So, tonight, in "Toxic Childhood," we ask questions.
How are common chemicals impacting the health of our children,
and what can we do to minimize the risks for our kids?
As a reporter, a doctor, and most importantly as a father of three, I believe it's time for some real answers.
So, we begin tonight with the very latest science
that reveals a broad mix of chemicals now entering our children's bodies before they're even born.
We imagine a baby sort of nice and safe and tucked away in the womb, impervious to all the assaults that occur on the body.
You say, not so fast?
Not so fast. The placenta is doing its work as well as it can,
but it is not a perfect barrier, and many chemicals do pass relatively easily across the placenta.
Chemicals in here? Babies are born every day, with not one, not two, but hundreds of toxic substances.
In a study by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization,
an average of 232 chemicals were measured in the cord blood of 10 babies born late last year.
Now, there's no science yet that demonstrates conclusive cause and effect between this mix of toxins our children are born with and particular health problems.
But many leading pediatricians believe it's precisely what we do not know that makes this so troubling.
For 80 percent of the common chemicals in everyday use in this country,
we know almost nothing about whether or not they can damage the brains of children,
the immune system, the reproductive system, the other developing organs.
It's a...it's really a terrible mess we've gotten ourselves into.
The list of chemicals measured in cord blood is, well, long:
PBDEs, flame retardants in computers, televisions, mattresses, furniture;
BPA in food cans, bottle tops, hard plastics;
PFCs, water repellents used to make nonstick products, food packaging, carpeting, furniture;
phthalates, found in a wide array of products, from children's toys to cosmetics.
Dr. Frederica Perera is 12 years into a landmark study at Columbia University's Center for Children's Environmental Health,
following hundreds of pregnant women as they navigate these city streets,
measuring their exposure to toxic substances, vehicle emissions, pesticides, second-hand smoke.
Each one wears a backpack with a tube that acts like a lung, sucking in the same air that they're breathing.
What researchers found was stunning.
It surprised me when we analyzed the air samples and found that 100 percent of them had detectable levels of at least one pesticide
and the air pollutants that we were interested in, every single one.
A hundred percent had pesticides, pollutants that scientists were testing for, eventually making their way from mom into the womb.
Now, it would be one thing if these chemicals were innocuous,
but studies in both animals and humans suggest they may not be.