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M3.1 Biomonitoring

The hypothetical lab results for chemicals found in my body is concerning. These chemicals increase my risk of getting cancer, have cognitive, reproductive, kidney, and insomnia issues, to name a few. This news is somber, what have I been using and consuming to have these chemicals in my body and what can I do extract them from my body. Is there anything I can do other than stop using these chemicals in my personal care products or cleaning products? How can I get more information on the long-term effects of these chemicals in humans? I need to learn more about each chemical and share what I find out. As a woman in my 30's this news is very concerning because I want to have children and my reproductive health is very important to me. Now that I am aware I need to act and move forward in supporting policy change. The FDA has to change their grandfathering policy of new chemicals and must complete long-term testing on chemical health risks.

Hypothetical Lab Results from Blood and Urine Samples
The following chemicals were found at levels for which there are no “safe” levels

Chemical(s)
Potential Health Effects 
Dioxins
Carcinogen, endocrine disruptor, cognitive disfunction
DDT 
Reproductive toxicant
Organophosphate
(pesticide) neurotoxicant, Parkinson’s
Lead
Neurotoxicant, kidney toxicant, insomnia, impotence
Solvent
Liver toxicant, neurotoxicant
PCBs
Carcinogen, toxic to immune, neuro, and repro systems
Phthalates
Repro toxicant (infertility), testicular damage, endometriosis, endocrine disruptor


Comments

  1. Jillian OtoSeptember 12, 2018 at 10:52 AM

    I am in the same boat as you...I was really concerned about the effects of some of these chemicals. I know I want kids as well but to know that these chemicals have reproductive issues associated with them is scary. It is good to make changes now so later on when it is too late you don't regret not making some easy changes to your lifestyle. I think we are fortunate that we know this information so we can act on it. I wish this information were more clear to users and that it didn't require extra research and digging to find out about the ingredients and dangers to our health. I think this information should be more obvious to the user, but like we had discussed during class, it is a long process to get those companies to expose the dangers of the ingredients.

    ReplyDelete

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