Study: ADHD cases linked to lead, smoking

[OhioChick]

CHICAGO - About one-third of attention deficit cases among U.S. children may be linked with tobacco smoke before birth or to lead exposure afterward, according to provocative new research.

Even levels of lead the government considers acceptable appeared to increase a child's risk of having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the study found.

It builds on previous research linking attention problems, including ADHD, with childhood lead exposure and smoking during pregnancy, and offers one of the first estimates for how much those environmental factors might contribute.

"It's a landmark paper that quantifies the number of cases of ADHD that can be attributed to very important environmental exposures," said Dr. Leo Trasande, assistant director of the Center for Children's Health and the Environment at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060919/ap_on_he_me/adhd_environmental_risks

[RawMaterials]

1. You'll be fine if you don't eat, drink, breathe or touch anything

The October National Geographic has an interesting spread on the toxic chemicals in our environment -- and ourselves. "The Pollution Within" has a couple of cool features, including a big graphic showing exposure routes to different chemicals in our homes and work, and results from a contamination analysis done on the reporter himself.

One of the stats that keeps haunting me is his mercury exposure. The reporter, David Ewing Duncan, had normal levels of mercury in his blood in the initial testing. As someone who doesn't eat much fish, Duncan decided to do a little experiment and gorge himself on bigger, older fish caught outside the Golden Gate Bridge.

So he cooked up some halibut with basil and soy sauce one evening and dined on swordfish and eggs the next morning. Twenty-four hours later he went in for another blood draw. His blood level had jumped from 5 micrograms per liter to 12, putting him in the "higher than recommended" range according to federal standards. At 5.8 micrograms per liter children can suffer IQ loss

snip..


The research would -- according to this story from Paul Rogers with the San Jose Mercury News -- look for "hundreds of potentially harmful contaminants -- such as lead, mercury, DDT, PCBs and flame retardants -- and learn more about their health risks by measuring how much, and in whom, they accumulate."

Rogers continues:

Simply because chemicals can be detected in humans doesn't necessarily mean they are causing harm, scientists note. Virtually every American is exposed to a wide variety of chemical products -- from fumes at gas pumps to nail polish to garden fertilizer -- usually in small amounts with little or no ill effects. But high levels of some toxins have been linked to increased risks for cancer, birth defects, asthma and developmental disabilities. And much remains unknown.


http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/environment/archives/106852.asp