Toxic Legacy of Harmful Chemicals

We all carry body burdens of toxic chemicals. Studies indicate that exposures to even low doses of certain chemicals can result in profound yet subtle effects including birth defects, reproductive disorders, and neurological development. This is of particular concern for children and women of childbearing age. One out of every three North Americans will get cancer, yet most research and funding focuses on attempting to provide a cure, rather than deal with the causes. Governments and industry must stop marketing untested chemicals and stop intentionally using hazardous chemicals in products and processes.

There are now close to 85,000 synthetic chemicals produced in the United States — of which 3,000 are produced in quantities of at least one million pounds per year and are classified as high production volume chemicals. We are still faced with the fact that 85% of these still await some form of testing and almost no research has been conducted on the cumulative effects of long-term exposure to multiple chemicals in our environment.