Dear Friends:
     My daughter sent me this.
     The consequences of pollution show up first in the reproductive pathways
of a species. This is only the beginning......

AT LEAST THEIR BREASTS WON'T CATCH FIRE Scientists and environmentalists
are calling for a ban on a chemical flame retardant that has been shown to
accumulate in breast milk. The chemical, polybrominated diphenyl ether, or
PBDE, is commonly used in foam furniture and plastics to reduce risk of fire
by up to 45 percent, according to manufacturers. But PBDE, like PCBs and
DDT, is a persistent organic pollutant (POP) that bioaccumulates in the
environment and in body fat. In 1998, Swedish scientists found that levels
of PBDE in Swedish woman's breast milk had increased 40-fold since 1972; in
December, a study found that North American mothers had levels of PBDE 40
times that of the Swedes -- an amount researchers called "humongously high."
The exact health effects are unknown. What is thought to be the most
dangerous variety of the chemical will be banned in Europe beginning next
year; whether the U.S. will follow suit is uncertain. straight to the
source: MSNBC.com, Associated Press, 29 Jan 2002
<<http://www.msnbc.com/news/695907.asp>>




Nikki Lee RN, MSN, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CIMI, CCE
craniosacral therapy practitioner
Elkins Park (a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; northeastern USA)
supporting the WHO Code and the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative

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