News Coverage
Researchers Find 287 Chemicals Present in Umbilical-Cord Blood in Small Study
Published July 13, 2005
Never mind landfills or smog-filled city streets. We might get our first exposure to toxic chemicals in the womb.
A study released today reports that 287 chemicals -- including mercury and the banned pesticide DDT -- were detected in the umbilical-cord blood of 10 newborns from across the nation. Of those chemicals, 209 had never been detected before in cord blood.
They include perfluorooctanoic acid, or C8, a chemical used by DuPont to make Teflon. It is being scrutinized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"I think it's pretty clear that children everywhere in the U.S. are exposed to these chemicals," said Tim Kropp, senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group, of Washington, D.C., which prepared the study.
Similar studies have looked at chemical levels in children and adults. Next week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to release its third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. In 2003, the agency looked at 116 chemicals -- all toxic in animal studies.
Many of the compounds in today's study -- flame retardants, pesticides and carpet coatings -- can be found in everyday consumer goods. There also were byproducts from garbage incineration and plastic production.
The results might not surprise scientists. Chemicals can go through the placenta and, eventually, into the baby's blood stream. Some chemicals, such as DDT, still are present in the environment despite being banned decades ago.
Some of the chemicals mentioned in the study are known human carcinogens, and many have been shown to cause cancer in animals.
The majority of chemicals are tied to brain and nervous system disorders.
Still, the study does not show that the presence of these chemicals poses any risk.
"It's absolutely a concern to find these things in cord blood," said Marcel Casavant, medical director of the Central Ohio Poison Center at Children's Hospital. "To say that's absolutely bad for kids isn't automatic for me."
For example, some chemicals are only toxic in large amounts, Casavant said.
And some chemicals are beneficial.
"Clearly fire retardants retard fire," he said. "It's easy to show that without them there's more death. It's hard to say that with them there are more adverse outcomes."
But the Environmental Working Group said that until the chemical manufacturers can prove that any chemical is safe, they should be pulled from the market.
The group said it wants changes made to the Toxic Substances Control Act to require extensive testing to ensure chemicals are safe before they're used.
As it stands, the act deprives the U.S. EPA of "the most basic regulatory tools," the group says.
Under the act, the EPA has reviewed more than 40,000 chemicals before they are introduced on the market and has restricted more than 1,600, said Enesta Jones, an agency spokeswoman.
"It's proven to be challenging, but the law provides the EPA adequate ability to protect human health," Jones said.
