What if anyone could monitor their own chemical exposures?
Market for personal chemical exposure monitors ripe for growth
From couches and carpets to clothes and cleaning products, chemicals make up the material backbone of commercial products. The problem is that harmful chemicals, such as fragrances, plasticizers, flame retardants and pesticides, end up in our environment — in our water, land, and air– and in our bodies.
We know that harmful substances have been linked to a variety of adverse health impacts including reproductive harm, disruption of normal hormone activity and impaired neurological development in children and infants. Certain types of cancer, such as breast cancer, are much more closely connected to environmental exposures than genetic predisposition. But what chemicals are we actually exposed to on a daily basis?
Growing awareness and concern fuel the market
Unfortunately, there’s not enough data about the chemicals people are exposed to and at what levels. In fact, we have human exposure data on less than 4% of the roughly half-million chemicals in commerce. Without this information, individuals are left in the dark — and policy makers, businesses, and health professionals lack the critical information needed to unlock protections needed to reduce the public’s exposure to hazardous chemicals.
Yet there is growing awareness and concern about the issue. Individuals may face exposure from nearby industrial sources or contaminated waste sites, have health conditions that are exacerbated by certain chemicals, or want to know about exposures before or during pregnancy. While current technology can measure steps or calculate calories, we are still missing crucial information that could impact our health.
But what if there was a simple way for anyone to monitor their personal chemical exposures, say, using a simple home-delivered kit or wearable device to reveal the chemicals in their environment or body? Such technologies can make the invisible visible, providing individuals as well as policy makers, businesses, health professionals and others with critical information needed to accelerate reductions in the public’s exposure to hazardous chemicals.
The ‘monitored-self’ revolution explodes …
Using wearable devices to monitor and track personal health indicators is a growing trend in health and wellness. In a 2017 study, market research firm BCC Research valued the global market for health self-monitoring technologies at $20.7 billion and projected this market to grow to $71.9 billion by 2022. Devices and tools are now available that can:
• Sample the breath of diabetes patients to help monitor blood sugar levels.
• Alert wearers when they are being exposed to high UV radiation.
• Externally monitor an infant’s blood oxygen level and heartbeat.
• Provide medical-grade electrocardiogram results through fingertip sensors.
• Continuously monitor heart rate, respiratory rate, activity levels, position and posture.
• Track calorie consumption.
• Monitor sleep patterns and sleep quality.
A number of these existing devices are priced in the $100 to $500 range. Pioneers in this emerging technology space see a future where devices provide actionable feedback that can help users improve their own health and wellness outcomes.
Personal chemical exposure monitors (PCEMs) are a relatively new entrant in the rapidly growing “monitored-self” market. They provide information about an individual’s exposures using a variety of technologies. Biomonitoring services typically come in a kit — requiring the user to collect a biological sample (e.g., urine) and return it for laboratory analysis. They provide information about chemicals absorbed into the body. In contrast, wearable PCEM devices have the ability to detect chemicals present in the external environment. Some wearable devices may require laboratory analysis, but others can report exposure information immediately or shortly after download to a computer or smartphone. In addition to coming in different forms, PCEMs also differ in the type and number of chemicals they can detect, the speed with which results can be delivered, and the number of analyses included (e.g., one time only, unlimited scans).
Big opportunity in a growing market
To accelerate and inform the efforts of PCEM technology developers, investors and other stakeholders, EDF conducted a two-part study that assessed market interest in personal chemical exposure monitoring technologies. This included a survey to characterize general consumer willingness to pay for various hypothetical features. We identified a clear market for PCEMs:
• Consumers were willing to pay $459 for a device that includes all surveyed premium features.
• They had a willingness to pay in the $100 to $300 range for nearly 40 hypothetical devices — a price range reflective of the actual price of other personal monitoring devices on the market today.
• The features that consumers valued the most were receiving 1) data on a large number of chemicals, 2) immediate results, and 3) results that provide information on both level of exposure and whether such exposure is of concern.
Entrepreneurs who can bring viable personal chemical monitoring products to market have an incredible opportunity to claim part of a large and rapidly growing health and wellness market.
Marty Mulvihil, general partner at Safer Made — a venture capital firm founded at Berkeley that identifies technologies and products that reduce chemical exposures and that are less impactful on the environment — is also bullish on the market potential: “Overall, I’m pretty convinced that, done well, a device that provides more information about the chemicals in our daily life will drive changes in consumer habits. And if you can capture that change in consumer habits, there is your way to monetize it.”
We anticipate the demand for PCEMs to increase over time, given the expanding market for health and wellness technologies as well as rising concerns about chemicals in the environment. Armed with the new information in our report, we hope that investors, technology developers and other entrepreneurs will see the value of spurring innovation in PCEM technologies.
