AAIDD ENVIRO-Resources

AAIDD launched an environmental health initiative designed to promote good health and reduce disability by forging ground breaking partnerships among the developmental disabilities networks and the environmental health communities. The goals of this unique collaboration are to:

• Raise awareness about the complex links between exposure to neurotoxic chemicals and developmental disabilities, and
• Raise awareness that those living with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities may be at greater risk of secondary health effects from toxic exposures than individuals without disabilities.

The initiative began in July 2003 when AAIDD convened a Summit where leaders from academia, environmental health disciplines, disability services, special education, public policy and the self-advocacy network framed a national action blueprint. This framework is designed to achieve effective collaboration among network partners and has extensive recommendations for action pertaining to education, outreach, training, legislation, policy, and research.

AAIDD has established an expert Advisory Board and three workgroups to put these policy, research, and educational recommendations into action. The working groups are comprised of AAIDD members, developmental and learning disabilities professionals, environmental health experts, individuals with disabilities and state and local government association members. This includes scientists, researchers, toxicologists, nurses, self-advocates and many others to collaborate their expertise and passion to move this environmental health promotion and disability agenda forward!

AAIDD now has a position statement that outlines our Environmental Health Initiative, and we encourage organizations, professionals, community members, legislators, and any interested parties in signing-on. To read about the position statement, click here. Contact Laura Abulafia at Laura@aaidd.org if you wish to sign-on.

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Causes Unknown

Although there is little doubt that many aspects of learning and development are genetically influenced, for the vast majority of these disorders there is no evidence that genetic factors are the predominant cause. In fact, the few syndromes that appear to be exclusively genetic are rare.

Developmental disability can be the result of any one of many factors, or a combination of multiple factors. In fact, as much as 50 percent of all cases of mental retardation have more than one underlying cause. Furthermore, for a third of all the cases of mental retardation, the cause is still unknown.

We believe that we can no longer ignore the mounting evidence that chemical exposures are contributing substantially to the epidemic of developmental disabilities.

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Developmental Disabilities

Neurodevelopmental disabilities are widespread, and chemical exposures are important and preventable contributors to these conditions.

The term "Developmental Disabilities" can be used to describe any number of disabilities that interrupt natural brain development, begin in childhood, and are life-long. Disabilities may affect a person's ability to speak, learn, make decisions, understand language, or take care of oneself.

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Economic Costs

The consequences of developmental disabilities can be tragic and expensive. The familial, societal and economic costs are immense, and the disabilities are usually life-long. For instance, special education services to all students with disabilities costs $77.3 billion per year.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) estimates that 25 percent of developmental and neurological deficits in children are due to the interplay between chemicals and genetic factors and that 3% are caused by exposure to chemicals alone. The NAS estimates that costs due to environmental factors could be anywhere from $4.6¨C$18.4 billion per year.

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Chemical Exposures

Toxins in the environment are an important concern for persons with developmental disabilities. Sometimes developmental disabilities are specifically caused by exposure to toxins prior to birth or during childhood. Others born with disabilities may suffer additional secondary health effects that further impact optimal functioning.

Vast quantities of neurotoxic chemicals are released into the environment each year. Of the top 20 chemicals reported by the Toxics Release Inventory in 1997, nearly three-quarters are known or suspected neurotoxicants. They include methanol, ammonia, manganese, toluene, phosphoric acid, xylene, n-hexane, chlorine, methyl ethyl ketone, carbon disulfide lead and glycol ethers.

The current, limited understanding of chemical neurotoxicity potential has one particularly unsettling implication: What we already know about neurodevelopmental toxic threats to the fetus, child and those living with disabilities is likely to be only the tip of the iceberg.

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Linking Toxic Exposures with Developmental Disabilities

The connection between toxic environmental exposures and neurodevelopment is an emerging area of concern. An estimated 12 million children (17 percent) have one or more learning, developmental, or behavioral disability and these numbers appear to be increasing. Mental retardation alone affects 1.4 million children. Exposures to environmental toxins such as lead, mercury, PCBs, alcohol, toluene and tobacco have all been proven to cause permanent developmental disabilities.

Other toxic exposures such as pesticides, solvents, flame retardants, plastics, and heavy metals such as cadmium and excessive manganese, similarly disrupt brain development. The cause of the increase in developmental disabilities is unknown, yet the latest science and research efforts are beginning to implicate the more than 80,000 chemicals that have been introduced into the environment over the past 40 years. This initiative is raising awareness of the links between disabilities and toxic exposures, calling for needed research to clarify these associations, and progressive policies to address the issue.

Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units – a Resource for the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Community
Jerome A. Paulson, MD, FAAP
Tuesday, December 9 2008 from 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Environmental Impacts on Neurodevelopment, A Case Study from Ecuador
Alexis Jeannine Handal, PhD MPH
Department of Family and Community Medicine University of New Mexico
Tuesday, February 10 2009 from 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Indoor Air Quality and Health, Part II
Howard Brightman, ScD, PE, CIH
In place of Jack Spengler, Ph.D., Akira Yamaguchi Professor of Environmental Health and Human Habitation in the Harvard School of Public Health's Department of Environmental Health
Tuesday, March 9 2009 from 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Past Teleconferences

Environmental Contaminants and ADHD
Daniel A. Axelrad
Tuesday, October 7 from 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Children's Health and Environmental Pesticide Exposures
Elizabeth A. Guillette
Research Scientist in Anthropology at the University of Florida
Tuesday, September 9 from 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Tracey Woodruff
Scientist and Policy Analyst, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Tuesday August 5 from 2:00-3:00 pm ET

LDDI Scientific Consensus Statement
Steven Gilbert, PhD, DABT
Tuesday, July 8 from 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Asthma in School Environments for Students and Staff
Tolle Graham, Healthy Schools Coordinator
Elise Pechter, MPH, CIH, Industrial Hygienist Occupational Health Surveillance Program
Tuesday, June 17 from 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Lead Exposure and Developmental Disabilities
Jay S. Schneider, Ph.D.
Professor, Dept. of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology
Director: Parkinson's Disease Research Unit Thomas Jefferson University
Tuesday, April 8, 2008 from 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Environmental Injustice: Focus on Pediatric Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Lawrence D. Rosen, MD
Chair, Integrative Pediatrics Council
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 from 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Indoor Air Quality and Health, Part I
Jack Spengler, Ph.D.
Akira Yamaguchi Professor of Environmental Health and Human Habitation in the Harvard School of Public Health's Department of Environmental Health
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 from 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Cleaning for Health in New England Schools
Carol Westinghouse, specialist in Cleaning for Health programs and in the environmentally preferable purchasing of institutional cleaning products
Tuesday, January 8, 2008 from 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Environmental Health in School Settings
Stacey Gonzalez, Campaign Coordinator at the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ)
Tuesday, November 6, 2007 from 2:00-3:00 pm EST

Protecting Children's Health at School
Claire Barnett, MBA, Executive Director of the Healthy Schools Network
Kim Voss, Parent
Tuesday, October 9, 2007 from 2:00-3:00 pm EST

National Birth Defect Registry: Collecting Data That Potentially Links Environmental Exposures to Clusters of Birth Defects
Betty Mekdeci, Founder of Birth Defects Research for Children
Tuesday, September 11, 2007 from 2:00-3:00 pm EST

Detecting the Impact of Ethanol on the Fetus and Understanding its Underlying Mechanism
Cynthia F. Bearer, MD, PhD
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 from 2:00-3:00 pm EST

SAFER: State Alliance for Federal Reform of Chemicals Policy
Ted Schettler, MD, MPH
Sarah Doll, SAFER national coordinator
Tuesday, June 12, 2007 from 2:00-3:00 pm EST

Environmental Health Risks in Community Based Residential Settings
Allison Del Bene Davis, PhD, RN
Tuesday, April 10, 2007 from 2:00 - 3:00 pm EST

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and the Developing Fetus: Links to Developmental Disabilities
Ann Streissguth, PhD
Tuesday, March 13, 2007 from 2:00 - 3:00 pm EST

Lessons about Toxic Chemical Exposures from Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Carolyn Graff, PhD, RN
Tuesday, February 13, 2007 from 2:00 - 3:00 pm EST

Reducing Neurotoxicity Exposure: The Dioxin Story
Robert Lawrence, MD
Tuesday, January 16, 2007 from 2:00 - 3:00 pm EST

Lead Exposure and Schizophrenia: Possible Connections?
Mark Opler, PhD, MPH
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 from 2:00 - 3:00 pm EST

Environmental Health for Nurses
Barbara Sattler RN, DrPH, FAAN
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 from 2:00 - 3:00 pm EST

Nicotine, Tobacco and Brain Damage, From the Fetus to the Adolescent:
Finding the Smoking Gun
Theodore A. Slotkin, Ph.D.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 from 2:00 - 3:00 pm EST

Mercury Exposure and Mental Retardation
Dr. Leo Trasande, MD, MPP
Tuesday, September 12, 2006 @ 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EST

"Self-Advocates Take Action on Environmental Health"
Bill DuSold, Chester Finn, and Joe Meadours
Friday, June 9, 2006 @ 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. EST

"Low-Level Lead Toxicity: The Ongoing Search for a Threshold"
Dr. Bruce Lanphear
Wednesday, April 19, 2006 @ 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EST

"Interpreting Trace Element Analyses: Clinical Investigations of Neurotoxicity"
Tee L. Guidotti, MD, MPH
Wednesday, March 29, 2006 @ 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EST

"How Exposure to Common Pesticides Can Damage the Developing Brain: Lessons Learned from Chlorpyrifos and the Organophosphates"
Theodore A. Slotkin, Ph.D.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006 @ 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EST

"Similarities and Differences between Thimerosal Mercury and Methylmercury"
Thomas Burbacher, Ph.D.
Wednesday, December 7, 2005 @ 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EST
Materials coming December 5, 2005.

"Prenatal and Postnatal Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: What Do We Know About the Effects of this Common Exposure for Children?"
Kimberly Yolton, Ph.D.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005 @ 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EST

"Environmental contaminants and IQ: What is Dangerous to the Developing and Mature Brain, and How Do They Act?"
David O. Carpenter, MD
Wednesday, September 28, 2005 @ 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EST

"A Vulnerable Population: Toxic Exposures and the DD Community"
Allison Del Bene Davis, MS, RN, The Arc of Anne Arundel County
July 13, 2005 @ 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EDT

"Preventing Harm at School"
Claire Barnett, MBA, Executive Director of the Healthy Schools Network
June 15, 2005 @ 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EDT

"What's the Connection? Chemical Exposures and Developmental Disabilities"
David Wallinga, MD
Wednesday, May 25, 2005 @ 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EDT

Food for Thought -- and School Board Action

by Rochelle Davis, HSC Founding Executive Director 6 17 08

I couldn’t have said it better.

The June 08 issue of American Schools, the monthly publication of the American School Board Association, focuses on school food. One of the articles, “Children’s Nutrition is a Governance Issue” is written by David Tokofsky, a former teacher, Los Angeles Unified School board member and board member of the California School Boards Association. The article encourages school board members to give serious attention to their district’s school food program because of the important role that nutrition can play in a child’s performance at school.

He points out that schools seem to acknowledge the importance of breakfast, as many school districts offer breakfast on test days. He asks his readers, “What about non-test days when the children are expected to learn the information for the test?” (This reminds me of HSC wellness director Jean Saunders’ blog on test-day snacks.)

He also makes the point that a board’s key responsibility is as custodian of public money. This fiduciary responsibility requires school board members to understand the school food budget and review the operations of the school’s food program with thoroughness and care.

I was especially pleased that Mr. Tokofsky recognized the importance of school food staff. He suggests that a well-paid and well-trained staff is an important element to a successful school food program.

“It is not surprising when well-trained employees with a sense of ownership about their work actually reduce costs,” he writes.

Thank you, Mr. Tokofsky, for providing such good food for thought.

What Dog Walkers Should Know About Golf Courses

A neighborhood dog walker writes: "June 10, about 7am, one of the golf course employees drove by in a tractor which was pulling a spreader. He stopped the rig and told me that he was spreading fertilizer and Merit insecticide. According to him, dogs pads can absorb this, it lasts quite a while in the soil, but gets incorporated into the soil after the first inch of rain...."

From Ellie Goldberg, 617 965-9637

Below are some resources for you to read about Golf Courses and the insecticide Merit. Feel free to forward it to friends, neighbors and other dog lovers.

I believe golf courses should be required to give this information to anyone who uses golf courses, who live near golf courses, has access to golf courses (kids, dogs, etc.) , etc. (Especially in areas with elevated cancer rates such as Newton.)

(I also think there should have been a broad public notice when the Newton Parks Department used Trimec Plus on city fields.)

I recommend going to the GreenCAP webpages for the Pesticide Primer for basic concepts before reading the fact sheets. http://www.greendecade.org/greenCap_primer.html

You might also enjoy this videopodcasts: The Truth about Cats, Dogs & Lawn Chemicals http://catsdogslawnsvlog.blogspot.com/

1) GreenCAP, The Green Decade Coalition/Newton's Committee for Alternatives to Pesticides

2) JOURNAL OF PESTICIDE REFORM/ SPRING 2001 • VOL. 21, NO. 1 15 l I N S E C T I C I D E F A C T S H E E T Imidacloprid http://www.pesticide.org/imidacloprid.pdf

3) From Beyond Pesticides Gateway: http://www.beyondpesticides.org/gateway/index.htm

Imidacloprid Chloro-nicotinyl insecticide
(see product names)

Agriculture
Toxic
See chart
Extoxnet, PAN-UK, NCAP, NPIC, PAN

4) Toxic Fairways: Risking Groundwater Contamination From Pesticides ...The Attorney General's survey of pesticides used on Long Island golf courses .... (3) The actual rate of golf course pesticide use may be much higher than ...

5) Golf and the Environment Beyond Pesticides' work on golf and the environment continues to be an important strategy for outreach to the land area with one of the most highly concentrated per acre use of pesticides. The extensive use of pesticides on golf courses raises serious questions about people's toxic exposure, drift over neighboring communities, water contamination, and effects on wildlife and sensitive ecosystems.

Beyond Pesticides serves on a steering committee that seeks to develop a collaborative strategy with the golf course industry in an effort to effect change. This group developed the Environmental Principles for Golf and the Environment. Increasingly, players and golf course managers are asking the right questions and looking for answers that result in meaningful reductions in pesticide use.

In what it calls the most important article it has ever published, Golf Digest in its May 2008 issue (pp 196-232) published an article, "How Green is Golf?," which asks the hard questions about the environmental impact of golf in a series of in-depth interviews, including a builder, golf course superintendent, regulator, environmentalist and activist - Beyond Pesticides executive director, Jay Feldman (read Jay's interview).

The article spans a range of opinions on water usage, pesticide contamination, and management practices, with general agreement that golfer expectations and management practices must move and are moving in an environmental direction, citing important ways in which attitudes and understanding must change.

Read about this article on Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog, "Experts Discuss the Greening of Golf Courses," April 17, 2008.

Trimec Plus

For references on TRIMEC PLUS, the herbide used by the City of Newton on sports fields, the week of April 18, 2008 click < here >. Also find additional references on the hazards of herbicides, the importance of protecting children from exposure, and the benefits of safe ecological approaches to turf management, weed and insect control.