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Chemicals In Everyday Objects That Make People Sick Cost $340 Billion Yearly

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Common household items containing chemicals, such as plastic bottles, cosmetics, tin cans, detergents, pesticides and flame retardants, are making Americans sick at a steep price.

Exposure to these chemicals costs the US government over $340 billion per year in treatments and lost earnings, a new study shows. This is a figure twice as much as the European Union’s $163 billion for the same expenses. The disparity is glaring, even more so because the EU has regulations in place limiting contact with these chemicals, which are known for chemical disruptors.

Researchers from the New York University Langone Medical Center say that their findings show how beneficial regulating endocrine disruptors can be. These chemicals wreak havoc on the body’s hormones, causing abnormalities in development, as well as neurological, reproductive and immune problems, Tech Times reports.

Leonardo Trasande and a team of scientists reviewed analyses of blood and urine samples that confirmed the presence of endocrine disruptors among people who had participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The researchers used the data to estimate total costs linked to exposure to the chemicals present, based on direct treatment costs and indirect costs in productivity and lost earnings. They then compared these computations to results of the same study in Europe.

The $340 billion mentioned is a conservative estimate, as only the costs of 5% of known endocrine disruptors were measured. Emotional welfare costs like human suffering were not included.

The large difference can be traced to the prevalent use of a chemical called polybrominated diphenyl ethers in the United States, used to make furniture less flammable.

The chemical has been restricted in Europe since 2008, and has caused some 43,000 cases of developmental disabilities in the US.

According to the study, “EDC exposure in the USA contributes to disease and dysfunction, with annual costs taking up more than 2 percent of the GDP. Differences from the European Union suggest the need for improved screening for chemical disruption to endocrine systems and proactive prevention.”

People can limit their exposure, the study says, by limiting contact with products containing these chemicals: eating organic food, avoiding pesticide use, not microwaving o dishwashing plastic containers and utensils, and buying less canned goods.

The study was published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.

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