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October 25, 2024 Health Conditions

Children’s Health News Watch

EPA Imposes Stricter Standards to Protect Children From Exposure to Lead Paint + More

The Defender’s Children’s Health NewsWatch delivers the latest headlines related to children’s health and well-being, including the toxic effects of vaccines, drugs, chemicals, heavy metals, electromagnetic radiation and other toxins and the emotional risks associated with excessive use of social media and other online activities. The views expressed by other news sources cited here do not necessarily reflect the views of The Defender. Our goal is to provide readers with breaking news about children’s health.

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EPA Imposes Stricter Standards to Protect Children From Exposure to Lead Paint

ABC News reported:

Two weeks after setting a nationwide deadline for removal of lead pipes, the Biden administration is imposing strict new limits on dust from lead-based paint in older homes and child-care facilities.

A final rule announced Thursday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets limits on lead dust on floors and window sills in pre-1978 residences and child-care facilities to levels so low they cannot be detected.

Paint that contains lead was banned in 1978, but more than 30 million American homes are believed to still contain it, including nearly four million homes where children under the age of six live. Lead paint can chip off when it deteriorates or is disturbed, especially during home remodeling or renovation.

“The science is clear: There is no safe level of lead,” said Michal Freedhoff, EPA’s assistant administrator for chemical safety and pollution prevention. “It is time to finally rid the country of the scourge that lead paint has posed to our children’s health” for generations, she said.

The EPA estimates the new rule will reduce the lead exposures of up to 1.2 million people per year, including 178,000 to 326,000 children under age six.

Are ‘Elimination Diets’ Much Help Against Child Eczema?

U.S. News reported

Cutting certain foods from a child’s diet isn’t likely to improve their eczema symptoms, a new study finds.

Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, results from an overactive immune response and has been linked to an increased risk of food allergies, researchers said.

Because of this, some parents try to manage their kids’ itchy, rashy skin through an elimination diet.

But elimination diets only mildly improved eczema lesions in about a third of participants in a new study presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, in Boston. “Elimination diets aren’t recommended as a treatment for [atopic dermatitis], according to guidelines from major allergy organizations,” said lead researcher Dr. Nadia Makkoukdji, a pediatric allergist with Jackson Health System in Miami.

Map Reveals 20% Americans at Risk of ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water

Newsweek reported

More than 20% of U.S. households may rely on drinking water sources contaminated by “forever chemicals,” new research by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) suggests. Those in Eastern states are particularly likely to be exposed.

PFAS, which stands for per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, are a class of chemicals that can be found in a range of everyday products. They are nicknamed forever chemicals because they breakdown very slowly over time and stick around in their surrounding environment. As a result, PFAS can be found in soil, oceans and waterways around the world.

Now, the USGS has revealed than around 71 to 95 million Americans may rely on drinking water from groundwater supplies containing detectable levels of these PFAS.

The study, published in the journal Science, is the first to report national estimates of PFAS in untreated groundwater that supplies drinking water to private and public wells. The research also provides the first estimate of the number of people who might be exposed to this contamination.

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Experiments Investigate Early Cognitive and Communicative Development in Infants

MedicalXPress reported:

A study led by researchers from Central European University in Vienna, Austria; and the University of St Andrews in Scotland, contributes to the understanding of early cognitive and communicative development in humans, highlighting the sophisticated mental processes infants use to navigate social interactions.

Published in Open Mind: Discoveries in Cognitive Science, the study investigated infants’ ability to modify their pointing gestures to help others identify desired objects in various contexts.

The research demonstrates that infants as young as 18-months can take into account the mental states of their communicative partners, such as whether the partner has seen the object or has incorrect information about it. When necessary, the infants made their pointing more informative, adjusting their gestures to ensure their partner received the correct information.

“Our findings suggest that infants possess a unique cognitive adaptation for early communicative mindreading,” said lead researcher Tauzin. “This ability enables infants to take into account the knowledge their communicative partners possess and provide them with relevant information — an essential skill for cooperation and knowledge sharing.”

Montana AG Sues TikTok, Alleging Platform Is Addictive, Harmful to Youth Mental Health

The Hill reported

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen filed a lawsuit Thursday against TikTok, alleging the social media platform knowingly shared addictive and harmful content with children and teens.

The suit follows an investigation by the Montana Department of Justice, which discovered “virtually endless amounts of extreme and mature videos presented to children as young as thirteen,” Knudsen’s office said in a release.

The filing alleges TikTok targeted young users when designing the platform to be addictive and then misrepresented the content being shown on the app in violation of the Montana Consumer Protection Act. This statute seeks to prevent “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce.”

“TikTok must be held accountable for poisoning the minds of children and lying to parents about the videos their children can view on the app. Parents need to know the truth about the content their children have access to on the app and TikTok is pushing to their feeds,” Knudsen wrote Thursday.

Over 70% of Children’s Diets Now Consist of Ultraprocessed Foods

Mercola reported:

Ultraprocessed foods — industrial creations made with ingredients like hydrogenated seed oils, high-fructose corn syrup and artificial additives — have infiltrated modern diets at an alarming rate, with dire consequences to children’s health.

Designed to be cheap, convenient and irresistibly tasty, ultraprocessed foods now make up over 60% of calories in American diets, according to a recent study. However, experts believe that in children, this could be as high as 70% — and it comes with a steep price to your child’s well-being.

Children are exposed to ultraprocessed foods everywhere — in school cafeterias, vending machines and supermarket shelves. Food companies also spend billions marketing these products directly to children, hooking them on unhealthy eating habits from an early age.

According to recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey findings, ultraprocessed foods now account for a staggering 67% of energy intake among American children. These foods are far from nutritionally balanced, and they set the stage for numerous health issues.

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