Carla Smith English 2010 Professor Sanders October 12, 2013 Everyday Harmful Chemicals in the Environment Everything

is made out of chemicals and !e all have, use and are surrounded by many of these" #lmost $$% of the human body is made u& of the si' elements o'ygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and &hos&horus" (e also breathe them and share the !orld !ith them" )rom ta*ing a sho!er and using your hair sham&oo &roducts to brushing your teeth every morning, a&&lying your favorite &erfumes and even your favorite body lotions, !e are all in touch one !ay or another !ith these to'ins" +n today,s !orld, &eo&le tend to forget ho! im&ortant it is to &ay attention to small details that can have serious long term effects" -i*e forgetting !e should &ro&erly read and understand a label on a &roduct and its com&onents" #re these chemicals an eminent threat to humans. /uch research has been done along !ith studies to &rove that the chemicals !e are e'&osed to every day might have harmful effects throughout our lives and future generations" 0hese synthetic chemicals used as industrial solvents and their after effects can be classified in four different ty&es" )irst !ith Plastici1es !e have the infamous 2P#, also formerly *no!n as 2is&henol, !hich is mostly found on any &lastic li*e &roduct, as !ell as &lastici1e or Phthalates, another very common hormonal disru&tive" #nother common chemicals are &esticides, !hich un&o&ular in organic !orld of food &roduce" Every &regnant !oman in the 3"S" is e'&osed to at least 43 different to'ic chemicals during her &regnancy" 56ational Health 7 6utrition E'amination Survey8" Often these to'ins are ma*ing their !ay into the fetus !hile in the develo&mental stages of life" #nother study &ublished this year in the

International Journal of Obesity, sho!s disru&tions of the endocrine system can also affect the chemical &rocess of 96# !hen it comes to regulating food inta*e, body !eight and energy balance !hich has been recently in*ed to obesity" )rom tu&&er!are, to !ater bottles, baby &acifiers to baby toys, anything made out of &lastic should be labeled as :2P# );EE: or :Phthalate );EE": 3nderstanding the labeling in &roducts can be challenging and e'hausting" 0he government re<uires &lastics to have a number to easily identify its com&osition" 2ecause our government and many non=&rofit organi1ations have come together to find solutions to the generation of ha1ardous substances, !e no! see &roducts very !ell labeled describing its contents in detail to ma*e the &ublic a!are" One organi1ation that li*es to inform the &ublic is the Environmental (or*ing >rou& 5E(>8" ?en Coo* is the &resident and co=founder of this organi1ation, and leads the organi1ation !ith a strong voice and bac*ground" His readers and follo!ers receive monthly letters on ho! im&ortant it is to ma*e the government regulate &roducts that are harmful to humans and the environment" 0hese are &ersonali1ed &etitions as*ing for su&&ort, stronger relations and la!s to &rotect the &ublic" )or this reason ma@or businesses such as (al=/art, one of the !orld,s largest retailers, has committed to re<uire their su&&liers disclose com&letely and eventually get rid of 10 ha1ardous chemicals from the fragrances, cosmetics, household cleaners and &ersonal care &roducts sold at its stores" # !ell *no!n large su&&lier of care &roducts, Aohnson 7 Aohnson also &ledged to remove formaldehyde and &arabens, from its &ersonal care &roducts !orld!ide in 2012" #ccording to an article in 3S# 0oday, many retailers have ta*en ste&s to eliminate from their shelves harmful chemicals" 0arget and the &arent com&any of Sears and ?mart also announced &lans to remove bad chemicals from their &roducts" +n the same !ay that organi1ations try to get la!s enforced, communities also try to ma*e their voice heard !ith the hel& of *no!n &ersonalities as s&ea*ers to ca&ture a broad audience" +n 6orth Salt -a*e City, 3tah a &lant that incinerates medical !aste *no!n as Stericycle has bro*en the environmental

la!s in the &ast and is &resently harming the environment !ith to'ins released into the air and surrounding neighborhoods are not ha&&y":(e !ant to *ee& &ressure on the state to do something,: said 6atasha Hic*s=Henderson, a neighboring resident to Desert News" 0hey have even raised star &o!er a!areness having as s&o*es&erson Erin 2roc*ovich, hel&ing &eo&le !ho have been adversely im&acted by environmental issues by this com&any" 0he releasing of &ollutants into our resources li*e !ater is also harmful to humans" )ish caught do!nstream from se!age treatment &lants in five 3"S cities contained traces of &harmaceutical and toiletries, 2aylor 3niversity researchers found in a recent study" E<ually im&ortant is to *no! ho! much of these to'ins !e are carrying and &assing along every!here !e go" # recent study &ublished on Environmental Health 6e!s Organi1ation,s !ebsite, sho!s that the levels of t!o flame retardants banned since 2004 in &regnant !omen !ere BC &ercent lo!er than in a similar grou& of !omen tested three years earlier" (hich is a very good sign that la!ma*ers and activist do really ma*e a difference !hen getting rid of !hat can harm us" Private entities and the &ublic should come together in an effort to determine avenues to effectively coordinate and manage chemicals that can be &otentially dangerous to our country and our &eo&le" +n ho&es to hel& the environment and to ensure &ro&er disclosure of chemicals in &roducts, la!ma*ers need to ensure &ro&er labeling on anything that contains one or more harmful to'ins to hel& &reserve our &lanet and its habitants" Everyone can ma*e a difference to ensure !e all live in a safe &lace"

Works Cited CW Briefing. "Research on chemicals and obesity." Chemical Watch. 23 September 2013. a!ser" #nnie. "$%eryday Chemicals &hreaten Channel. 23 September 2013. ealth" $n%ironment. " &he Weather

'onkel" (indsey. ")lame retardants banned years ago finally declining in *omen." $n%iromental ealth Sciences. 2+ September 2013. ealth

,earson" Catherine. "-octors (ink &o.ic Chemicals #nd Reprod!cti%e ,roblems." &he !ffington ,ost. 23 September 2013.

Ramire/" #le0andro. ",oll!tion." 1ational 2eographic. #pril 2010. 3ol. 214. 1o. 5. &he B!rea! of 1ational #ffairs. "California (ists Chemicals #head of (a!nch 6ct. 1 of Safer Cons!mer ,rod!cts ,rogram" Chemical Reg!lation Report. 24 September 2013.