Toxic-Chemical Intervention Works

Latinas’ body burdens quickly reduced

Teens are really easy to talk to about chemical toxins.

The problem is almost no one is talking to or teaching them how to survive in a profoundly chemical world.

We teach our kids to be safe in other areas of their lives, but when it comes to chemical toxins we tell them nothing. They don’t know how to protect themselves from repeated chemical assaults. When one child is damaged, that hurts others. Why not teach courses in public schools that include curriculum in chemical toxins?

Because we can create greater health for all children kids when we do. And now we are finally starting to see how to do it, how to do a teenagers’ chemical-toxin intervention.

Personal-care products are a source of exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as phthalates, parabens, triclosan, and oxybenzone (BP-3) for adolescent girls.

In a study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, investigators from the University of California at Berkeley enrolled 100 Latina girls in a youth-led, community-based participatory research intervention study to determine whether using personal care products whose labels stated they did not contain these chemicals for 3 days could lower urinary concentrations. Creating commitment among the teens meant “involving youth in the design and implementation of the study,” which “was key to recruitment, retention, compliance, and acceptability of the intervention.”

Pre- and postintervention urine samples were analyzed for phthalate metabolites, parabens, triclosan, and BP-3 using high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry.

Urinary concentrations of mono-ethyl phthalate decreased by 27.4% over the 3-day intervention. Methyl and propyl paraben concentrations decreased by 43.9% and 45.4%, respectively.

Unexpectedly, concentrations of ethyl and butyl paraben concentrations increased, although concentrations were low overall and not detected in almost half the samples. One reason for this could be that some products claiming to be free from them actually do contain them.

Triclosan concentrations decreased by 35.7%; BP-3 concentrations decreased by 36%.

“This study demonstrates that techniques available to consumers, such as choosing personal care products that are labeled to be free of phthalates, parabens, triclosan, and BP-3, can reduce personal exposure to possible endocrine-disrupting chemicals,” said the study authors.

It is quite likely that these girls, if they persist in their healthy choices, will have reduced their lifetime risk for breast cancer as well as endometriosis, loss of ovarian reserve, reduced fertility, and pregnancy complications. Their own offspring will be healthier. Toxic-chemical interventions work.