Most of the exposure came from pesticides on fruits and vegetables. Farmers spray crops to keep down the weeds, spray plants to kill insects and as further a precaution spray fruits and vegetables. U.S. pediatricians say there has been little research on how these chemicals effect children.
The American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health urges the government to do more testing and evaluations on the thousands of chemicals children come in contact with every day. The Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976 is ineffective and outdated. Only five chemicals have been regulated in the past thirty years and chemical companies are not required to test their chemical products for human safety before marketing.
Toxic chemicals are in toys our children play with, foods they eat and the air they breath. 27 trillion lb. of chemicals are produced in the U.S. or imported from other countries every year. Doctors and researchers say that wildly used chemicals like phthalates, bisphenol A, and pesticides are associated with long term health problems in children and death.
These chemicals appear in tissues, body fluid, blood test and mother’s milk. We will only know which are doing harm when manufactures are required to test their products before releasing them to the public.