Dr. Landrigan's New Book: THE Must Read Resource for Expecting and New Parents

I just finished reading Dr. Philip and Mary Landrigan’s new book, Children and Environmental Toxins: What Everyone Needs to Know, which is available for purchase on February 1st, 2018. This extraordinary book will now be my go-to gift for anyone who’s pregnant!  Written in an easy to follow, Q & A format, the book wakes readers up to the fact that the increased incidence of noncontagious diseases such as autism, childhood leukemia, and reproductive disorders like infertility and undescended testicles are no accident.  

If you ever needed a scientifically credible book to tell you what chemicals and products to avoid and increase the chance your child will live a long, disease-free life, there is no better resource on the market. According to the book, “more than 80,000 new chemicals have been developed and released into the global environment during the last four decades. Today the World Health Organization attributes more than one-third of all childhood deaths to environmental causes, and as rates of childhood disease skyrocket — autism, asthma, ADHD, obesity, diabetes, and even birth defects — it raises serious, difficult questions around how the chemical environment is impacting children’s health.”

Starting in Chapter 4, the Landrigans detail specific information on the suspected, preventable causes of asthma, childhood cancer, neurodevelopment disorders, reproductive problems and obesity.  The list of known and suspected carcinogens was the most thorough summary I’ve ever read and the part on neurotoxins were a dire reminder that the brain and central nervous system of a developing fetus and young child only have one chance to “get it right”.  One can’t help but wonder, if I followed every instruction in this book to a tee, would my unborn child be guaranteed a completely healthy, disease-free life?  It’s tricky at best to avoid pollution and children can’t grow up in a bubble, but a book written by the most important environmental pediatrician in the world certainly gives you motivation to try.