Green Options

Augh! Writing that title almost made me gag.

But a new article on the University of California, San Francisco site claims that neuroscientist Michael Merzenich has performed research that may make some leaning toward formula fulling tip over the edge.

Merzenich tested newborn rats by dosing them with the proportionally even amount that newborn humans get from human breastmilk of the chemicals PCBs and PBDEs. The outcome, he said, was

brains that were more degraded in their organization developmentally in these rats than we have ever seen before

So it’s as simple as that, eh? Breastmilk causes autism. Not so fast, there, Nestle.

People are exposed to the fire retardants PBDEs from their furniture, electronics, and most plastic-containing household products.

But now, a new study shows that we’re getting them in our food, too. And meat-eaters are especially susceptible.

Environmental health researcher Alicia Fraser, of Boston University’s School of Public Health, warns us,

The more meat you eat, the more PBDEs you have in your serum.

If you’re not familiar with PBDEs, chances are you know of their chemical cousins: PCBs, the now-banned carcinogenic chemicals.