Toxic Kids from Exposure to Metals and Emissions
by www.SixWise.com

The world we live in is a toxic one, and while we’re all exposed to chemicals and pollutants on a daily basis, it may be the children among us who will suffer most from these exposures.

In fact, being exposed to pollutants in air shortly after birth could alter your child’s future health, according to a new study by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

Specifically, children who were exposed to the airborne metals nickel and vanadium, which are produced from residential heating oil combustion, from birth to age 2 were more likely to suffer from wheezing. Those exposed to carbon, which are particles from diesel exhaust, also had an more frequent coughing during cold and flu season.

“It appears that exposure to ambient metals and diesel-exhaust particles in our air may lead to several respiratory symptoms for young children living in urban areas," Rachel L. Miller, MD, senior investigator on the study, told ScienceDaily.

Air Pollution May be Hazardous Before Birth, Too

Not only does it appear likely that exposure to air toxins shortly after birth may cause future health complications, but prenatal exposure may also be dangerous.

For instance, a study published in Pediatrics found that air pollution exposure before birth may lead to lower IQ scores in childhood, which suggests that air pollution may be hazardous for developing babies’ brains.

Previous studies done by the same research team have also linked prenatal exposure to air pollution to:

• Genetic abnormalities at birth that may increase cancer risks

• Smaller newborn head size

• Reduced birth weight

• Developmental delays at age 3

• Children’s asthma

A separate study also found that women who live in heavy traffic areas such as the Northern Manhattan and South Bronx areas of New York City, could give birth to children with an increased risk of asthma due to what are called toxic PAH’s (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons).

"Our data support the concept that environmental exposures can interact with genes during key developmental periods to trigger disease onset later in life, and that tissues are being reprogrammed to become abnormal later," Shuk-mei Ho, University of Cincinnati researcher and lead author of the study, told LiveScience.com.

What Makes Children so Vulnerable to Toxins?

Babies are exposed to an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants while still in the womb. Once born, they are then bombarded with chemicals in their air, food, water and environment.

These exposures may not appear to be causing serious damage, at least from the perspective of the naked eye. But on a biological level, these chemicals and metals are giving kids a greatly heightened potential to develop chronic diseases much earlier in life.

Why? The National Academy of Sciences, in a 1993 report, explained just why children are so at risk from exposures to environmental chemicals:

• A developing child's chemical exposures are greater pound-for-pound than those of adults.

• An immature, porous blood-brain barrier allows greater chemical exposures to the developing brain.

• Children have lower levels of some chemical-binding proteins, allowing more of a chemical to reach "target organs."

• A baby's organs and systems are rapidly developing, and thus are often more vulnerable to damage from chemical exposure.

• Systems that detoxify and excrete industrial chemicals are not fully developed.

• The longer future life span of a child compared to an adult allows more time for adverse effects to arise.

The EPA also concluded in 2003, after reviewing 23 studies of early life exposures to cancer-causing chemicals, that carcinogens average 10 times the potency for babies than adults, and some chemicals may be up to 65 times more powerful in babies.

Numerous other studies are bearing out the dangers of toxin exposures to children, too.

• Kids who were conceived in June, July or August have, on average, test scores for math and language that are 1 percent to 1.5 percent lower than scores of kids who were conceived during other months. Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine found this correlation is due to the increased pesticide exposure the fetus receives during the summer months. Aside from lower test scores, birth defects are also more common between April and July, as are premature births.

• Girls appear to be reaching puberty at younger and younger ages, and studies suggest that environmental chemicals that mimic hormones might be involved in this phenomenon. Specifically, those chemicals include DDE, a breakdown of the pesticide DDT, and compounds used to make plastics, including bisphenol A, or BPA, and phthalates.

• A study by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that babies born to mothers who live near landfills have a greater risk of birth defects.

What Can You do to Keep Your Kids Safe?

There are numerous strategies you can take to both reduce your family’s chemical exposure and help detox from those you’ve already had. For starters, cut down on your exposure by:

• Buying organic produce, meats, eggs and dairy products as much as possible to reduce pesticide exposure.

• Eliminating chemical cleaners from your home. Opt for natural varieties like the all-natural and highly effective Enviro-Rite line of cleaning solutions.

• Using safe, natural brands of cosmetics and other toiletries. Most health food stores carry chemical-free varieties of everything from shave cream to moisturizing lotion. Two favorites here at Sixwise.com are the all-natural Aloe Castile Liquid Soaps -- which can be used for hands, bodywash, shaving, oily hair shampoo and general-purpose cleaning -- and, if you prefer bar soap, Vermont Soap's Organic Country Bars.

• Replacing the need and cost for most household toxic chemical cleaners with antimicrobial cleaning products used in hospitals that do NOT require toxic chemicals.

• Using proper precautions, including masks, gloves, protective clothing and adequate ventilation, when exposure to chemicals cannot be avoided.

• Avoiding the use of synthetic air fresheners, laundry detergents and fabric softeners, opting for the Static Eliminator, a 100% safe, non-toxic dryer sheet system, instead.

• Choosing glass storage containers for your food and drinks when possible, and avoid heating your food in plastic containers or covered in plastic wrap.

• Being especially diligent in avoiding chemicals, such as paint, new carpeting (which outgases chemicals), pesticides, hair color, etc., while pregnant or breastfeeding.

• Avoiding the use of synthetic pesticides in your home or yard.

• Disposing of chemicals properly to reduce environmental contamination.

• Filtering your home's air to remove airborne pollutants. Sixwise highly recommends the PIONAIR Air Treatment System, as unlike most air purifiers, the PIONAIR™ Air Treatment System doesn't wait for pollutants to contact a filter or plate. Instead, the PIONAIR generates air-purifying technology that migrates through the area and neutralizes organic odors, microbes & molds at their source. As a result, the PIONAIR produces fresh clean air throughout your home uniformly, by addressing the pollutant source -- without the use of fans, filters, or plates!

• Replacing bottled water with filtered water. If you currently rely on tap or bottled water to get you through the day, you can replace expensive and unhealthy bottled water that has BPA toxins by filtering your water right out of the tap while on the go via one of two safer, and many times less expensive solutions.

  1. The Wellness Wand is a portable stir device that is ideal for use at a restaurant or on vacation, where high chlorine levels can be a health concern and add undesirable tastes and odors. Reduces Chlorine, Chloramines, taste and odors by simply stirring in a glass of water for 15 seconds.

2. Wellness H2.O Water Bottle is also a “Portable Filter”Wellness H2.O is also a “Portable Filter” made of LDPE (low density polyethylene) plastic, which is BPA-free. This portable filter effectively reduces harmful contaminants, while at the same time enhancing the water with "ions and minerals" that your body needs.

How to Detox Toxins in Your Child’s Body (and Yours) Right Now

There are many ways of removing toxic chemicals such as heavy metals from your body, but most of them involve expensive treatments where a doctor injects you with drugs or vitamins intravenously via a drip. Many of these drugs will also strip the good minerals from your body, something that is not recommended since it is difficult to replenish (or replete) these important substances.

A better and safer way is to take some drops of a natural tincture a few times per day -- it simply goes into water or some juice. This is the beauty of using HMD™ -- it’s literally as simple as drinking a little water, and it’s safe and cost-effective.

Like other chemicals, heavy metals can accumulate in your body from silver dental fillings, contaminated seafood and other foods, cosmetics, pollution, contaminated water, vaccines and other sources, so it would be wise to disarm this potential “time-bomb” now before it causes serious illness in the future.

At Sixwise we highly recommend that you use HMD™ (Heavy Metal Detox from DrHMD.com), the natural oral formula that helps to effectively eliminate heavy metals from your body, without any side effects.

HMD™ is actually the ONLY chelator that has undergone a $1 million, three-year double-blind placebo-controlled research trials with several hundred people! During these three years over 25 different natural products and combinations were tried but the synergistic components of HMD™ were the only ones that worked for all metals tested. It presently has a worldwide patent-pending.

Dr. George John Georgiou -- HMD™ Inventor and worldwide patent holder -- has nine degrees and diplomas, including two doctorates and has been researching natural heavy metal chelators for a number of years, after he discovered that he became ill himself with mercury poisoning after replacing 12 amalgam fillings with composites.

After a number of years of searching, Dr. Georgiou discovered a unique synergistic formula comprising three natural components: Chlorella Growth Factor, Cilantro or the herb Coriandrum sativum and a homaccord of Chlorella. None of these natural products worked when tested individually, but when combined there was a “magic” synergy that eliminated a large number of toxic metals, including the ones mentioned here.

It is not only a very powerful chelator of toxic metals, but a very gentle one too. It has been tried and tested in many thousands of people worldwide, including children with autism, with no side effects when used at the correct dosage. It has therefore been dubbed “The Gentle Chelator.”

Important Note for Pregnant Women and Women Trying to Conceive

Dr. Georgiou advises AGAINST using any type of chelator, even the gentle HMD™, when you are pregnant or breastfeeding, as the mobilization of metals in the mother will go through the placenta into the baby. It is recommended that women detoxify before pregnancy and after breastfeeding finishes -- you can then give the baby a couple of drops of HMD to help the little one detoxify too.

Due to many requests we are providing you more specific links to the DrHMD.com line of products. Click here to learn more about: DrHMD.com ULTIMATE DETOX PROTOCOL.

While it’s inevitable that you and your family will be exposed to some pollutants and environmental toxins, the steps you take now can make a significant difference in how those toxins impact your, and your child’s, future health.

Recommended Reading

Can Air Pollution Impact Your Child’s Intelligence? Surprising New Research Revealed

New Study Shows Toxic PAH Air Pollution Leads to Genetic Changes and Asthma -- Starting in the Womb

Sources

American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine December 2009 Vol 180. pp. 1107-1113

Pediatrics Vol. 124 No. 2 August 2009, pp. e195-e202

ScienceDaily.com November 25, 2009

EWG Report, Body Burden – The Pollution in Newborns