Regular Exposure to Toxic Chemicals Costs the US $340 Billion Annually

Regular contact to plastic materials such as plastic bottles, food containers, toys, cosmetics, and flame retardants containing “endocrine-disrupting chemicals” may result to increase of toxic and potentially lead to medical conditions.

Health problems. because of regular exposure to these chemicals cost the US $340 billion per year in health costs and loss of wages. This was stated by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center.

Childrens’ developing brains are more vulnerable to develop health conditions from chemicals, said Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a Professor at NYU Langone and lead investigator of this study. According to Trasande there are simple steps to reduce exposure to “endocrine-disrupting” chemicals at home.

“Families can eat organic. People can avoid the use of pesticides in their homes to get rid of unwanted creatures. They can avoid aluminium can food consumption. They can stop using microwaving plastic and machine-dishwashing plastic containers,” Transande said. He also  to avoid using plastic containers with the number 3, 6, or 7 on the bottom.

Trasande added “simply air out their houses every few days,” helps remove chemical dusts from your home specially flame retardants.

Hormonal Effects

Studies over the past three decades show how regular exposure to these chemicals have negative effects on human health. Furthermore, evidence shows endocrine-disrupting chemicals can interfere with the body’s natural sex hormones.

Harmful chemicals like Bisphenol A (BPA) are found in food cans. Phthalates is an ingredient for making cosmetics and food containers. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) can be found in furniture and flame retardants. Lastly, there are pesticides such as chlorpyrifos and organophosphates.

The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology team at NYU reviewed the levels of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in blood and urine samples. These came from five thousand volunteers from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

An advanced computer model was then used to estimate total disease effects that resulted from exposure to levels of these harmful chemicals. Trasande and his colleagues also calculated the estimated health cost for each disease. The total came up to an annual cost of $340 billion. Worst of all, most financial headaches resulted from neurological damage in unborn children.

Trasande said people talk about cost to manufacturer. What they never really talk about are the benefits of regulating the use of these harmful chemicals.

“Typically, when policy discussions are had about regulation, the arguments are one-sided,” Trasande added.

This study is intended “to facilitate a transparent dialogue about the real and substantial tradeoffs for human health. The things that we make or do by failing to act to protect against the chemicals of greatest concern,” said Trasande.

Chemical Regulatory and Policies

On June 2016, President Obama signed into law the revised Toxic Substance Control Act, “the major law that reviews chemicals for their safety and decides whether they should be allowed for use in the broad environment,” including furniture, cosmetics and electronics.

Trasande added,”that law presumed that chemicals are innocent until proven guilty”.

The June overhaul, also known as the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, means “the Environmental Protection Agency is on a fast timeline to deal with the requirements associated with that action,” said Frankie Wood-Black, a principal of Sophic Pursuits, Inc. and an instructor at Northern Oklahoma College.

The timing and actions of the EPA intrigue “all of us in the regulatory world,” said Wood-Black.

“There is an opportunity here to ensure effective implementation of the law,” Trasande said.

Crucial for similar tests to be done in the U.S.

Andrea Gore, a professor at the University of Teas at Austin and Trasande calculated the costs based on prediction of exposures to the harmful chemicals in the European Union.

“It is important that they did a similar study in the US, because it shows that costs of endocrine-disrupting chemicals to health are an international problem,” Gore added, “learning about exposures in one part of the world can inform decisions in other places that may be considering whether or not to allow or ban a chemical.”

Gore was not a part of the new study. However, she is a co-author of some studies cited by Trasande.

“These authorities have a broader definition of endocrine disrupting-chemicals than that used by the US EPA,” according to Michele La Merril, a developmental toxicologist and an assistant professor at University of California-Davis.

“This exposes a weakness in the archaic US EPA definition and indicates a need for the US EPA to include endocrine-disrupting effects they currently do not consider, such as obesity,” La Merrill said.

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