Up to 48 toxic chemicals commonly used in everyday consumer products
have shown up in blood and urine samples of five prominent women
environmental activists, according to a study by the Environmental
Working Group, a nonprofit organization devoted to protecting human
health and the environment.
"Testing was primarily targeted toward products used in everyday
consumer products that have escaped regulation under the Toxic
Substances Control Act," Anila Jacob, MD, MPH, a senior scientist with
the organization, said at a news briefing.
The findings, according to Jacob and others from Environmental Working
Group, offer more proof that the Toxic Substances Control Act is
antiquated and needs a major overhaul to protect Americans from the
adverse effects of chemicals found in everyday products.
Companies should be required to prove their products are safe before
they go on the market, Environmental Working Group scientists say.
While some officials from the chemical industry support modernization of
the Toxic Substances Control Act, they contend that the sampling system
used in the report provides only a snapshot in time, without enough
details on exposure to prove an adverse effect on health.
The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 gives the Environmental
Protection Agency authority to oversee chemical substances and mixtures,
but generally excludes food, drugs, cosmetics, and pesticides.
In February, Congress held the first of what is expected to be several
hearings on the law's reform. Toxic Chemicals Study
The Environmental Working Group study, funded by Rachel's Network, an
organization of women environmentalists, took two years to complete.
Researchers sampled the activists' blood and urine and analyzed them for
toxic chemicals, using four independent laboratories.
"In each of these women we found at least one controversial chemical,"
says Sonya Lunder, MPH, a senior analyst with the Environmental Working
Group and a co-author of the report. To be termed controversial, she
says, a chemical must be one whose safety is being debated.
"In everyone we found fire retardants, Teflon chemicals, fragrances,
bisphenol A or BPA, and perchlorate," she tells WebMD.
Flame retardants are found in foam furniture, televisions, and
computers. Teflon is used in nonstick coatings and grease-resistant food
packaging. BPA is a plastics chemical; perchlorate, a rocket fuel
ingredient, can contaminate tap water and food. Fragrances have been
associated with hormone disruption in animal studies.
Every woman tested positive for up to 60% of the 75 chemicals evaluated,
the report found.
The women live far apart: in Green Bay, Wis.; New Orleans; Corpus
Christi, Texas; and Oakland, Calif. But their toxic chemical load is
similar, according to the Environmental Working Group scientists.
Each woman had at least one chemical at a high percentile --such as the
81st percentile for bisphenol A, meaning her level of chemicals was
higher than all but 19% of Americans who have been tested.
Industry Response
Tiffany Harrington, a spokeswoman for the American Chemistry Council,
would not comment on the study itself but did issue a statement that
reads in part: "The American Chemistry Council supports science-based
biomonitoring programs and the responsible and appropriate communication
and use of biomonitoring information in assessing the potential risk
posed by exposure to chemicals. However, biomonitoring provides only a
snapshot of substances present in the body at a single point in time."
Biomonitoring is defined by the CDC as the direct measurement of
exposure to a toxic substance by examining the substances themselves or
their metabolites in human blood or urine samples.
The statement from American Chemistry Council continued: "It does not
tell us where a substance came from, when the exposure to the substance
occurred, or the duration and frequency of exposure. The presence of a
substance detected by biomonitoring is not, on its own, an indicator if
there will be any health effects."
The group does support modernization of the Toxic Substances Control
Act, she says.
Jacob notes that health trends in the U.S. suggest that the chemical
load plays a role, citing growing rates of autism spectrum disorder,
diabetes, and certain cancers.
"These chemicals are showing up in people. They can be potent at very
low levels of exposure; we know that from animal studies."
While the rising number of chronic diseases has many roots, she says,
the increased exposure to chemicals is one factor.