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1. Pthalates
2. Bisphenol A
3. Perfluorochemicals
4. Polybrominated diphenyl
ethers
Invented in the 1930s, phthalates (tha–lates)
are found in many everyday products, from
cosmetics to flexible plastics used to make
food wraps, toys, and building materials.
Studies of suggest exposure to phthalates
increases the risk of reproductive system birth
defects and hormonal alteration in baby boys,
and reproductive problems and hormonal
changes in men. Though phthalates are
considered hazardous waste and are regulated
as air and water pollutants, they are
unregulated in food, cosmetics, and consumer
and medical products.
Personal care products expose children to an average
of 60 chemicals every day that they can breathe in or
that absorb through their skin. Product testing showed
phthalates in three-quarters of 72 name-brand products
tested. Because federal law contains no safety standard
for cosmetics, it is legal for companies to use ingredients
that are reproductive toxins like phthalates, carcinogens,
and other potentially harmful substances.
Bisphenol A
BPA is a component of epoxy resins that are
used to line food cans and to make hard
plastic polycarbonate bottles and containers,
popularized by Nalgene and others. It
leaches into food, water, and infant formula
and has been detected in 93 percent of all
Americans tested by the Centers for Disease
Control.
BPA raises special concerns because
numerous studies have found it to be
toxic at exposure levels equivalent to or
even below the amounts detected in
people. BPA is linked to breast and
prostate cancer and neurobehavioral
changes in offspring exposed in the
womb.
BPA is a signature compound in the fight for
reform of the nation's toxic chemicals laws. It
contaminates nearly all Americans, it causes
toxic effects at very low doses, the effects
associated with BPA, like breast and prostate
cancer, are on the rise, yet the EPA has only the
most clumsy and convoluted authority to
control its use and reduce exposure to
populations at risk.
Many new parents are aware that the toxic chemical
Bisphenol-A (BPA) leaches from plastic baby bottles
found on the shelves of stores across America. But a
new investigation by Environmental Working Group
(EWG) reveals that BPA is also used to line nearly all
infant formula cans. BPA levels found in liquid formula
are likely to be far higher than those that leach from
bottles under normal use.
Perflurochemicals
PFCs are industrial chemicals widely used as water,
stain and grease repellants for food wrap,
carpet, furniture, and clothing.
The family includes such well known name brands as
Scotchgard, Stain Master and Teflon.
Available scientific findings to date show that
PFCs widely contaminate human blood that
they persist in the body for decades, that they
act through a broad range of toxic mechanisms
of action to present potential harm to a wide
range of organs (ovaries, liver, kidney, spleen,
thymus, thyroid, pituitary, testis), and that they
persist indefinitely in the environment with no
known biological or environmental breakdown
mechanism
Human Toxome Project
By the Environmental Working Group
(www.ewg.org)
http://www.ewg.org/sites/humantoxome/participants/index.php
Many of these chemicals are found in newborn
infants!
http://www.ewg.org/sites/humantoxome/participants/participant.php?subject=bb2_081704
Baby #3's cord blood contained 212 of 395 industrial
compounds, pollutants and other chemicals tested,
including chemicals linked to brain and nervous system
toxicity, cancer, and birth defects and developmental delays.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers
PBDEs are brominated fire retardants, intentionally
added to flexible foam furniture–
primarily mattresses,
couches, padded chairs, pillows, carpet padding and
vehicle upholstery
– and to electronic products.
Studies of laboratory animals
link PBDE exposure to an
array of adverse health effects
including thyroid hormone
disruption, permanent
learning and memory
impairment, behavioral
changes, hearing deficits,
delayed puberty onset,
decreased sperm count, and
fetal malformations.
The chemicals build up in the body, are
stored in fatty tissues and body fluids,
such as blood and breast milk, and can
be passed on to fetuses and infants
during pregnancy and lactation. People
are primarily exposed to PBDEs in their
homes, offices and vehicles.
These are just 4 chemicals out of
many toxic chemicals that humans
have created.
We have not evolved with these
compounds and our bodies have
not evolved ways to de-toxify them.
In light of this, carbon dioxide doesn’t seem
so bad to me.