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E-M:/ CDC testing data on chemicals in the population
- Subject: E-M:/ CDC testing data on chemicals in the population
- From: Tracey Easthope <tracey@ecocenter.org>
- Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 19:38:38 -0500
- Delivered-To: enviro-mich-archive@glc.org
- Delivered-To: enviro-mich@great-lakes.net
- List-Name: Enviro-Mich
- Reply-To: Tracey Easthope <tracey@ecocenter.org>
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Enviro-Mich message from Tracey Easthope <tracey@ecocenter.org>
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Today the Centers for Disease Control released data on chemicals in
the general population. Attached are two links to learn more.
The U.S. Center for Disease Control released the results of its 1999
monitoring of 27 chemicals indicating exposure of the U.S. public to
environmental contaminants. For more information, see
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/dls/report/default.htm
Below find a consensus statement of many national groups on the
findings in the report, and their website http://www.toxicexposure.org
Statement of
Health, Education, Religious, Women's,
Children's, and Environmental Organizations
In Response to
The Nation's First Chemical
Exposure Monitoring Report
As organizations concerned with the nation's health, the
education and development of our children, and our moral
responsibility to current and future generations, we welcome
the nation's first-ever report of chemical contaminants in the
bodies of average Americans.
The results released today by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention represent the nation's first step toward
understanding the role that an array of chemical contaminants
play in contributing to chronic diseases such as certain
cancers, birth defects, mental disabilities, and developmental
and neurological effects in children.
The results raise serious concerns that need to be addressed.
Among them:
Since a majority of individuals in this study had
detectable levels of chemical contaminants in their
bodies, it is reasonable to assume that a majority of
Americans carry within them a multiplicity of
substances of varying toxicity that they are exposed to
daily or that accumulate in their bodies over time;
Actual mercury levels are higher than scientific models
and bodies like the National Academy of Sciences have
estimated. Levels of mercury among many women of
childbearing age are high enough such that small
increases in exposure could expose them and children
in utero to unsafe levels. The findings suggest that more
than 60,000 children are probably born each year with
unsafe levels of mercury.
Pesticide levels for a small portion of those tested were
much higher than had been predicted. If these findings
were found to hold true for the general population, many
Americans could be exposed to pesticide levels much
higher than was previously believed.
Individuals are exposed to phthalates on a frequent if not
daily basis, and at much higher levels than scientific
models and a major government panel had predicted
just six months ago. Women of childbearing age, in
particular, are regularly exposed to a phthalate clearly
associated with developmental effects in animal studies.
No one can say with certainty whether the levels of
chemicals found by the CDC are safe-even for those
substances that appear to fall within legal exposure
levels. Legal levels were never set to take into account
the additive effects of chemicals acting in combination
with one another or to take into account the much
greater vulnerability of children and other
sub-populations.
The population-wide reductions in childhood lead
poisoning document the continuing health benefits of
government regulations to control lead. Nevertheless,
this aggregate national data do not capture the
continuing tragedy of childhood lead poisoning. More
than one-third of preschool children in many low-income
minority communities are still poisoned by lead paint
hazards in their homes. The national lead data released
by the CDC today underlines the need for much more
localized data in the future.
For almost every class of chemical, the CDC report
demonstrates that scientific models and expert panels
have generally underestimated the public's real world
exposure to toxic chemicals.
Because of government funding priorities, we know more about
the chemical contaminants in the fish that swim in our lakes
and streams than we do about the chemicals inside our
children. Much more information is needed about chemical
contaminants in humans in order to protect public health and
because Americans have a fundamental right to know about
the chemicals contaminants that might be in their bodies.
Based on this:
1.We are calling on Congress to immediately double the
CDC's modest budget for exposure monitoring and to
ramp up in five years to a comprehensive national
exposure monitoring program that targets every state,
every major subpopulation in the U.S., and more than
500 toxic substances including all major pesticides and
all chemicals found in public water systems. A
comprehensive national exposure monitoring system
together with disease incidence data will allow health
officials to determine which chemicals pose health
dangers to the public.
2.We are calling on manufacturers and the U.S.
government to act with more precaution: to ensure that
all chemicals to which people are exposed are fully
tested, especially for potential effects on children, and
that more aggressive steps are taken to reduce
exposure to substances that are harmful or potentially
harmful, following the examples of lead and cotinine.
Nearly 90% of the top-volume chemicals in commerce
lack basic, publicly available screening information
about hazards to health.
3.In the absence of easily accessible health and toxicity
information from the U.S. government on the chemicals
identified in this exposure report, we are committed to
making sure the public is aware of information they have
a right to know. The web site,
http://www.toxicexposure.org, will provide basic
information about the sources of toxic substances
identified in Americans' bodies by the CDC, the effects
of such chemicals observed in scientific studies, and
steps individuals can take to limit their exposure if they
choose.
Coalition Signatories:
Alliance To End Childhood Lead Poisoning
American College of Preventive Medicine
American Federation of Teachers
American Public Health Association
Association of Women's Health, Obstetric
and Neonatal Nurses
Breast Cancer Fund
Central Conference of American Rabbis
Children's Environmental Health Network
Environmental Working Group
Health Care Without Harm
Learning Disabilities Association of America
National Council of Catholic Women
National Education Association
National Environmental Trust
National Medical Association
National Safety Council
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Union of American Hebrew Congregations
US Public Interest Research Group
YWCA of America
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