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Industrial and household chemicals are damaging children’s development and intelligence according to a new report.

The briefing, from the World Wildlife Fund, is based on recent scientific research from across Europe. It says that brain development in children living in industrialised European countries has been affected by chemicals which have accumulated in the mother’s body over years, and been passed on to babies in the womb.

The effects include worse memory, reduced visual recognition, less well developed movement skills and lower IQ scores.

Most of the 70,000 man-made chemicals on the market today have not been tested for neuro-toxity, says the report. Some have been shown to cause damage to unborn babies at levels below those currently found in some members of the general public.

One of the most toxic is a flame retardant chemical which is found in videos, TVs, computers, furniture, carpets and curtains and car seats. Other chemicals reported to cause neuro-toxic damage are dioxins which are emitted by power stations and waste incinerators, and PCBs which are associated with some building materials and old industrial transformers.

There are concerns that chemicals may play a role in the rapid increase in autistic spectrum disorders and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The World wildlife Fund is calling for European legislation to phase out chemicals that are persistent and that gradually accumulate in humans, and those that disrupt the endocrine system.

http://www.wwf.org.uk/filelibrary/pdf/compromising_our_children.pdf