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Chemical Mixtures Intensify Damage; Low Graduation Rates, Jacksonville FL. |
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General Note: Dioxin causes expensive disabilities like ADD/ADHD. Eliminate endocrine disruptors like dioxin and save $4,000/year/household on unnecessarily high Medicare and private medical insurance, disability taxes and extra income taxes to make up for taxes not paid by unnecessarily disabled people. |
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Ref.11 Two Studies showing chemical mixtures intensify damage Child Development and Common Chemical Mixtures: ADD, ADHD, Violence, Aggression? =========================== Study Sees Dangers in The Water Research on Mice Hints Chemicals Could Harm Kids Wisconsin State Journal (Copyright Madison Newspapers, Inc. 1999) Publication Date: March 16, 1999 NewsReal's IndustryWatch [Part of this subject was previously reported by "Our Toxic Times" monthly published by the Chemical Injury Information Network: http://www.ciin.org (Address revised 10/29/2001) A mix of chemicals commonly found in ground water altered the development of young mice and indicates a threat may exist for children, a UW-Madison professor said Monday in releasing a five-year study. When it comes to toxic chemicals, there's more to worry about than cancer, said Warren Porter, professor of zoology and toxicology. Porter's study, published Monday in the journal Toxicology and Industrial Health, supports an emerging theory that mixtures of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers may affect the intelligence, motor skills and personalities of infants, toddlers and preschoolers. It suggests that combinations of commonly used agricultural chemicals - in concentrations found in Wisconsin ground water - can influence thyroid hormones, which may affect how the brain of a fetus or young child develops. Porter's research used mice that were given drinking water laced with a common mix of pesticides and fertilizers. The drinking water altered the thyroid hormones in young mice, changed their aggression levels, and suppressed their immune systems. Porter said his research, based on water quality data from the state Department of Natural Resources, supports other studies that looked at children exposed to pesticides. "It's not much of a leap to go from a mouse to a human when you are talking about the level of a chemical that might induce cancer or mutations," he said. Children have developing brains and immune systems and are "especially vulnerable" to changes in thyroid hormones. To complement his study, Porter cited tests in the state of Sonora, Mexico, where scientists found striking differences in hand- eye coordination and other mental and physical skills when comparing Yaqui Indian preschoolers in an agrarian region with those in adjacent foothills where no pesticides were used. Four-and 5-year-olds living in the farm valley had trouble performing a variety of simple motor skills such as drawing stick figures, catching a 12-inch ball from about four yards away, and dropping raisins into a bottle cap from a distance of six inches. The children exposed to pesticides also had poorer memory skills and were more prone to physical aggression and angry outbursts. The Mexican case could be called extreme, but Porter said it may be more universal than some would believe. "Data suggest that we may be raising a generation of children with higher proportions of learning disabilities and hyper-aggression," he said. Porter's study focused on three commonly used farm chemicals: atrazine, an herbicide; aldicarb, an insecticide; and nitrate, a chemical fertilizer. The mice exhibited altered immune, endocrine and nervous system functions. Those changes, according to Porter, occurred at concentrations currently found in Wisconsin ground water. Effects were most noticeable when a single pesticide was combined with nitrate fertilizer. This was true for herbicides, as well as insecticides, and chips away at the notion that herbicides have no significant effect on animals. "Herbicides are not the harmless chemicals they are sometimes portrayed to be," Porter said. "Herbicides can be every bit as biologically active as insecticides or fungicides." Although activated charcoal filters can reduce pesticide levels, they are not typically used by municipal water plants. Bottled water also may contain unsafe pesticide levels. In Madison, however, water utility officials said their own testing has revealed no problems. "We do pesticide testing every three years," said Marilyn Dukes- Winters, water resources supervisor for the Madison Water Utility. "There are 25 to 35 chemicals that we test for. And we've not found any quantifiable levels in any Madison wells." Porter said it is important not to focus on his study alone. Another study, he said, has showed that birth defects in children of Minnesota pesticide applicators were higher than in the general population. "The apparent influence of pesticide and fertilizer mixtures on the endocrine system (the system of glands such as the thyroid that secrete hormones into the bloodstream) may have a cascade effect, spilling over to the immune system and affecting fetal brain development," Porter said. Some [with a vested interest] are skeptical. Pesticide company representatives and some toxicologists are skeptical that commonly found levels of pesticides can alter human thyroid hormones. "I'm kind of dubious that low-level exposures to chemicals are raising all kinds of havoc with the endocrine system," said John McCarthy, vice president of the American Crop Protection Association in Colorado. There are so many studies coming out every week, it is important to see what they show collectively, said Amy Winters, vice president of government relations for the Wisconsin Agribusiness Council. "We are concerned about the implications of this study," she said. "But we need to take a closer look at how it compares with other studies on endocrine response to pesticides and fertilizers." Porter is on sabbatical from UW-Madison and now working as a researcher at the National Center for Ecological Analysis in Santa Barbara. Co-authors of Porter's study include James Jaeger of the UW- Madison zoology department and Ian Carlson of the University Hospital Endocrinology Laboratory. Porter said he believes this type of research is in its early stages and that more work needs to be done in assessing risks based on combinations of pesticides and fertilizers. "But the single most important finding of the study is that common mixtures, not the standard one-chemical-at-a-time experiments, can show biological effects at current conditions in ground water," Porter said. "I think we have added something to a growing body of evidence." =========================== ED Briefing Book Main Pages: | Endocrine Disruption Briefing Book | | Attachment List, ED Briefing Book | Attachment Pages: | ADD/ADHD | | Children-Developmental Damage | | Symptoms, Physical-Cognitive | | Diabetes | | Porphyria-LiverSpots | | Porphyria-Suppressed Detox | | Thyroid Disruptions | | Cancer, et al | | Cancer, et al | | Bethune School Dioxin | | Whitehouse School Scandal | | Belgium Govt. Topples | | 314 Toxic Chemicals | | 3700 Porphyrinogenic Chemicals | | Professional Dioxin Reports | | Industry View Dioxin | | Dust Carries Toxics (Dioxin) | Cost Estimates, For Medical & Social Problems: | Overview 5 most costly dioxin diseases | Additional Overview Info: | PCB Toxicity by CDC | | 48% Graduation Rate Jax FL | | EDSTAC | | EPA Dioxin Report Chap 9, Health Effects | | EPA 1994 Dioxin Report, other chapters | | Court Affidavit of Dioxin Damage | | Solutions to Dioxin Problem | Send questions to: | [email protected] | | [email protected] | Terms of Use |