GreenSage E-zine 04/2008

Shedding Light On Toxins
by Steve Metsch, Southtown Star

When the Environmental Working Group commissioned a study of 10 people to find if any of 413 toxic chemicals were in their bodies, the group was surprised that 287 chemicals were detected.

Make that "very surprised," president and founder Kenneth Cook said, because the tests were conducted on umbilical cord blood from 10 newborns.

"For many years, scientists and medical doctors thought the placenta filtered it out. No one thought industrial pollution begins in the womb," Cook said at a presentation at Prairie State College.

He visited the Chicago Heights campus at the request of state Reps. Al Riley (D-Olympia Fields) and Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook), both boosters of environmental issues. About 30 people attended.

Among the 287 chemicals found in the study, 134 can cause cancer, 151 can cause birth defects, 154 can cause hormone disruption, 186 are associated with infertility and 130 affect the immune system, Cook said. The numbers total higher than 287 because some cause more than one problem.

Cook tossed his support behind the Kids Safe Chemicals Act, (introduced in the Senate in 2005 by Sen. James Jeffords [I-VT], with Senators Lautenberg, Boxer, Kerry, Corzine, Clinton and Kennedy). The measure would be tougher on chemical producers than the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976, under which, "only five chemicals have been banned or restricted," Cook said.

The Kids Safe Chemicals Act would require that chemicals be deemed safe before they are put into products on the market, he said. A similar bill in Illinois would limit the amount of some chemicals in items used by children.

"That is nothing more than a witch hunt," Mark Biel, executive director of the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois, said in a prepared statement.

"Understanding the risks posed by products means more than knowing what their 'toxicity' is ... it means also understanding levels of exposure. This basic principle helps explain why one aspirin may be good for you but an entire bottle of aspirin is not," Biel said.

Cook said the study is "not about shutting down the economy." He said concerns about air and water pollution and leaded gasoline lead to health improvements without harming industry.

Steger resident Cornell Hudson, was impressed by the presentation. "I thought the 10 would be 10 adults. Everybody thinks babies start out clean. Not so," Hudson said.