Much of the U.S. regulatory system covering toxins is based
on assessing individual chemicals and their effects on human health, rather
than what happens in the real world—where we are exposed to multiple chemicals
that interact with each other in a variety of ways. In a new article published
in the peer-reviewed Behavioral and Brain Functions Journal, led by former FDA
researcher Renee Default and co-authored by IATP's David Wallinga, M.D., among
others, researchers look at the links between child learning and behavior
disorders, low-level mercury exposure, mineral deficiencies and food additives.
The article suggests an important new model for assessing
how these disparate factors in the food system may be interacting to create a
much bigger overall problem than typically is appreciated by looking at these
diet factors individually. For example, overall mercury exposure, including
many sources aside from food, has been linked to an increased in rates of
special education services and autism. The study’s authors looked at data going
back to the mid-1980s provided by the State of California and found that cases
of diagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder in California peaked at the same time as
peak consumption years for high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in the United
States.
“Because many expensive behavior and learning disorders in
kids appear to be on the rise,” says Dr. Wallinga in our press release, “it’s
imperative that we take steps at many levels to eliminate unnecessary exposures
to mercury and other known brain toxins we still expose our children to. In the
real-world food and chemical environments we have created, children are exposed
to many different toxic chemicals through multiple avenues. The latest science
examines how these exposures and health effects interact. In these times of
escalating health costs, it’s critical that public policy steps track this new
systems thinking in updating our regulatory system for chemicals and food.”
In a peer-reviewed article published earlier this year in
Environmental Health, scientists found detectable mercury in commercial HFCS
samples collected by the FDA in 2005. Mercury cell chlor-alkali chemicals have
historically been used to manufacture a number of food ingredients including
color additives such as FD&C Yellow 5, FD&C Yellow 6 and HFCS. You can
read the full article in Behavioral and Brain Functions Journal here.
