Our Bodies, Ourselves (157 page)
Read Our Bodies, Ourselves Online
Authors: Boston Women's Health Book Collective
Endocrine disrupting chemicals, or EDCs, are industrial and pharmaceutical chemicals that mimic naturally occurring hormones. EDCs can block or interfere with the complex hormonal messages that affect many of the body's functions, including thyroid function, sexual development and behavior, metabolism, and nervous and immune system function. Research on EDCs reveals occupational and environmental threats to women's general and reproductive health.
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DDT: THE MOST POPULAR EDC
According to the EPA, “DDT [dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane] is likely one of the most famous and controversial pesticides ever made,” with more than 4 billion pounds being produced and applied since its first production in 1940.
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DDT has been used most prominently on agricultural crops and as pest control, especially in tropical areas where malaria is rampant. It is still used for malaria control in many parts of the world.
In humans, DDT is linked to reproductive disorders, including decreased fertility. While DDT use was banned in the United States in 1973, its status as a persistant organic pollutant (POP) means that it can stay in the environment for decades. A 2005 study by the CDC found the chemical present in the blood of many of those tested,
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and trace amounts of the chemical have made their way to remote regions of the Himalayas, hundreds of miles from where it was initially used.
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It can also enter U.S. households through products imported from countries where DDT regulations are more lax and where the pesticide is sprayed in order to stem malaria infection, such as those in Asia and Africa.
While there is still much debate as to the full effect of EDCs on human health, scientists have become increasingly concerned, particularly in the past two decades. Low-level exposure still needs to be better understood, but the dangers of high-level exposure have been proved to affect
reproductive health. The most famous, diethylstilbestrol, or DESâa synthetic estrogenâwas found to cause long-term health problems for the children of pregnant women who were prescribed DES in the 1950s and 1960s to prevent miscarriages during pregnancy. The effects included higher rates of vaginal cancers among the teenage daughters. DES was banned in the 1970s,
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long before it was determined to be an EDC.
EDCs are present in our food supply and in air and water, as well as in industrial municipal waste and in many synthetic household and personal-care products. They may be associated with increased risk of breast cancer and other cancers in women; breast milk contamination; and other reproductive problems including endometriosis, miscarriage, tubal pregnancy, and reduced fertility. Most scientists agree that breast cancer risk is affected by how much estrogen we have in our bodies and for how long over our lifetime. If the body's estrogen levels are changed by chemicals that act like estrogens, our risk of breast cancer may increase.
EDCs affect fetal, infant, and children's health, often much more than they do adult health, because of children's developing and highly sensitive endocrine systems. Because many important and complex processes take place during fetal development and infancy, EDCs could have lifelong effects.
According to TEDXâthe Endocrine Disruption ExchangeâEDCs include any chemical or substance that affects development and function. This broad category includes pesticides; materials used in plastics such as bisphenol A (BPA); flame retardants; some cosmetics; glues and sealants; and some cleaning products. Some EDCs are persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which means they stay in the environment for years. Others leave the environment relatively quickly. With hundreds of thousands of products and processes containing or using EDCs, we experience low-level exposure daily.
Diet is a main source: as with other chemicals, EDCs that are fat-soluble (as many are) make their way up the food chain, meaning that they accumulate in the fat of animals and animal products over a period of years, finally being consumed by humans at higher levels than are found in the natural environment. Women are more vulnerable to chemical exposure than men, in part because of their bodies' fat content.
Research suggests that indoor air quality also heavily affects our exposure. The presence of dust and chips of wood that has been sprayed with EDCs such as glues, sealants, and wood polish, combined with the use of chemicals and other substances in the home, may rival diet as a primary route of exposure.
Dioxins are a by-product of industrial processes that use or burn chlorine. They are notorious for causing harmful human exposure at Love Canal, a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York, where dioxin-contaminated toxic waste was buried by Hooker Chemical (it later became a Superfund site); and at Times Beach, Missouri, a small town outside St. Louis that was evacuated in 1983 following the largest civilian dioxin exposure in the United States. Dioxins were also present in Agent Orange, an herbicide used during the Vietnam War that resulted in serious birth impairments in the children of some of those exposed.
Major sources include municipal waste facilities, hospital incinerators, chemical and pesticide manufacturing plants, backyard burn barrels, and pulp and paper bleaching plants. Dioxins are one of the most common chemicals affecting Americans today. According to the EPA, the average
level of dioxin found in the population is at or near levels linked to adverse health effects observed in animals and people.
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Any additional exposure above such levels could therefore damage our health. Dioxin exposure occurs primarily through eating contaminated food, particularly fish, meat, and dairy products. Dioxin can cause cancer and reproductive disorders.
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Bisphenol A, or BPA, is an organic compound widely used in hard plastic products, including reusable food containers, baby bottles, sippy cups, and the lining of baby formula containers and canned food. It is also present in a wide range of household items, from children's toys to dental sealant. The chemical industry produces 7 billion pounds of BPA in the United States each year. Exposure occurs when the chemical contaminates food and drink.
The compound is considered an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC), and more than two hundred studies have produced a long list of serious chronic disorders associated with itâcancers, infertility, heart disease, liver abnormalities, genital abnormalities in male babies, early puberty in girls, cognitive and behavioral impairments, reproductive and cardiovascular system abnormalities, diabetes, asthma, obesity, attention deficit disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
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According to a 2007 study by the CDC, 93 percent of the U.S. population age six and up have been exposed to BPA.
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The Environmental Working Group (EWG) found BPA in more than half of ninety-seven cans of brand name fruit, vegetables, soda, and other common canned goods.
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Of particular concern is its use in toys and plastic containers aimed at young children, who are more vulnerable to side effects than adults, owing to natural differences in metabolism and size. Fetuses are also affected in utero and at the earliest stages of development. According to the Oregon Environmental Council, premature babies are exposed to levels of BPA ten times greater than the general population.
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In 2011, China and Malaysia set bans on BPA, joining Canada and all of the European Union. Some U.S. cities and states have banned baby bottles containing BPA, yet proposed federal legislation banning BPA in all baby products remains stalled.
While BPA-free products are becoming more available across the country, they are often more expensive than products containing the compound, potentially putting lower-income groups at higher risk. Indeed, minority children in the United States may face higher rates of BPA exposure: the presence of BPA was recently found in the umbilical cords of nine out of ten African-American, Asian, and Hispanic women tested by the EWG.
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TIPS TO AVOID BPA EXPOSURE
⢠Watch for the numeral 7 on the bottom of plastic containers. That often means they contain BPA.
⢠Don't microwave plastic food containers made with BPA (better to use glass or porcelain), and discard old or damaged bottles (scratches can promote leaching).
⢠Choose glass, stainless steel, or BPA-free polypropylene (PP #5) bottles. Visit Safe Mama (safemama.com) for an updated list of BPA-free products.
⢠Minimize the use of canned foods and canned drinks.
⢠Ask your dentist for BPA-free sealants and composite fillings.
© Andy Utz
WHY I WORK TO IMPROVE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
LISA FRACK
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER, ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP
When I was pregnant with my second child, I read Sandra Steingraber's book
Having Faith
, about the amazingâand quite terrifyingâinterconnectedness of pregnancy and the environment. I had, of course, heard about the serious downsides of alcohol, smoking, and drugs on a baby's developmentâand had chosen to avoid them all while pregnant. I'd even had a blood leadâlevel test because we were remodeling an old house.
But what I hadn't chosen to avoidâbecause I didn't know about themâwere the thousands of other chemicals that my baby and I were exposed to every day: chemicals in my cleaning supplies, the house paint, the creams and shampoos I'd received as gifts for my new baby, and my nail polish, to name but a few.
What took me from this new knowledge and some product changes to a career in environmental health was one chemical: bisphenol A (BPA). As a working mother, I pumped breast milk at work for my partner and day care providers to feed my baby. Turns out, the feeding bottles we used contained the toxic hormone disruptor BPA, and to make matters worse, they were hand-me-downs, which are more likely to leach chemicals.
Well, that did it! I stopped using our toxic baby bottles once I knew about BPA, but plenty of others were still using them, and safer alternatives weren't easy to identify or buy. So I decided to shift my focus from just protecting my own family to working for the Washington, DCâbased organization Environmental Work Group (EWG), to protect other caregivers and their children. EWG informs people about the chemicals that affect our health and offers practical, effective tips on how to avoid them. We also advocate for stronger lawsâat both the national and the state levelâsince current laws are notoriously outdated and weak. It has to be easier for a parent to assess the toxicity of all the products out there!
Environmental health science continues to show that exposure to toxic chemicals during pregnancy and early childhood can have long-term adverse health effects. One of my most important responsibilities is my children's health. Fighting for their environmental health is one way I can fulfill that responsibilityâfor all children.
Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, are one of the most toxic and hazardous chemicals used in modern manufacturing. Historically, they have been used extensively throughout industry, specifically in transformers, capacitors, and coolants. Concerns about health and environmental effects led to a ban on PCBs for most uses in the United States in 1979. But some uses are still allowed, and PCBs are persistent contaminants (POPs) that can stay in our bodies and environment for decades. Health problems resulting from PCB exposure include thyroid disorders, breast cancer, endometriosis, low birth weight, menstrual disorders, and possibly early puberty, as well as miscarriage and hormonal changes.
Some areas are considered PCB “hot spots.” Along New York's Hudson River, into which the General Electric company released thousands of pounds of PCBs, strict fish advisories remain for women of child-bearing age to help minimize their exposure to PCBs. Two hundred miles of the river, some of which runs through New York City, is considered a Superfund site.
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Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are two other bodies of water marked as potentially hazardous.
Phthalates are chemicals that make plastic more pliable. They can be found in many common products, including pills, wallpaper, adhesives, food containers, vinyl, shower curtains, building materials, cosmetics, medical devices, toys and other children's items, packaging, water bottles and soda cans, paints, textiles, polyvinyl chloride (PVC, commonly used in flooring), pesticides, insecticides, and food. Phthalate use is slowly being phased out in the United States: its use in children's products is in some cases banned and is often restricted, especially in toys and products meant for a baby's mouth, such as pacifiers.
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According to the CDC, nearly all Americans have phthalates in their urine. Eating is the main way the substance enters our bodies, either through leaching from food containers into food and liquids or from the food products themselves.
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Phthalates are easily released into the air when plastics age and break down.