Case Studies
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CASE STUDIES
Weight of Evidence - case studies into body burden
Community generated case studies are a practical tool that can be used to help build a body of evidence to demonstrate that chemical trespass is real and already affecting our health.
This section of the handbook provides information a range of case studies from across the globe that provide a growing acknowledgement of the impacts of chemical body residues
Nearly all of us carry a body burden of chemicals that sometimes is sufficiently substantial to either cause or exacerbate illness. The right to monitor chemical pollutants in blood and breast milk is a crucial aspect of community right to know but also brings with it responsibilities to care and support those who are tested.
Throughout the world, environmental health NGOs, individuals and doctors are attempting to correlate high levels of POPs chemicals in blood with chronic illness and adverse impacts. Nowhere is this more important than in the monitoring of new born babies. Other communities have also used body burden testing to demonstrate their exposure to particular industries or agricultural practices, and empower people to take action to protect themselves and their families.
Environmental health organisations are currently involved in body burden monitoring.
The Coming Clean Network (www.chemicalbodyburden.org)and the US based Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden) provide information on community based biomonitoring.
NGO Initiatives
The Environmental Working Group and Commonweal study was led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
Through blood sampling, the study found an average of 91
industrial compounds, pollutants, and other chemicals in the blood and urine
of nine volunteers. The people tested did not work with chemicals on the job
or live near an industrial facility.
The body burden of a total of 167 chemicals found in the volunteers, showed
76, which cause cancer in humans or animals, 94, which are toxic to the
brain and nervous system, and 79 that cause birth defects or abnormal
development. The dangers of exposure to these chemicals in combination have
never been studied.
Among them were PCBs now banned but once used widely as industrial
insulators and lubricants; dioxins and furans, the by-products of
incineration, PVC production and industrial bleaching; metals like lead,
mercury, arsenic and cadmium from a range of sources including CCA treated
timber, pigments, bakeware and industrial emissions; organochlorine
insecticides like DDT, chlordane and other pesticides; organophosphate
insecticide and their metabolites from exposure to residues in food and
indoor pest control; phthalates found in a wide range of cosmetic and
personal care products; and volatile and semi-volatile organic chemicals
from industrial sources and petrol ingredients.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Chemicals and Health Campaign (www.wwf.org.uk/chemicals/)
tested a number of typical families based in the United Kingdom.
The results of blood tests for 104 man-made chemicals carried out on
33 people from seven families in England, Scotland and Wales showed that
some of the British children tested had higher numbers and levels of certain industrial chemicals than
their parents and grandmothers. Of the chemicals analysed, 80 were detected - children
were found to have 75 chemicals in their blood, 75 were found in parents and 56 in grandmothers.
The survey revealed that children as young as nine years old are not only contaminated with a
cocktail of hazardous man-made chemicals but have higher concentrations of certain newer
chemicals than older generations. These chemicals such as brominated flame-retardants
are used in everyday products such as furniture and TVs, and perfluorinated chemicals used in the
manufacture of non-stick pans and stain resistant treatments for carpets and clothing.
Eighty two per cent of the people tested had at least one perfluorinated chemical in their blood.
DEHP - a phthalate - was found in over three-quarters of the volunteers including children - it is
a suspected hormone disrupting chemical, used in plastics, PVC flooring, food packaging, cosmetics
and toiletries. Chemicals, such as PCBs and DDE, a breakdown product of DDT, despite being banned
in the UK at least a decade before the children were born were found in everyone, but on average
the older generations had higher concentrations.
The survey reveals that deca-BDE, a brominated
flame-retardant, was found in seven people in the survey, the majority of which (57 per cent)
are children. Studies have shown that there is 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.
For more information on biomonitoring of families, visit http://www.wwf.org.uk/chemicals/biotourfam.asp
Contact Person: Secretary, Community Monitoring Working Group
Email: biomap@oztoxics.org
IPEN Body Burden Community Monitoring Handbook - 2005
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