editor’s letter chemicals that imperil a generation
I
was in San Francisco a few months ago talking to Miriam Rotkin-Ellman,
Douglas S. barasch
8 onearth
winter 2013/2014
Jeff weiner
a public health expert at NRDC, when she said something I could barely wrap my head around. Several categories of neurotoxicants in the environment—those present in vehicle exhaust, flame retardants (found in clothing, furniture, and home electronics), and pesticides (used in the home and on produce we ingest)—could create a public health crisis comparable to that caused by lead during the last century. These chemicals, despite their complicated names—polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAH; polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs; and organophosphates—are pervasive in our environment and affect millions of Americans. Most alarmingly, scientists are beginning to grasp their dramatic impact on the developing brains of fetuses and children. We like to believe that if we’re wellinformed and cautious, we and our “As many as one in six children loved ones will be relatively safe from nationwide has a neurodevelopmental such threats. If only. Nineteen percent of Americans live near high-volume disability, including autism, speech and roads, a significant source of PAH, but language delays, and ADHD” even if you don’t, you can be exposed to toxic levels of PAH while waiting to pick up your children in their school’s parking lot, where cars and diesel-fueled buses idle. Thanks in part to chemicals like these, Florence Williams reports, “as many as one in six children nationwide has a neurodevelopmental disability, including autism, speech and language delays, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.” What’s more, she writes, several studies have shown that “higher prenatal exposure [to PAH] corresponded to an average 3.8-point drop in IQ in 5-year-olds. This drop is comparable to the effects of lead, the discovery of which, in the 1970s, eventually triggered a massive public health response.” How much could a few IQ points matter? “An average drop of five IQ points in the United States,” Williams reports, “translates into 2.4 million gifted kids instead of 6 million, and 9.4 million mentally retarded children instead of 6 million.” So yes, this is a real public health crisis. Williams does offer glimmers of hope. She meets with a number of brilliant researchers devoting their professional lives to gaining a better understanding of the science behind these chemicals and their effects. This research could eventually benefit us all—perhaps in the form of more government safeguards. Some of the implicated chemicals have been or are being phased out—which counts as at least modest progress. Another NRDC scientist, Linda Greer, director of the health and environment program, describes herself as a woman with “a Ph.D. in environmental toxicology and more than 20 years of work experience,” yet she tells us, “I don’t feel I know enough to protect myself and my family through screening what we buy. For that reason, we really need the government to be the cop on the beat.” Indeed, our cover story urgently reminds us that most environmental issues are neither abstract nor far removed from everyday life; they’re ultimately about our health and well-being.