The Toxins in Your Body

I caught up on some reading...

What do you suppose this means to future generations and the study of families?

Everyday products are “contaminating our bodies” with toxic chemicals, said Nicholas Kristof. Two mainstream medical organizations have recently issued independent warnings about chemicals found in such products as pesticides, plastics, shampoos and cosmetics, food-can linings, and flame retardants in furniture. The toxins, says the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, are linked to breast, prostate, and uterine cancers, genital deformities, obesity, diabetes, and infertility. The doctors’ group also warns that “exposure to toxic chemicals during pregnancy and lactation is ubiquitous,” with pregnant women having at least 43 different chemical contaminants in their bodies. Today, “babies are born pre-polluted,” says the National Cancer Institute, with the resulting cancers and fertility problems showing up decades later, in adulthood. The chemical industry insists there’s no causal proof that the 80,000 new chemicals it’s introduced into the environment cause damage, and U.S. regulators simply assume that these substances are safe unless proven otherwise. So for now, “experts say the best approach is for people to try to protect themselves” by minimizing their exposure to pesticides, plastics, and other chemicals. It’s the best we guinea pigs can do.

Taken from the December 11th edition of the Week. Written originally by Nicholas Kristof in the The New York Times.