Pelosi: Groundbreaking Biomonitoring Report Will Benefit Our Health
Pelosi: Groundbreaking Biomonitoring Report Will Benefit Our Health
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Contact: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616
Washington, D.C - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on the release of the "Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals" by the Centers for Disease Control. As a former member of the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Subcommittee, Pelosi strongly supported funding for CDC's Environmental Health Lab to conduct these studies.
"The Centers for Disease Control's latest report hands medical researchers a powerful new tool for investigating the effects of chemical exposure on human health. The study documents the levels of 148 chemicals in Americans' bodies, including lead and mercury, PCBs, certain pesticides and herbicides, and byproducts of tobacco smoke in non-smokers.
"Adding 38 chemicals that were not included in the previous version, the Third Report is the most comprehensive study of its type ever conducted in the U.S. The report will assist researchers in determining whether these exposures are contributing to birth defects, cancer, asthma, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and other health problems.
"The Third Report continues to track two major public health success stories: dramatic reductions in exposure to tobacco smoke and lead. At the same time, the report identifies the need for more progress, particularly among children and minorities. Among children aged one to five years, 1.6 percent still have elevated blood lead levels. While levels of cotinine, a tobacco byproduct, have declined dramatically in non-smokers, non-Hispanic blacks still have levels more than twice those of Mexican-Americans and non-Hispanic whites.
"The study gives reason to look closely at mercury levels in women of childbearing age, whose offspring could suffer permanent brain damage from mercury exposure in the womb. Although women of childbearing age had mercury levels below those known to harm the fetus, 5.7% of the women tested had levels within a factor of 10 of the level known to be dangerous. Furthermore, this data does not reflect the possibility of higher exposures in mercury 'hot spots' in regions downwind from power plants that emit mercury.
"The report shows widespread exposure to a number of chemicals for which little health information is available, including widely-used pyrethroid pesticides and plastic softeners called phthalates. Given the levels of exposure, it will be vital to determine through further research whether these chemicals have implications for our health.
"In the 107th and 108th Congresses, I introduced legislation to create a nationwide health tracking system to collect, analyze, and report data on the rate of chronic disease and the presence of relevant environmental factors and exposures. It is my intention to introduce similar legislation in the 109th Congress. Only through further scientific research can we identify harmful chemicals, and work to reduce our exposure to them.