- Children as young as nine have more manufactured
chemicals
in their blood than their grandparents and these substances are suspected
of disrupting development and hormones, according to tests on seven
volunteer
families across the country.
-
- Eighty manufactured chemicals were detected in blood
tests for 104 substances on 33 people. Children were found to have 75 in
their blood, as did their parents, but their grandmothers only had 56.
The children also had higher concentrations of some chemicals.
-
- The substances tested for are known to be building up
in the environment and include brominated flame retardants used in
furniture
and televisions, and perfluorinated chemicals used in the manufacture of
non-stick pans and stain resistant treatments for carpets and
clothing.
-
- A campaign to restrict the use of chemicals which
accumulate
in the blood - backed by the WWF (formerly the World Wide Fund for Nature),
the Women's Institute and the Co-operative bank - is trying to get the
European Union to toughen its stance.
-
- Justin Woolford, WWF's chemicals and health campaign
director, said: "These results are extremely worrying because of the
unknown long-term health effects of the majority of industrial chemicals
people are exposed to. The contamination of three generations of UK
families
... illustrates that industry and government have failed to control these
chemicals. The UK and the European Union must ... ensure that these
chemicals
are banned and replaced with safer alternatives."
-
- Eighty-two per cent of the people tested had at least
one perfluorinated chemical in their blood; DEHP, which is a suspected
hormone-disrupting chemical used in plastics, PVC flooring, food packaging
and toiletries was found in more than 75%.
-
- Chemicals such as PCBs and DDE, a breakdown product of
DDT, were found in everyone despite being banned in the UK at least a
decade
before the children were born, but on average the older generations had
higher concentrations.
-
- BDE, a brominated flame retardant, was found in seven
people in the survey, most of whom were children.
-
- The families tested were from Edinburgh, Welshpool,
Manchester,
Stourport, Gloucester, south Devon and Suffolk.
-
- Kate Daley, campaigns manager for the Co-operative bank,
said: "For most parents their child's health and well being is
paramount,
but sadly our latest research reveals that our children are being
contaminated
... there is little we can do to prevent it. We want to see chemicals like
these phased out and replaced with safer alternatives before it's too
late."
-
- More than 60 leading independent scientists have signed
a declaration calling for measures to reduce exposure to persistent and
very bioaccumulative chemicals, and hormone or endocrine disrupting
chemicals.
-
- The Co-operative bank refuses to invest in companies
that "manufacture chemicals which are persistent in the environment
and linked to long term health concerns".
-
- The report, called Contaminated: the next generation,
showed connections between the products used by and the diets of those
surveyed and the chemicals detected in their blood.
-
- For example, it is widely accepted that oily fish
contains
high levels of PCBs. The highest numbers of these chemicals were found
in family members whose diets are high in such foods.
-
- Other studies have shown a correlation between the number
of electrical appliances in an office and the levels of flame-retardant
chemicals in the office air.
-
- This may help explain how people become contaminated
by these chemicals, the study said.
-
- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004
-
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/
- uk_news/story/0,3604,1322587,00.html
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