Bozeman, Mont. (H24N). Children in western Montana – and throughout the United States – increasingly suffer from developmental disabilities caused by exposure to toxic chemicals, a coalition of medical and environmental groups warned Friday.

In a report, the National Environmental Trust, Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Learning Disabilities Association of America documented an apparent increase in autism, attention-deficit disorder and some birth defects, possibly linked to toxic industrial emissions.

"All of us have known that our world is changing," said Teresa Henry, a registered nurse and an instructor at the Montana State University College of Nursing in Missoula. "Every year, we add another layer of chemicals to our exposure without looking at the long-term effects."

As a nurse and instructor, Henry said she stresses that the way to make the world healthier is to decrease exposure to toxic chemicals.

"My students all come to nursing wanting to save lives," she said. "They want to work in the emergency room. The reality is our biggest job, when we look at the world we live in and how we can make it healthier, is to decrease the disease process by decreasing our exposure to all kinds of chemicals."

The new report, called "Polluting Our Future," focuses on the major emitters in each state and the counties most at risk from air toxins. In Montana, those counties are Missoula and Flathead. And the targeted industrial polluters are Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., Plum Creek Timber Co.’s manufacturing plant in Columbia Falls and Columbia Falls Aluminum Co.

"These industries are significant contributors to the emissions that we’re exposed to," Henry said. "Governmental agencies and communities, as well as the companies, need to work to make those facilities emit less."

But Henry emphasized that unemployment causes its own set of health issues.

"I am not proposing that we shut down everything," she said. "Individuals need to work with industries, but they also need to look at their own lives. Do I need to use this chemical? Do I need to use this pesticide, herbicide or solvent? Am I cautious and careful about how I dispose of this stuff?"

At Smurfit-Stone Container, technical services manager Neal Marxer said the Frenchtown mill is "continually working to decrease emissions."

"If you go back and look at a five- or six-year history of our emissions, the actual numbers indicate we are decreasing our emissions," he said.

This year, for example, Smurfit-Stone will spend $16.5 million to reduce methanol emissions by 92 percent at its Frenchtown plant, Marxer said. All pulp and paper mills, in fact, must drastically reduce methanol pollution under the first phase of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new cluster rules.

Officials at Plum Creek and Columbia Falls Aluminum could not be reached in time for deadline.

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