BPA Found in Infants’ Cord Blood
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A new study by the Environmental Working Group has found BPA (bisphenol-a, a harmful additive in plastics that caused manufacturers to start making BPA-free products) in the cord blood of a small group of African-American, Hispanic and Asian children. While the number of infants studied is too small to cause a major freak out (they studied 10 infants, of which 9 had the additive in their cord blood), it is definitely something that requires further testing…and fast!
According to an interview found on Babble.com, labs working with EWG found over 200 additional chemicals in the cord blood they tested. These included:
-a toxic flame retardant chemical called tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) that permeates computer circuit boards
-synthetic fragrances (Galaxolide and Tonalide) used in common cosmetics and detergents
-and perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA, or C4), a member of the Teflon chemical family used to make non-stick and grease-, stain- and water-resistant coatings for cookware, textiles, food packaging and other consumer products.
“Each time we look for the latest chemical of concern in infant cord blood, we find it,” said Anila Jacob, M.D., EWG senior scientist and co-author of the report. “This time we discovered BPA, among other dangerous substances, in almost every infant’s cord blood we tested.”
While BPA has been pulled from almost all baby products, it’s still found in products ADULTS use, such as the lining of canned foods.
Do you only buy products labeled BPA-free? Do you think we should be worried about this?
Comment by Kendall Massett on Dec 08 2009 03:14:56:
While the existence of this harmful product in cord blood is something I believe should be looked further into, I would love to see a story on the incredible benefits of this life saving resource (cord blood) that is sadly thrown away about 90% of the time. The stem cells in umbilical cord blood can be used to treat and in some cases, cure, over 70 different diseases! This medical waste is truly life-saving! Many parents actually have the option to donate their baby’s cord blood for free to be put on a national registry – they can provide hope to another family by deciding to donate something that is just going to be thrown away!
Comment by Amanda on Dec 08 2009 03:44:21:
Cord blood is awesome! I tried to donate my son’s and after having my Dr. fill out the paper work I was told our blood wasn’t needed. It was by then too late to find another company. There needs to be more reasources to tell people where to go to donate these amazing cells.
Comment by Caren Begun on Dec 08 2009 03:07:24:
As a parent who stored her child’s cord blood, I have great concern based on this preliminary research and its validity and; therefore, wonder about the safety of my daughter’s cord blood. You can be sure I will be staying on top of this story.
Comment by LisaatEWG on Dec 09 2009 04:22:32:
Thanks for sharing our new cord blood research. This is EWG’s 11th bio-monitoring study. For those interested in our methods and procedures, you can download the full report and see Appendix A (http://www.ewg.org/minoritycordblood/fullreport). We follow all accepted testing protocols. The CDC does do biomonitoring tests but not in the 0-5 YO range, so our testing adds to the bosy of knowledge. If you have any questions, we have a very active Facebook page where you can post them: http://bit.ly/72cDrN. Also with this report we created a Healthy Pregnancy Tips guide so moms-to-be can proactively reduce their chemical exposures – it’s here: http://bit.ly/8ojk1x.
Again, thanks for sharing this information with your readers; it’s important that women know about the issue and how to protect themselves and their babies.
Best, Lisa Frack, EWG