The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow

More children are getting cancer and asthma. Many experts are concerned that more children may have autism, attention deficits, hyperactivity, learning disabilities and allergies. Reproductive system disorders and early onset of puberty are also on the rise.

Despite our best efforts, our children are exposed to toxic substances everyday, through air, water, food, and contact with common products. While we know that illness is the result of a complex interaction of social, genetic, and environmental factors, a growing number of scientific studies indicate that chemicals and other toxic substances are contributing to the increase in these childhood illnesses.

Advances in medicine have greatly reduced many infectious diseases of the past, but those illnesses have been replaced by an increase in chronic diseases -- in adults as well as children.

Developing Children Are Uniquely Vulnerable to Toxins

Because their bodies are still developing, children -- and especially the developing fetus and newborn -- are uniquely vulnerable to health damage from toxic substances. For example, animal studies show that small single doses of certain pesticides on a critical day of development can cause permanent hyperactivity and changes in brain chemistry.

Childhood illness is even linked to a parent's exposure to toxins. For example, childhood brain cancers and leukemia's are consistently associated with a parent's exposure to paint, petroleum products, solvents and pesticides.

As children grow and develop, toxic chemicals can continue to build up in their bodies and contribute to illness. Air pollution has long been linked to an increase in childhood deaths, hospitalization and lung disease. A review of 31 studies of childhood cancer concluded that use of pesticides in the home during pregnancy and childhood (including pesticides used on pets) was associated with increased likelihood of brain cancer.

Toxic Chemicals Can Cause Damage to the Brain

At this time there isn't a clear connection between chemical exposure and the onset of a specific disability. However, there is scientific proof that certain chemicals are damaging to the brain or nervous system, and the damage they create can be traits of many disabilities. A good example of this is mercury. Although it cannot be linked to causing a specific behavioral, developmental, or learning disability, some of mercury's effects are traits of many disabilities.

What is mercury?
Mercury is a powerful neurotoxin -- it is highly damaging to the brain and nervous system. Humans are most commonly exposed to mercury by eating contaminated fish. Mercury exposure can hurt the ability of children to pay attention, remember, talk, draw, run, see, and play. Even exposure to low levels can permanently damage the brain and nervous system and cause behavior changes. Mercury is also a persistent bioaccumulative neurotoxin. This means that it does not break down naturally, it concentrates in animals higher on the food chain, and it can cause permanent brain damage to developing children. To make matters worse, scientists estimate that if all man made mercury emissions stopped today, it would take at least IS years to eliminate mercury in the environment.

Where does it come from?
Mercury is emitted into the air from man-made sources such as trash incinerators, medical waste incinerators and coal fired power plants.

What are the health effects?
The effects of mercury exposure can be most severe for young children and for the developing fetus. In pregnant women, mercury can readily pass through the placenta to the fetus, where it harms fetal development by preventing the brain and nervous systems from developing normally. The National Academy of Sciences July 2000 report showed the risk of mercury exposure to fetal development is so great that at least 60,000 newborns each year could be at risk for learning and developmental problems from mercury exposure.

How are we exposed to mercury?
Once elemental mercury gets into lakes, streams, rivers, or the ocean, bacteria convert it to methyl mercury, its organic and most toxic form. Methyl mercury is easily absorbed by the human body, and by other animals, and once it enters the body it can stay for a long time. Mercury "bioaccumulates" up the food chain, meaning that it concentrates in greater amounts in fish higher on the food chain. Older fish and/or bigger predatory fish will have greater amounts of mercury than smaller, younger fish.

Mercury and fish
Humans are at the top of the food chain. The most common way humans are exposed to mercury is by eating mercury-contaminated fish.

Fish Warnings for Women and Children

One in 12 women of childbearing age in the U.S. has more mercury in her body than the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe for a fetus's development, according to the latest data from the Center for Disease Control. You can better protect yourself and your family from mercury exposure by carefully choosing your fish and eating only those that are low in contaminants like mercury.

• Children under 12
• Pregnant women
• Nursing mothers
• Women of childbearing age

What fish should they avoid (highest in mercury)?
Due to mercury contamination, pregnant and nursing women, women who may become pregnant and young children should not eat swordfish, shark, king mackerel, tilefish, tuna steaks, or any freshwater fish caught in New England.

This warning is based on advisories from the FDA, EPA and New England state health departments including Massachusetts.

How much fish is safe to eat?
Limit all other fish to 6 ounces (about 1 meal) per week for adults or 2 ounces per week for children.

Canned tuna
Canned tuna is consumed in 90 percent of American households and accounts for 25 to 35 percent of all fish consumption in the U.S. Children eat more than twice as much tuna as any other fish, and canned tuna is the most frequently consumed fish among women of child bearing age. Canned is made from smaller fish than tuna steak so it tends to be lower in mercury, but still should not be eaten in large amounts.

Can the Tuna: FDA's failure to protect children from exposure to mercury in albacore "white" canned tuna
The New England Zero Mercury Campaign and the Mercury Policy Project in this report, released results of independent tests, showing that samples of "white" albacore tuna contain mercury at levels that could be dangerous to a developing fetus or a young child. The report found an average of over 0.5 part per million (ppm) mercury in white tuna samples tested, a toxic dose that would put most

Report Findings

Cans of Starkist, Bumblebee, and Chicken of the Sea tuna were collected from Safeway, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Shaw's, and other supermarkets around the country and sent to Landmark Laboratory in Michigan. Over 6 percent of white tuna samples contained mercury at or above FDA's outdated and unprotected action level for mercury of 1 ppm. On average, white tuna proved to have levels of mercury over 4 times higher than light tuna.

• If a woman of childbearing age (weighing 132 pounds) eats 2 cans of tuna per week she will be exposed to 4 times the EPA's RfD.
• An 88 pound child eating 1 can of tuna per week would be exposed to 3 times the EPA's RfD.
• A 22 pound toddler eating only 1/3 of a can per week would be exposed to 4 times the EPA's RfD.

How can you protect yourself?
Follow all fish consumption warnings, especially if you are pregnant, of childbearing age, nursing, or have children. Avoid buying mercury containing products such as thermometers or thermostats, and be sure to dispose of all existing mercury containing products as hazardous waste.

Wholesome food depends upon a clean environment and pure natural resources. Please support strong environmental protection initiatives that promote mercury policy change.

What can you do to promote mercury policy change?
Support the New England Zero Mercury Campaign in Massachusetts because there is no known safe level of mercury exposure.

Take Action!

Editor's Note: On March 29, 2006, the Massachusetts Senate followed the example set by the Massachusetts House, when they voted "unanimously to pass legislation to S-2464, An Act Relative to Mercury Management... will phase out the use of certain mercury-containing products that have safer alternatives and will require manufacturers to set up collection programs to keep discarded products out of the waste stream." Click here for more information.

The New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers acknowledged the serious threat from mercury contamination in 1998, and promised to "virtually eliminate" mercury emissions in the region. However, they have no timeline to achieve full elimination and are not making effective plans.

• Governor Mitt Romney
  The State House
  Boston, MA 02133
  (617) 727-9173



• Your state legislators:
  To find contact information for your State legislators call (617) 727-2828.

1. Eliminate the use emission of mercury in New England by 2010.

2. Protect children and adults from existing harmful levels of mercury contamination in fish through effective warnings and education.

3. Support legislation to phase out mercury products in favor of safer alternatives.

Victory in CT, RI, ME
Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Maine passed laws in 2002 to phase out mercury containing products and keep them out of the waste stream. It's time for Massachusetts to do the same!

You can make a difference!
Help the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow! To make the changes needed to protect our children's health and development, we need to have many voices call for change. You can easily add your voice for prevention, precaution and protection.

• Everyone has a right to a healthy environment.
• An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
• We have a responsibility to make sure our actions do not harm others.
• A healthy economy and a healthy environment go hand in hand.

• Proactive, preventative action on toxic hazards
• Innovation to create, safer technologies, materials, and solutions
• A just transition to new technologies for workers and communities

Join the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow and support our Campaign to Protect Child Health
The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow is a Massachusetts coalition of citizens, scientists, health professionals, workers and educators that seek to correct fundamental flaws in government policy that are damaging our health and environment -- causing real suffering and loss. We propose protective policies that will make the world safer for our children and ourselves. Our first priority is the Campaign to Protect Child Health.

Join! Membership is free; we'll simply inform you about focused efforts you can choose to support. For example, you could write a note to your elected representatives! We will let you know how you can help protect children form pesticides, support the use of healthier cleaning products in schools, and address other toxic dangers to children.

If we all do a little, together we can do a lot!
The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow needs your help to effectively continue our work. Let the governor and your elected representatives know that protecting child health is important to you by showing support for legislation endorsed by the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow.

We need a new law that will create a healthier world!
We can replace the toxic technologies and products in use today with safer alternatives. Working together, we can create a healthier world for our children and ourselves.

New legislation proposes safer substitutes for toxic chemicals
The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, a coalition of over 100 organizations --health, environmental, labor, scientific, faith, and community groups -- have come together to promote: "An Act for a Healthy Massachusetts: Safer Alternatives for Toxic Chemicals"

• The bill will establish a pragmatic, gradual approach to reducing health impacts from many toxic chemicals we are exposed to in everyday life.
• Initially targets ten of the worst toxic chemicals in Massachusetts -- chemicals that are currently replaceable with feasible, safer alternatives for many uses.
• Mandates a careful process to evaluate alternatives where feasible.
• Stimulates research and development on new technologies and solutions when a safer alternative is not currently feasible.
• Proposes programs to assist workers and businesses in this transition to the safest available alternatives, funded through a fee on toxic chemicals.
• Companies that can use a safer alternative for the same purpose as a toxic chemical should be required to do so.

Make your voice count!
Write your state representative and senator in support of S. 1268 also called H. 2275 -- An Act for a Healthy Massachusetts: Safer Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals. Urge that they help lead efforts to pass this bill!

Send letters to:
The honorable __________________
The State House
Boston, MA 02133

This article prepared by Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow. For more information contact us today at www.healthytomorrow.org or (617) 338-813.