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What We Carry Toxic chemicals and our body's burden

What We Carry Toxic chemicals and our body's burden. What is Body Burden?. The total amount of chemicals present in the human body at a given point in time.  Every person alive today carries an average of at least 700 contaminants in his/her body. What is Biomonitoring?.

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What We Carry Toxic chemicals and our body's burden

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  1. What We CarryToxic chemicals and our body's burden

  2. What is Body Burden? • The total amount of chemicals present in the human body at a given point in time.  • Every person alive today carries an average of at least 700 contaminants in his/her body.

  3. What is Biomonitoring? • Biomonitoring is the direct measurement of people’s exposure to environmental contaminants by measuring substances or their metabolites in blood, urine, or other specimens. • Biomonitoring has become the standard for assessing people’s exposure to toxic substances and for responding to serious environmental public health problems.

  4. Who does the testing? • Centers for Disease Control • Various Nonprofit organizations (Environmental Working Group, Commonweal, and others) • California passed SB 1379 in 2006

  5. What’s in us? • Pesticides • Solvents • Perchlorate • Plasticizers • Flame retardants • Heavy metals (lead, mercury)

  6. How are we exposed?

  7. Example: Brominated Tris Flame Retardant Tris (2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate • Used to treat children’s sleepwear from 1975 to 1977 in the US • Up to 10% of the weight of fabric • Padded on to fabric, not attached • Absorbed in children’s bodies; metabolite found in their urine • Science paper, January 1977 • Tris banned April 1977 Courtesy Green Science Policy Institutewww.greensciencepolicy.org

  8. Potential Negative Health Impacts • Halogenated chemicals are often persistent, bioaccumulative and have been shown to cause a range of health impacts in animal studies, including: • Reproductive: Abnormal gonadal development, reduced number of ovarian follicles, reduced sperm count • Neurological: Decreased memory, learning deficits, altered motor behavior, hyperactivity • Interference with thyroid hormone action • Obesity and diabetes • Babies are born with such chemicals in their bodies and receive an additional dose from their mothers’ milk

  9. Multiplying the effects • BIOACCUMULATION occurs when a compound is absorbed, or taken into the body and stored at a faster rate than it is metabolized (broken down) or excreted. • BIOMAGNIFICATION occurs when chemicals that persist in the environment become more concentrated as they move up the food chain and concentrate in tissues or internal organs. Each step in a typical food chain results in increased bioaccumulation, and therefore, biomagnification.

  10. Who’s Most at risk? • Children are especially vulnerable. • Over 200 chemicals found in cord blood. • Exposure can result in changes to DNA that affect future generations.

  11. Family Portrait • In 2004, the Hollands became the first intact nuclear family in the United States to undergo body burden testing. Rowan, at just 1½ years old, became the youngest child in the U.S. to be tested for chemical exposure.

  12. The Cost to Our Health • Miscarriage and infertility are on the rise. • Girls are maturing earlier. • Disease and birth defects on the rise.

  13. Reducing our burden • Some chemicals are long-lived, where others are more transient. • Protect against future exposures. • Support body’s natural defenses to eliminate built-up toxins.

  14. What’s being done about it? • Recent bans on chemicals, in Canada, CA, and other states. • KSCA reform

  15. What about breast milk? • Many chemicals are lipophilic (fat loving) and settle into the fat on our bodies and in our breast milk. • Nursing babies can be exposed to chemicals through breast milk.

  16. Is Breast Still Best? • Absolutely! Despite the presence of toxic chemicals in breast milk, it is still the best milk for babies. • Studies show that breast milk can work to reverse damage from exposure to contaminants in the womb. • Breast milk is a natural resource, like our air, food, and water, that needs to be protected.

  17. Minimizing babies’ exposure • Don’t fret about past exposure. You can’t undo what’s done. • Breastfeed your baby to provide a strong immune system that will help protect him/her from future exposures. • Eliminate sources of continued exposure in moms & baby’s environment. • Lose weight slowly. Chemicals stored in body fat can be “dumped” into breast milk and increase exposure in nurslings. • Increase your body’s ability to detoxify naturally by supporting your liver, kidneys, and elimination systems.

  18. What YOU can do • Be aware of hazards in your home and your community. • Identify solutions to exposures and make changes in behavior. • Use the power of your pocketbook to support companies using safer chemicals. • Raise your voice to demand legislation for regulating chemicals to ensure safety.

  19. About MOMS • Founded in 2005 by four nursing mothers in the Bay Area. • Has members in 50 states and 4 Canadian provinces. • Breast milk is the best milk—let’s keep it that way!

  20. What We Do • Educate consumers • Support Progressive Legislation • Change Corporate Behavior

  21. Recommended Reading • Having Faith, by Sandra Steingraber • Not Just a Pretty Face, by Stacy Malkan • The Body Toxic, by Nena Baker - • The Complete Organic Pregnancy, by Deidre Dolan and Alexandra Zissu • The New Breastfeeding Diet Plan, by Dr. Robert Roundtree • Our Stolen Future, by Theo Colborn, Diane Dumanski, and John Peterson Myers

  22. How to get involved • Visit WWW.SafeMilk.ORG – We’re the nonprofit, not the company selling filters for breast pumps!! • Take action online, or in the street! • Donate time/resources – we can use all the help we can get!

  23. Helpful Resources • GoodGuide (http://www.goodguide.com – Provides information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of products and companies. • SkinDeep (http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com) – Rates personal care products based on their level of toxicity. • LactMed (http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT) – Database of substances and their effects on lactation. • Healthytoys.org (http://www.healthytoys.org) – Database of children’s toys rated for safety. • Scorecard (http://www.scorecard.org ) – Identify sources of pollution in your community.

  24. Resources Cont’d • Our Water Our World (ourwaterourworld.org ) – Offers advice on how to treat pests without the use of harmful pesticides. • Pots, Pans, and Plastics (http://www.ewg.org/node/27686) - A Shopper's Guide to Food Safety. • Local Water Quality (http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo/index.html) - Find out what contaminants might be in your local water supply. • Seafood Watch (http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/content/media/MBA_SeafoodWatch_WestCoastGuide.pdf) - Pocket guide of highest and lowest contaminant fish. • Pesticides in Produce (http://www.foodnews.org/) – Pocket guide to the best and worst fruits & veggies in terms of pesticide contamination.

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