We live in a plastic world: terror at chemicals in humans' blood stream and breast milk. Photo by Kevin Dooley

We live in a plastic world: dismay at chemicals in human blood stream and breast milk.
Photo by Kevin Dooley

Granny always sent us outside to play. She was right—being outside was good for us—but she was right for reasons she couldn’t have foreseen 40 years ago.

Numerous recent studies indicate our homes and offices have filled in recent decades with chemicals meant to benefit us, which instead might be harming us. These substances are called endocrine-disrupting chemicals, because of the way they interfere with our hormonal processes.

A recent report by the World Health Organization and the U.N. Environment Programme summarizes the latest in the ongoing science on these substances. Researchers in B.C. and Canada continue to contribute to our understanding of the complex issue, including how we are exposed to these compounds.

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Sources include:

World Health Organization’s report on the State of the science of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, 2012.

Flame retardants in human breast milk

Indoor sources of PFCs in 152 Vancouver homes

Tracking daily exposures to toxins in Europe

CHILD study