BodyBurden - The Pollution in People
A study in which researchers measured the blood and urine of nine volunteers for toxic chemicals, led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York in collaboration with the Environmental Working Group and Commonweal. They found an average of 91 industrial compounds, pollutants, and other chemicals each person. Volunteers led average daily lives and did not work with chemicals on the job or live near an industrial factory. This site gives the details of the study and their findings, and also has much more information on toxic chemicals in all kinds of consumer products.
BodyBurden2 - The Pollution in Newborns
A report by Environmental Working Group that shows significant toxic chemcials presence in the blood of newborns. Analysis of 10 samples of umbilical-cord blood taken by the American Red Cross found an average of 287 contaminants in the blood, including mercury, fire retardants, pesticides, plastics, and other common toxic chemicals. Of the 287 chemicals detected, 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests.
The Executive Summary of the report says:
Not long ago scientists thought that the placenta shielded cord blood — and the developing baby — from most chemicals and pollutants in the environment. But now we know that at this critical time when organs, vessels, membranes and systems are knit together from single cells to finished form in a span of weeks, the umbilical cord carries not only the building blocks of life, but also a steady stream of industrial chemicals, pollutants and pesticides that cross the placenta as readily as residues from cigarettes and alcohol. This is the human "body burden" — the pollution in people that permeates everyone in the world, including babies in the womb.
The report is based on tests of 10 samples of umbilical-cord blood taken by the American Red Cross. They found an average of 287 contaminants in the blood, including mercury, fire retardants, pesticides, plastics, and other common toxic chemicals. Of the 287 chemicals detected, 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests.
chem-tox.com
A list of links to medical research on health disorders resulting from petroleum-based chemicals used in consumer products and job environments. "Petroleum based chemicals are being found to cause significant attritional effects to the nervous system and immune system after prolonged exposure. Illnesses identified in the medical research include adult and child cancers, numerous neurological disorders, immune system weakening, autoimmune disorders, asthma, allergies, infertility, miscarriage, and child behavior disorders including learning disabilities, mental retardation, hyperactivity and ADD (attention deficit disorders)." Data is documented studies found in medical libraries, compiled by a doctor and an educator.
Collaborative on Health and the Environment Toxicant and Disease Database
A searchable database that summarizes links between chemical contaminants and approximately 180 human diseases or conditions. Browse by specific disease, disease catagory or by a very long list of toxicants. This database is maintained by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, "a diverse partnership network of individuals and organizations working collectively to advance knowledge and effective action to address growing concerns about the links between human health and environmental factors." In addition to the database, they also have various activities to participate in around the study of various toxic chemicals and illnesses.
Deadly Immunity: An Epidemic of Autism from Mercury in Immunizations
An article by Robert Kennedy Jr., originally published in Rolling Stone magazine, which tells how 500,000 children now suffer from autism due to the mercury-based preservative thimerosal given to them in ordinary routine vaccinations. Fortunately, this preservative is no longer used in vaccines, but during the years in which it was used--1989 to 2003--the rate of autism in children skyrocketed from one in every 2500 children to one in 166 children. The tragic part is that this preservative was known to be toxic from the very beginning...
Environmental Health News
A daily newsletter that publishes stories related to emerging scientific links between environmental exposures and human health. They scour the world press for stories about environmental health, including: chemical contamination, water quantity and quality, air pollution, sewage, genetic engineering, and the like, as well as climate change and biodiversity stories with a health dimension. Sources are newspapers, magazines, scientific journals and science magazines.
Environmental Working Group Health/Toxics
This link takes you to the "home page" for EWG's Health/Toxics section, with links to information about toxics related to Children's Health, Water, Pet Health, The Environment, Consumer Products, Food, and Body Burden. "At EWG, our team of scientists, engineers, policy experts, lawyers and computer programmers pores over government data, legal documents, scientific studies and our own laboratory tests to expose threats to your health and the environment, and to find solutions. Our research brings to light unsettling facts that you have a right to know."
Environmental Working Group Skin Deep
A comprehensive detailed anlaysis of ingredients found in personal care products. You can look up a product, such as "toothpaste," for example, and find out
- brand name products you may want to avoid (which you can then click on for a full safety analysis
- brand name "better choices"
- general areas of health concern for that type of product
- top twenty ingredients of concern for that type of product
Or you can look up a single ingredient and find out it's general safety or danger. This is the place to look up any ingredient of concern in personal care products.
EPA Design for the Environment Program Green Chemistry Program
"Supports using ‘benign by design’ principles in the design, manufacture, and use of chemicals and chemical processes…that prevent pollution in both a scientifically sound and cost-effective manner." Their logo on products means that their "review team has screened each ingredient in the product for potential human health and environmental effects and that--based on currently available information, predictive models, and expert judgment--the product contains only those ingredients that pose the least concern among chemicals in their class." Click on "Partners" for a list of their approved products.
EXTOXNET - The EXtension TOXicology NETwork
Easy-to-understand, objective, science-based information about pesticides - written for consumers. Their Pesticide Information Profiles (PIPs) give trade names, regulatory status, description, health effects, and environmental effects for common pesticides. A project of the Cooperative Extension Offices of Cornell University, Oregon State University, the University of Idaho, and the University of California at Davis and the Institute for Environmental Toxicology, Michigan State University. Major funding provided by the USDA/Extension Service/National Agricultural Pesticide Impact Assessment Program.
