lead hazards.

China Signs Pact to Ban Lead Paint in Export Toys
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/business/worldbusiness/12lead.html
China recently signed an agreement to prohibit the use of lead paint on toys exported to the United States. The agreement, announced at the second United States-China meeting on consumer product safety, was negotiated after the recent recalls of millions of toys decorated with paint containing the metal, which can be toxic if ingested.

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Why it is Difficult to Prove That Food Additives Damage Children
http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9794915
Junk food is unhealthy and many parents avoid feeding it to their kids. But can the combination of colorings and preservatives added to all sorts of food harm children, making it harder for them to concentrate and to learn? That was the question which a team of researchers led by Jim Stevenson of the University of Southampton, in Britain, set out to answer. Their findings suggest that, if there is an effect, it is highly complicated.
 

The Falling Age of Puberty in U.S. Girls: What We Know, What We Need to Know
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/site/pp.asp?c=kwKXLdPaE&b=3266509
Over the course of a few decades, the childhoods of U.S. girls have been significantly shortened. What does this mean for girls today and their health in the future?
 

Materials & Audio from LDDI Teleconference: "Priming for Prevention"
This informative call took place on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 and featured Elise Miller, MEd, and Ted Schettler, MD, MPH. Call Materials: Conference call audio recording (MP3), handouts from Elise Miller's PowerPoint presentation, Preventing Toxic Threats to Child Development: The Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (PDF file, 3.9 MB), and Ted Schettler's Science and Environmental Health Network manuscript, Ecological Medicine: Complex Systems, Health, and Disease (on the SEHN website).

Materials & Audio from LDDI Teleconference: "Overview of Science Regarding Environmental Contributors to Child Development"
This informative call took place on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 and featured Leslie Rubin, MD, David Bellinger, PhD, MSc, and Jane Houlihan. Call Materials: Conference call audio recording (MP3), article by Leslie Rubin and others, Environmental Health Disparities: Environmental and Social Impact of Industrial Pollution in a Community – the Model of Anniston, AL (PDF file, 611 KB), article by Phil Grandjean and Phil Landrigan, Developmental Neurotoxicity of Industrial Chemicals (PDF file, 132 KB), Executive Summary, Body Burden – The Pollution in Newborns on the Environmental Working Group website, and an article by Bernard Weiss and David Bellinger, Social Ecology of Children's Vulnerability to Environmental Pollutants (PDF file, 126 KB).

Upcoming Teleconferences: CHE Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative’s Fall 2007 Teleconference Series "Priming for Prevention"

http://www.iceh.org/LDDImeetings.html

This seven-part teleconference series is based on the agenda of the conference, "Priming for Prevention: An Ecological Approach to Research, Education and Policy," that was to be held in May 2007. Dial-in information will be sent to LDDI members in a separate email message before each teleconference. The first few calls have already taken place but are available as MP3 audio recordings on the ICEH website. Accompanying materials are included with each call's information on the ICEH website listed above.

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Upcoming Event: Health and Medicine: the Impacts of Nanotechnology

Date/Time: October 11, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific/12:00 p.m. Eastern

Description: This teleconference will be a discussion about the health risks, medical applications and policy issues associated with nanotechnology.

For more information or to RSVP, visit: http://www.healthandenvironment.org/articles/partnership_calls/1894

Upcoming Event: ACMH 2007 Conference: Success One Day At a Time: Fostering Your Family’s Mental Health

Dates/Location: October 15-16, 2007 at the Kellogg Center at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan

Contact: For more information contact the ACMH office at 1-888-226-4543 (parent line) or download the brochure and registration form here.

Upcoming Event: Annual LDA of Michigan Conference "On the Road to Success"
Dates: October 22-23, 2007
Location: Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Description: On Monday: David A. Sousa, Ph.D. speaking on "How the Brain Learns: Translating Brain Research into Classroom Practice" and on Tuesday: Paul Sanchez speaking on “Growing Up and Living with a Learning Disability”. Paul rode his bicycle solo for 10,000 miles around the United States to raise awareness of learning disabilities and now has 8 wishes.

For More Information: Download the conference brochure and registration form (PDF).

Upcoming Event: NADD 24th Annual Conference & Exhibit Show

Dates: October 24-26, 2007

Location: Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown in Atlanta, Georgia

Description: The conference will include presentations related to promotion of wellness, prevention of illness, common symptomology in physical and psychiatric disorders, environmental health, interdisciplinary collaboration, cross systems collaboration, Autism Spectrum Disorders and family issues, and skill building.

Contact: For more information, visit http://www.thenadd.org/pages/conferences/24th/index.shtml or contact Conference Assistant Brenda Reuss at 800-331-5362 or breuss@thenadd.org.

LDA of Michigan's Healthy Children Project Offering Conference Co-Sponsorships

http://www.ldaofmichigan.org/conf.cosponsorships.pdf

Several years ago LDA of Michigan joined as a LDA Healthy Children Project (HCP) state partner. The HCP project is dedicated to helping families learn about existing and emerging science linking certain chemical exposures to learning, behavioral, and developmental disabilities. LDA would now like to partner with other organizations to help inform families throughout Michigan about toxic substances in the environment, how they may impact children’s health, and to find out how they may join with others to make a difference in protecting the health of our children. Specifically, LDA would like to co-sponsor up to three (3) statewide conferences of 501(c)3 non-profit organizations which are dedicated to children’s health issues and family memberships. Those selected will receive $500 from the LDA HCP to help support their overall conference. To learn more, download the PDF information sheet and Microsoft Word application form.

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The Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan is pleased to offer grants to 501(C) 3 non-profit organizations located in Michigan for educational programs/events/materials which will help inform key stakeholders of the existing and emerging science linking certain chemical exposures to learning, behavioral, and developmental disabilities. Priority will be given projects which target families and disability groups and/or promote action towards creating a healthier environment for all children. Grantees will be responsible for submitting a final project report, documentation of all expenditures, and copies of materials produced. Maximum award $400. Click here to download an application (PDF).

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Call toll free at 888-597-7809 or 517-485-8160
 

Email us at info@ldaofmichigan.org
 

Write to us at 200 Museum Dr. Ste. 101, Lansing, Michigan 48933

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For more information on The Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan's Healthy Children Project visit http://www.ldaofmichigan.org/healthychild.htm.

 
For more information on The Healthy Children Project visit http://www.healthychildrenproject.org/index.html.

 
For more information on the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative, coordinated by the Institute for Children’s Environmental Health visit http://www.iceh.org/LDDI.html. To join the the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI), please complete the form at http://www.iceh.org/LDDImembers.html.

 
For more information on The Beldon Fund visit http://www.beldon.org/.

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