Comstock/Thinkstock(BOSTON) -- Infants delivered via cesarean section have about twice the risk of becoming obese as infants delivered vaginally, according to a new study published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Researchers recruited more than 1,250 pregnant women from the Boston area and followed their children until the age of 3.

They found that at age three, 15.7 percent of children delivered by C-section were already obese, while only 7.5 percent of children delivered vaginally were obese.

The mother's body mass index and the baby's weight at birth did not play a big role in predisposing children to obesity, the researchers explained.  Previous research, however, has linked maternal obesity to obesity in their children.

Dr. Susanna Huh, lead author and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said the findings still need to be confirmed in later studies, but they suggest that women considering having a C-section that isn't medically necessary should know that their children may be at higher risk for obesity.

"Almost one in three children are delivered by C-section in the U.S., and if cesarean delivery is a risk factor for obesity, this would be an important reason to avoid them if they aren 't necessary," Huh said.

The mechanism behind the relationship between C-sections and obesity is unknown, but Huh and her co-authors speculated there could be a few possible explanations.

"One possibility is that different modes of delivery may affect the bacterial communities established in the body at birth.  This could affect obesity by affecting the absorption of nutrients from the diet, or the bacteria in the gut might interact with host cells in ways that promote obesity," she said.

"Another possible explanation is that hormones and protein signals released during labor may have an effect on the development of obesity," she added.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Taking calcium supplements to build stronger bones may be bad for the heart, according to a new study that suggests getting similar doses from calcium-rich foods is a safer alternative.

The study, which followed nearly 24,000 German men and women between the ages of 35 and 64, found those who regularly took calcium supplements were 86 percent more likely to have a heart attack than those who did not.  Study subjects who relied completely on supplements for their daily calcium intake were 139 percent more likely to have a heart attack.

"Calcium supplements, which might raise [heart attack] risk, should be taken with caution," the authors wrote in their report, published Thursday in the journal Heart.

Calcium is critical for strong bones and teeth.  But the new study suggests supplements, many of which are sold as tasty gummy candies and chocolates, are no replacement for healthy foods.

"Calcium supplements have been widely embraced by doctors and the public on the grounds that they are a natural and therefore safe way of preventing osteoporotic fractures," Ian Reid and Mark Bolland of the University of Auckland in New Zealand wrote in an editorial accompanying the study.  "It is now becoming clear that taking this micronutrient in one or two daily [doses] is not natural, in that it does not reproduce the same metabolic effects as calcium in food."

Adult men and women should consume between 1,000 and 1,200 milligrams of calcium daily, according to the National Institutes of Health.  For most Americans, that's a cup of yogurt, a glass of milk and a slice of cheese.  For nondairy dieters, a bowl of enriched cereal, a glass of fortified orange juice, half a cup of tofu and a slice of salmon will do the trick.

But some people, such as post-menopausal women, struggle to get enough calcium from food alone and turn to supplements for a boost.  More than 60 percent of women over 60 take calcium supplements, up from 28 percent two decades ago, according to a 2011 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.

"We should return to seeing calcium as an important component of a balanced diet, and not as a low cost panacea to the universal problem of postmenopausal bone loss," wrote Reid and Bolland, who in 2011 linked calcium supplements to an increased risk of heart attack in post-menopausal women.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Many children may be diagnosed with autism years too late to benefit from early behavioral intervention, according to 2011 national survey findings released Thursday from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Intensive behavioral therapy for autism, which can begin as early as age two, can significantly improve language and thinking skills in children with autism, according to the National Institutes of Health.  The therapy, which helps develop a child's social and behavior skills within different environments, is considered among the best forms of treatment by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

However, the survey found that more than half of the children had reached age five before they were first identified as having an autism spectrum disorder.

Although children can continue to benefit from behavioral interventions after age five, earlier behavioral intervention is associated with better outcomes, according to many experts.

"It is critical that we address the barriers that are preventing children from receiving early intervention," said Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer of Autism Speaks, who was not involved in the study.

More than 1,400 children ages 6 to 17 with autism were included in the survey.  The survey looked at diagnosis of the disorder within the last 17 years.

The older children may have been receiving some sort of medical assessment for their condition before receiving a formal diagnosis, according to Lisa Colpe, chief officer of clinical and population epidemiology research at the National Institute of Mental Health's and co-author of the study.

"It's still a very complex disorder to diagnose and does take some time," said Colpe.  "These ages mean that they have been getting assessed for some period of time before getting a diagnosed."

Ninety percent of the children diagnosed participated in some form of developmental service including occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, and social skills training, according to the study.  However, fewer than half of the children underwent behavioral therapy.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

U.S. Congress(WASHINGTON) -- Congressman Jared Polis has introduced the SLICE ACT to counter a bill last fall that puts pizza in the category of a federally mandated vegetable serving in schools.

The Colorado Democrat disagrees with the notion that one-eighth cup of tomato paste, which is used in a slice of pizza, counts as one-half cup of vegetables, now considered an entire serving.

The School Lunch Improvements for Children’s Education (SLICE) Act promoted by Polis would force the U.S. Department of Agriculture to lower the standard of an eighth-cup of tomato paste, or about two tablespoons, to an eighth-cup of vegetables.

Polis doesn't believe the stuff is unhealthy.  Rather, he just wants to stop large food makers from hawking pizza to school under the guise of tomato paste being counted as a vegetable.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Photodisc/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Twenty-seven-year-old Julie Vonder Haar of St. Louis describes herself as a smart and responsible person, but like many women, she found it difficult to remember taking her birth control pills while juggling four jobs. That was until she discovered the IUD.

"Having it and not having to worry about it, taking that off my plate helped immensely," she said.

As it turns out, Vonder Haar's choice may not only be more convenient but more effective as well. Long-acting reversible contraception like intrauterine devices and progestin implants can prevent unwanted pregnancy up to 20 times better than birth control pills, patches and vaginal rings, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Of the 3 million unwanted pregnancies in the United States, almost half of those are due to incorrect use of the most commonly prescribed forms of birth control -- pills, patches and rings.

An intrauterine device, or IUD, is a small copper or hormonal implant that is placed in the uterus. The insertion can be done in a doctor's office, and it works for 10 years to prevent pregnancy. Bayer's brand-name IUD Mirena, approved in 2009, is one such device. A progestin implant, meanwhile, is inserted in the upper arm and can prevent pregnancy for up to three years. Merck's Nexplanon is the only such implant currently available in the U.S.

Once in place, these devices prevent unwanted pregnancy as effectively as sterilization, but unlike permanent sterilization, when a woman wants to become pregnant she simply has the device removed.

So why aren't more women using long-acting reversible contraception -- and specifically IUDs?

Cost could be one reason. Since it is not covered by many insurance plans, women might find themselves forking out $700 to buy an IUD and have it inserted. Compare this to $10 to $20 per month for birth control pills, which are generally covered by insurance. Over the long term, however, IUDs are cost-effective; when you break the cost down over a five year period, IUDs cost about $11 a month, the same as birth control pills.

Still, for Vonder Haar, cost was a big factor.

"There was no way I could have gotten the Mirena before the study because I couldn't afford the cost up front," she said.

Dr. Jeff Peipert, one of the study authors and vice chair for clinical research at Washington University, said this big initial cost discourages women, since insurance usually does not cover this type of birth control. In the study he conducted, women were allowed to choose which birth control they wanted, free of charge.

"A major surprise was that many people chose long-acting reversible contraceptive (IUD) when barriers were lifted," Peipert said. "Around 75 percent of women chose a long-acting reversible contraceptive; the hormonal IUD was the most popular."

Women's health experts also said myths surrounding IUDs may keep many women from using this option.

"Many patients have heard bad things about IUDs, such as they cause infertility or infections," said Dr. Kevin Ault, associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. "Careful medical research over the past decade shows these fears are not true."

Dr. Lauren F. Streicher, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, said some women may have also heard that if they have not yet had children they should not opt for an IUD. While this is untrue, she does recommend having a doctor who is experienced place IUDs in these women as placement can be technically difficult.

And then there is the fact that many women may not know what an IUD is, or that such an option exists. IUDs are not nearly as highly advertised as birth control pills, doctors said -- at least not yet. But as more studies like this most recent one emerge, Streicher said, more women may shift to IUDs in the years to come.

"Very clearly, contraception that is not user-dependent is going to have the lowest failure rates," Streicher said. "Half of unintended pregnancies every year are not 'no contraception,' they are 'failed contraception' such as missed pills, etc."

Vonder Haar, a participant in the study, has now had an IUD for three years, and she said she is grateful to the study for giving her the opportunity to use this method of birth control.

"I have recommended this to everyone," she said. "It has made such a difference; I think every girl should be able to have access to this."

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Jeffrey Hamilton/Lifesize/Thinkstock(ATLANTA) -- People with diabetes are living longer, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 
The report credits healthier lifestyles and better management of the disease as reasons for the extended lifespan. People are less likely to smoke and more inclined to be physically active, reports My Health News Daily.
 
Between 1997 and 2004, the percentage of people who have died from diabetes has dropped 23 percent, says the report.
 
Despite these promising numbers, the number of people with diabetes has tripled since 1980, especially in cases of type 2. This has been linked to the rise in obesity, inactivity, and older age, according to My Health News Daily.
 
The CDC estimates that 25.8 million Americans have diabetes, and seven million of those carriers are not even aware of it.
 
Longer life spans are promising for those currently living with the disease, and Ann Albright, director of the CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation says “taking care of your heart through healthy lifestyle choices is making a difference.”

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- To some kids, the bright colors and bite-size packaging of single-use packets of laundry detergent simply look too much like candy. Tuesday night, one-and-a-half-year-old Jeivon Williams put one in his mouth and it burst.  He was rushed to the emergency room with severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

The packets are advertised as no more mess, spills or heavy jugs of detergent, but the American Association of Poison Control Centers is reporting a recent surge in calls about the packets making children violently ill.

“The children who are getting into these little pods are developing many more symptoms than we would have expected,” Bruce Ruck, director of drug information and professional education at New Jersey Poison Center, told ABC News.

The same thing that gives the packets their cute, convenient appeal is the very reason they are so incredibly dangerous. The container for Tide Pods even resembles a candy jar. Responding to the concerns, Tide told ABC News it plans to have new childproof containers out this summer.

The single-dose laundry detergent was introduced in the U.S. in February. The poison control center said it first started to link illness with the pods earlier this month. In the last 20 days, it has received close to 180 calls, almost 10 a day. Texas poison control centers report receiving 57 of those emergency calls.

Toxicologists aren’t sure exactly what in the product is making the kids sick. Other laundry detergents cause only mild stomach upset or even no symptoms at all. But the pods cause severe symptoms rapidly.

There are multiple reports of toddlers who, within minutes of swallowing or biting into one of the packets, developed vomiting, wheezing and gasping. Some of them became non-responsive or had to be put on ventilators or intubated.

While a sticker on the container is supposed to remind parents to keep the product away from kids, poison control is sending out an even stronger message: keep this eye candy out of reach and out of sight.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Comstock/Thinkstock(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- Sacramento and Solano County officials have been working swiftly in the past few days to contain possible tuberculosis cases in 35 babies who were exposed to the disease when housed in two hospital neonatal intensive care units, The Huffington Post reports.
 
Sacramento County Officials as well as hospital officials have been attempting to contact the parents of all the babies exposed. At such a young age, babies are especially vulnerable to the infectious disease.
 
The carrier of the disease has been located, and is currently isolated and being treated. The individual was not aware of their condition at the time. Hospital officials have cited privacy laws as the reason for the lack of disclosure on the individual’s identity, according to the Huffington Post.
 
Hospital and county officials were able to pinpoint the carrier through attendance records, according to the Sacramento Bee.
 
Sacramento County Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye told the Sacramento Bee that the risk of contacting tuberculosis through this case is “minimal,” and “from the medical evidence we have received so far, we believe the risk of infection with tuberculosis in this particular case is low.”
 
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease, spread through the air, and generally attacks the lungs. It induces cough fits, chest pains and can even cause the person sick to cough up blood. Coughing, sneezing, talking to someone next to you, or even singing to your baby can be ways to spread the disease.
 
For more general information about tuberculosis, visit the Center of Disease Control and Prevention website at www.cdc.gov/tb/.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- The senator who spurred the Government Accountability Office to investigate the startling numbers of foster children being put on powerful, mind-altering drugs is calling on the Obama administration to follow through on its vow to find solutions to the issue.

“This is a deeply disturbing problem that demands immediate attention,” Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., wrote in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius provided exclusively to 20/20. "…Unless our Medicaid policies properly reflect best medical practices, the result will be damaging to the program’s financial bottom line but, more importantly, to the health and welfare of our nation’s foster care children.” (See the full letter here.)

As 20/20 and World News reported during ABC News’ own extensive investigation of the medication of foster children late last year, the GAO found that doctors prescribe psychotropic medications to foster children at a rate of up to 13 times that of children in the general population. The GAO investigation was launched at the request of the Senate Federal Financial Management Subcommittee, which is chaired by Carper.

[Watch 20/20′s full report on overmedication in the foster care system here.]

A spokesman for the Health and Human Services Department said that the agency received the letter Tuesday and will be responding as soon as possible.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Hemera/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- While neurologists have known that a high-fat and very low-carb diet, known as a ketogenic diet, reduces seizures in epileptic patients who are resistant to medical therapy, the “why” to it all has always been a mystery.

But today, some scientists say they may have found the answer. Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School said seizures might be linked to a protein that changes metabolism in the brain, which is why patients respond so well to the ketogenic diet.

Epilepsy is a brain disorder in which a person has repeated seizures, or convulsions, over time. The seizures represent episodes of disturbed brain activity and cause changes in attention and behavior, according to the National Institutes of Health. The condition affects about 3 million Americans and 50 million people worldwide, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.

The ketogenic diet mimics aspects of starvation by forcing the body to burn fats instead of carbohydrates. The diet produces ketones in the body, organic compounds that form when the body uses fat, instead of glucose, as a source of energy. An elevated level of ketone bodies in the blood reduces the frequency of epileptic seizures.

The study, published in the journal Neuron and conducted in genetically-altered mice, found that the effect of the ketogenic diet on epilepsy can be mimicked using a much more specific and non-dietary approach by manipulating a particular protein in mice, said Gary Yellen, a professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and co-author of the study.

“This points toward potential new ways of treating epilepsy in patients for whom current drugs are not effective,” said Yellen.

Yellen said that while the connection between epilepsy and diet has remained unclear for nearly 100 years, he has seen children’s lives change drastically after changes in their food intake. In the past, some patients have also seen improvement when they cut nearly all sugar from their diets.

Experimenting in mice, the researchers found they could mimic the effects of the diet by altering a specific protein, known as BAD. Seizures decreased in the mice.

While the research must first be replicated in humans, Yellen said, in the long run, scientists should be able to target this pathway pharmacologically.

“Because the ketogenic diet can be so broadly effective against many types of epilepsy that are not well-treated by existing medications, tapping into its mechanism may be valuable for treating many epilepsy patients,” he said.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Hemera/Thinkstock(SAN FRANCISCO) -- Replacing dead or dysfunctional nerve cells with new, healthy ones derived from stem cells eases chronic pain in mice, a new study found.

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco coaxed mouse embryonic stem cells into becoming mature nerve cells that could bridge gaps in the circuitry that triggers neuropathic pain.

“One of the major causes of neuropathic pain is the loss of inhibitory control at the level of the spinal cord because of nerve loss or dysfunction,” said study author Allan Basbaum, chairman of UCSF’s department of anatomy. “The idea was to replace or repopulate the spinal cord cells that provide that inhibition.”

The same stem cells, “destined to become inhibitory neurons” that dampen the signals that cause pain, were previously shown to improve symptoms in a mouse model of epilepsy, Basbaum said. “The question was whether we could take the exact same cells and put them in the spinal cord.”

Before injecting the cells into the spinal cords of mice with neuropathic pain, the researchers labeled them with a fluorescent tracer to track the connections they made.

“We were able to show how these cells integrate beautifully,” Basbaum said, describing the way the transplanted cells looked and behaved like the mouse’s own.

Not only did the cells set up shop in the spinal cord, sending and receiving signals through a complex network of neurons, they also eased the neuropathic pain.

“In four weeks, the animal’s condition completely disappeared,” Basbaum said, adding that transplanted “control” cells that lacked the inhibitory properties of the stem-cell-derived neurons failed to ease the pain.

“The clinical significance is that we think we’re actually modifying the disease, not just treating the symptoms,” Basbaum said, adding that drugs currently used to ease neuropathic pain fail to treat the underlying problem. “Instead of taking a drug to suppress the pain, we’re trying to normalize the circuit that was damaged by the disease or the injury. The cells repopulate, they integrate, and basically they treat the disease.”

The findings, while preliminary, give hope to 100 million Americans who suffer from chronic pain, according to a 2011 report from the Institute of Medicine.

But before the technique can be tested in humans, the researchers have to see if human embryonic stem cells have the same ability to ease pain without causing side effects in mice.

“Will they take? Will they integrate? Will they treat the condition?” Basbaum said. “If they do, we could start asking whether they could treat neuropathic pain in humans.”

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Stockbyte/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- While women devour fiction books like the racy Fifty Shades of Grey, a major publisher is betting that more men will at long last take up reading via an eBook series that will launch June 5 -- Fiction for Men.

The collection -- a collaboration between Esquire magazine and Open Road Integrated Media -- is meant to be funny and action-driven.

"Each story is about something that men can relate to," Esquire's editor-in-chief David Granger wrote in an email to ABC News.  "One of the stories -- about a drug deal gone bad -- is surprising and exciting and violent and taps into one of the parts of life that many men dread: f***ing up in an irreparable way."

The theme of another is basketball and "the inevitability of aging;" and the third is about a boy deciding to "take on some of the trappings of manhood," according to Granger.

The first volume will highlight short stories by authors Aaron Gwyn, Luis Alberto Urrea and Jess Walter and Esquire will offer up new fiction every month.

Granger said he has no idea if this new testosterone-laden "dude lit" will tap into the new lucrative eBook market.

"This is an experiment," he said.  "I see how rabidly men, as well as women, consume the works of writers like Michael Connelly and Lee Child and James Lee Burke and I know there is a market for well-crafted, plot-driven stories."

According to several national surveys, only one-third of all American readers are males, and fiction is not their genre of choice.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(HAIFA, Israel) -- People who suffer from heart failure could someday be able to use their own skin stem cells to regenerate their damaged heart tissue, according to a new Israeli study.

Researchers took stem cells from the skin of two patients with heart failure and genetically programmed them to become new heart muscle cells.  They then transplanted the new cells into healthy rats and found that the cells integrated with cardiac tissue that already existed.

The study, published in European Heart Journal, marks the first time ever that scientists could use skin cells from people with heart failure and transform damaged heart tissue this way.

The newly generated cells turned out to be similar to embryonic stem cells, which can potentially be programmed to grow into any type of cell.

"What is new and exciting about our research is that we have shown that it's possible to take skin cells from an elderly patient with advanced heart failure and end up with his own beating cells in a laboratory dish that are healthy and young -- the equivalent to the stage of his heart cells when he was just born," Dr. Lior Gepstein, lead researcher and a senior clinical electrophysiologist at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel, said in a news release.

The findings open up the possibility, the authors wrote, that people can use their own skin cells to repair their damaged hearts, which could prevent the problems associated with using embryonic stem cells.

"This approach has a number of attractive features," said Dr. Tom Povsic, an interventional cardiologist at Duke University Medical Center.  "We can get the cells that you start with from the patient himself or herself.  It avoids the ethical dilemma associated with embryonic stem cells and it removes the possibility of rejection of foreign stem cells by the immune system."  Povsic was not involved with the Israeli study.

Another advantage of using skin cells is that other types of cells taken from patients themselves, such as bone marrow cells, could potentially lead to the development of unhealthy tissue.

"If a patient is already sick with heart disease, one of the reasons it may develop is that stem cells weren't able to repair the heart the way they should," Povsic added.  Skin cells, he explained, are generally healthy.

"It is very exciting and very interesting, but we are far away from taking this to patients," said Dr. Marrick Kukin, director of the Heart Failure Program at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital who was also not involved in the Israeli study.

Kukin explained that the study only involved two patients, and the cells were transplanted into healthy rat hearts that showed no signs of heart failure.

"Will it work in heart muscle that's dead?  Also, how many cells are needed to get an effect in the human heart, and how will they grow the cells to get the critical mass needed," he asked.

There are still a number of major experimental steps that need to take place before trying out this type of therapy in humans, Kukin added.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Robyn Wishna/Cornell Food and Brand Lab(NEW YORK) -- Once you pop open a stack of potato chips, it can sometimes be hard to stop until you suddenly realize you are scraping the bottom of the can.  Now, new research suggests that inserting colored potato chips might actually help curb your appetite -- and the findings could have implications for other snacks, too.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University gave students one of two types of Lays' Stackable potato chips.  The first group was given a stack of chips with red dyed, edible potato chips that were interspersed at several different intervals, suggesting serving sizes anywhere from five to 14 chips.  The other group was given the traditional stack of potato chips with no edible dividers.

What the researchers found was that inserting colored potato chips at regular intervals in the stacks caused people to eat fewer chips overall.  In fact, the group with the edible serving size dividers reduced their potato chip consumption by 50 percent.  The results appear in the May issue of the Journal of Health Psychology.

"The colored chip did all the work," says Paul Rozin, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the authors of the study.  "This study showed that segmenting foods gets people to eat less."

"People tend to eat what you put in front of them.  If you put less in front of them and give them a signal, they will take it," he says.

Barbara Rolls, professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State and author of the Ultimate Volumetrics Diet, had similar observations.  In a separate study, she and her colleagues found that giving men and women bigger bags of potato chips caused them to eat more.  This increase in snack consumption, interestingly, did not translate into the participants eating less at dinner time.

So, is portion control the answer to why over one-third of Americans are obese today?

The answer may just be that simple.  Rozin compared the American and French diet with some interesting findings.  The French, he found, tend to eat smaller portions.

"Even the portions at McDonald's and the pizza parlors are smaller in France compared to America," Rozin says.  "The idea in France is not eating as much as you can but eating as much good food as you can."

Rozin and his colleagues also found that the French tend to eat more slowly than Americans and savor each bite.  In the United States, food is more on the run, and people do not realize how much they are actually consuming.

Interestingly, the French eat higher fat diets than Americans but they have lower rates of cardiovascular disease and higher life expectancy.  Rozin explains that this is called the "French paradox."  The French do not go to the gym as much as Americans but they are overall more active and control their portion sizes.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Photodisc/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Moms and cancer survivors parked their strollers in front of the U.S. Capitol Tuesday as part of the “Stroller Brigade” to demand that Congress take action to help regulate toxic chemicals that are found in everyday items used by children.

The group called on Congress to pass N.J. Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s Safe Chemicals Act, a bill to overhaul old laws governing toxic chemicals.

“As a consumer I am woefully unequipped to protect my family,” said Polly Schlaff, whose son was born with a urological birth defect caused by prenatal exposure to environmental estrogen. “Worse yet, because of the utter failure of federal laws, I must rely on the chemical industry to protect my family from the hidden dangers of the more than 800,000 chemicals they produce and manufacture.”

Out of 800,000 chemicals in the nation, only 200 have been reviewed for safety. Five percent of pediatric cancers are caused by exposure of toxic chemicals, while 10 percent of neurological disorders and 30 percent of childhood asthma cases are associated with hazardous chemicals from hundreds of everyday products, including detergents, household cleaners and baby bottles.

The Lautenberg bill would require chemical makers to prove their products are safe before they end up in children’s bodies.

“Our current law allows too many untested chemicals on the market,” Lautenberg said at the rally Tuesday. “We want to have a responsible oversight and regulation of the chemical industry giving the EPA the authority...so that chemical companies will be required to tell what is in the chemical and what testing has been done.”

Lautenberg is pushing for a vote on his bill in the Senate Environment and Public Works committee, and if it gets out of that committee, it could go to the full Senate for a vote.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio