Contact: Jackie Hunt Christensen, Co-Director, Food and Health Program: 612-870-3424 or 612-387-3424 (cell)

Kathleen Schuler, MPH, Children's Environmental Health Scientist: 612-870-3468

Minneapolis - Representatives from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) were among the leading scientists and public health experts who reacted with serious concern today to a government report confirming the presence of multiple toxic chemicals in the bodies of ordinary citizens. The report released today by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the most comprehensive information available to-date on the actual measurements of toxic chemicals in the bodies of the American people.

"This report is a wake-up call. American adults, and more importantly, American children, are being exposed to an array of toxic chemicals, many of which are linked to cancer, birth defects, infertility and other health problems," said Kathleen Schuler, MPH, the children's environmental health scientist for IATP. "We know that learning disabilities and other neurological problems have been linked to exposures to mercury, lead and PCBs. The report shows that 5% of women of childbearing age have blood mercury levels which exceed the safe level, potentially putting their unborn children at risk for neurological problems."

The CDC report confirmed that chemicals commonly used in popular consumer products, or routinely dispersed into the environment, work their way into the food chain. These chemicals are present in the bodies of most of the 10,000 Americans tested.

Exposure to many of these chemicals, such as dioxin, mercury, and many pesticides, comes largely from food. Other exposures, such as chlorpyrifos (Dursbanâ or Lorsbanâ ) come from the use of products in homes and workplaces. Retail sales of chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate pesticide, stopped in December 2001 because of its effects on the central nervous system and concerns about potential hormone disruption, but many people are still using up the existing supplies. The CDC report found that chlorpyrifos levels in children were about twice as high as levels in adults.

"We take these findings very seriously and will continue our efforts in Minnesota to promote alternatives to mercury-containing products and power sources; advocate for waste treatment practices other than incineration; and encourage farmers, gardeners and consumers to avoid fertilizer products made from hazardous waste," said Jackie Hunt Christensen, Co-Director of IATP's Food and Health Program. "Stopping the sources of these emissions is the way to keep them out of our food and out of our bodies."

IATP and other organizations also called for exposure monitoring programs in every state, monitoring for more chemicals, and more study of sensitive sub-populations such as children. They also expressed concern that the CDC biomonitoring program could be cut by the Bush Administration. "There are 80,000 chemicals in commerce today and only the 116 in today’s report have been systematically monitored," noted Schuler. "We owe it to our children to do a better job. The continuation and expansion of the CDC reporting program is vital to public health."

The first CDC report, released in March 2001, looked for just 27 chemicals while today’s report looked for 116 chemicals, including dioxin, PCBs and more pesticides. The 2001 report raised serious concerns about mercury exposure in children and phthalate exposure in women of childbearing age.

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