As part of the work of New Jersey’s Learn the Signs. Act Early. team, the Governor’s Council on the Prevention of Developmental Disabilities provided support to have the following CDC Learn the Sign. Act Early. materials translated into Arabic, Korean, and Portuguese:

·        Developmental Screening Fact Sheet (a fact sheet that contains information for parents about developmental screenings)
·        Milestone Informational Card  (this includes some key milestones from 7 months to 4 years of age and questions parents can ask their child’s doctor)
·        Tips for Talking with Parents (a tip sheet to help early educators and childcare providers share concerns about a child with the parent)
These are available for free downloading from the CDC’s Learn the Signs. Act Early. website

New Jersey’s Learn the Signs. Act Early. state team is facilitated by The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities, NJ’s University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.  For more information about this initiative, contact Kathy Roberson at kathy.roberson@umdnj.edu or 732-235-931

Click on this link and get immediate downloads for fact sheets, growth charts plus more that will help you Know the signs of a developmental disability and act early.

Can Exposure to  Pesticides While Pregnant Can Affect the IQ of the Unborn Child? This New York Times article says yes.

The NOFAS Weekly Roundup features news articles, research, event
announcements, new materials and other highlights from around the world
of FASD. The Roundup also includes the latest news from NOFAS and a link
to the Calendar of Events page on the NOFAS website.

FEATURES

Tennis: Elks’ Brandell came out swinging after tough start in life

Mitchel Brandell of Elk River, Minnesota may have lifelong effects from
alcohol exposure during pregnancy, but he’s not letting them affect his
tennis game.  Mitchel and his doubles partner recently claimed 2nd place
in the consolation bracket of the Minnesota State Class AA Tennis
Tournament.

Article, Star News, June 11, 2011

Timeframe Update for Proposed Substance Use, Abuse, and Addiction
Reorganization

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has
released updated details on the proposed merger between NIAAA and the
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Article, NIH – Dr. Francis Collins, June 10, 2011

Fetal alcohol syndrome: dashed hopes, damaged lives

Recently released report from the World Health Organization shows the
wine-growing areas of South Africa have some of the highest reported
rates of FAS in the world – 70 to 80 per 1000 babies born in the Western
Cape have the condition, including the son of Marion Williams, a
Stellenbosch resident.

Article, World Health Organization, June 8, 2011

Increase in cancer rate for children

The Ministry of Health in Fiji has stated that childhood cancer has been
on the rise over the past decade.  They mainly attribute the increase to
maternal behaviors including consuming alcohol and smoking during
pregnancy.

Article, FijiVillage.com, June 7, 2011

AFFILIATES

Drinks firm Diageo funds pregnancy health initiative

British alcohol company Diageo has agreed to fund NOFAS United Kingdom’s
initiative to train 10,000 midwives in England and Wales to advise
mothers on the dangers of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

Article, BBC News, June 12, 2011

FEATURES

Join NOFAS at the 2011 Leadership Awards Benefit – June 21, 2011

Please join NOFAS at the 2011 Leadership Awards Benefit reception on
Tuesday, June 21st from 5 – 7 p.m. on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
At the event, NOFAS will be raffling off an Apple iPad 2, a Barnes and
Noble Nook e-reader and a dinner for two to Washington, D.C.’s top rated
restaurant, Komi.  For more information on these great raffle prizes and
to find out how to purchase your tickets now,
(you may also purchase
tickets at the event; need not be present to win).

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

State to test kids for high lead

Wednesday, June 22, 2011    Last updated: Wednesday June 22, 2011, 7:59 AM

BY MARY JO LAYTON

STAFF WRITER

The Record

Print | E-mail

State health officials have set up free blood screening clinics for children in Upper Ringwood this week and next after elevated levels of lead were found on properties this spring.

The clinics will be held Thursday and Monday for children 6 and younger. They are from 4 to 6 p.m. both days at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd on Margaret King Avenue.

Call Ringwood Health Officer Christopher Chapman at 973-962-7079 or Sylvia Dellas, the state’s child health coordinator, at 609-292-5666.

Upper Ringwood is in the area of the Superfund site where the Ford Motor Co. dumped paint sludge and other waste from its former Mahwah manufacturing plant more than 40 years ago.

Two teams of federal and state health and environmental officials went door-to-door Tuesday to about 60 homes to distribute fliers about the blood tests and the dangers of lead poisoning, said Donna Leusner, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Senior Services.

Community leaders estimate that more than 100 children could be eligible for the lead testing.

Lead can disrupt the growth and development of a child’s brain and central nervous system.

Fliers handed out Tuesday warned parents of symptoms of lead poisoning, which may include: tiredness or restlessness, headache, stomachache or vomiting, constipation and irritability. Lead poisoning can also cause learning and behavioral problems, diminished IQ and kidney damage.

Vivian Milligan, a community leader, said she was pleased that officials were contacting each household.

“I hope a lot of people take advantage of this,” Milligan said. “It’s really important.”

Lead exposure has been a concern in the community for years and surfaced again when 10 of 19 homes tested in the spring had readings that exceeded safety standards. In one case a reading was 22,000 parts per million — more than 250 times the standard of 400 parts per million, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The health workers in Ringwood on Tuesday also warned residents about vegetable gardens. Residents, many of whom are Ramapough Indians, have a tradition of hunting and gardening. They were advised to properly clean vegetables and to avoid some altogether.

Residents were warned to avoid planting root crops, such as carrots, as well as low-growing leafy vegetables in contaminated soils, including the 10 properties that tested for elevated levels of lead.

Root crops should be avoided in soil that contains more than 1,000 parts per million of lead, and residents were told to avoid gardening altogether in soil that contains more than 1,500 parts per lead.

Residents were advised not to grow vegetables around the foundations of older houses and were told to consider planting their gardens in raised beds or containers.

Paint sludge with high levels of arsenic, lead, benzene and other contaminants ended up in Ringwood along with other waste from the factory. The 500-acre area remains the only Superfund site in the nation to be relisted after several failed cleanups.

The sludge remains in chips and chunks despite repeated cleanups. Lead has been found at six times the safety standard in soil in the former O’Connor landfill and is moving into the food chain, the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced last year.

Additionally, there are many older homes in the community. Houses built before 1978 have lead-based paint, which can chip off and flake and be ground into tiny bits in the soil.

The last time children in the community were tested — from 2000 until October 2005 — two were found to have elevated lead levels, state health officials said. One child tested at 16 micrograms per deciliter, well over the 10 micrograms per deciliter safety threshold established by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Paint sludge was found on the child’s property in 2005 and removed.

Increasingly, experts say there’s no safe threshold for lead exposure in children.

The US has released nine(9) graphic images that will be on warning labels of cigarettes. Take a few minutes to check these proposed warning labels out.

Do you think that the use of these pictures might stop someone from smoking? Let us know what you think.

Children can drown in very small amounts of water.  Do not overlook the risks that wading pools and portable pools can pose.  To read the full  article that appeared in the NY Times please click here.

Can spending too much time indoors effect eye development in children?  Click here to read an interesting article that appeared in the NY Times.