30/01/2005 Concerned about
their levels of contamination, two of Europe’s
leading scientists have joined WWF's blood
testing survey to find out which man-made
hazardous chemicals can be found in their
bodies.
There is increasing scientific concern
about the presence of hazardous man-made
chemicals in humans and wildlife. Scientists
like Dr Roberto Bertollini, Head of WHO’s
Health and Environment Programme and Professor
Van Larebeke, a cancer specialist from the
University of Ghent, could not resist the
temptation to know which chemicals are contaminating
their bodies...
That is why they recently agreed to take
the plunge and take part in a WWF blood
testing survey which will analyse their
blood for 101 persistent, bioaccumulative
and toxic chemicals.
Why did they agree to be blood tested?
Dr Bertollini is a strong supporter of REACH.
Speaking to Members of the European Parliament
in May he referred to the "huge black
hole of knowledge about chemicals, which
was of very significant concern." He
explains that he agreed to the blood tests
because he "wants to raise awareness
about the extent of chemical contamination
we are all being exposed to just by leading
a normal lifestyle".
Being a doctor and an academic, Dr Van
Larebeke knows better than anyone how important
it is to take public health seriously.
"I feel that the WWF campaign is important.
I attach major importance to thinking about
public health," he explains. "I
believe that the public should be well-informed
about the concentrations of chemical substances
in commercial products. It’s clear that
there are many substances that shouldn’t
be in the human body, particularly as many
of them could be dangerous to health".
Based on their current life-style and consumer
patterns, what do they expect the tests
to find?
Professor Larebeke is curious to see what
effects his lifestyle has had on the amount
of chemicals in his body.
At an early stage in his career, he worked
with chemical substances, but stopped working
in the laboratory in 1994, so hasn’t been
exposed in the same way since. For a long
time he has subscribed to a healthy lifestyle,
althoughlike the rest of us, he is not able
to isolate himself fromthe chemicals in
his environment.
"On the positive side I eat a lot
of vegetables, and probably eat more fish
than most people, so my diet is healthy",
he said.
"However, on the negative side I travel
by car, doing about 47,000 kilometres a
year. I’ve also worked a lot with computers
over the last 10 years so it will be interesting
to see whether I have a high concentration
of flame retardants in my blood".
Dr Bertollini’s lifestyle was similar to
Professor Van Larebeke, and has likewise
tried to mitigate some of the effects of
chemicals by eating a healthy diet.
"I eat fish and vegetables. However,
I use a computer constantly and I travel
a great deal, visiting countries where regulations
are not as strict on some substances. I
guess my blood will contain PCBs, dioxins
and perhaps also lead and some heavy metals",
he said.
How will the results change their lifestyle?
"If they find flame retardants then
I will start thinking about how I can lower
the levels in my blood," said Professor
Van Larebeke. "I will also reflect
on how this could affect members of my family".
Dr Bertollini was sanguine about the possible
results, "Since most of the substances
are ubiquitous and remain in the body a
lot of time, I guess that unfortunately
changes in my life-style cannot do much
for many things", he said.
"However, in other cases, for example
with mercury, it is possible to do something,
by selecting what to eat and being careful
about the total amount of fish I consume.
At the same time this needs to be balanced
by the need to keep a healthy diet for which
fish and vegetables are important component.
So, it is not easy to keep "clean"
from chemicals", he mused.
The two scientists' results will be known
in the autumn, together with those of the
many EU families that have volunteered to
take part in WWF's family biomonitoring
survey.
Through the DetoX campaign, WWF is firmly
committed to raising awareness about the
extent of chemical contamination to which
we are all being exposed to. WWF calls on
European governments to seize a unique opportunity
to ensure a safer future for people and
wildlife by putting in place a robust new
Chemical law.
