Friday, July 15, 2005
Baby Shields?
Health and wellness
Apparently, there is a long-held belief that fetuses in utero are somehow protected from dangerous chemicals to which their mothers are exposed. What with all the hubub about fetal alcohol syndrome and crack babies, among other things, I am completely stumped as to who exactly holds this belief. Maybe the same people who think abstinence-only sex-ed works?
But, at long last, a study calls this inexplicable belief into question: the umbilical cord blood of 10 newborns contained all kinds of nasty chemicals and toxins. Ten is a totally pathetic n, but if people still think the placenta is some sort of "magic shield," we clearly need all the studies we can get.
Apparently, there is a long-held belief that fetuses in utero are somehow protected from dangerous chemicals to which their mothers are exposed. What with all the hubub about fetal alcohol syndrome and crack babies, among other things, I am completely stumped as to who exactly holds this belief. Maybe the same people who think abstinence-only sex-ed works?
But, at long last, a study calls this inexplicable belief into question: the umbilical cord blood of 10 newborns contained all kinds of nasty chemicals and toxins. Ten is a totally pathetic n, but if people still think the placenta is some sort of "magic shield," we clearly need all the studies we can get.
