Blood tests show chemical toxins
A number of toxic man-made chemicals were found in the blood of every person tested during a survey by an environmental pressure group. Environmental pressure group WWF said the ContamiNATION study discovered traces which ranged from pesticides to the chemicals added to some paints and fire retardants.
Eleven Scots - including two MSPs - were among 155 people tested in the UK. Politicians have backed calls for action and Green MSPs want a debate on the issue in the Scottish Parliament.
The tests commissioned by WWF looked for the presence of 77 different chemicals. An average of 27 were found in the blood of each person tested across the UK with readings ranging from nine to 49.
Stricter testing
WWF said long-banned substances such as DDT, which has been associated with cancers and nervous and immune system disorders, were still being found.
The European Parliament is bringing in new regulations to ensure thousands of chemicals are subjected to stricter testing.
However, the WWF wants to ensure that hazardous materials are phased out or banned altogether.
WWF's survey shows that our bodies are being used as toxic chemical dumps
Dr Richard Dixon WWF Scotland Labour MSP Sarah Boyack and the Scottish National Party's Christine Grahame, who underwent blood tests, are set to take part in the Scottish launch of the results.
Dr Richard Dixon, head of policy for WWF Scotland said, "There is very little information available about the safety and health risks posed by the vast majority of chemicals in use.
"We just don't know what might be considered a safe level of exposure to these chemicals, especially when they persist in the body for long periods and react together inside the body in a potentially dangerous cocktail.
"WWF's survey shows that our bodies are being used as toxic chemical dumps." He said there was a mixed picture in Scotland, with some volunteers recording low scores. However, one Scot was found to have the second highest level of PCB contamination in the UK.
Flame retardants are found on everyday furniture
Dr Dixon said some of the chemicals came from everyday materials such as paints, glues, toys, electrical goods, furniture, carpets and clothes.
"Our contaminated blood is proof that it's time for the government and chemical companies to phase out the production and use of these chemicals and develop new safe alternatives," he said. Green MSPs have lodged a motion at Holyrood calling for a parliamentary inquiry.
Health spokeswoman Eleanor Scott said: "It is important that such a serious issue for Scottish health is debated in the Scottish Parliament.
"For the sake of today's children and for future generations it is vital that we make the law as tough as possible to stop this ongoing contamination in everyday life.
"What is so alarming is that it is everyday products, things people find it almost impossible to avoid, as well as a legacy from the past that is contaminating people."
Nov. 2003
Blood tests show chemical toxins
The umbilical cord is a baby's lifeline, bringing nourishment from the mother and removing waste. The amniotic fluid bathes the growing embryo, and the umbilical cord brings the embryo oxygen, nutrients-and a startling array of toxic industrial chemicals, according to a recent study, "Body Burden: The Pollution in Newborns." In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers from two major laboratories looked for the presence of toxic chemicals in umbilical cord blood of 10 newborn babies born in U.S. hospitals in August and September 2004. A collaboration of the Environmental Working Group and Commonwealth brought about the study.
Of the more than 400 chemicals tested for, 287 were detected in umbilical cord blood. Of these, 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain or nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animals. Scientists refer to the presence of such toxins in the newborn as "body burden."
According to the study's authors, the scope of testing was limited because chemical companies are not required to divulge methods for detecting the presence of their chemicals in the human body. "Had we tested for a broader array of chemicals," they wrote, "we would almost certainly have detected far more than 287."
Among those substances found to be polluting the blood supply for the newborn babies were eight perfluorochemicals used as stain and oil repellants in fast-food packaging, clothes and textiles, including the Teflon chemical PFQA, a carcinogen; dozens of widely used bromated flame retardants and their toxic byproducts; and many pesticides.
This latest research was done to investigate the root causes of diseases caused by chemicals with in-utero origins. Certain factors contribute to children's unique susceptibility to the dangerous effect of chemicals. An immature porous blood-brain barrier in the fetus allows greater chemical exposures to the developing brain; a developing child's chemical exposures are greater pound-for-pound than those of an adult; and systems that detoxify and excrete industrial chemicals are not fully developed (National Academy of Sciences, 1993).
The difference between the effect of chemical exposure on adults and embryos can be seen in the case of mercury exposure. In Minamata, Japan, in the 1950s, poisonous mercury waste was dumped into a bay, contaminating the food chain. Autopsies of adults revealed mercury-caused lesions in a few areas of the brain, while in a fetus, lesions covered nearly the entire cortex.
Here is a summary from the report of the classes of chemical found in the babies' umbilical cord. Many of them persist for decades in the environment and in people, accumulate in the food chain and are lipophilic, that is, accumulate in fatty tissue and fluids such as breast milk.
Continued at http://www.wecf.eu/english/articles/2005/12/newborns.php
http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/
