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Saturday, June 23, 2007

Libby, executive director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, told a reporter: "We are careful about cleansers and look to get lower or nontoxic materials whenever possible. And we are careful about diet."

But when he participated in a 13-person study conducted by the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, Libby tied for first place for the number of chemicals present and had the greatest numbers of flame-retardant PBDEs.

Most of the participants had high levels of something.

So now we know. We absorb chemicals found in ordinary products, from TVs to tuna.

The fuscia nail polish we painted on last July 2 that chipped off by July 14 is not just a summer memory. The proof is in our bloodstreams.

Though the sample was small, the evidence looms large. If an organic farmer, a state legislator who grew up on an island, and a sporting camp owner who's spent most of his life in an unorganized territory have chemicals coursing through them, we can reasonably assume that we all do.

Other surveys have shown similar results. The Alliance website, for example, notes a 1998 Swedish study that "first determined (PBDEs) were increasing rapidly in human breast milk."

Is that bad? Intuition tells me it is.

I hope that the sludge in our bloodstreams only harms us when it reaches a certain level, a tipping point. Minimizing toxic input and maximizing antioxidant input -- i.e., fruits and vegetables -- might keep us from reaching that point. Maybe there are really no consequences at all.

I'd find that hard to believe, though. Animal tests have shown these chemicals do cause harm, and in ways that make sense when we look at our public health picture. Phthalates, found in cosmetics and vinyl, cause reproductive problems. Isn't infertility now at an all-time high? When people lived more natural lives, far fewer of them died of cancer. Very few children developed autism.

Ironically, we conquered smallpox, cholera and tuberculosis by putting our faith in chemicals that eradicated germs, dirt and bugs. We were determined to keep safe -- and went overboard. As the Alliance's website points out, "About 49 million pounds of (a PBDE mix) was added to consumer products in North America in 2001." It goes on to say: "Children and adults in the United States have 10 to 40 times more PBDEs in their bodies than people living in Europe or Japan, because the U.S. is the largest consumer of PBDE flame retardants in the world."

We deserve better. It's not like we can escape. Even if we decided not to buy anything new, our old stuff could be leaching toxins.

Legislation banning or restricting the use of these chemicals is needed. In the meantime, we can only take personal action.

Over the past few years, I have given up, in chronological order, using chemical fertilizers and cleaners, applying perfume, microwaving plastic and reusing water bottles.

My next step will be to stop buying the few canned items I use, because they contain bisphenol A.

I've seen tomatoes -- yes, organic -- in glass and aseptic containers, so it won't be difficult.

Still, I don't harbor any illusions that these steps will kept me safe. To paraphrase Madonna, I'm just a chemical girl. Living, as it turns out, in a chemical world.

Liz Soares is a freelance writer and the author of "All for Maine: The Story of Gov. Percival P. Baxter." She welcomes e-mail at Baxter24@aol.com.

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