Pollutants 'in children's blood'
October 8, 2004
Environmental campaigners are warning potentially dangerous chemicals are present in children's blood.
A study of seven UK families by the World Wildlife Fund and the Co-operative Bank found children were worse affected than their grandparents.
The WWF says the chemicals, such as Organochlorine pesticides, should be phased out to protect children.
But some scientists say the fact a chemical is present does not necessarily mean it is dangerous.
Researchers carried out blood tests on 33 people aged from nine to 88, to see if any of 104 man-made chemicals were present.
Of the chemicals analysed, 80 were detected. Children were found to have 75 chemicals in their blood, 75 were found in parents and 56 in grandmothers.
Eighty-two percent of the people tested had at least one perfluorinated chemical in their blood.
DEHP - which is present in many plastics - was found in over three-quarters of the volunteers, including children.
It has been suggested the chemical could disrupt hormone levels.
Chemicals, such as PCBs and DDE - a breakdown product of the banned insecticide DDT - were found in everyone, despite being banned in the UK at least a decade before the children were born, but on average the older generations had higher concentrations.
Some of the children were also found to have higher concentrations of newer chemicals, such as brominated flame-retardants - used in everyday products such as furniture and TVs, and perfluorinated chemicals - used in the manufacture of non-stick pans, than older generations.
Further information can be found on the BBC site.
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