Going straight to your head

Who remembers this one?

I've totally dated myself there, haven't I? No matter. It was a compelling public service announcement back then (poor grammar aside), and it still is today.

This is drugs.
This is your brain on drugs.
Any questions?

But this post isn't about drugs. Or maybe it is? Over the weekend Mother Jones ran this piece, originally published before Thanksgiving at OnEarth, that explores the link between environmental pollutants, toxins and the such and pediatric neurological development. 

The short of it is that a physician at Columbia and her team of researchers have found higher levels of neuro disabilities in children with higher exposures to a number of commonly-used chemicals. These range from pesticides, flame retardants, the chemicals in exhaust fumes, and more.

Dr. Federica Perera has been spearheading the 'Mothers and Children Study' which has followed the lives and health of hundreds of women and their children since 1998. The prospective study provides an invaluable amount of hard data regarding how chemicals cross the placenta, once thought to be nearly impenetrable, and what they then do to fetal development.

I'm not going to comb through every finer point of the article; you can read it yourself to see how researchers are seeing correlations between exposures and developmental problems like lower IQ scores, behavior issues and what the author calls neurodevelopment disabilities (ADHD, etc).

What I like about the piece is the growing momentum for the science behind the ideas. Industry is doing their best to refute studies and research claims, but at some point consumers will see it for what it is: smoke and mirrors. Who do you trust, the pediatrician who treats your child or the company that puts profit ahead of public health?

Look, I'm not trying to ruin your Tuesday. But this sh*t is real.

"Although levels of PBDEs (flame retardants) are now dropping in pregnant women, Americans still have the highest levels tested anywhere in the world. Flammability standards enacted in California in the 1970s resulted in the addition of PBDEs to everything from electronics to home furnishings nationwide. Unfortunately, the molecules easily migrate, accumulating in blood and breast milk and persisting for years."

Read the article. Think about what your brain, your kids brains, look like from just everyday living. Maybe they're not getting fried, but is a slow poaching any better? The end result is the same, no? 

I know what I'm NOT having for lunch.
-- Jazzy