Our drinking water is tested to look for the presence of toxic
chemicals. Our air quality is monitored as well. Recently,
several important studies have reported the levels of these
chemicals in our bodies! The CDC tested thousands of people for
over a hundred different substances, many of which had never
been tested before. The results were released on Jan 31, 2003.
At about the same time, the Environmental Working Group,
Commonweal, and the Mount Sinai School of Community Medicine
released a study in Public Health Reports that tested for the
most comprehensive list of chemicals ever, in a small number of
people. On average, each person in this study tested positive
for over 90 different chemicals, most of which didn’t even exist
when my parents were young. We know that when two chemicals are
present, their effects are often multiplied rather than added.
Scientists have documented that when non-toxic levels of PCBs
are mixed with low levels of dioxin, for instance, the
combination produces 400 times the dama