Fw: Landmark report on chemical threats ~ MSNBC

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From: " ilena rose " <ilena@...>

Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2001 1:23 PM

Subject: Landmark report on chemical threats ~ MSNBC

> Landmark report on chemical threats

>

> http://www.msnbc.com/news/547348.asp

>

> CDC adopts 'biomonitoring' as annual measuring tool

>

> A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention technician works with

> " biomonitoring " tools to detect chemical levels in a human sample.

>

>

> By Llanos

> MSNBC

>

> March 21 - Promising a new, more accurate era in measuring how chemicals

> affect our bodies, the nation's top health agency on Wednesday released

its

> first annual report on human exposure to 27 substances - including lead,

> mercury, pesticides, plastics and chemicals tied to tobacco.

>

> " THIS COULD be revolutionary in terms of environmental health, "

> , director of the National Center for Environmental Health, told

> reporters. " For the first time, we've profiled what is in people. "

>

> The data, which will become a baseline for future studies by the Centers

for

> Disease Control and Prevention, is based on testing of blood and urine

> samples from a 1999 national health survey. The 27 substances were broken

> down into four categories: metals, tobacco, pesticides and phthalates,

which

> are chemicals often found in soft plastics and cosmetics.

>

> called the report a first but " major step toward assessing which

> environmental chemicals are present in blood and urine samples, who is

> exposed, trends in exposure over time and whether interventions to reduce

> exposure are working. "

>

> " The report is a wake-up call, " said Dr. Philip Landrigan, professor of

> pediatrics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. " Americans are clearly

> being exposed to an array of toxic chemicals, many of which can and should

> be avoided. "

>

> The researchers emphasized that while they reached no conclusions on

health

> risks because comparative data were lacking, they did find cause for

concern

> in some chemical levels.

>

> A case in point, they said, is a chemical often used in perfumes, hand

soaps

> and other health-care products. Levels were " considerably higher " for that

> chemical, diethyl phthalate, than expected, they said.

>

> Concerns over chemicals in cosmetics

>

>

> Studies in animals suggest that large amounts of the chemical may disrupt

> normal hormone function and cause birth defects. These new data have

> prompted the CDC to examine the pathways by which these compounds get into

> people's bodies. The government is already studying whether repeated

> exposure is harmful to humans.

>

> And the Consumer Product Safety Commission has recommended that toy makers

> stop using phthalates, used in plastics to soften such things as doll

heads

> and teething rings.

>

> But the American Chemistry Council claimed that the CDC report " contains

no

> new information that raises questions about the safety of phthalate

esters. "

>

> " The highest levels reported by CDC indicate that the exposure levels of

the

> U.S. population to the phthalate esters measured are within the safety

> limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, " the council said

in

> a statement.

>

> Biomonitoring our bodies

>

> The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have embraced

> " biomonitoring. " The technology allows researchers to measure chemicals

> directly in blood and urine rather than having to rely on exposure

estimates

> based on air, water or soil samples. Click on a category for recent

> biomonitoring breakthroughs.

> Breast cancerChildren & pesticideDrinking waterCigarette smoke

>

> CDC and Danish researchers found that the risk of breast cancer

> significantly increased with increasing levels of dieldrin, a pesticide,

in

> women's blood. This result suggests that exposure to dieldrin and other

> " organochlorine " compounds may increase the risk of breast cancer.

> Methyl parathion, a pesticide that should never be used indoors, has been

> found inside thousands of homes in at least seven states and led to the

> deaths of two children in Mississippi. In response, the CDC's

Environmental

> Health Lab developed a method to measure methyl parathion in urine and did

> so in more than 15,000 people. The results helped identify who needed

> treatment and who needed to be moved out of their homes until the homes

> could be cleaned.

>

> Trihalomethanes, chemicals that evaporate easily into the air, are thought

> to be linked to birth defects, bladder cancer, and colorectal cancer.

Formed

> during the water sanitation process, they are often found in drinking

water.

> The CDC's lab developed a way to measure trihalomethanes in blood, and

it's

> being used in studies to find out how much enters people's bodies and

> whether the chemicals are causing illness.

>

> The CDC's lab developed ways to measure cotinine -- a chemical formed by

the

> breakdown of cigarette nicotine in the body -- in saliva, blood, and

urine.

> These methods are being used to find out: how much secondhand smoke is

> getting into children, adolescents and adults; what levels of chemicals in

> tobacco smoke cause health problems; how well actions to protect people

from

> secondhand smoke are working; and how well actions to help smokers stop

> smoking are working.

>

> Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

>

> DIRECT SAMPLING POSSIBLE

>

> In unveiling the report, the CDC said the improved data stems from

advances

> in a technology - known as " biomonitoring " - that allows researchers to

> measure chemicals directly in blood and urine samples rather than having

to

> rely on exposure estimates based on air, water, or soil samples.

>

> The advances include being able to now measure chemicals down to extremely

> low levels - such as parts-per-trillion or parts-per-quadrillion - and in

> the presence of many other chemicals.

>

> Moreover, past lab testing could only examine one or two chemicals at a

time

> for each sample. With the advances, testing can be done for dozens of

> chemicals, which in turn can help researchers figure out how chemicals

might

> interact in the body.

>

> Based on this scientific advancement, the first National Report on Human

> Exposure to Environmental Chemicals provides data on actual levels of

> chemicals in humans. The CDC said that as data is collected over the

years,

> " researchers will be better able to determine possible health effects and

> design appropriate public health strategies. "

>

> For 24 of the 27 chemicals tracked, the CDC added, the data are a

first-time

> measurement in a sample representing the U.S. population. The data are

also

> broken down by demographic groups.

>

> The CDC plans to eventually track and report annually on 100 chemicals.

And

> while the first annual report was based on a 1999 study that tested

> Americans in 12 areas and for just one year, future reports will expand

both

> the number of years and locations, the CDC said.

>

> LEAD, TOBACCO SMOKE

>

> For three of the substances tracked in the report, blood and urine samples

> had been taken in the past at a national level, and the CDC highlighted

> trends found in two of those:

>

> Levels of lead in children's blood continues to decline though it's still

" a

> major public health concern " for specific groups, such as children who

live

> in homes built before 1950.

>

> Exposure to tobacco smoke showed a 75-percent drop since 1988-91. The CDC

> cautioned, however, that exposure is still a concern since more than half

of

> American youth are exposed.

>

>