![]() Surgeon General declared that lead levels of 40 micrograms per deciliter of blood were safe. Over the years, several chemicals that were thought to be harmless turned out to be otherwise once the facts were in. Some experts, albeit with little firm evidence, suspect there is a link to the man-made chemicals in our food, water, and air. From the early 1980s through the late 1990s, autism increased tenfold from the early 1970s through the mid-1990s, one type of leukemia was up 62 percent, male birth defects doubled, and childhood brain cancer was up 40 percent. Moreover, some of the most feared substances, such as mercury, normally dissipate within days or weeks unless the individual is constantly re-exposed.ĮVEN THOUGH MANY health statistics have improved over the past few decades, a few illnesses are rising mysteriously. "In toxicology, dose is everything," says Karl Rozman, a toxicologist at the University of Kansas Medical Center, "and these doses are too low to be dangerous." A standard unit for measuring most chemicals inside us is a ratio of one part per billion (ppb)-an amount so small it's like putting half a teaspoon (two milliliters) of dye into an Olympic-size swimming pool. But many toxicologists insist that the minimal amounts of chemicals inside us are, on the whole, nothing to worry about. In large doses, some of these substances can have horrific effects. I'm healthy, and as far as I know have no symptoms associated with chemical exposure. The same can be asked of other chemicals I've absorbed from air, water, the nonstick pan I used to scramble my eggs this morning, my faintly scented I shampoo, my cell phone. Where I picked up this chemical remains a mystery. But for now the airplane connection is only a hypothesis. ![]() "I have been wanting to apply for a grant to test pilots and flight attendants for PBDEs," Bergman says. He tells me that he has long been curious about PBDE exposure inside airplanes, whose plastic and fabric interiors include flame retardants to meet safety regulations. In fact, as I spoke to Bergman, I was sitting in an airport waiting for a flight from my hometown of San Francisco to London. "I flew almost 200,000 miles (300,000 kilometers) last year," I say. Do I live near a factory making flame retardants? Nope, the closest one is over a thousand miles (1,600 kilometers) away. Do I spend a lot of time around computer monitors? No, I use a titanium laptop. Have I recently bought new furniture or rugs? No. Now I'm learning more than I really want to know.įIRST, BERGMAN WANTS TO solve my flame-retardant so mystery. Prior to the tests, I had little knowledge of what was lurking inside my body. I submitted myself for them to learn what substances build up in a typical person 5 over a lifetime, and where they might come from. The fee for the tests is expensive, and only a few labs have the technical expertise to detect the amounts involved. Kumpulan cerita alkitab bergambar untuk anak sekolah minggu plus#It also includes pollutants like lead, mercury, and dioxins newer pesticides and plastic ingredients plus other compounds that hide beneath the surface of modern life, making shampoos fragrant, pans nonstick, and fabrics water-resistant and fire-safe. It includes older chemicals that I might have been exposed to decades ago, such as DDT and PCBs. Last fall I had myself tested for 320 chemicals I might have picked up from food, drink, the air I breathe, and the products that touch my skin-the secret compounds I have acquired by merely living. In fact I'm a writer participating in a journey of chemical self-discovery. My levels would be high even if I were a worker in a factory making the stuff, Bergman says. The news about another PBDE variant is nearly as bad. residents, and more than 200 times the average in Sweden. ![]() My blood level of one particularly toxic PBDE, found primarily in U.S.- made products, is 10 times the average found in a study of U.S. “I hope you are not nervous, but this concentration is very high," Bergman says with a light Swedish accent. Little is known about their impact on human health. In mice and rats, high doses of PBDEs interfere with thyroid function, cause reproductive problems, and slow neurological development. ![]() These, however, are where they should not be: inside my body.Īke Bergman of Stockholm University tells me he has received the results of a chemical analysis of my blood, which measured levels of flame-retarding compounds called polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Found in carpets, electronic circuit boards, and automobiles, flame retardants save hundreds of lives a year in the United States alone. A Swedish chemist is on the phone, talking about flame retardants, chemicals added for safety to just about any product that can burn. MY EXPERIMENT IS TAKING a disturbing turn. English to Indonesian: THE POLLUTION WITHIN ![]()
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