Chemical Exposure Linked to Billions in Health Care Costs
From: Elaine Hughes
Sent: Friday, March 6, 2015 9:56 AM
To: BREITKREUZ, G. MP-Ottawa ; SK Premier Wall ; CCGS - Clean Green Saskatchewan ; CFFG ; SK NDP WOMEN ; Safe Drinking Water Foundation ; CDN. DRS. for MEDICARE ; Physicians for Global Survival
Cc: SK Green Leader - Lau, Victor ; SK Envir. Society ; SK Party Caucus ; SK Watershed Auth. ; SNAP ; SIERRA CANADA ; Sask EcoNetwork ; CAPE
Subject: Chemical Exposure Linked to Billions in Health Care Costs
As if we need yet another study to confirm what we ‘lab rats’ all know to be true . . . . !
Where and when will we find governments with the guts to say “NO” to chemical corporations and their poisons, and ACT to protect themselves and their families?
Elaine Hughes
ARCHERWILL, SK
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Chemical Exposure Linked to Billions in Health Care Costs
[ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... nt-ngfood/ ]
Researchers conclude they are 99 percent certain that hormone-altering chemicals are linked to attention problems, diabetes, other health problems.
By Elizabeth Grossman for National Geographic Published March 5, 2015
Exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals is likely leading to an increased risk of serious health problems costing at least $175 billion (U.S.) per year in Europe alone, according to a study published Thursday.
Chemicals that can mimic or block estrogen or other hormones are commonly found in thousands of products around the world, including plastics, pesticides, furniture, and cosmetics.
The new research [ http://press.endocrine.org/edc ] estimated health care costs in Europe, where policymakers are debating whether to enact the world's first regulations targeting endocrine disruptors [ http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemica ... dex_en.htm ]. The European Union's controversial strategy, if approved, would have a profound effect on industries and consumer products worldwide.
Linda Birnbaum, [ http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/od/director/ ] the leading environmental health official in the U.S. government, called the new findings, which include four published papers, "a wake-up call" for policymakers and health experts.
"If you applied these [health care] numbers to the U.S., they would be applicable, and in some cases higher," says Birnbaum, director of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
The researchers detailed the costs related to three types of conditions: neurological effects, such as attention deficit disorders; obesity and diabetes; and male reproductive disorders, including infertility.
The biggest estimated costs, by far, were associated with chemicals' reported effects on children's developing brains. Numerous studies have linked widely used pesticides and flame retardants to neurological disorders and altered thyroid hormones, which are essential for proper prenatal brain development.
The researchers concluded that there is a greater than 99 percent chance that endocrine-disrupting chemicals are contributing to the diseases, according to the studies published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. [ http://press.endocrine.org/journal/jcem ]
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