Nicholas D. Kristof has another interesting editorial in the New York Times, this time about the link between environmental toxins (like phthalates) and autism.  Kristof focuses on the harmful chemicals (like BPA) which are components of plastic, but there is certainly no shortage of chemical evils in our lives.  And the data is beginning to show - surprise! - that being constantly bathed in toxic chemicals is not very good for us.  

It seems that autism does not have a single cause, but several potential causes have been identified: three medications, when taken by pregnant women, greatly increase their risk of having an autistic child.  These are thalidomide (I wasn't aware that pregnant women still took thalidomide…), the ulcer medicine misoprostol, and the anticonvulsive medication valproic acid.  Mothers who took valproic acid early in their pregnancy were 10 times more likely to give birth to an autistic child.

This all makes me think of Barbara Ehrenreich's essay "Welcome to Cancerland."  Ehrenreich concludes that instead of "raising awareness" and "walking for the cure," we start pointing fingers.  For example, at the companies who put phthalates into your shampoo and other cosmetics.  

Phthalates are banned in the European Union and in Australia, because of their known effects as endocrine disruptors.  Endocrine disruptors "change hormone levels and cause birth defects."  Phthalates have also been linked to metabolic disturbances, insulin resistance, and ADHD.  And yet, phthalates are inescapable in modern American life.

Ehrenreich points out that all of this "cancer awareness" business puts the burden of solving the problem squarely onto the individual.  As opposed to the corporations who have made billions of dollars thanks to lax regulations that allow them to downplay and uselessly criticize the serious evidence piling up against their products.  And what corporation wants to shoulder the burden of cleaning up the phthalates from our environment?  It's just not going to happen.

Now comes the information that environmental toxins - poisons which companies have put into your food and their plastic containers - may be a major contributor to autism.  But instead of suggesting that companies stop putting toxins into our food and plastic, Kristof advises pregnant women to avoid these substances.  In fact, he makes no mention of corporate responsibility at all.

This is the heart of the problem.  I have seen so many articles telling people what they should and shouldn't do.  Shampoo with baking soda; buy an aluminum water bottle; microwave your food in a glass dish.  As if poisons like BPA and phthalates were some odd force of nature, something that just IS.

Well, I'll tell you something.  BPA and phthalates and all their toxic friends aren't an odd force of nature.  They are put into our lives deliberately, by companies who want the cheapest possible shortcut to profits.  We are being slowly poisoned by the informed decisions of corporations, and it isn't our fault.  I think it's time to start putting the blame where it belongs.  

That plastic tub didn't just wander in from the wild; a company made the decision to make and sell it.  Remember that, the next time you hear about this autism link - because believe me, you'll be hearing about it a lot in the near future.