Any chance one of the factors considered will be vaccinations? - SM

http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2002/05/09/eline/links/20020509elin035.html

Bill would boost US government studies on toxins

Last Updated: 2002-05-09 17:04:26 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Todd Zwillich

WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - A bill introduced Thursday on Capitol Hill would step up federally funded research into the effects of industrial pollutants and toxic chemicals on human health.

The proposal would authorize the US Congress to steer $500 million over the next 5 years to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study chemicals that many researchers believe may contribute to rising rates of cancers, autism and other diseases.

North American rates of testicular cancer have increased 60% to 70% over the last 40 years, while rates of childhood autism have also increased drastically. Reported cases of diabetes, infertility and some birth defects are also on the rise, according to figures from the World Wildlife Fund.

Some of the increases are due to better disease detection, and not necessarily to higher disease rates. But activists remain concerned that environmental toxins known to affect hormone function in animals may be having similar effects in humans.

For example, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are known to cause prenatal damage in animals by disrupting thyroid function. The thyroid is a gland in the throat of animals and humans that is key to producing and regulating hormones.

PCBs are also thought to cause impaired reproduction and developmental delays in the children of mothers who are exposed to the chemicals during pregnancy.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), commonly used as flame-retardants in furniture and electrical equipment, are also known to disrupt thyroid function in animals.

Still, the effect of these chemicals on human health remains largely unstudied, said Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), the bill's sponsor.

"Are there connections between rising levels of chemicals in the environment and increasing rates of certain disorders in humans? In many cases, we simply don't know," she said.

Under the bill, NIH would direct money to researchers through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Theo Colborn, a pharmacologist with the World Wildlife Fund, urged Congress to support the measure in order to "clean the womb environment" that fetuses encounter during development. The organization tracks the effects of trace industrial chemicals in animal species.

Slaughter's bill also gained an endorsement from the United Nations Environmental Programme.

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