Post by Mech on Nov 25, 2003 13:07:00 GMT -5
Study reveals chemical cocktail in every person
11:17 25 November 03
NewScientist.com news service
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.
11:17 25 November 03
NewScientist.com news service
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.