Americans have lower levels of lead in their bodies than they did a decade ago, but there’s plenty of contamination from other toxic chemicals to worry about. In the broadest study of its kind, conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers tested blood and urine samples from more than 2,000 Americans, searching for traces of 116 chemicals. One of several troubling findings: Almost 8 percent of American women aged 16 to 49 had blood levels of mercury above 5.8 parts per billion, the U.S. EPA’s precautionary standard. Also, Mexican-Americans had 300 percent more DDT residue in their bodies than other Americans. A separate study conducted by the Environmental Working Group, the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and Commonweal tested nine people for 210 chemicals commonly found in consumer products and industrial pollution. All study participants were found to have 50 or more chemicals in their bodies that have been linked to cancer, are considered toxic to the brain and nervous system, or are known to interfere with the hormone and reproductive systems.
