Question #4: How do industrial chemicals get in my body? More than 75,000 commercial chemicals are currently approved for use in the U.S. (EPA 2005c), a number that grows by 2,500 new chemicals yearly (EPA 1997). U.S. industries produce or import 3,000 of these in quantities of greater than one million pounds per year (EPA 2005c). Many pesticides banned in the U.S. for decades (PCBs and DDT, for example) persist in the environment, build up in the food chain, and continue to contribute to daily exposures. Government sources detail more than 3,000 chemicals used as food additives (FDA 2005), an estimated 10,500 ingredients in personal care products (FDA 2000), and more than 500 chemicals approved as active ingredients in pesticides (EPA 2002a,2005b). Many of these chemicals, whether used purposefully or found as unwanted impurities, can contribute to a persons body burden through exposures from food, air, water, dust and soil, and consumer products. And for many chemicals in our bodies, the health consequences are unknown. The studies arent required under federal law, and in most cases simply havent been done.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 22:29:08 +0000
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