Dear Mr. Morton,
I’m concerned about the chemicals in our environment and their detrimental effects upon our children. In this area, we have drinking water bans, beach closings due to filthy water, and warnings about eating fish. These grim facts trouble us.
Dear Parents,
The National Environmental Trust, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and the Learning Disabilities Association for America share your concerns. Their research studies estimate that releases into our environment of developmental and neurological toxins amount to 24 billion pounds a year. I suggest writing to your state and federal representatives, requesting a copy of the first comprehensive look at the sources of such child-unfriendly pollution, entitled “Polluting Our Future: Chemical Pollution in the U.S. that Affects Child Development and Learning.”
Accumulating research demonstrates how toxic pollution affects the way that children’s bodies and brains develop. Roughly one out of six children in America (14 million) suffers from one or more developmental, learning, or behavioral disabilities like mental retardation, birth defects, autism, or attention deficit hyperactive disorder. The National Academy of Sciences released a study entitled “Polluting Our Future,” which conservatively concludes that 360,000 children in America, or one in every 200, suffer from developmental or neurological disabilities caused by toxic exposures including developmental and neurological toxins.
What can you and other parents do? Get involved! Contact personnel at the Children’s Environmental Health Network by calling (202) 543–4033, or e-mail them from the website.
A relatively unknown organization called Scorecard will let you know the environmental health hazards in your city. It even allows you to send faxes, for free, directly to top-ranked polluters in your town or neighborhood! You can contact the organization to view maps pinpointing potentially harmful chemicals being released near your home and neighborhood. It’s quite eye-opening.
Thankfully, the integration of brain sciences and environmental neuro-toxicology will prove connections between child development and pollution, but without public outcry, don’t expect much to be done.
Robert Morton is a retired school psychologist and adjunct professor in the School of Leadership & Policy Studies at Bowling Green State University. Contact him at the Family Journal (www.familyjournal1.blogspot.com).
