Lead in Children's Vitamins Follow Up

I just posted a follow up article about lead in children's vitamins, and my search for one that is "most likely to be lead free." In addition to the suggested steps for how to select a safer vitamin, there is a link to a mama blogger who has spent some time digging around this issue. Check it out, and I hope it answers some of the questions I have received via email. But I'm not completely satisfied about this issue, so I will keep looking. And for my girls, if they have a really bad food day I will give them some of the Yummi Bears that I have. I'm not happy that they contain lead but it is the best I can do right now until I find another option.

I did hear back from Hero today (many of you were curious about in the comments). Here's what they had to say about the lead in their Yummi Bears:

"Lead is found in organic matters, and there are small traces of lead in Hero vitamins as with many other vitamins that are sold in the US.

In 2007, a study on the lead content in 324 children vitamins was done by the FDA, including Hero Yummi Bears the data showed that the lead exposures for all the products were below the PTTI (provisional total tolerable intake) levels for children. We believe that our Products are safe for children. Please feel free to contact us with any other questions that you may have."

A pretty emotionless, standard response. I'm not comforted much, but I am not freaking out, either.

For more on this issue, check out my post at Eco-Child's Play. I'll also repost it here later this week.

Image: Children's Chewable Vitamins by naotoj on Flickr

Generation Rx: An Assault on the Medicating of Children and the Pharmaceutical Companies Who Profit

It is with great trepidation that I finally watched Generation Rx. The cover is chilling enough alone. I can barely look at the DVD box without quaking in my boots. And I know the topic is serious and scary and worth my time and energy learning about- as a mother, a teacher, and the daughter of pharmacy owners.

But that didn't make it easy.

In fact, it made it so difficult to watch. This move hits you over the head with what it calls the fraud perpetrated on the American people by the massive and profit seeking drug companies. They are likened to marketers that go after that untapped and defenseless audience: children. And do they go after it. The movie shows in a series of documents and interviews with doctors that the drug companies were looking to expand their market. The result? ADD, and its predecessor, ADHD.

I'm not saying I sign on to this philosophy wholeheartedly. As a teacher, I've seen students who are classic cases of ADD, and who benefit from some sort of accommodations that may or may not include medication. But this film presents compelling and enduring questions we must ask ourselves about medicating children when there is no documented benefit (according to the film) and potential long term damage done to the developing brains of children.

The stories of children taking Prozac and committing suicide were so haunting, horrifying, and deeply upsetting, and the efforts to hide the studies that show this link are appalling. The stories of the men and women who suffered unimaginable loss, fear and violent thoughts were victims. And they should have been heard long before this film.

This film presents a pressing and important moral issue we need to deal with as a society. As pointed out in the film, this should be obvious: the people who make drugs should be completely separate from those who test them for safety!

I encourage all parents to see this film, especially if you teach, work with any children who suffer from ADHD or ADD, or believe your children may have these conditions. I do not claim to be an expert on this issue, but the perspectives, voices, and research presented in this film need to be heard loud and clear.

Non-Toxic Kids' readers get 25 percent off this film! Just add this code when checking out at the above link: XCJFXX.

Article Reflects Complexity of Lead Safety Law (CPSIA Delay, Effects on Small Businesses, Thrift Stores and Parents)

The CPSC reform act has turned into a complicated mess for many parents and small business owners. I've been covering this for the last year, and have felt conflicted myself. I want lead safety standards. A full ban of any lead in any children's product. I want everyone to follow them. But I am saddened that small mama owned businesses could be put out of work by a law that was supposed to protect us from the China made mega corporate toys that were the root of all the recalls and lead in the first place. Small scale operations can't afford to test for lead, and I have deep empathy for them.

Here's an article that reflects the complexity, and the differing perspectives on this law. There is a lot of work to be done in the coming year where the CPSC "requires" that manufacturers meet the new ban on lead and phthalates even though they won't enforce it. What do you think? Where do you fall on this issue?

Weekend News Round Up (New Risk Factors for Asthma, Court Rules Vaccines Not to Blame for Autism)

A few interesting stories came across my desk this weekend. First off, a new study that explains why the asthma rates in the U.S. have risen so dramatically in recent years. In addition to the hygiene hypothesis (that wealthy, developed countries have higher rates of asthma and allergy due to the bodies' lack of exposure to bacteria, parasites, and viruses), 3 new risk factors were indicated as increasing the likelihood of asthma in children and adults.

Interestingly (and to me not surprising), the use of spray cleaners and air fresheners is one of the newly noted risk factors in the development of asthma.

According to the article, "The concern with household cleaners is that the spray mist can be inhaled and irritate the lungs, increasing risk for asthma. The biggest culprits appear to be glass cleaners and air fresheners. A major European study of cleaning product use in 10 countries found that people who used the cleaners four days a week faced double the risk of adult asthma. Weekly use increased risk by 50 percent. Australian researchers have also found a link with household cleaning sprays and asthma in children." Bold added by me.

Tips include, of course, not using chemical laden spray cleaners and air fresheners.

A more surprising factor was a lack of vitamin D. Back a few months ago this got my attention, especially in dark, cold and sunless Vermont in winter. I was giving my girls vitamins, but that was until I discovered they contained lead. So now what, lead or vitamin D?

From the article, "We hypothesize that as populations grow more prosperous, more time is spent indoors, and there is less exposure to sunlight, leading to decreased cutaneous vitamin D production. Coupled with inadequate intake from foods and supplements, this then leads to vitamin D deficiency, particularly in pregnant women, resulting in more asthma and allergy in their offspring."

Okay, so maybe my lack of vitamin D while pregnant caused my daughter's severe nut allergy? Yikes, more mommy guilt! I was just able to let go of the correlation between eating nuts while pregnant and nut allergies.

Also surprising was the other risk factor that the use of acetaminophen increased the asthma. Check out this eye opening quote, "In a study of more than 200,000 6- and 7-year-olds, use of acetaminophen in the first year of life was associated with a 46 percent increase in prevalence of asthma symptoms. Children using higher doses of acetaminophen had three times the risk of asthma." Isn't tylenol supposed to be the most mild pain reliever?

And on to more controversial news. Here is an article from MSNBC about the possible link between autism and vaccines. A special federal court ruled after extensive review of the current studies and literature that there is no link.

According to the article, "The special masters who decided the case expressed sympathy for the families, some of whom have made emotional pleas describing their children’s conditions, but the rulings were blunt: There’s little if any evidence to support claims of a vaccine-autism link.

The evidence “is weak, contradictory and unpersuasive,” concluded Special Master Denise Vowell. “Sadly, the petitioners in this litigation have been the victims of bad science conducted to support litigation rather than to advance medical and scientific understanding” of autism."

That is a strong statement, sure to generate much controversy in the parent world. Readers, what do you think of all this news?

image: Newspaper by just.Luc on Flickr