APPROXIMATELY 3,000 chemicals are produced at a rate of more than 1 million pounds per year. Of these 3,000 chemicals, scientists have determined with certainty that 10 to 12 chemicals or categories of chemicals are developmental neurotoxins — they can interfere with the brain development of children. There is good evidence that another 200 of these chemicals are neurotoxins in adults. However, because the vast majority of chemicals do not have to be tested for health effects before being used in products, we have very little information on their potential to harm the developing brain.

As a mother of three, this is a major concern to me. My son Edgar, age 5, has been diagnosed with autism. My daughter Lorelei, age 3, has developmental delays and is now being evaluated for cognitive and language impairments.

I have little insight into what may have caused their disorders. Is it something I ate — or didn't eat — during pregnancy? Is our home too close to a power plant? Did I, like so many other mothers, nurse my babies on a pillow treated with flame retardants? Or were my kids just genetically pre-disposed to these problems?

Doctors and scientists are beginning to glean insights into these questions. Mounting research is pointing to the role of pre-natal exposure to environmental toxins and exposure during early infancy. The National Academy of Sciences estimates that about one quarter of mental disabilities in children results from exposure to neurotoxins — the bulk of those occurring because certain babies or children are more susceptible to begin with.

Exposure may be quite subtle — such as breathing in the gases that are released from a new carpet or mattress. Yet, when a genetic susceptibility combines with exposure to harmful agent, such as flame retardants, WHAM! That baby is set up for a lifetime of challenges.

What can we do about it? Our schools and community organizations have done an admirable job at supporting children in the early years, when intervention is most effective. I am grateful for the advocates and policy makers who understood, decades ago, that all of society benefits when children with disabilities receive the educational services they need to become productive citizens.

Yet, where is the focus on prevention? Given what we know, and what we don't know, about chemical exposure, how do we protect our children?

The Learning Disabilities Association has launched the Healthy Children's Project for this purpose. As a board member of LDA's New Hampshire chapter, I am traveling to Washington, D.C., this week to speak at a Senate briefing on this topic. My husband, Seth, and I will join leading epidemiologists for a discussion of chemicals and neurological disorders. My goal is to get Congress to take action on this problem.

Existing laws provide very little protection. When the Toxic Substances Control Act was passed in 1976, thousands of chemicals were grandfathered onto the market without testing for health or safety. The only regulation we have seen since then has occurred after patterns of harm have been discovered, as with exposure to lead and mercury.

We need legislation that requires chemical manufacturers to test for safety first, before introducing a new chemical compound into the market place. And that testing needs to account for the unique attributes of brain development. What's safe for adults is not necessarily safe for babies and young children. We also need a free flow of information to consumers, so we can make informed choices about what products to avoid.

This topic is not high on the list of issues being discussed publicly during this campaign season. But it's getting there. Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, who led the effort to protect children from tobacco more than two decades ago, is championing the Safe Chemicals Act in the U.S. Senate. Government policy needs to catch up with the advances in science, just as it did when the dangers of tobacco use and second-hand smoke were established.

Preventing lifelong learning disabilities is in everyone's interests — Democrats, Republicans and independents. It will yield savings to school districts and governments across the country. More importantly, it's the right thing to do. Our children should not be guinea pigs for the testing of chemicals.

I am proud to be part of this citizen-led call for common-sense regulation of chemicals. I am honored to represent parents of autistic children as the U.S. Senate considers this matter tomorrow.

Please join me in raising your voices on these important concerns. For information, visit the website of the New Hampshire Learning Disabilities Association, www.nhlda.org, or the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition, www.saferchemicals.org. Let's do all we can to protect New Hampshire's kids.

Melissa Wolfe of Brentwood is a mother of three children, two with special needs. She also is a board member of the New Hampshire Learning Disabilities Association.