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Global health hazard from toxic chemicals
The burden of toxic chemicals is a growing health risk worldwide, warn experts at the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO). The threat of massive damage to health and impaired human reproduction, in particular, the burden of women during pregnancy and lactation is extremely critical, the scientists report in the journal "International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics".
People in low-income countries, in particular, are increasingly being exposed to high levels of exposure to toxic environmental chemicals, but burdens are also growing in richer countries. Potential consequences include lifelong impairments in prenatal exposure and effects on fertility, pregnancy, nervous system development, and cancer risk, according to FIGO experts. According to her, toxic chemicals cause millions of deaths every year worldwide. The policy must work to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals, according to the team's request for lead author Gian Carlo Di Renzo.
Agriculture has a significant share in the entry of toxic chemicals. (Image: thongsee / fotolia.com) Omnipresent burden of chemicals
According to the experts, industrial chemicals are "ubiquitous in food, water, air and consumer goods." All areas of life are permeated by exposure to toxic chemicals and heavy metals. Food and energy production, industrial emissions and waste, transportation, manufacture, use and disposal of consumer and personal care products release the toxins into the environment. Even in accidents, large quantities can be released.
Food production is a major source of stress
Industrialized food production, according to FIGO, is a key factor in the introduction of toxic chemicals such as pesticides into the environment. In addition, food is an important way of human intake of environmental chemicals. Overall, the use of chemicals has increased massively in the last 40 years and now 70,000 to 100,000 chemicals are available worldwide in the trade.
The global use of pesticides in agriculture alone reached around 2.4 billion kilograms in 2007. The strongest people in developing countries are burdened with toxic chemicals.
Reduce pollution with toxic chemicals
Obstetricians, gynecologists, midwives and other medical professionals should advocate policies that prevent exposure to toxic environmental chemicals, according to FIGO. Pollution from toxic chemicals around the world could seriously endanger public health. Healthcare professionals should therefore actively engage in partnerships within their communities and nations to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals.
An essential requirement must be the guarantee of healthy food systems. "Healthy nutrition is a powerful medicine," says Gian Carlo Di Renzo and colleagues. To uphold and protect human existence over generations, politics must recognize that human health and the health of ecosystems are interdependent. (Fp)