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(NaturalNews) When a newborn baby takes her first breath she is already contaminated with a range of chemicals... this is the finding in the latest compelling research conducted by several leading authorities in the field of health and wellbeing. Raising awareness of toxic chemicals present in our everyday environment (food additives, personal care products, cleaning products etc.) and having the understanding that these chemicals, in most cases, are absorbed directly into the blood supply is fundamental to the health and wellbeing of our children and future generations. Most shocking from these latest findings is the fact that some of the chemicals found in newborn cord blood were banned decades ago!

The following points are a summary from author Dr. Sarah Lantz in Chemical Free Kids

What's inside a newborn's body?

* Non-stick chemicals and flame-retardants

* Perfumes

* Artificial musks used in cosmetics and cleaning products

* Plastics

* Non stick and water-proof coatings

* Cleaning fluids

* Tin can linings

* Perfumes

* Cosmetics

* Chemicals from baby bottles

* Banned, yet persistent, pesticides such as DDT

[World Wildlife Fund (WWF) U.K., A Present for Life: hazardous chemicals in cord blood; The Environmental Working Group's report, Body Burden -- The Pollution in Newborns; WHO, 2002]

How do they get in there?

* Umbilical cord

* Placenta (a semi-permeable membrane, which passes many chemicals. Many soluble chemicals will cross the placenta very quickly. There's no such thing as a 'placental barrier' that so many people assume)

* Breast milk (in addition to its nutritional and immunological properties, research continues to reveal a full range of toxins and contaminants in breast milk, including the presence of suspected carcinogens especially fat-seeking, chlorinated organics (a large class of chemicals including vinyl chloride, PCBs, and chlorinated solvents, insecticides, pesticides and herbicides)

WWF Research

Blood tests taken from the umbilical cords of 30 newborn babies and from more than 40 new mothers were analysed for the presence of eight groups of chemicals. Every single sample of mother or baby blood tested positive for an array of chemicals, many of which are suspected of links to health problems ranging from birth defects and genital abnormalities to certain types of cancer. All umbilical cords contained a minimum of five of the 35 chemicals tested for, some contained as many as 14. Two of the mothers tested had 17 of the 35 chemicals in their blood.

[World Wildlife Fund (WWF) U.K., A Present for Life: hazardous chemicals in cord blood]

Environmental Working Group (EWG) Research

EWG research found an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants in umbilical cord blood from 10 babies born in August and September of 2004 in U.S. hospitals. The umbilical cord blood of these children harboured pesticides, consumer product ingredients, and wastes from burning coal, gasoline, and garbage. Of the 287 chemicals detected in the umbilical cord blood, 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests

[The Environmental Working Group's report, Body Burden -- The Pollution in Newborns]

What makes children particularly vulnerable to chemicals?

* lower body weight

* lower metabolic rates

* few detoxing enzymes

* a blood brain barrier that is not yet fully matured

* they eat 3-4 times more food in proportion to their body size than adults, and therefore ingest more chemicals per unit of body mass

* drink as much as seven times more water than an average adult

* children breathe more than adults per kilo of body weight

* the skin of children is also more permeable than adult skin.

[Dr. Sarah Lantz - Chemical Free Kids; LifeSuccess Publishing]

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