How to Protect Kids’ Brains

Not all chemicals are bad.

But I suggest everyone — not just parents — watch Little Things Matter: the Impact of Toxins on the Developing Brain, narrated by Bruce Lanphear.

“We’ve discovered that extremely low levels of toxins can impact brain development,” he says. “We have also discovered that subtle shifts in the intellectual abilities of individual children have a big impact on the number of children in a population that are challenged or gifted.”

Toxins can’t be ignored:

1. They have lifelong impact.
2. Even low levels affect kids’ brain development.
3. One hundred per cent of kids have lead in their blood. There are no safe levels of lead!
4. One hundred per cent of kids have PCBs (used in the manufacturing of electrical equipment, heat exchangers and other specialized applications up to the late 1970s).
5. One hundred per cent of kids have PBDEs (flame retardants).
6. Ninety-six per cent of kids have BPA (a hormone disruptor).
7. Eighty-nine per cent of kids have mercury.
8. We regulate as if there are safe levels.
9. We’re exposed to many chemicals, including some that have never been tested.

Lanphear recommends five ways to lower body burden:

1. Eat fresh and frozen foods.
2. Remove all lead hazards, especially in homes older than 1960 (e.g., pipes).
3. Choose low-mercury fish.
4. Clean floors, surfaces and house dust.
5. Avoid using pesticides.

This is only a quick summary of a serious subject. For more details, please watch the full seven-minute video.

Have you found ways to eliminate kids’ exposure to toxins — lead, mercury, BPA, PBDEs?

Sincerely,

Lindsay Coulter, a fellow Queen of Green

Written by Lindsay Coulter

David Suzuki’s Queen of Green answers your green living questions and offers tips and recipes to make your life easier on the environment. It’s all about green living made easy.