Fellow Lactnetters,
With great excitement, I'm sending along the text of a joint
statement on breast milk contamination that was co-authored by the
World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) and the International
POPs Elimination Network (IPEN). "POPs" refers to persistent organic
pollutants, such as DDT and dioxins.
I think the release of this document--which will be made public
sometime this spring--marks the beginning of an important alliance
between the breastfeeding advocacy community and the anti-toxics
community.
Note that the signatories include La Leche League International and IBFAN.
I am not a member of either WABA nor IPEN, but I am an endorser of
the statement. I sought the permission of the North American chair
of IPEN, Sharyle Patton, to post this to our listserv, as the
statement has not yet been formally unveiled. It comes with her
blessing and can be freely circulated.
Kathy, Rachel, Valerie, everyone, what do you think?
warmly,
Sandra Steingraber
********************
Working Together for a Toxic-Free Future
Call for Endorsement . . .
a joint statement by participating organisations of the World Alliance for
Breastfeeding Action (WABA) & International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN)
We share a common concern: Toxic chemicals are contaminating our children
If we tested every infant born today, anywhere in the world, we would
find that s/he
has a body burden of toxic industrial chemicals. Dioxins, PCBs,
mercury, phthalates,
pesticides and other dangerous substances are being passed from
parent to child as
early as the prenatal period.
Tiny doses of these chemicals can have a dramatic effect on the
developing child.
Levels of mercury that would have no impact on an adult can harm the developing
brain of a foetus. A few trillionths of a gram of dioxin and PCBs can
damage the
developing immune and nervous systems. DDT, PCBs, dioxins and other persistent
organic pollutants not only cross the placenta, they also enter into
breastmilk.
We recognise the need to promote breastfeeding while we work towards ending
the contamination of our communities
The contamination of breastmilk is one symptom of the environmental
contamination
in our communities. Responsibility for this problem belongs to the
industrial sources
of contamination, not to breastfeeding women. The individual decision
to breastfeed
must be promoted and protected while we work collectively towards
eliminating the
chemicals that contaminate the food we eat, the water we drink, the
air we breathe,
and the products we use.
Studies have shown that breastfeeding, even in a contaminated
environment, has a
positive impact on the development of children as compared to those who are
artificially fed. Breastfeeding supports infant growth and health as
well as maternal
health in ways that breastmilk substitutes cannot. Indeed, breastmilk
contains substances
that help the child develop a stronger immune system and other protections
against environmental pollutants and pathogens.
Therefore, educational and advocacy efforts to promote a toxic-free
future for our
children should recognise, encourage and support collective actions aimed at
promoting breastfeeding, reducing chemical contamination and developing the
strongest possible pollution prevention laws.
We share a vision of a toxic-free future and generations of healthy children
In Sweden, strong governmental programmes to eliminate persistent
organic pollutants
like DDT, dieldrin, PCBs and dioxin have resulted in dramatic decreases in
contaminants in breastmilk. In the United States, bans on lead in gasoline and
smoking in public places have resulted in dramatic decreases in the levels of
dangerous chemicals in the blood of young children. These public
health achievements
show that reductions in the production, use and disposal of toxic chemicals,
along with the destruction of toxic chemical stockpiles and
reservoirs, can decrease
the body burden in our children and in all of us. The United Nations Stockholm
Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), the development
of sustainable
alternatives to dioxin-producing incineration, local and national
efforts to restrict
the use of pesticides or to phase out the uses and emissions of
mercury, all deserve
our energetic and sustained support.
We pledge to work together towards the day when our infants are born toxin
free, and can grow and develop in a toxic-free world.
We will update the endorsers list regularly. We welcome your
endorsement and also request you to share it with others. This
Statement with the latest list of endorsers is available at the WABA
& IPEN websites. To endorse, write ASAP to the World Alliance for
Breastfeeding Action, WABA, PO.Box 1200, Penang 10850, Malaysia. Fax:
604-6572 655 Email: [log in to unmask]
This joint statement emerged out of the combined efforts of the
participating organisations of WABA & IPEN, in addressing the issue
on the contamination of breastmilk and the environment. This
collaboration seeks to understand the issue from
both the environmental health and justice and breastfeeding
perspectives, share experiences and develop communication strategies
to educate the general public, health workers, policy makers and the
media. It is based on the recognition that
breastfeeding promotion should take place alongside efforts to
eliminate toxic chemicals from the environment. This statement went
through a series of consultations via email discussions and at some
key meetings.
The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) is a global
people's initiative to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.
WABA acts on the Innocenti Declaration targets and works in close
liaison with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Website:
<www.waba.org.br> or <www.waba.org.my>
The International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) is a global network
of public interest non-governmental organizations united to work for
the global elimination of persistent organic pollutants on an
expedited yet socially equitable basis. Website: <www.ipen.org> IPEN
Initial List of Endorsers:
Agenda for Environment and Responsible Development, Tanzania Alaska
Community Action on Toxics, USA Alianza
por Una Mejor Calidad de Vida, Chile Aminingshjälpen (The Swedish
Nursing Mothers' Support Group) Aquamedia,
Republic of Georgia Armenian Centre of Hygiene & Epidemiological
Surveillance Armenian Women for Health and a
Healthy Environment ARNIKA Association, Czech Republic Arugaan,
Philippines Asociación Argentina de Medivos
por el Medio Ambiente (AAMMA), Argentina Associação de Combate aos
Pops (ACPO), Brazil Associação de
Consciência à Prevenção Ocupacional, Brazil Bangladesh
Breastfeeding Foundation (BBF) Basel Action Network
(BAN), Washington, USA Breastfeeding Information Bureau, Malaysia
Breastfeeding Mothers Support Group (BSMG),
Singapore Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI)
Breastfeeding Support Group of Thailand California
Nurses-Midwives Association, USA Canadian Association of Physicians
for the Environment (CAPE) Cancer Action
New York, USA Chemicals Weapons Working Group, Kentucky, USA
Chris Mulford, IBCLC, USA Collectif de lutte
contre les organochlorés (Joint Action Group against POPs), Quebec,
Canada Common Ground, Kentucky, USA
Commonweal, USA Community Against Toxics, Cheshire, UK Consumers
International Regional Office for Asia and
the Pacific (CI-ROAP) Cynthia Pang, IBCLC, Singapore Department
of the Planet Earth, USA Development Indian
Ocean Network (DION), Mauritius ECO-Accord, Russia Ecosphere,
Belarus Egyptian Medical Students for Social
Responsibility Students, Egypt Environmental Health Fund, USA
Foundation for Realization of Ideas, Belarus Greenpeace
International Greenpeace International Toxics Campaign, Canada
GroundWork, South Africa HealthCare Without
Harm, Washington DC, USA Indigeneous Environmental Council, Alaska,
USA Institue for Children's Environmental
Health, Washington, USA International Baby Food Action Network
(IBFAN) Penang, Malaysia International Campaign
for Responsible Technology International Physicians for Prevention
of Nuclear War, Egypt Irish Doctors Environmental
Association (IDEA) Kentucky Environmental Foundation, USA La
Leche League International (LLLI), USA Marcia
Annandale, IBCLC, New Zealand Movement pour les Droits et le
Respect des Générations Futures (MDRGF), France
National Resource Defence Council, USA National Toxics Network
Inc., Australia Non-Stockpile Chemical Weapons
Citizen Coalition, Kentucky, USA Pusat Penasihat Penyusuan Ibu
Malaysia (PPPIM) Pesticide Action Network Asia-
Pacific (PANAP) Pesticide Action Network Central Asia (PANCA)
Pesticide Action Network Germany Pesticide
Action Network North America (PANNA) Pesticide Action Network UK
(PANUK) Pesticide Action Network,
Philippines Public Interest Consultants, UK Queensland Lactation
College, Australia Red de Acción en Plaguicidas
y sus Alternativas de América Latina (RAP-AL), Chile Red de Acción
sobre Plaguicidas y Alternativas en México
(RAPAM) Sandra Steingraber, Teacher, Ecologist, Author of "Living
Downstream" & "Having Faith", USA Sarvodaya
Women's Movement, Sri Lanka Sharyle Patton, International POPs
Elimination Network (IPEN) Northern Co-Chair,
USA Srishti, India Surakshit, India Sustainable Development
Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan Taiwan Watch Institute
Ted Greiner, International Maternal & Child Health (IMCH), Uppsala
University, Sweden Thanal Conservation
Action & Information Network (TCAIN), India The Nordic Workgroup
for International Breastfeeeding Issues, Sweden
Toxics Link, India Virginia Thorley, WABA International Advisory
Council member, Australia WABA Steering Committee
Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF), Netherlands World
Information Transfer, USA
Initial list of Endorsers
January 2002
--
--
Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor
Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors
110 Rice Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
[log in to unmask]
www.steingraber.com
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