Behind the dialogue
Green pastures?
How are chemicals harming our health
• Pregnant
Certain man-made chemicals are accumulating in human beings. These hazardous chemicals can be passed on from a pregnant mother to a baby in the womb. Even at very low doses, these chemicals may harm unborn babies and affect their future development and intelligence. A few industrial chemicals are the recognised cause of brain damage to children who have been exposed in the womb.
• Reference
Grandjean, P, Landrigan PJ, Developmental neurotoxicity of industrial chemicals, The Lancet, 8 November 2006. Available at
http://www.env-health.org/a/2369?var_recherche=Lancet
• What can you do yourself?
• Smoking
Tobacco use seriously affects our own health and cigarette smoke harms the health of others. Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds, including 50 substances that are known to provoke cancer and more than 100 are toxic (poisons). Tobacco use can damage a woman’s reproductive health and can also cause complications during pregnancy for both mother and baby.
• Reference
Tobacco or Health in the European Union, Past, Present and Future, The Aspect Consortium, European Commission, Chapter 1, page 33.
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/Tobacco/Documents/tobacco_fr_en.pdf
• What can you do yourself?
• Non-stick pans
Many frying pans and saucepans with a non-stick coating that we use for cooking contain PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid). Studies have shown that at normal cooking temperatures, these chemicals are released into the air and the food so that it enters our bodies. PFOA is suspected to be a cause of cancer, and may retard the growth and brain development of babies. PFOA is a perfluorinated chemical (PFC).
• Reference
Ewan Sinclair, et al, Quantitation of Gas-Phase Perfluoroalkyl Surfactants and Fluorotelomer Alcohols Released from Nonstick Cookware and Microwave Popcorn Bags, Environ. Sci. Technol., 41 (4), 1180 -1185, 2007. 10.1021/es062377w S0013-936X(06)02377-7, Web release, 10 January 2007
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/esthag/2007/41/i04/abs/es062377w.html
The U.S. EPA’s Science Advisory Board classified perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as a likely human carcinogen - Perfluorooctanoic Acid Human Health Risk Assessment Review Panel (PFOA Review Panel), 2006 - http://www.epa.gov/sab/panels/pfoa_rev_panel.htm
• What can you do yourself?
• Car fumes
Breathing in benzene from motor vehicle fumes has been associated with certain types of cancer, such as leukaemia, and worsens the risk of asthma in children.
• Reference
Cancer Research UK, http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/healthyliving/smokeispoison/poisonoussmoke/cancercausingchemicals/
Diesel Exhaust Exposure in Babies Doubles Asthma Risk
Julie Gabriel, based on reports presented at Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology 2008 Annual Meeting: Abstract 252, on March 15, 2008.
http://www.organiclifeandstyle.com/index.php/OrganicHealth/2008032501diesel-asthma
• What can you do yourself?
• Leukaemia
is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow that can affect both children and adults. Inhaling benzene from car exhaust fumes can cause leukaemia. The rate of cancer in children is increasing each year in Europe.
• Reference
Cancer Research UK, http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/healthyliving/smokeispoison/poisonoussmoke/cancercausingchemicals/
(Evidence of an increase of cancer incidence in childhood and adolescence during the past decades)
STELIAROVA-FOUCHER E, STILLER C, KAATSCH P, BERRINO F, COEBERGH JW, et coll.
Geographical patterns and time trends of cancer incidence and survival among
children and adolescents in Europe since the 1970s (the ACCISproject) : an epidemiological
study. Lancet 2004, 364 : 2097-2105
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15589307
• What can you do yourself?
• Baby bottle
many baby feeding bottles are made of polycarbonate plastic (PC) that contains a harmful hormone disrupting chemical called Bisphenol A (BPA). When BPA leaches from the baby bottle into the liquid drink, very young babies and children are directly exposed to this chemical.
• What can you do yourself?
• Bisphenol A
BPA is a man-made chemical found in polycarbonate plastic (PC). It is produced in high volumes and used in every day products, such as baby bottles or the lining of food cans. BPA can leach from the tin or bottle into the food. Studies have shown that BPA can interfere with the normal functioning of our hormone system and produces adverse effects including reproductive, developmental and behavioural problems.
• Reference
Maffini MV et al, (2006). Endocrine disruptors and reproductive health: the case of bisphenol A. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 254-255, pp179-186.
http://www.tufts.edu/sackler/cmdb/soto-lab/publications/pdf/5.pdf
The US national Toxicology Programme Draft Brief on Bisphenol A, 14 April 2008
http://cerhr.niehs.nih.gov/chemicals/bisphenol/BPADraftBriefVF_04_14_08.pdf
• What can you do yourself?
• Male fertility
There is mounting scientific evidence that men’s ability to father children may be reduced as a result of exposure to certain man-made chemical substances.
• Reference
Shanna H. Swan, Eric P. Elkin, and Laura Fenster (2000) The Question of Declining Sperm Density Revisited: An Analysis of 101 Studies Published 1934–1996, Environmental Health Perspectives, Volume 108, Number 10, Pages 961-966
• What can you do yourself?
• Vulnerable little girl
Compared with adults, small children and babies absorb and keep in their bodies more of the harmful chemicals that they are exposed to. They are also more exposed because they are nearer to dust on the ground where these chemicals can accumulate. Young children ingest the chemicals they are in contact with because they often put their hands in their mouths.
• Reference
Children’s health and environment: A review of evidence, Environmental issue report No. 29, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe and European Environment Agency, 2002.
http://www.euro.who.int/InformationSources/Publications/Catalogue/20020425_0
• What can you do yourself?
• Pesticides
Exposure to certain pesticides, such as herbicides and insecticides, can increase the risk of children developing cancer, including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and leukaemia.
• Reference
Household Exposure to Pesticides and Risk of Childhood Hematopoietic Malignancies: The ESCALE Study (SFCE), (French study) Jérémie Rudant, Florence Menegaux et al, Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 115, No. 12, December 2007 http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2007/10596/abstract.html
Grandjean, P, Landrigan PJ, Developmental neurotoxicity of industrial chemicals, The Lancet, 8 November 2006. Available at http://www.env-health.org/a/2369?var_recherche=Lancet
Systematic Review of Pesticide Human Health Effects, Ontario College of Family Physicians, Toronto, Canada, 2004. http://www.cfpc.ca/English/CFPC/CLFM/environmental/default.asp?s=1
HEAL/PAN Europe briefing "Cutting back on pesticides for healthier lives":
http://www.env-health.org/IMG/pdf/Briefing_Feb_2007_FINAL-2.pdf
• What can you do yourself?
• Parkinson’s Disease
People with long-term, low-level exposure to certain pesticides have a higher likelihood of developing Parkinson’s Disease compared with those who have not been exposed. Parkinson’s is a disease that causes stiffness, shaking and slowness of movement as a result of the death of certain cells in the brain.
• Reference
Pesticides Exposure Associated With Parkinson's Disease, Alberto Ascherio, Annals of Neurology (Ann Neurol. 2006; 60:197-203)
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/2006-releases/press06262006.html
Baldi, I., Cantagrel, A., Lebailly, P., Tison, F., Dubroca, B., Chrysostome, V., Dartigues, J. F., and Brochard, P. Association between Parkinson's disease and exposure to pesticides in southwestern France, Neuroepidemiology 22, 305-10, 2003
http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?doi=10.1159/000071194
• What can you do yourself?
• Bronchitis
Bronchitis can occur when you inhale fumes or dust that cause irritation. Chemical solvents and smoke, including tobacco smoke, have been linked to acute bronchitis.
• Reference
Neuspiel, DR, et al, 1989. Parental smoking and post-infancy wheezing in children: A prospective cohort study, Am J Public Health, Vol 79, pp.168-71, in Children’s health and environment: A review of evidence, Environmental issue report No. 29, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe and European Environment Agency.
http://www.euro.who.int/InformationSources/Publications/Catalogue/20020425_0
• What can you do yourself?
• Asthma
Asthma is a chronic disease that affects your airways and makes it difficult to breathe. It is provoked by exposure to certain allergens, including toxic chemicals that can be found in tobacco smoke, pesticides, paint, hair dye products and so on. Pesticide exposure during childhood may increase the risk of asthma.
• Reference
Early-Life Environmental risk factors for asthma: Findings from the Children´s health study, Environmental Health Perspectives, Volume 12, number 6, May 2004.
http://www.ehponline.org/members/2003/6662/6662.html
• What can you do yourself?
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