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Human contamination from highly toxic chemicals
November 2004

Nobody today can avoid exposure to the ever increasing number of toxic compounds that are now being used or have been used in the past for a multitude of purposes. The long term accumulation of these substances in the human body may have consequences that today are not known.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are daily submitted to an increasing number of man made chemical substances that have been produced and used for various industrial and agricultural reasons.

We are daily submitted to an increasing number of man made chemical substances that have been produced and used for various industrial and agricultural reasons.

The range of applications for these compounds is very broad and includes many products from television sets to cars.

The issue regarding the influences to the human organism of these compounds, has been a matter of public concern and the object of extended and continuing research. The short term as well as the long term implications on the human body of the effects of the multitude of toxic substances, need to be continuously monitored.

Recent research has shown that most people have in their blood a big number of synthetic chemical toxic substances that remain in the body.

Additionally there is the possibility that these during pregnancy are transferred to the fetus and being therefore passed to future generations.

According to scientists from the United Kingdom that conducted research about this issue, we are practically playing Russian roulette with our health because of the lack of adequate regulation.

These alarming statements result from the fact that the uncontrolled production and release of chemicals in the environment which are absorbed by the human body, may have consequences that we do not take into consideration neither do we examine them to the extend that we should.

Scientific evidence shows that for many of these compounds, their short term accumulation at high concentration in the blood, have a significant toxic impact.

Some have been associated with carcinogenesis, nervous system anomalies and disorders of the immunological system that is responsible for the defense of the organism against pathogens.

However the question of what happens when these chemicals accumulate at lower concentrations for long term in our blood, still remains. Nobody can answer with certainty these questions today. Although the answers are not available, human activity in this field continues uninterrupted increasing our risk of exposure to these nocuous chemicals as their penetration to the human organism remains unstopped.

In a study funded by the European Union (EU) and the World Wild Fund (WWF - UK), 155 volunteers have been examined from 13 different regions of the United Kingdom.

The concentrations of 77 known chemicals have been measured in their blood. These chemicals are particularly toxic and are characterized by the fact that they have a long duration of life after they are released in the environment. Additionally at high blood concentrations, they are on short term particularly toxic.

Some of these toxic compounds are polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), organophosphates, the known pesticide DDT, flame retardants that are used on TV sets and cars.

The findings of the British scientists are indeed alarming:
  • Almost all of the volunteers had synthetic toxic chemicals in their blood
     
  • The biggest number of toxic chemicals found in volunteers was 49 and the smallest was 9 while the average number was 30
     
  • Approximately 99% of the volunteers had chemicals generated form the metabolism of DDT.

    DDT which was widely used during the last decades of the past century, is now not any more allowed to be used. It is characterized by the fact that it persists in the environment for many decades and once it enters the human body it accumulates and remains there for many years
     
  • Approximately 7% of the volunteers had flame retardants (used for TV sets and cars) in their blood.   

    Of particular interest indicative of the dangerousness of these chemicals is that the volunteers had the same blood concentrations as people working in these industries
     
  • Women who had more children or that breast fed their children, had lower concentrations of toxic chemicals such as PCB's. This according to the researchers may be due to the fact that part of these substances have been transferred to their children during pregnancy or breast feeding.

    PCB's are particularly toxic to the endocrine system. They are endocrine disrupting chemicals, they interrupt metabolic pathways, induce disorders of the sexual differentiation and might have long term negative influences that are difficult to identify

The European Union, recognizing the serious dangers that do exist and continue to be generated, has taken initiatives for a regulation with the proposal of the legislative frame REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of CHemicals) which has been voted from the European Parliament on 29 October 2003.

This legislation regulates for the first time a much more strict manner of registration, control, evaluation and authorization for thousands of synthetic chemical compounds that are used and released in the environment.

In conclusion, nobody today can avoid exposure to the ever increasing number of toxic compounds that are now being used or have been used in the past for a multitude of purposes.

The long term accumulation of these substances in the human body may have consequences that today are not known.

Our children are influenced from this situation because they do not only absorb such substances during their everyday life but as well they carry a nocuous burden they took from their mother during their embryonic life or breast feeding.

Carefully studied and designed measures are needed in order to manage this peril and the new European Legislation REACH is a step in the right direction.

 

Bibliography, Sources:

  1. The New EU Chemicals Legislation - REACH,  European Union 29 October 2003
  2. Highly toxic chemicals contaminate the nation: ContamiNATION, The Results of WWF's Biomonitoring Survey ,  World Wild Fund - United Kingdom (WWF-UK) 24 November 2003
    3.
  3. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
  4. Environment
  5. Europa
  6. Environmental Protection Agency
  7. National Safety Council
  8. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


 
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Disclaimer: The information and recommendations contained and presented in this website have been compiled from sources believed to be reliable and scientifically correct. However Progressive Insurance Company Ltd, makes no guarantee as to, and assumes no responsibility for, the correctness, sufficiency, or completeness of such information or recommendations. Other or additional information or safety measures may be required under particular circumstances.