Endocrine-Distruptors Starting to Worry UNEP and WHO

From Science Daily: Effects of Human Exposure to Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals Examined in Landmark United Nations Report

Feb. 19, 2013 — Many synthetic chemicals, untested for their disrupting effects on the hormone system, could have significant health implications according to the State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and WHO.

Key sections:

• Some substances can alter the hormonal system. 

• Human exposure can occur in a number of ways. 

• More research is needed.

• Recommendations:

The study makes a number of recommendations to improve global knowledge of these chemicals, reduce potential disease risks, and cut related costs. These include:

• Testing: known EDCs are only the 'tip of the iceberg' and more comprehensive testing methods are required to identify other possible endocrine disruptors, their sources, and routes of exposure.
• Research: more scientific evidence is needed to identify the effects of mixtures of EDCs on humans and wildlife (mainly from industrial by-products) to which humans and wildlife are increasingly exposed.
• Reporting: many sources of EDCs are not known because of insufficient reporting and information on chemicals in products, materials and goods.
• Collaboration: more data sharing between scientists and between countries can fill gaps in data, primarily in developing countries and emerging economies.

Read the full article.

   

 

Chemicals in Candy: Not So Sweet

I came across this article on Healthy Child and it was as though I'd written it myself. My "concern" list would be identical, though not in this order (not that she said it was prioritized).

We identified these dangerous additives as "The Scary Seven." They are:

1. High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
2. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
3. Partially Hydrogenated Oils (trans fats)
4. Artificial Colors
5. Artificial Sweeteners (including acesulfame potassium, or Ace-K; sucralose [Splenda], and aspartame)
6. Artificial Flavors
7. Preservatives (including: sodium benzoate, sulphites (sulphur dioxide), polysorbate 60, 65 or 80, nitrites, TBHQ, and BHT/BHA).

Let me know if you think anything important is missing.

Avoiding flame retardants ... not as easy as it should be!

I caught a great article on Healthy Child Healthy World about the chemical Tris, which was voluntarily removed from kids' pajamas in the 1970s because it was found to cause cancer. Guess what? It's still around. A recent study found that 16 out of 20 new baby and children's products tested positive for chlorinated Tris (TDCPP).

These findings echoed a 2011 Berkeley study which found Tris in 36% of 101 products tested. Need more convincing?  "According to the Berkeley study, Americans have 20 times higher blood levels of PBDEs than in Europe [sic]; these chemicals are linked to cancer, thyroid disruption, lower testosterone in men, neurological disorders in children and reduced fertility in women." Very disturbing.

Want to do something about it? 
Get tips from the Washington Toxics Coalition on reducing the burden on your family. 

Pressure your state representatives to consider chemical reform legislation, like that making its way through the Washington State Congress: The Toxic-Free Kids Act would ban the use of Tris in children’s products beginning in 2014 and discourage manufacturers from replacing one toxic flame retardant with another by requiring them to conduct thorough health and safety assessment of potential alternatives.

Will Wal-Mart Beat the FDA/EPA to Chemical Reform?

Recently I started thinking about Wal-Mart's efforts toward reducing its carbon footprint (which they are famously doing by requiring their suppliers to reduce their collective footprint). As I understand it, their position was essentially "while our carbon footprint is big, the carbon footprint of our vendors is many multiples greater, so helping them achieve great energy and materials efficiencies helps everyone." True, but I always thought it was a blatant cop-out as well as a brilliant strategy to extract even lower prices from their vendors.

My new thinking is that maybe they can use their enormous influence to do what government agencies don't have the power or the wherewithall to do expeditiously: Rid consumer products of untested, unsafe chemicals.

Think about it. Tomorrow, Wal-Mart could look at the great body of scientific research from all over the world and say, hmmm, these studies prove that some chemicals are not safe for human exposure. It's our duty to protect our customers from harmful chemicals that are most likely causing cancer, reproductive dysfunctions, neurological disorders, respiratory illnesses and scads of other ailments.

They could issue a mandate: Any company wishing to sell to Wal-Mart will need to reformulate their product -- and submit testing by an independent laboratory to verify product composition -- by 2011 to remove phthalates, triclosan, formaldehyde, lead, arsenic, parabens, methylchloroisothiazolinone, PEGs, triethanolamine, BPA, PBDEs, PFOA, perchlorate and PBTs (just for starters).

You know what? A few vendors would cry foul. Wal-Mart would stand its ground. And we'd all end up with a slew of reformulated, healthier products at a fair price with wide availability. Their tagline, "Save money. Live better." would have a whole new meaning.

Suddenly, I'm feeling optimistic. I just hope our chemical reform advocates see the light and shift their efforts from Washington, D.C., to Bentonville.

Three big stories not to miss

1. Sewage is contaminating our drinking water 37% of the time. Gross. Thanks, treehugger and New York Times for exposing some scary facts about our infrastructure and its ill effects.

2. Ground beef contaminated with E. coli is more common than it ought to be. Which may seem like a scare tactic, but not if you read this extremely well-researched article in the New York Times. I'm a big fan of red meat, even though I know it's not the best use of the planet (being completely honest here), but I buy from local sources here or organic, if available. We also eat venison that we kill during season. We meaning my dad. I can't kill it, but I can eat it.

3. Persistent synthetic chemical contaminants found to travel the globe and concentrate in remote places like the Arctic. Sad. Sickening. "A network of more than 40 sampling sites has found evidence of synthetic chemicals that do not break down into nontoxic components--a mix of pesticides, fossil-fuel emissions and industrial compounds--virtually everywhere it looked, from Antarctica, North America, Australia and Africa to Iceland." (ScientificAmerican)

Startling report from the Endocrine Society

In Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement by Evanthia Diamanti-Kandarakis, Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, Linda C. Giudice, Russ Hauser, Gail S. Prins, Ana M. Soto, R. Thomas Zoeller and Andrea C. Gore, published in June 2009, we learn that endocrinology researchers are alarmed at the potential consequences of overuse of these chemicals.

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "There is growing interest in the possible health threat posed by endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which are substances in our environment, food, and consumer products that interfere with hormone biosynthesis, metabolism, or action resulting in a deviation from normal homeostatic control or reproduction. In this first Scientific Statement of The Endocrine Society, we present the evidence that endocrine disruptors have effects on male and female reproduction, breast development and cancer, prostate cancer, neuroendocrinology, thyroid, metabolism and obesity, and cardiovascular endocrinology. Results from animal models, human clinical observations, and epidemiological studies converge to implicate EDCs as a significant concern to public health."

Unfortunately you have to pay to read the full text, but Fanatic Cook has a great blogpost on this. Scary stuff, and I'm glad they are going on record to alert the public and lawmakers to this public health threat.

E.U. spies some suspicious food dyes

I've spent some time with a great book by Dr. Doris Rapp called, "Is This Your Child?" (Discovering and Treating Unrecognized Allergies). Dr. Rapp is a board-certified environmental medical specialist and pediatric allergist in Arizona, who's made a career out of helping parents figure out what's making their sometimes normal children become wildly inattentive or otherwise unwieldy. She figured out that a wide variety of environmental and chemical factors could in fact cause children to experience uncontrollable states, from rage to lethargy. It's a really amazing book, especially because she's got something like 30,000 kids on video tape before exposure to their trigger and after she treats it. I really don't understand why she's so under-the-radar, except maybe that pharmaceutical companies and agribusiness types don't want parents to wise up.

Anyway, I saw this GoodGuide article about the E.U. examining some food colorants that may "have adverse reactions in children" and it made me think of that great book. Anecdotally, a woman I know who did in-home childcare for 30 years told me about a young boy she used to watch who was a hyperactive mess. Finally, the mom found a doctor who tested and found that he was allergic to a certain red food dye. Once she removed it from his diet, he was a different child. How scary is that?

The UK's Food Standards Agency was reviewing (as of March 2009) these six coloring agents and placed a voluntary ban on them (these are the US equivalent names):

• FD&C Yellow 5
• FD&C Yellow 6
• FD&C Yellow 10
• FD&C Red 4
• FD&C Red 40
• Carmoisine

As of May 1, 2009, many UK companies voluntarily removed the above dyes from their products. You can see a list here.

Recalibrate your clean meter

If you use bleach to get things clean...if you spray Lysol liberally in your house...if you use Cascade in your dishwasher...you are poisoning your indoor air and leaving toxic residues on surfaces you touch and your dishes. The runoff is also harmful to our environment, notably in frogs, which have experienced significant reproductive organ mutations. Scary, huh?

Not surprisingly, many household cleaners, bug spray, pets' flea treatments and "air fresheners" are known to irritate your lungs, and are especially bad for kids with respiratory issues.

Fortunately, it's easy to find less toxic alternatives. We use diluted white vinegar, baking soda and hydrogen peroxide (for stains) in place of bleach and harsh chemicals. Vinegar doesn't smell the best, but the scent quickly evaporates.If you really need that clean smell to feel like you cleaned, investigate readily available brands like Method, Seventh Generation, Ecover and Simple Green. Shaklee has a great line, if you know someone who sells that; Melaleuca sells green cleaners, too, but I'm not quite sure they are as good toxicity-speaking.

I'm not a fan of the new green cleaners from companies like Clorox and S.C. Johnson, because they continue to make so many horribly toxic products. I don't think they can be trusted to make responsible ones. We like Method's flushable/compostable bathroom wipes; their stainless steel wipes also work very well. The important things to note for kids are that chemical fragrance usually contains phthlatates, which are hormone disruptors, especially dangerous for little boys.

The blogpost referenced here does a great job of outlining the offenders and explaining the dangers. When in doubt, buy unscented products and brands that use essential oils to perfume products, rather than listing "fragrance" or "parfum" in the ingredients.