A cocktail of potentially harmful man-made chemicals has been found in the blood of every person tested in a new UK study.
The 155 volunteers, including EU environment commissioner Margot Wallstr枚m, were tested for gender-bending PCBs, flame retardants and organophosphates.
The study, commissioned by the environmental group WWF, focussed on 77 chemicals known to be 鈥渧ery persistent鈥� in the environment and to accumulate in people鈥檚 bodies. It is one of the most comprehensive studies to date.
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The findings are 鈥渄isturbing鈥�, says Matthew Wilkinson, lead author of the report and WWF UK toxics policy officer. 鈥淓very single person we monitored had a range of these chemicals.鈥�
Point of principle
Animal tests have shown that the chemicals can be harmful at high levels, but the long-term effects of the lower levels found in people are not known.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the principle here as much as anything,鈥� says Stephen Holgate, chair of the expert panel on air quality control for the UK Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture and a member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. 鈥淭here are chemicals out there which stick around for a long time 鈥� that鈥檚 a worrying issue.鈥�
WWF wants persistent chemicals to be treated in the same way as chemicals known to be harmful under proposed European legislation, known as REACH. This framework would require the registering, safety evaluation and authorisation of thousands of everyday chemicals for the first time and will become law if approved by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.
鈥淭his legislation is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get rid of these [persistent] chemicals,鈥� Wilkinson told New 杏吧原创. Justin Woolford, leader of WWF鈥檚 chemicals and health campaign adds: 鈥淲e are unwittingly playing Russian roulette with our health because of regulatory inaction.鈥�
Breakdown products
Researchers at the University of Lancaster tested the volunteers from 13 areas of the UK for the 77 chemicals. The highest number of chemicals found in any one person was 49, and the lowest was nine. The average number was about 30.
The persistence of some chemicals was demonstrated by the fact that 99 per cent of the people tested had breakdown products of the pesticide DDT 鈥� banned decades ago in the UK 鈥� in their blood.
Seven per cent of people tested positive for a flame retardant chemical used in every day products like televisions and cars. The blood level of the chemicals was comparable level to that found in people exposed through their work.
Wilkinson notes that women were found to have lower levels of certain PCBs than men. These levels were lower in women who had carried and breastfed more children, prompting Wilkinson to speculate that this might demonstrate 鈥渢he dumping of the chemical load on to the offspring鈥�.
Although the effects of the chemicals are unknown, he says such 鈥渆ndocrine disrupting chemicals鈥� might have subtle effects on a foetus which may not be detected for decades.