CDC Documents Chemicals in U.S. Population

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is releasing its Second National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. This publication will report on levels of 116 chemicals measured in blood and urine of the U.S. population.

The CDC report includes expanded data on the 27 chemicals (metals, cotinine, organophosphate pesticides, and phthalates) that were listed in CDC's first report released in 2001, and first-time data on 89 additional chemicals that have never been measured in the U.S. population. New chemicals or categories of chemicals in the second report are additional organophosphate pesticides, organochlorine pesticides; carbamate insecticides; herbicides and pest repellents; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; phytoestrogens; and dioxins, furans, and co-planar and non-coplanar PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).

To view the report and learn more about these chemicals and what it means that they are in our bodies, please visit the following sites. Please note that some of these sites will not be available until Friday, January 31, 2003 after the CDC report is released at 10:30 am eastern time.

CDC's New Report <<http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport>> - A direct link to the Centers for Disease Control's Second National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. CDC tested hundreds of Americans for 116 chemicals.

Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE)- http://www.cheforhealth.org and CHE’s Science Page - http://www.protectingourhealth.org. Describes the health effects of some of the chemicals covered in the CDC report.

EWG/Commonweal Body Burden Report <http://www.ewg.org> - With Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, the Environmental Working Group and Commonweal tested nine Americans for 210 chemicals found in consumer products and industrial pollution. The EWG/Commonweal report provides a personal view of chemical body burden testing and its implications for public health.

Pesticide Action Network's Pesticide Backgrounder <http://www.panna.org> - Describes the types of pesticides found in the CDC report, sources of exposure and health effects, with detailed fact sheets on 7 key chemicals and direct links to PANNA's pesticide database for 32 pesticides.

Physicians for Social Responsibility’s Bearing the Burden: Health Implications of Environmental Pollutants in Our Bodies <http://www.envirohealthaction.org/bearingtheburden> - Provides information on the known and potential health effects of human exposure to the chemicals studied in the CDC report.