The CDC report details 2,500 peoples' exposure levels to 148 chemicals using a technique called biomonitoring. Biomonitoring, the latest and increasingly common tool in environment and health research, enables researchers to detect how much of the chemicals present in the environment and consumer products actually cross over into our bodies.
Nearly six percent of women of childbearing age had mercury levels near what the CDC considers the 'danger level,” according to the report. The CDC also discovered widespread exposure among participants to phthalates, a potential reproductive toxin found in everyday items such plastic containers for left-over food and cosmetics.
Biomonitoring studies, such as the CDC report, can help improve public health policy by indicating trends in chemical exposures, identifying disproportionately affected and particularly vulnerable communities, assessing the effectiveness of current regulations and setting priorities for legislative and regulatory action. After years of progress in pollution prevention and reduction of toxic releases, these biomonitoring studies clearly indicate that more needs to be done to protect public health.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released its own biomonitoring study, Body Burden, The Pollution in Newborns, on a July 14 that analyzed umbilical-cord blood samples. The 10 samples contained 217 toxic chemicals and 180 carcinogens. Mercury, fire retardants, pesticides and the Teflon chemical PFOA were among the chemicals EWG discovered in the samples. From the study results, EWG called on the government to ensure children are protected from chemical exposures, and that exposure to industrial chemicals before birth be eliminated entirely.
Many note that the CDC's biomonitoring study could be more useful if it examined a much larger population or focused on a smaller area, as most toxic exposures occur locally. Such examinations could result in the ability to draw stronger connections between sources of toxics, at-risk populations, and pollution prevention measures industries should take.
California is currently considering such a localized biomonitoring study. A bill before the California state legislature would create the first statewide, community-based biomonitoring program. The bill (SB 600), was introduced in February and passed out of the California Assembly Health Committee June 28, despite heavy pressure from industry. Supporters say that the bill will help scientists, medical professionals, decision-makers and community members better understand the effects of environmental contaminants on human health. They are hopeful the bill will clear its next hurdle in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.