AP Wire | 12/25/2003 | Scientists begin measuring pollution in human bodies
For decades, researchers have sampled the air, land and sea to measure pollution from power plants, factories and automobiles. More recently, they have expressed concern about mounting "e-waste" - discarded tech gadgets that contain flame retardants, lead and other toxins.
But there's been trouble determining precisely how much pollution gets absorbed by humans.
Now, in a process called biomonitoring, scientists are sampling urine, blood and mother's milk to catalogue the pollutants accumulating in humans. They call the results "body burden."
Though the tests are yielding scary lists of contaminants found in the body, their links to disease are less clear. Nonetheless, proponents say such testing will help researchers learn what role the environment plays in causing disease and how to treat it.
Many chemicals such as PCB and DDT, both banned decades ago, remain in the environment for years and build up in the body over a lifetime.
Others see political motives behind some of the tests.
But until now, researchers were left mostly to guess about exactly how much and how many of the toxins lingered in our bodies.
Few of the estimated 75,000 chemicals found in the United States have been tested for their health effects, Baltz and other biomonitoring proponents say. By looking directly in the human body, they hope to catalogue the environmental influences that may cause disease.
Already, several studies have been completed
Everyone's exposed to substances and there's no evidence that the low levels people are exposed to are harming anybody,' said Steven Milloy, author of 'Junk Science Judo: Self Defense Against Health Scares and Scams.' 'It's a waste of time and money that only serves to scare people.'
Milloy noted that despite all the chemicals, the overall U.S. population is living longer and healthier."
For decades, researchers have sampled the air, land and sea to measure pollution from power plants, factories and automobiles. More recently, they have expressed concern about mounting "e-waste" - discarded tech gadgets that contain flame retardants, lead and other toxins.
But there's been trouble determining precisely how much pollution gets absorbed by humans.
Now, in a process called biomonitoring, scientists are sampling urine, blood and mother's milk to catalogue the pollutants accumulating in humans. They call the results "body burden."
Though the tests are yielding scary lists of contaminants found in the body, their links to disease are less clear. Nonetheless, proponents say such testing will help researchers learn what role the environment plays in causing disease and how to treat it.
Many chemicals such as PCB and DDT, both banned decades ago, remain in the environment for years and build up in the body over a lifetime.
Others see political motives behind some of the tests.
But until now, researchers were left mostly to guess about exactly how much and how many of the toxins lingered in our bodies.
Few of the estimated 75,000 chemicals found in the United States have been tested for their health effects, Baltz and other biomonitoring proponents say. By looking directly in the human body, they hope to catalogue the environmental influences that may cause disease.
Already, several studies have been completed
Everyone's exposed to substances and there's no evidence that the low levels people are exposed to are harming anybody,' said Steven Milloy, author of 'Junk Science Judo: Self Defense Against Health Scares and Scams.' 'It's a waste of time and money that only serves to scare people.'
Milloy noted that despite all the chemicals, the overall U.S. population is living longer and healthier."
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