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Cord blood pollutants in this study, linked to health problems. Scientific studies implicate some of the chemicals we detected in cord blood with serious, ongoing human health problems:

Dioxin exposures during fetal development have been implicated in endocrine-related cancers in women (breast and uterine, for example) by altering hormone levels, increasing the sensitivity of children and adolescents to other carcinogens (Birnbaum and Fenton 2003). In men, tiny levels of dioxin in the range of 0.02 to 10 parts per billion alter testosterone levels and are linked with diabetes (EPA 2004a). Dioxin at 80 parts per trillion in paternal �?but not maternal �?serum causes a significant change in the sex ratio of children (Mocarelli, et al. 1996, Mocarelli, et al. 2000). At this tiny dose, men father nearly twice as many girls as boys. As body burdens increase within and above these ranges, the likelihood, severity, and potential spectrum of non-cancer effects increases (EPA 2004a). Fetal dioxin exposure can harm the immune system, thyroid, and brain (Van Loveren et al. 2003, Faroon et al. 2001, ten Tusscher and Koppe 2004). Dioxin from garbage incinerators is associated with increased incidence of infant death and birth defects (Tango et al. 2004).

Methylmercury exposure in the womb causes measurable declines in brain function in children exposed to levels corresponding to 58 parts per billion in maternal blood (NAS 2000b). Researchers in the Netherlands found a doubling in the risk of heart attacks and death from coronary heart disease at methylmercury hair levels of 2 mg/kg, which corresponds to about one fifth the assumed safe maternal blood level (Salonen, et al. 1995). Increased diastolic and systolic blood pressure and decreased heart rate variability in developmentally exposed children have also been observed at doses below what the EPA considers a safe maternal blood level (NAS 2000b, Sorensen et al. 1999).

PCBs at 9.7 ppb in maternal serum during fetal development can impair brain development, with resultant attention and IQ deficits that appear to be permanent (Jacobson and Jacobson 1996). Notably, IQ deficits are linked to the mother's PCB levels, not the PCB levels in children at 4 and 11 years of age (by which time the children's PCB levels had decreased substantially compared to levels at birth), underscoring the limitations of studies that look for correlations between current body burdens and health effects in the absence of data on in utero exposures. Levels of PCBs in the general population are also associated with abnormal menstrual cycles (Cooper et al. 2005).

DDE above 15 ppb in maternal blood is associated with preterm birth and low birth weight, with weight corrected for gestational age (Longnecker et al. 2001). DDE is a metabolite of the banned, persistent pesticide DDT. Using the associations derived from tests of archived blood samples from a pool of 42,000 women, researchers estimated that DDT exposures in the U.S. population could have accounted for up to 15 percent of infant deaths during the 1960s. Low birth weight is recognized as a risk factor for type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease later in life (Prentice and Moore 2005, Godfrey and Barker 2001, Hales and Barker 2001). Even if these lower birth weight babies "catch up" later, the damage may have already been done. A substantial number of studies have found that low birth weight followed by an accelerated growth rate during childhood is a significant risk factor for high blood pressure, stroke, insulin resistance and glucose intolerance (Eriksson, et al. 2000a, Eriksson, et al. 2002, Eriksson et al. 2000b, Eriksson et al. 1999, Eriksson and Forsen 2002, Forsen et al. 2000, Ong and Dunger 2002, Stettler et al. 2002).

Some facts about human health trends

Cancer. Cancer incidence has steadily increased over the decades for many forms of the disease, including breast, prostate, and testicular (NCI 2005). The incidence of childhood cancer increased by 27.1 percent between 1975 and 2002, with the sharpest rise estimated for brain and other nervous system cancers (56.5 percent increase) and acute lymphocytic leukemia (68.7 percent increase). The incidence of testicular cancer also steadily rose 66 percent between 1975 and 2002 (NCI 2005). The probability that a U.S. resident will develop cancer at some point in his or her lifetime is 1 in 2 for men and 1 in 3 for women (ACS 2004). A broad array of environmental factors plays a pivotal role in the initiation and promotion of cancer. Just 5 to 10 percent of all cancers are directly linked to inherited, genetic factors (ACS 2001).

Breast cancer. Among girls born today, one in seven is expected to get breast cancer and one in 30 is expected to die from it. Invasive female breast cancer increased an average of 1.5 percent per year between 1973 and 1996, for a total increase of 25.3 percent. Among those 65 and younger, breast cancer incidence rose 1.2 percent per year, corresponding to a doubling every two generations (58 years). If trends continue, the granddaughters of today's young women could face a one in four chance of developing breast cancer (NCI 1996, NCI 1997).

Testicular cancer. At its current pace, the incidence of testicular cancer is doubling about every one and a half generations (39 years). In the U.S. the incidence of testicular cancer rose 41.5 percent between 1973 and 1996, an average of 1.8 percent per year (NCI 1996, NCI 1997). Testicular cancer is now the most common cancer in men age 15 to 35 (NCI 2005).

Prostate cancer. Prostate cancer rates rose 4.4 percent a year between 1973 and 1992, or more than a doubling of risk in a generation. Since 1992, the incidence has declined, but it is still 2.5 times its 1973 rate. Part of this increase can be explained by better detection, but increased incidence has also been accompanied by an increase in mortality - which better detection cannot explain. Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer among U.S. men, and the second most lethal, killing an estimated 31,900 men in the year 2000 alone (NCI 1996, NCI 1997).

Major nervous system disorders. Several recent studies have determined that the reported incidence of autism is increasing, and is now almost 10 times higher than in the mid-1980's (Byrd 2002, Chakrabarti and Fombonne 2001). The number of children being diagnosed and treated for attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has also increased dramatically in the past decade (Robison et al. 1999, Robison et al. 2002, Zito et al. 2000). The causes are largely unexplained, but environmental factors, including chemical exposures, are considered a likely contributor. Environmental factors have also been increasingly linked with Parkinson's disease (Checkoway and Nelson 1999, Engel et al. 2001).

 

Preterm births and low birth weights. Preterm births have increased 23 percent over the past 2 decades; low-weight births have become more common (Ananth et al 2001, Branum and Schoendorf 2002). The causes are largely unknown, but environmental factors such as chemical pollutants and nutrition are thought to play a role. Low birth weight has been linked to adult obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, schizophrenia, and other conditions (Barker 1995, Wahlbeck et al. 2001, Thompson et al. 2001, Hales and Ozanne 2003). It has also been linked to lower academic performance, neurosensory impairment, and lower rates of pregnancy in the offspring (Hack et al. 2002).

 

Defects of the reproductive system. Studies show that sperm counts in certain parts of the world are decreasing (Swan, et al. 2000, Toppari, et al. 1996). Scientists have measured significant regional differences in sperm count that cannot be explained by differences in genetic factors (Swan et al. 2003). Girls may be reaching puberty earlier, based on comparing current appearance of breast development and pubic hair growth with historical data (Herman-Giddens, et al. 1997). Rates of hypospadias, a physical deformity of the penis, have risen in recent years (Paulozzi et al. 1997). The incidence of undescended testicles (cryptorchidism) and testicular cancer also appear to be rising in certain parts of the world (Bergstrom et al. 1996, McKiernan et al. 1999, Toppari et al. 1996, Paulozzi 1999).

Several studies have suggested links between developmental exposure to environmental contaminants and cryptorchidism or testicular cancer (Hardell, et al. 2003, Hosie, et al. 2000, Toppari, et al. 1996, Weidner, et al. 1998).

Declining sperm count. An analysis of 101 studies (1934-1996) by Dr. Shanna Swan of the University of Missouri confirms results of previous studies: average sperm counts in industrialized countries appear to be declining at a rate of about one percent each year (Swan et al. 2000).

Hypospadias. Incidence of hypospadias, a birth defect of the penis, doubled in the United States between 1970 and 1993, and is estimated to affect one of every 125 male babies born (Paulozzi et al. 1997). Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that rates in the U.S. began climbing in about 1970, and continued this increase through the 1980s. This condition is a physical deformity of the penis in which the opening of the urethra occurs on the bottom of the penis instead of the tip.

Undescended testicles. This birth defect, where testicles fail to completely descend into the scrotum during pregnancy, occurs in two to five percent of full-term boys in Western countries. Rates of the defect increased greatly in the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s. Men born with this defect are at higher risk for testicular cancer and breast cancer (Paulozzi 1999).

Together with 287 industrial pollutants in 10 newborn babies, this body of science and the litany of serious, continuing human health concerns reveals the critical need for reform of our system of public health protections, which fails to require proof that chemicals are safe for children.

Recommendations

U.S. industries manufacture and import approximately 75,000 chemicals, 3,000 of them at over a million pounds per year. Studies show that hundreds of industrial chemicals circulate in the blood of a baby in the womb, interacting in ways that are not fully understood. Many more pollutants are likely present in the womb, but test methods have yet to be developed that would allow health officials to comprehensively assess prenatal exposure to chemicals, or to ensure that these exposures are safe. From a regulatory perspective, fetal exposure to industrial chemicals is quite literally out of control.

The reason: the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the nation's notoriously weak chemical safety law. TSCA deprives the EPA of the most basic regulatory tools. The vast majority of chemicals in use today do not have anywhere near sufficient data needed to assess their safety, particularly their safety for the unborn baby or young child. Under TSCA, however, the EPA cannot require this data as a condition of continued chemical use. Instead, the EPA must negotiate with industry or complete a formal "test rule" for every study that it needs, for every chemical on the market. Consequently, very few high quality toxicity tests are conducted.

When industry submits results of voluntary testing to the agency, huge portions, including key health and safety findings, are routinely redacted as confidential business information, meaning that even state regulatory agencies are not allowed to review them. If risks are identified and action is contemplated, minimizing "unreasonable" costs to industry is the TSCA mandate, no matter how serious the risks and no matter the population that bears them �?even unborn babies. And if there is any scientific uncertainty, as there often is, TSCA prohibits precautionary action and requires certainty of harm before actions can be taken to protect the public health. TSCA has not been improved for nearly 30 years �?longer than any other major environmental or public health statute.

This study and a strong body of supporting science suggest that fetal exposure to industrial chemicals is contributing to adverse health effects in the human population. This is cause for concern.

But experience also shows us that it is never too late to take action. Blood levels of PCBs and pesticides like DDT are lower today than 30 years ago when they were banned. Since these watershed actions in the 1970s, however, few industrial chemicals have been regulated to any significant degree. The various reasons for this stagnation �?the need for data on chemical toxicity and exposure, lack of ambition at the EPA, and chemical industry intransigence �?all come back to one central cause: the absence of a strong federal chemical safety law that provides the EPA with unambiguous statutory authority to take the actions needed to ensure that chemicals are safe.

Because TSCA does not mandate safety studies and makes it difficult for EPA to demand them, a number of voluntary initiatives to gather more information about chemicals have been attempted, most notably the high production volume (HPV) chemical screening program. These efforts, however, have been largely ineffective at reducing exposure and are no substitute for a clear statutory requirement to protect children from the toxic effects of chemical exposure.

Federal law must be reformed to ensure that children are protected from chemical exposures, and that to the maximum extent possible exposure to industrial chemicals before birth be eliminated entirely. The nation's pesticide law was amended nearly a decade ago to require explicit protection of infants and children from pesticides. Actions taken under the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) have reduced or eliminated children's exposures to a number of highly hazardous pesticides, with no discernable adverse impact on the availability or price of a wholesome food supply, and without adverse impact on the agricultural or pesticide industry. We recommend a similar standard be applied to commercial chemicals.

This would mean transforming TSCA into a true public health and environmental law, with the following core provisions. A new TSCA would:

1. Require chemical manufacturers to demonstrate affirmatively that the chemicals they sell are safe for the entire population exposed, including children in the womb. In the absence of information on the risks of pre-natal exposure, chemicals must be assumed to present greater risk to the developing baby in utero, and extra protections must be required at least as strict as the 10 fold children's safety factor in FQPA.
2. Require that the safety of closely related chemicals, such as the perfluorochemicals used to make Teflon and other stain-resistant and water repellant products, be assessed as a group. The presumption would be that these chemicals have additive toxicity unless manufacturers clearly prove otherwise.
3. Grant the EPA clear and unencumbered authority to demand all studies needed to make a finding of safety and to enforce clear deadlines for study completion.
4. Remove from the market chemicals for which tests demonstrating safety are not conducted.
5. Eliminate confidential business protection for all health, safety, and environmental information.
6. Require that material safety data sheets provided to workers contain the results of studies conducted under these provisions.
7. Provide strong incentives for green, safer chemicals in consumer products and industrial processes.

Detailed Findings
In a study spearheaded by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), researchers at two major laboratories found an average of 204 industrial compounds, pollutants, and other chemicals in 10 newborn babies, with a total of 287 chemicals found in the group. To our knowledge this work represents the first reported cord blood tests for 261 of the targeted chemicals, and the first reported detections of at least 209 chemicals. Scientists refer to this contamination as a person's body burden.

The study found a broad array of pollutants that collectively are known to present potential risks to nearly every organ and system in the body:

Of the 287 chemicals found in newborn umbilical cord blood, 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause developmental problems. The dangers of exposure to these chemicals in combination has never been studied.

We detected 287 chemicals of 413 tested (69 percent) in umbilical cord blood samples from 10 newborn babies, with a range of between 154 and 231 for each child. We found 101 chemicals in all babies tested.

Our tests targeted nine chemical classes; we detected at least half of the analyzed chemicals in each class.

The chemicals we found span organochlorine pesticides (DDT and dieldrin, for example), chemicals currently or formerly used in a wide range of consumer products (perfluorochemicals, brominated fire retardants, PCBs), and chemical pollutants from waste incineration and fossil fuel combustion (polyaromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated and polybrominated dioxins and furans, polychlorinated naphthalenes, mercury).

 

Fetal exposures to mixtures. The few published biomonitoring studies that measure fetal and newborn exposures among the general population confirm work that the pharmaceutical industry conducted more than 40 years ago establishing that the placenta is permeable not just with respect to oxygen, nutrients and fetal waste materials, but also with respect to xenobiotic chemicals. These chemicals move through the placenta via passive diffusion and, less frequently, active transport mechanisms from maternal to fetal blood (Syme et al. 2004).

The few published cord blood biomonitoring studies of the North American general population target a range of chemical classes, including polybrominated biphenyl ethers, or PBDEs (Mazdai et al. 2003); polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs (Stewart 1999,2000; Schecter 1998); organochlorine pesticides (Walker et al. 2003, Rhainds et al. 1999, Lagueux et al. 1999): polyaromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs (PAH—DNA adducts were analyzed in Bocskay et al. 2005); methylmercury (Rhainds et al. 1999, Belles-Isles et al. 2002, and Bilrha et al. 2003); and polychlorinated dioxins and furans, or PCDD/PCDFs (Schecter 1998). Although these studies each target a fairly limited number of contaminants, collectively they confirm the findings of the current study: babies are exposed to hundreds of industrial chemicals even before birth.

The mixtures comprising a typical baby's body burden create an environment in the body that is drastically different from what is produced in toxicology studies, nearly all of which focus on single chemicals. Studies that target mixtures most often investigate simple mixtures at high doses encompassing only a handful of chemicals, rarely outside the same chemical class. In a few cases, scientists have investigated the toxicity of mixtures designed to mimic chemical combinations found in the environment. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), for instance, has begun to develop "interaction profiles" �?assessments of the evidence on joint toxic actions of mixtures �?for some common chemical combinations found in the environment (de Rosa et al. 2004, ATSDR 2004). But as a rule, toxicologists have not investigated mixtures that are considered representative of those found in people, much less in sensitive subpopulations such as developing children.

The results of our investigation raise questions with respect to the role of exposures in utero both in a range of children's health problems and in diseases developed in adulthood that may have their origins in early life exposures; the study also reinforces the importance of explicit consideration of fetal and childhood exposures in developing public health policies.