Month: August 2017

Relieving News for Parents of Children with Heart Defects – Denmark Study Indicates that Treating Children Earlier Increases Survival Rates

A study of data collected in Denmark has provided good news for parents of children with congenital heart defects (CHD). According to the study, children with CHD are being treated for this birth defect earlier in their lives, which is likely associated with the increased survival rate of children with CHD.  As stated in a 2014 issue of Pediatric Cardiology, CHD is the most common of all birth defects. While the cause of CHD is often unknown, a growing number of studies point to pesticides and solvents as risk factors, according to the medical journal.

What Were the Results of the Study?

The study collected 39 years’ worth of data from the lives of 9,372 children born in Denmark with CHD. The data was split into three time periods – 1977 to 1989, 1990 to 2002, and 2003 to 2015. The following table provides some of the most important findings from the study.

Data from Denmark Study of Children with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD)
	1977-1989	1990-2002	2003-2015
Median Age for First Procedure	3.4 years	0.8 years	0.6 years
Percent to Survive for Over 30 Days	97%	98%	100%
Percent to Survive for Over 10 Years	80%	87%	93%

The first row of data indicates that children with CHD are now having their first interventional procedure earlier and earlier in their lives. An interventional procedure is a medical procedure used to diagnose and treat the birth defect. This appears to have a positive connection with the survival rates of these children. As the second and third rows of data show, children with CHD have had an increasingly higher percentage chance of surviving past the 30-day and 10-year mark with each consecutive time period.

The Denmark study suggests that if children with CHD have their first interventional procedure at a younger age, they may survive longer. The data provides a promising story of how medical advancement is prolonging the lives of children with CHD, and offering relief to the suffering of parents and their children.

What Causes Congenital Heart Defects (CHD)?

CHD can be caused by exposure to toxic chemicals during pregnancy. Two major sources of toxic exposure to chemicals results from pesticides and those chemicals used in the production of semiconductors.

Pesticide exposure during pregnancy, which can occur when fields are sprayed with pesticides while harvesters are working, has been linked to birth defects such as CHD. When corporations fail to warn or protect pregnant farm workers from the dangers of pesticide exposure, birth defects can result.

Additionally, exposure to chemicals used in the production of semiconductors has been found to be a cause of birth defects such as CHD. Examples of such chemicals used in the production of semiconductors are solvents, cleaning fluids, and etching materials. As with pesticides, if corporations fail to warn or properly protect pregnant workers from exposure to these chemicals, birth defects can occur.

In both of these instances of toxic exposure, corporations are to blame for the birth defects that result from their negligent business practices.

The Herbicide Glyphosate, a Key Ingredient of Roundup Weed Killer Products, Will be Sent to California’s Cancer-Causing Chemicals List Despite Monsanto’s Efforts to Stay the Decision

The herbicide glyphosate will be added to California’s list of cancer-causing chemicals, as required by Proposition 65, after the state’s Supreme Court rejected Monsanto Co.’s request to stay the ruling of the lower court. Glyphosate is a key ingredient of popular pesticides used in commercial farming, such as Roundup Weed Killer.

Earlier in the year, the lower court rejected Monsanto’s claim that the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment violated the state constitution by delegating authority to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). It was IARC that determined that glyphosate belonged on the cancer-causing chemical list. Monsanto appealed the lower court’s decision in California’s Fifth District, but the state’s Supreme Court ruled that glyphosate can be added to the state’s list of cancer-causing chemicals even while the appeal is still pending.

California’s Proposition 65 was a state ballot initiative that requires the state to publish a list of chemicals that are known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. Monsanto’s arguments that listing glyphosate would violate its right to free speech and that such listing would force the company to include a warning label that the product might cause cancer, was rejected by the judge of the lower court.

Is Glyphosate a Substance Known to Cause Birth Defects?

Glyphosate, the main ingredient in the pesticide Roundup, is a substance well known to cause birth defects. Many studies have linked the herbicide to reproductive problems and severe malformations. Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common experience for pregnant farm workers employed on commercial farms. Frequently, farm owners and labor contractors will fail to warn or protect farm works from exposure to these harmful pesticides.