Children as Canaries in Mines

Dear Friends,

Remember a couple of emails ago we sited frogs as being the canary in the mine? The common herbacide, atrazine, causes hermaphroditism 100% of the time when exposedto even very small dosages. Atrazine stimulates an enzyme called aromatase, which converts the male hormone testosterone into the female hormone estrogen.

In the U.S. today, we use an astounding 2.2billion pounds of pesticides a year.
That is thirty times more pesticides than our great grand parents used in 1945. Some estimates say that 90% of American homes use pesticides. They are certainly common in homes, schools, daycare centers, parks, and virtually every place with a little grass or vegetation. The most common types are neurotoxic, and because of a child’s lower weight, more rapid breathing and increased hand-to-mouth behavior, their exposure to toxins far exceeds that of an adult. Our children are the canary.

Lets take a look at how chemicals and pollution affect our children:

• Neuroblastoma, a form of childhood cancer, accounts for 10% of all childhood cancers and it has been linked to pesticide exposure. A study in 2001 reported that using pesticides in and around the home increased children’s risk of developing neuroblastoma by 60%.

• In 1998 The American Journal of Industrial Medicine published the result of an analysis of five previous studies showing that women exposed to organic solvents during pregnancy have an increased risk of giving birth to a baby with a major birth defect by 64%. The analysis took place 11 years ago—how many more chemicals are we using today?

• A recent study in JAMA found that women exposed to toxins during pregnancy had a 13 fold increased risk of giving birth to a child with a major birth defect, including heart valve defects, micro-penis, deafness, kidney defect, low birth weight and soft cartilage in the larynx.

• Small amounts of bisphenol A (BPA) can damage cells, causing them to become
more subject to aneuploidy, a condition that causes birth defects in children. The most common form of meiotic aneuploidy in live-born humans is trisomy 21, found in Down syndrome. Trisomy meaning three copies instead of two of chromosome 21. See the karyotype below, with the twenty-two pairs of chromosomes arranged from the largest to smallest. The 23rd pair being the sex chromosomes.

• Six billion pounds of BPA are made each year. It is the backbone of polycarbonate plastic used for reusable food and beverage containers, and is used also as an epoxy resin that lines most metal food cans. BPA leaches from containers into our food and beverages and virtually everyone in the developed world is exposed to this chemical. Nearly all of us have blood levels of BPA within the range that is predicted to be biologically active.

• BPA causes increases in breast and prostate cancer, increases in urogenital abnormalities in male babies, a decline in semen quality in men, early onset of puberty in girls, metabolic disorders including Type 2 diabetes and obesity, and ADHD.

• Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers, a chemical cousin to PCBs, is a flame retardant added to mattresses, carpet paddings, vehicle upholstery and electronics. In test animals PBDEs cause thyroid hormone disruption, permanent learning and memory impairment, behavioral changes, hearing deficits, delayed puberty onset, decreased sperm count and fetal malformations. It is stored in fatty tissue and can be passed on to fetuses and infants during pregnancy and lactation.

We have just looked at three categories of de-evolutionary pollutant: pesticides, organic solvents and plastics, and it is just the tip of the iceberg. The assault of toxic chemical, heavy metals, herbacides, and pesticides is impacting children’s bodies. Conditions such as hormone disruption or neurological symptoms are the very signs and indication of the de-evolutionary process. At the end of the day, when we speak of de-evolution, we are taking in account the evolution or de-evolutionof the whole biosphere. The evolutionary process has led us to the mammals and human species, whereas the de-evolutionary process is taking us backward in the direction of simpler forms of life by the elimination of the higher forms. Evolution is the forward movement of any species; getting stronger and more able to survive, improving the ability to produce vibrant, smarter offspring, with enhanced attributes; physically and mentally. We can see this process happening to “Super bugs”; their offspring are able to survive tougher conditions. Our children on the other hand, are experiencing a pandemic of chronic illness, impaired neurological functions and a host of complicated maladies. The planet is not a hospitable environment for our children to thrive and flourish in any more. We need a planet wide “make-over”.

Sincerely yours,

Seann Bardell

BioImmersion.com

Clinical Note: There is no such a thing as a neutral existence on earth: we either thrive or we decay. We either evolve or we de-evolve, depending on the conditions around us and within us. The Therapeutic Foods Line is foundational for turning the body back into a repair and healing mode, awakening the body’s natural responses to do the functions it needs to do for survival. Start your child’s day with a Triple Berry to protect the brain and the microbiome, neutralize free radicals, add the Cruciferous Sprouts Complex three times a week to clean and detoxify the blood and liver.

The Therapeutic Food Platform Webinar- join us. Each Thursday and Friday at 9:30 am and again at 12:30 pm (PST) we present a half-hour overview of the Therapeutic Foods, how they are produced, foundational protocols and synergistic combinations. It is a great practical overview! Simply call or email us as to the session you would like to attend and we will email you the link.

The Last Quiz Answer: Did you guess Bifidobacterium? Good job. There are more than twenty-five recognized species of Bifidobacterium although only about ten are ordinarily used  commercially as probiotics. These include: Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium adolescentis, Bifidobacterium breve, Bifidobacterium infantis, Bifidobacterium lactis and Bifidobacterium longum. Bifidobacteria are gram positive, non-motile, non-sporing rods with a high G+ C content (55% to 67 mol%).