Organic Eco-Friendly Pregnancy planning

Eco-Friendly Tips for those expecting or planning the birth of a child.

Whether you're expecting a baby soon or contemplating pregnancy, now is the time to reduce your exposure to toxins. "Maternal exposures can be transferred across the placenta to the developing fetus," says Frederica Perera, Dr.P.H., director of the Center for Children's Environmental Health at Columbia University. The center's studies of 500 baby-mother pairs have found that some pesticides, such as carbamates and chlorpyrifos, "very readily cross the placenta, and we've related those exposures to poor fetal growth and lower birth weight," Perera says. Researchers also found high levels of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) crossing the placenta.

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What can we do?

"Women should join community efforts to reduce exposures to PAHs, which are combustion byproducts, from sources such as bus stations and power plants," Dr. Perera says. In addition, "There are certain practical steps women can take to reduce exposures in their home. Use safer alternatives to toxic pesticides, and ask household visitors not to smoke," she advises.

Here are more ways to protect your future child:

• Eat plenty of foods that are high in folic acid to protect against neural-tube birth defects. Eat fewer high-fat meat and dairy foods, since they contain dioxins and DDT, which can be transferred to babies through breast milk. To prevent bacterial illness, thoroughly cook meat and poultry to 160 and 180 degrees F., respectively, and avoid raw fish. Deli meats, poultry, soft cheeses and hot dogs can contain listeria, which can cause miscarriages.

• Find out what's in your drinking water. Ask your water supplier for your town's drinking-water report, or view it at www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo.htm. Check for trihalomethanes, chlorination byproducts that may increase the risk of miscarriage at levels above 75 micrograms per liter. Test well water annually for nitrates (see www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/index.html). All parents should test for lead, which can leach from pipes (www.leadtesting.org, 828/251-6800).

• Test old paint for lead in pre-1978 dwellings. Call the EPA, 800/424-LEAD. "Women who are pregnant, or planning to be, have to be extremely careful to avoid renovations where old lead paint may be disturbed. Lead stays in the body for three to six months after exposure," says Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., co-author of Raising Healthy Children in a Toxic World (Rodale, 2001, $12.95).

• Breast-feed during your infant's first year for fewer ear infections, allergies, and digestive problems, and less risk of obesity and learning problems. For the occasional bottle, stock up on Evenflo's glass bottles rather than clear polycarbonate plastic, which can leach the hormone disruptor bisphenol-A.

• Avoid caffeine, which at high levels has been linked to miscarriage.

• Keep away from tobacco smoke, which increases risk of low birth weight and impaired learning.

• Don't drink alcoholic beverages, which can cause fetal alcohol syndrome.

• Don't eat tuna, swordfish and other fish contaminated with brain-damaging mercury. Before eating freshwater fish, which can contain nervous-system-damaging PCBs, check advisories from the state health department, or visit epa.gov/ost/fish.

• Don't use nail polish or fragranced products that may contain phthalates. That goes for manicure and pedicures.

• To avoid volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), don't use paints, wood finishes, glues, spot removers or pesticides.

• Don't change kitty litter! Cat feces can carry toxoplasmosis, which can cause brain damage in infants.