As an Alaskan fisherman, Timothy June, 54, used to think that he
was safe from industrial pollutants at his home in Haines—a town
with a population of 2,400 people and 4,000 eagles, with 20
million acres of protected wilderness nearby. But in early 2007,
June agreed to take part in a survey of 35 Americans from seven
states. It was a biomonitoring project, in which people's blood
and urine were tested for traces of chemicals—in this case,
three potentially hazardous classes of compounds found in common
household products like shampoo, tin cans, shower curtains and
upholstery. The results—released in November in a report called
"Is It in Us?" by a coalition of environmental groups—were not
reassuring. Every one of the participants, ranging from an
Illinois state legislator to a Massachusetts minister, tested
positive for all three classes of contaminants. And while the
simple presence of these chemicals doesn't necessarily indicate
a health risk, the fact that typical Americans carry these
chemicals at all sho