Human Health & Chemicals

Commentary:
The chemicals that are carcinogens make for a very long list. The evidence connecting chemicals to disease is getting stronger, although cause and effect evidence may never be available to indict these carcinogens in individual cases of cancer. Even without the conclusive proof, we move forward.

The U.S. Veteran's Administration now acknowledges a link between Diabetes Type II and the dioxin-herbicide, known as Agent Orange. Prostate cancer is also linked to Agent Orange.

While the public continues to hear about detection and treatment of disease, more discourse about chemical exposure and disease needs to be part of our education process.

Module 1, Lesson 3: Human Health & Chemicals

Exposure to which chemical has been linked with developing Diabetes Type II?

arsenic
dioxin (TCDD)
DDT
all of the above
none of the above

The evidence continues to accumulate on how chemicals effect human health. The following websites are given for you to examine. When reviewing the reports and databases, make note of any information that is new to you as well as questions that you may have regarding how the information relates to your own work.

Substances known to be human carcinogens-- i.e., "substances for which there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity from human studies that indicates a causal relationship between exposure to the agent, substance, mixture or exposure circumstance and human cancer" (pdf file).The National Toxicology Program of the U.S. Department of Human and Health Services Report on Carcinogens - 11th Edition.
Substances reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens --also found in Report on Carcinogens - 11th Edition (in pdf) referenced above.
Chemical Contaminants and Human Disease: A Summary of Evidence --database (in Excel spreadsheet) put together by The Collaborative on Health and the Environment. (Before you use the database in your own work, please read the stated limitations of the database.)
State of the Evidence-What is the Connection Between the Environment and Breast Cancer?, Third Edition 2004 --a joint report issued by Breast Cancer Fund and Breast Cancer Action (!-very large file in pdf)
Physician Fact Sheets: Reproductive Health & Environmental Exposures --created by Physicians for Social Responsibililty

Can we get closer to making the connection?
Public health officials are finding new ways to explore the connection between chemicals and human health. One of the latest ventures is the biomonitoring* of people themselves. The Centers for Disease Control's National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals is providing information on how many of these chemicals are actually in our body at any given time. To date, the CDC has tested for only about 100 chemicals in individuals (out of more than 80,000 chemicals on the market, 3000 of which are considered "high volume").

There is no cause and effect interpretation to this "body burden" data at this time. This type of biomonitoring simply "counts" chemicals in the human body. Most of these chemicals were not around in your grandparents' generation.