Pols agree: toxic chemicals must be managed - includes tips on how to reduce risk - Legislation

Vegetarian Times, Oct, 1996

A SPATE OF LEGISLATION concerning food and water safety has just been passed into law, giving government agencies the authority to control the widespread use of chemicals that mimic human estrogen--often with toxic results.

Estrogen mimics, also called endocrine disrupters, are a large group of chemicals that can disrupt basic life functions by mimicking or blocking hormones, especially estrogen. They are both the accidental byproducts of industry and the key ingredients in some consumer commodities such as chemical fertilizers, most lawn care products and plastics. Unfortunately, these man-made chemicals are almost impossible to avoid. Dioxin, for example, is emitted by waste incinerators but travels thousands of miles through the air. Hormone disrupters in pesticides, herbicides and insecticides move up the food chain from fruits and vegetables to farm animals to people, where they persist indefinitely in human fatty tissue.

Scientists say they may cause infertility and other reproductive problems, interfere with developing fetuses, increase the likelihood of hormone-related cancers and suppress the immune system, making it more likely that we'll get sick. The risk is greatest to infants and children, who get concentrated doses when they nurse and are more susceptible to all toxins than adults.

"This is an extremely emotional issue, because it so directly affects children and even unborn children," says Jan Stout, director of environmental programs for the Physicians for Social Responsibility, a health advocacy group in Washington, D.C. "It isn't just an issue of each and every one of us exposing ourselves--we're creating a threat to an entire generation."

The gravity of this issue is one thing on which Republicans and Democrats agree. Earlier this year, conservative Senator Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY) asked for the Safe Water Drinking Water Act of 1995 to include a passage outlining a screening program to determine whether certain substances in water act as endocrine disrupters. Liberal Democrats pushed for the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 to contain similar language, requiring pesticides to be screened for estrogenic effects on humans. Both bills passed in August. Though this legislation won't mean immediate action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it's the first step toward allowing the agency to monitor hormone disrupting chemicals in food and water. Eventually, consumer advocates hope the EPA will set limits for endocrine disrupting chemicals, the same way it limits carcinogens in food.

While it's tempting to dismiss this as political posturing (the environment is a potent election-year issue), environmentalists are grateful that endocrine disrupters "are on the map," says Mark Epstein, president of Public Voice, a Washington, D.C. food safety group. "There's finally a realization that people back home are very concerned about these issues."

RELATED ARTICLE: Reducing The Risk

Some scientists and environmentalists are calling for a ban on all synthetic chemicals known to disrupt human hormones. But that doesn't help consumers who want to reduce their exposure to endocrine disrupters now. Here are some steps you can take to avoid these toxins:

Go Vegetarian. Beef, pork, fish and dairy products have the highest concentrations of toxic chemicals, while fruits and vegetables have the lowest.

Eat organic produce. These are grown without synthetic chemicals

Learn to love weeds. Most lawn care products contain a broad-leaf weed killer known as 2,4-D (marketed under many names) that contains a dioxin that mimics estrogen. Avoid using it, breathing it or tracking it into your house.

Use paper products produced without chlorine bleach. Chlorine-bleached paper releases dioxin when incinerated.

Avoid plastic containers. The chemicals in plastic containers can seep into food, especially those containing fats or alcohol, releasing toxins.