Infant Acute Leukemia and Maternal Exposures during Pregnancy
I recently got an email from someone promoting an organization supporting research and “prevention” for childhood cancers. At first glance, who could be against something like this. I looked through their site for how much resource they dedicated to “prevention.” The vast majority of their resources are dedicated to a cure and I will not deny that this is needed. But the site mentioned very little about what we know about prevention. In utero chemical exposure has been well established as a risk factor for childhood leukemia’s. What else could it be? Pure genetics probably play a role.
But the reality is that the infant has few exposures of great enough magnitude to cause cancer. It only leaves in-utero exposure. We have to view pregnancy as a very, very important part of that child’s life. The pregnant (and considering pregnancy) women needs to live a life sheltered from chemicals. That means organic foods, no bug spraying, no harsh cleaners, no chemicals in make up or hair products.
This study found an increased risk of leukemia in certain drugs (some not used in the US) as well as estrogen use during pregnancy. It boils down to this–ALL drug and chemical exposure during pregnancy should be considered harmful and avoided at all costs unless absolutely necessary.