Recent research shows that cadmium could very well be more dangerous to children’s health than lead. While heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, and mercury are often the first to pop up when discussing or thinking about heavy metals and human health, cadmium remains the lesser mentioned metal compromising the health of many — especially children. Current and future research will likely continue to make the dangers of cadmium more well known.

Is Cadmium More Dangerous for Children than Lead?

The study, led by Harvard University researchers, found that children with higher cadmium levels are three times as likely to have learning disabilities than those with lower levels. Study’s senior author Dr. Robert Wright explains:

“One of the important points of the study is that we didn’t study a population of kids who had very high exposures. We studied a population representative of the U.S. That we found any [effect] suggests this is occurring at relatively low levels…It does certainly point to the fact that we need more attention paid to the neurotoxic effects of cadmium in children”

A total of 2,199 children between the ages 6 and 15 were included in the study, with 12.6 percent of them having a learning disability and 10.5 percent being enrolled in special education classes. Those with the highest cadmium levels were 3.21 times more likely to have a learning disability than children less exposed.

Although cadmium is naturally found in much of the soil across the U.S., the heavy metal is also released by battery manufacturers, smelters, electroplating plants, and other industries. Cadmium is also present in inexpensive jewelry for kids. In 2010 the Associated Press tested children’s jewelry manufactured in China and found levels of cadmium, prompting store recalls. Canada also made the decision to crack down on cadmium in 2011, following tests performed in October of 2010 that found high concentrations of cadmium in some children’s jewelry sold in Canadian stores.

While there needs to be more research on the dangers of cadmium, past studies are collectively very consistent in showing how cadmium is a dangerous neurotoxin. High levels of exposure can lead to neurological problems as well as mental retardation and decreased IQ in children. The scientists highly recommend that the government re-evaluate cadmium’s place in society by instituting stricter rules for cadmium in food, soil, workplaces, and consumer products.

There have been numerous studies highlighting the adverse effects of water fluoridation and other drinking water contaminants, but a slew of new scientific findings have sparked even more opposition to these chemicals than ever before. Most shockingly, a study has even linked fluoride to lower IQ in children. In the same vein, deadly carcinogens have been found in cities across the United States. Hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium-6, is a deadly carcinogen that was found in the drinking water of 31 U.S. cities. With the surge of new information exposing our drinking water as toxic sludge, a question arises. Could this information put a stop to the pollution and fluoridation of the public water supply?

Fluoride is added to 70% of the U.S. water supply. Kids who drink this water suffer from decreased cognitive function, according to research published in Environmental Health Perspectives, a publication of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The study followed 512 children between the ages 8 and 13, with varying degrees of fluoride exposure. One group lived in a Chinese village with high fluoride levels, and the other in a Chinese village with low fluoride levels. The scientists conducting the study even eliminated other variables that may have affected brain health, such as iodine deficiency and lead exposure. With these variables eliminated, researchers found that the number of intelligent children in the village with low fluoride levels was 350 percent higher than those in the high fluoride village. Even more disturbing, 15% of the highly fluoridated children scored low enough to indicate mental retardation, verses 6% in the other village.

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/030948_fluoride_water.html#ixzz1iAqmcQeG

Processed foods are the staple of far too many diets, particularly in the United States where 105 million people have either diabetes or prediabetes. These processed foods are filled with white sugar, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), aspartame, artificial food colorings, and a wide variety of other toxic substances. Is it any wonder that children are suffering from IQ reduction upon introducing processed foods into their diet?

British researchers have uncovered the connection between processed foods and reduced IQ. They followed what 14,000 children ate and drank at the ages of 3, 4, 7, and 8.5 years of age, with answers submitted via parents through questionnaires. The researchers found that if children were consuming a processed diet at age 3, IQ decline could begin over the next five years. The study found that by age 8, the children had suffered the IQ decline.

On the contrary, children who ate a nutrient-rich diet were found to increase their IQ over the 3 year period. The foods considered nutrient-rich by the researchers were most likely conventional fruits and vegetables. If children were to eat a wide variety of organic produce, superfoods, mineral-rich plants, and perhaps even consume a food-based multivitamin, the researchers would most likely see a substantial IQ increase. This eating plan would also benefit the children — or even adults — in other aspects of their lives as well, such as better overall health & well-being.

Processed foods have been known to wreak havoc on the body for quite some time. Here are but a few processed food additives taken from the Identifying Toxic Additives page, with a number of informative articles regarding each:

Genetically Modified Food (GMO)

• How to Know if Your Food Is Conventional, Organic, or Genetically Modified
• Study Proves Three Monsanto GM Corn Varieties Pose Health Hazard
• Genetically Modified Soy Linked to Sterility and Infant Mortality
• Killing the Food Supply: The Dangers of Genetically Modified Food
• Genetically Modified Salmon Threatens Health, Environment
• As Predicted, FDA Will Not Require Labeling of GM Salmon

High-Fructose Corn Syrup

• Labeling Deception: Manufacturers Rename “Corn Syrup” to “Corn Sugar” to Trick Consumers
• Princeton Researchers Find that High-Fructose Corn Syrup Leads to Weight Gain
• High Fructose Corn Syrup Promotes Obesity and Liver Damage
• High-Fructose Corn Syrup Alters Human Metabolism
• Many “All Natural” Foods Are Actually Heavily Processed

Aspartame

• Aspartame is Made with Genetically Modified Bacteria
• Aspartame: A Toxic Consumption
• Aspartame Linked with Premature Delivery
• Aspartame Alert: Diet Soda Destroys Kidney Function
  

The United States government finally acknowledged the harmful effects that fluoride has on the body, and recommends that water fluoridation levels be decreased nationwide.

Water fluoridation has been in effect in the United States for over 65 years. The U.S. government began putting fluoride in the public water supply claiming that it would prevent tooth decay. Over the years, thanks to various studies and public officials speaking out,  the negative effects of fluoride have finally come to light. The United States government, prior to today, denied the link between increased fluoride levels and disease. The game changer, however, was the major study out of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, found that increased fluoride consumption led to decreased IQ in children.

Since 1962 the government has recommended fluoride levels between 0.7 and 1.2 milligrams per liter in the nations drinking water. Ever since then, fluoride has been praised for it’s alleged power to prevent tooth decay. Research, however, has shifted the national outlook on fluoride. Even in calling for the reduction of fluoride in the water, the government does not discuss the major findings. Instead, it focuses on a smaller symptom of fluoride consumption – damage to children’s teeth. The very substance that is supposed to lead to greater tooth health is leading to teeth damage. According to the government, fluoride in drinking water should be reduced because of the damage it is causing to childrens’ teeth, not the link between fluoride and decreased IQ in children.

Over 72 percent of Americans drink water treated with fluoride. A large majority of the nation has been consuming fluoride, now found to be a poison, for years. Even if fluoride was beneficial to teeth, the damage it does to the body would logically be a priority over increase tooth health. While the government reducing fluoride in the water is a step in the right direction, fluoride should be completely abolished from the water supply, as New York officials have been calling for.

A recent study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, a publication of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, has linked fluoride consumption with a decreased IQ in children. While the media acts like this is one of a kind, this is not the first study to link fluoride to diminished IQ in children.

Over 24 other studies before this have unanimously concluded that fluoride negatively impacts cognitive function. In addition to these 24 studies focusing on cognition, over 100 animal studies have linked fluoride to an increase in male infertility, diabetes, and a whole host of other health problems.

The difference between past studies and this new study is that key variables were able to be controlled. The results from this study showed that 28% of the children who lived in an area where fluoride levels were low achieved the highest test scores. This means that the children exposed to less fluoride scored normal or advanced, while only 8% of fluoridated children did the same. Even more disturbing, 15% of the fluoridated children scored low enough to indicate mental retardation. In contrast, only 6% had scores indicating mental retardation in the area with low levels of fluoridation.

Fluoride has been known to be a poisonous chemical for years. Despite all of the evidence linking fluoride to serious health conditions, the FDA deems it necessary to put in the water for its teeth strengthening effects. Even the mainstream media has questioned its impact on tooth decay, with studies questioning its effectiveness. While the argument for fluoride typically revolves around preventing tooth decay, why would it need to be ingested via our water supply? If anything, it should only be used topically, which is still questionable.

Unfortunately, fluoride isn’t the only harmful chemical that can be found in the water we drink, cook with, clean with, and bathe in. Lead, arsenic, radon, birth control, manganese, and other carcinogenic chemicals have also been found in the water supply.

Researchers in Quebec found that manganese is also responsible for lowering IQ in children. Together, manganese and fluoride can both wreak havoc on mental dexterity. Adding fuel to the fire, hexavalent chromium, a deadly carcinogen, has been found in the water of 31 U.S. cities out of 35 tested.

The FDA achieved great success by tricking the public into thinking that certain poisonous compounds are actually beneficial to health. More nefariously, they have also done a fantastic job cloaking the truth regarding these toxic chemicals. As more studies continuously link water pollutants with degenerative health conditions, the truth will continue to come out. Only through educating the public can water fluoridation be reversed.

Additional Sources:

1. Cheng YX, IQ of children in areas of high fluorine content, Chinese Journal of Control of Endemic Diseases, Supplement 1991.
2. J Epidemiol (CL8), 1996 Dec; 6 (4): 184-91
3. Chrischilles E, Shireman T, Wallace R. Costs and health effects of osteoporotic fractures. Bone 1994;15:377-386.
4. Dambacher MA, Ittner J, Ruegsegger P. Long-term fluoride therapy of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Bone 1986;7:199-205.
5. Riggs BL, Hodson SF, OFallon WM, et al. Effect of fluoride treatment on the fracture rate in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. NEJM 1990;322:802-809.
6. Kleerkoper ME, Peterson E, Phillips E, et al. Continuous sodium fluoride therapy does not reduce vertebral fracture rate in postmenopausal osteoporosis (abstract) J Bone Miner Res 1989; Res 4 [Suppl]:S376.
7. Hedlund LR, Gallagher JC. Increased incidence of hip fracture in osteoporotic women treated with sodium fluoride. J Bone Miner Res 1989;4:223-225.
8. Avioli LV. Fluoride treatment of osteoporosis. Postgrad Med: a special report, 14 Sept 1987:26-27.