Birth Defects

Birth defects are the leading cause of death among children ages one to four. According to the authoritative pregnancy and pre-natal website, March of Dimes, one in twelve children is born with a congenital defect. Environmental factors, including exposure to toxic chemicals, cause 7 to 11% of these defects. Sixty percent of birth defects have unknown causes.

Birth defects have been found in a number of animal species where high levels of toxic chemicals are present. A 1996 University of Minnesota study found higher rates of birth defects in children who lived in areas of the state where agricultural chemicals were used the most.

Greenpeace reports that, ‘Babies are born with toxic chemicals already contaminating their bodies. These unnecessary chemicals come from household products used in our everyday lives. They don't need to be there.’

Dr. Marion Moses of the Environmental Sciences Laboratory at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York strongly recommends that, as far as toxins and carcinogens are concerned, the unborn child should have NO exposure; and where there is doubt about any chemical, err on the side of the child and prevent as much exposure as possible. “If we wait until we have absolute proof for all agents, it may be too late for the child,” Dr. Moses stresses.

Thalidomide is a tragic example of a substance that was touted as safe by its manufacturer but was later proven to cause horrible birth defects. Children whose mothers took the drug were born with deformed limbs or no limbs at all. This tragedy destroyed the belief that the placenta was a complete barrier between the baby and the environment. It also served as a wake-up call to how chemicals within the body can disrupt normal foetal development.

The presence of solvents in drinking water has been linked to leukemia and birth defects in California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. You may be exposed to a number of potentially harmful solvents every day, including ethanol, styrene, trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, diethylene glycol, and toluene. All of these appear in common household products

The NIOSH study I mentioned earlier stated 314 chemicals that appear in personal care products can cause biological mutations. Many of these chemicals, including known carcinogens, can reach the unborn child.

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