By Molly M. Ginty Tuesday, December 19, 2006 Synthetic chemicals
that pervade the environment and the bodies of mothers and their
children are attracting scientific inquiry. Next year, two major
studies may help peg how exposure to these pollutants is related
to disease. Second of two parts. (WOMENSENEWS)--It starts in the
first weeks of life. As the umbilical cord sends nutrients to
the fetus, pumping 300 quarts of blood per day, it also delivers
what nature never intended: synthetic chemicals that may wreak
havoc with development and cause health problems later in life.
The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
which tests the "body burden" of chemicals every two years,
finds the average American now has 116 synthetic compounds in
her body, including dioxin (produced by burning plastic),
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (found in auto exhaust) and
organochlorine pesticides (found in farming areas). Recent
studies have detected these pesticides, plastics and polymers
not only in umbilical