Chemicals in Your Life

You may not be aware, but chances are that you are surrounded by chemicals in your daily life. It has been estimated that millions of chemical substances are now on the market, while about 100,000 chemicals are inventoried in the U.S. commerce, of which a majority is not regulated.

On the other hand, information on the human health and environmental risks posed by the large number of chemicals in commercial use is limited, and often inadequate if available. Although relatively few chemicals are thought to be extremely hazardous to human health, data necessary for exposure and risk assessment are unavailable for the vast majority of chemicals we encounter in our daily lives.

One of the goals of the Hoffman Program is to promote public awareness regarding the prevalence of chemicals, and of environmental substances such as mold, which have potentially harmful health effects to the general population.

Toxic Chemicals in the Home Environment

Most of the hundreds of thousands of chemicals we encounter in our daily lives are harmless at the levels we are typically exposed to. However there are several classes of chemicals that are common in the home environment that have been shown to have detrimental effects on health even at low levels. Toxic-free Future, a non-profit research and advocacy organization based in Seattle maintains a webpage with information about these chemicals, including common routes of exposure, health effects, strategies to minimize exposure levels, and policy recommendations that would help keep these agents out of the environment.

Impact of Chemical Exposure on Children

Children, with their rapidly developing brains and bodies are especially sensitive to exposure exposures. Bruce Lanphear is a professor of Health Sciences at Simon Frazier University whose work focuses on early childhood health and environmental neurotoxins. He maintains a website called “Little Things Matter” to show the many ways that even very low levels of toxic chemicals can adversely affect the health of children.

He has also made some excellent short videos on this subject:

The impact of chemicals on the developing brain

Going organic: A simple choice that can change the world

Analyses of Chemical Toxicity

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)

A US CDC website with an alphabetical list of chemicals and their disease toxicity profiles

Assessment Tools