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Sarah
Joined: Mar 22, 2004
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[Poll] Time to Detox?
August 10, 2004 - 09:59 AM
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We're living in a chemical world. They're everywhere - in our food, our homes and in our bodies. Up to 300 man-made chemicals have been found in humans!
This chemical contamination is putting us, and wildlife, at risk. How? Check out these scary stats;
- Beluga whales in St Lawrence River, Canada, have been dying of cancer. Autopsies reveal they had been exposed to carcinogenic chemicals.
- Toxic chemicals are reducing polar bears' resistance to infections, such as influenza and herpes viruses.
- The impacts of chemicals on children's brain development include: poorer memory; reduced visual recognition; less well developed movement skills; and lower IQ scores.
Fed up with being full of toxic chemicals? WWF, the conservation organization, is one of a number of groups working to stop the contamination.
Find out how you can reduce your exposure to dangerous chemicals; http://panda.org/campaign/detox/reduce_your_risks
Sign the petition to to help bring dangerous man-made chemicals under control; http://panda.org/detox
And have some fun while you're at it with this top game, Toxic Blaster; http://www.panda.org/toxicblaster
Are you worried about the build up of chemicals in the bodies of people and wildlife?
Yes
(1 votes for 50%)
No
(0 votes for 0%)
Don't know
(1 votes for 50%)
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Robert Margolis
Joined: Nov 15, 2000
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Choices
August 10, 2004 - 09:35 AM
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Certainly we need strong regulation of the chemicals we use and release to the environment. While many of us can afford organic food or "natural" products, we probably need to use some chemicals in order to provide for the 6.5 billion people who are here now. And the "natural" products can have problems too (e.g., resource depletion, higher labor needs, etc).
Any choices have tradeoffs. :-)
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Sarah
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Re: Time to Detox?
August 11, 2004 - 05:49 AM
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Definately, fair point.
WWF is not anti-chemicals, it's about safer chemicals.
Most chemicals on the market and in everyday use have never been adequately assessed for their human and environmental safety.
Currently in the EU, only 14 per cent of the chemicals used in the largest volumes have the minimum amount of data publicly available to make even an initial basic safety assessment.
Important environmental problems, such as ozone depletion and PCB contamination can be traced back to the failure to test and regulate chemicals properly.
And it's about learning from the lessons of the past. Science has yet to catch up with some of the effects of chemicals. A study published in 2001 suggested that exposure to DDT could have contributed to as many as 15 per cent of infant deaths in the US during the 1960s. DDT has been banned in the US and UK for over 25 years.
WWF is particularly concerned about the impacts of two groups of chemicals that we believe threaten to undo successful conservation work.
The first group of concerning chemicals are called very persistent and very bioaccumulative chemicals that persists for a long time and accumulate particularly in fat. It is difficult to predict the effects of long-term, low-level exposure of these chemicals but if they are found to be toxic, like many in the past have turned out to be, we will have to live with their effects for many years to come. Once they are released into the environment ot is extremely difficult if not impossible to recover them.
The second group are called endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). They can mimic, block or interfere with hormones such as oestrogen, androgen and thyroid, affecting wildlife and humans alike. As a result, they can hijack normal biological processes and may cause neurological, behavioural, developmental or sexual defects.
In some instances endocrine disrupting chemicals are also persistent and bioaccumulative. This means that in mammals these can be passed from mother to baby. Exposure at critical stages in pre- and post natal development can disrupt the development of hormone-sensitive organs. However adverse effects may only become apparent in adulthood, when abnormalities of the reproductive system become apparent.
Tougher regulation, better safety data and using available safer alternatives are all part of ensuring we can reap the benefits of chemicals without the dangerous risks.
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Robert Margolis
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Also Direct and Indirect Regulatory Agencies
August 11, 2004 - 08:23 AM
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I know in the US that various industries are not regulated in the same way. The aerospace and nuclear industries are directly regulated by FAA and NRC. These agencies have the power to shutdown a facility on their own authority. The chemical industry is regulated by EPA and OSHA. These agencies must get court orders to shutdown a facility.
I do not know if the EU has a similar dichotomy. However, consistent regulatory structures would certainly help.
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