Study reveals chemical cocktail in every person

[Guest guest]

Taken from the New Scientist:

http://uk.news./031125/12/eew5l.html

 

By Shaoni Bhattacharya

 

A cocktail of potentially harmful man-made chemicals has been found

in the blood of every person tested in a new UK study.

 

The 155 volunteers, including EU environment commissioner Margot

Wallström, were tested for gender-bending PCBs, flame retardants and

organophosphates.

 

The study, commissioned by the environmental group WWF, focussed on

77 chemicals known to be " very persistent " in the environment and to

accumulate in people's bodies. It is one of the most comprehensive

studies to date.

 

The findings are " disturbing " , says Matthew Wilkinson, lead author of

the report and WWF UK toxics policy officer. " Every single person we

monitored had a range of these chemicals. "

 

Point of principle

 

Animal tests have shown that the chemicals can be harmful at high

levels, but the long-term effects of the lower levels found in people

are not known.

 

" It's the principle here as much as anything, " says Stephen Holgate,

chair of the expert panel on air quality control for the UK

Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture and a member of the

Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. " There are chemicals out

there which stick around for a long time - that's a worrying issue. "

 

WWF wants persistent chemicals to be treated in the same way as

chemicals known to be harmful under proposed European legislation,

known as REACH. This framework would require the registering, safety

evaluation and authorisation of thousands of everyday chemicals for

the first time and will become law if approved by the European

Parliament and the Council of Ministers.

 

" This legislation is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get rid of

these [persistent] chemicals, " Wilkinson told New Scientist . Justin

Woolford, leader of WWF's chemicals and health campaign adds: " We are

unwittingly playing Russian roulette with our health because of

regulatory inaction. "

 

Breakdown products

 

Researchers at the University of Lancaster tested the volunteers from

13 areas of the UK for the 77 chemicals. The highest number of

chemicals found in any one person was 49, and the lowest was nine.

The average number was about 30.

 

The persistence of some chemicals was demonstrated by the fact that

99 per cent of the people tested had PCBs in their blood that are

breakdown products of the pesticide DDT, banned decades ago in the

UK.

 

Seven per cent of people tested positive for a flame retardant

chemical used in every day products like televisions and cars. The

blood level of the chemicals was comparable level to that found in

people exposed through their work.

 

Wilkinson notes that women were found to have lower levels of certain

PCBs than men. These levels were lower in women who had carried and

breastfed more children, prompting Wilkinson to speculate that this

might demonstrate " the dumping of the chemical load on to the

offspring " .

 

Although the effects of the chemicals are unknown, he says

such " endocrine disrupting chemicals " might have subtle effects on a

foetus which may not be detected for decades.

 

Attilio