Body burden

Body burden, also known as chemical load, is the amount of harmful chemicals present in a person's body. It is determined by biomonitoring, which assesses exposure by measuring the chemicals or their metabolites in human specimens such as blood or urine. Results are usually expressed in mass units, such as grams and milligrams. The substances may be radioactive or chemically toxic. Many harmful substances are eliminated naturally by the human body, but some are removed very slowly or not at all. Where water soluble molecules may be excreted relatively quickly, non-polar molecules are lipophilic and tend to accumulate in fat tissue, which is also non-polar. Large fragments, such as shrapnel, are also difficult for the body to remove.

Body burden studies

The Environmental Working Group has spearheaded six studies of body burden in Americans as part of the Human Toxome Project, finding 456 industrial pollutants, pesticides and other chemicals in the blood, urine, and breast milk of 115 people, from newborns to teens and adults. Study #4 found pollutants in umbilical cord blood from ten out of ten newborns studied, showing that pollution of the human body begins before birth. [http://www.ewg.org/sites/humantoxome/participants/participant-group.php?group=bb2 EWG/Commonweal Study #4, industrial chemicals and pesticides in cord blood] The pollutants include chemicals with potentially harmful effects that include birth defects, cancer, and damage to the blood, brain and nervous system, endocrine system, kidney and renal system, immune system and reproduction and fertility, according to numerous scientific studies. [http://www.ewg.org/sites/humantoxome/healtheffects/ Health effects of pollutants found in people] [http://www.ewg.org/sites/humantoxome/chemicals/references.php Scientific studies cited by the Human Toxome Project]

Two small-scale studies along the lines of the Human Toxome Project, which were conducted by Environmental Defence, have found widespread pollution in Canadians. [http://www.toxicnation.ca/toxicnation-studies Toxic Nation studies of Canadians by Environmental Defence]

The National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals provides an ongoing assessment of the U.S. population's exposure to environmental chemicals. The Third Report presents first-time exposure information for the U.S. population for 38 of the 148 chemicals included in the Report. The Report also includes the data from the Second Report; that is, data for 1999-2000.

Numerous other, more targeted studies have found pollutants in the populations studied. Analysis of breast milk in mothers in a wide variety of countries, for example, has found contaminants. [http://www.nrdc.org/breastmilk/]

Campaigns for awareness of body burden

Body burden of chemicals became a mainstream issue as a result of a PBS program reporting on testing of Bill Moyers for a number of groups of toxic chemicals, and more recently Anderson Cooper on CNN's "Planet in Peril" series on the environment [ [http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/planet.in.peril/ Planet in Peril] CNN, October, 2007] .

The book Our Stolen Future brought world-wide attention to scientific discoveries about endocrine disruption and the fact that common contaminants can interfere with the natural signals controlling development of the fetus. The [http://http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/index.htm Our Stolen Future website] tracks ongoing research.

A number of community based organizations campaign for greater awareness of chemical body burden and its possible impact on human health including reproductive systems.

Timing of exposure

While traditional studies have tried to correlate body burden and cancer at the time of diagnosis, there is increasingly debate on whether it is neonatal exposure which matters most.

Birnbaum and Fenton review a wide array of experimental evidence from animals showing that exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds in early development can cause cancer and/or increase sensitivity to cancer-causing agents later in life.

References

External links

* [http://http://nrdc.org/thisgreenlife/0803.asp Pollution in People] - NRDC column on body burden and how to protect yourself
* [http://www.287reasons.com "287" The Body Burden Movie for Theatrical Release 2008]
* [http://287themovie.wordpress.com The Blog for The "287" Movie]
* [http://www.bodyburden.org http://www.bodyburden.org]
* [http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2 http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2]
* [http://www.ourstolenfuture.org http://www.ourstolenfuture.org]
* [http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org]
* [http://www.insidebayarea.com/bodyburden http://www.insidebayarea.com/bodyburden]
* [http://www.calbbc.org/site/pp.asp?c=9eIELMMAG&b=65900 http://www.calbbc.org/site/pp.asp?c=9eIELMMAG&b=65900]
* [http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2003/5686/abstract.html http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2003/5686/abstract.html]
* [http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/NewScience/human/cancer/2002/2002-1101birnbaumandfenton.htm Birnbaum and Fenton review Website]
* [http://www.pbs.org/tradesecrets/problem/bodyburden.html Bill Moyers Test at PBS.org]
* [http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport CDC report]
* [http://www.environmentaldefence.ca/toxicnation/home.php Toxic Nation]
* [http://green.nationalgeographic.com/environment/going-green/toxic-people.html?nav=FEATURES The Pollution Within]
* [http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org/whatisbb.htm What is Body Burden? at chemicalbodyburden.org]
* [http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/policy/toxics/index.cfm WWF - Toxic Chemicals]