Common Chemicals Pose a Deadly Threat

As bad as climate change is, man-made pollution is causing an even more urgent problem – a global health epidemic. A U.N.-sponsored research team reported Tuesday that chemicals used in common household products are contributing to birth deformities, hormonal cancers and psychiatric diseases around the world. And researchers suspect these chemicals also contribute to breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, infertility, asthma, obesity, strokes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

They call the epidemic “a global threat that needs to be resolved.”

The researchers blame Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals for an assault on global health. Included in the group are chemicals used to make plastic soft and flexible. Products with these chemicals include toys, perfumes and pharmaceuticals, as well as cosmetics like deodorants that are absorbed into the body.

And a group of chemicals used to harden plastic, known as Bisphenol A, or BPA, is also blamed for “upsetting the endocrinal, or hormonal, systems of humans and animals,” according to a Reuters report from Geneva. The Reuters story says “experts believe such chemicals can be absorbed into drinks and food from the containers they come in.”

The UN report is not the first to raise the alarm over health threats posed by the use of chemicals in everyday products.  Google “man-made chemicals” and you’ll see what I mean. The web is abuzz with articles warning of the dangers posed by commonly encountered household products.

But the UN report adds credibility to widespread suspicions that have been around for years.

The Reuters story says “a few countries, including the United States, Canada and some European Union members – have already banned the use of some of them in certain products, especially those destined for the use of children.”

But, clearly, a lot more needs to be done.

With so much corporate resistance to any pollution fighting legislation, I fear it will be an uphill battle. Mighty global corporations and their political front men claim that man-made environmental pollution is a myth. They deny the findings of science and scoff at overwhelming evidence linking devastating weather phenomena to man-made pollution.

I can only imagine how they would greet government attempts to police the myriad chemicals in common household products.

Click here for the Reuters report.