Common Household Chemicals Linked to Cancer
Wednesday February 21, 2007
Fluorinated polymers may not be a household name, but they show up in a lot of household products—from microwave popcorn bags and fast-food wrappers to stain-free carpets and windshield washer fluid. Unfortunately, they are also showing up in the blood of animals and human beings all over the world after degrading to become a group of toxic chemicals called perfluorocarboxylates (PFCAs). Photo courtesy of Luis C. Tejo
Scientists Baffled by Rapid Spread of PFCAs
Scientists now believe that the environmental and health risks posed by PFCAs may equal or even exceed those from PCB and DDT—but they don’t know how the compounds are spreading so quickly.
Heavy concentrations of fluorinated polymers have been found in the blood of seals and polar bears in the Arctic, far from any possible industrial source. Concentrations in seals are doubling every five years, a phenomenal rate, according to Scott Mabury, a scientist at the University of Toronto.
PFCAs: Pervasive and Persistent
PFCAs have been linked to cancer and other developmental effects in animal experiments, and the toxic chemicals are becoming increasingly pervasive. PFCAs are often detected in the air and household dust, and scientists believe they will remain in the soil and elsewhere for hundreds of years.
Despite the emerging risks of PFCAs, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is still debating how to classify the chemicals in terms of their relationship to cancer in humans.
Meanwhile, scientists continue to debate how the chemicals are reaching the Arctic and other far-flung locations. While some researchers believe that ocean currents are responsible for spreading PFCAs, Mabury and others disagree.
"It has to be spread by the atmosphere,” Mabury told The Toronto Star. “It would take decades for these chemicals to reach the Arctic through the oceans."
Comments
Hi, it discusts me what the human race is doing to this earth. I would like to thank yourself and anyone like you for making an effort to make these issues public, corprte greed and the way industry is run are destroying all we have!
i hate what is happening
Cancer has increased by more than 100% over last few years. Too many carcinogens around! We must insist on detailed information on labels of all products, edible and non-edible. Warnings such as on sigaret cartons must be visible so that we can make informed choices regarding our health
im bored in class…
me too…
CARCINOGENS cover the entire WORLD! Asbestos is NOT A GOOD thing, however, if proper insulating is performed correctly there is NO DIFFICULTY what soever, HOWEVER, NEVER ALLOW any person to actually WALLOW IN THE STUFF!…..It can damage lung tissue..so simply STAY AWAY from it! FOR ALWAYS AND EVER! SIMPY STAY AWAY…and make certain that IT IS CONTAINED!…and that there are NO LEAKS whatsoever!
kdh
well i have just a few comments.
Dan Corporate not corprte. Sylvia ember wheres the proof that cancer has increased by 100% over the last few years, show me the numbers! also what information would you want on labels? Cigarette is spelled with a c not sigaret. Kdhans you must know somthing that the rest of the world dosent if you know of somthing that will contain something for ever without leaks everything corrodes eventually. Anything can cause cancer so i suppose everthing should be avoided including the sun.the only two comments on this article are thed ones about being bored in class the others are just verbal diarrhoea from people talking out through their backsides.