Body burden
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'''Body burden''' is the amount of a harmful [[chemical substance|substance]] that is permanently present in a person's body. It is usually expressed in [[mass]] units, such as grams and milligrams. The substance may be [[radioactive]] or it might be chemically [[toxicity|toxic]]. Many harmful substances can be eliminated naturally by the human body, but some are removed very slowly or not at all. Water soluble molecules are usually easy to remove. [[Non-polar]] molecules, on the other hand, are [[lipophilic]] and tend to accumulate in [[fat tissue]], which is also [[non-polar]]. Large fragments, such as [[shrapnel]], are also difficult for the body to remove.
== Body Burden Studies ==
Since 2000 the [[Environmental Working Group]] has spearheaded six studies finding 455 industrial [[pollutants]], [[pesticides]] and other chemicals in blood, urine, and breast milk in 72 people altogether, from newborns and grandparents to mothers and teens. They have found that pollution of the human body begins before birth, in complex combinations of chemicals never tested for safety.
The National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals provides an ongoing assessment of the U.S. population's exposure to environmental chemicals using [[biomonitoring]]. Biomonitoring is the assessment of human exposure to chemicals by measuring the chemicals or their metabolites in human specimens such as blood or urine. The Third Report presents first-time exposure information for the U.S. population for 38 of the 148 chemicals included in the Report. The Report also includes the data from the Second Report; that is, data for 1999-2000.
== Campaigns for Awareness of Body Burden ==
Body burden of chemicals became a mainstream issue as a result of a [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] program reporting on testing of Bill Moyers for a number of groups of toxic chemicals, and more recently Anderson Cooper on CNN's "[[Planet in Peril]]" series on the environment<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/planet.in.peril/ Planet in Peril] CNN, October, 2007</ref>.
The book Our Stolen Future brought world-wide attention to scientific discoveries about endocrine disruption and the fact that common contaminants can interfere with the natural signals controlling development of the fetus.
A number of community based organizations campaign for greater awareness of chemical body burden and its possible impact on human health including reproductive systems.
== Timing of Exposure ==
While traditional studies have tried to correlate body burden and cancer at the time of diagnosis, there is increasingly debate on whether it is [[neonatal]] exposure which matters most.
Birnbaum and Fenton review a wide array of experimental evidence from animals showing that exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds in early development can cause cancer and/or increase sensitivity to cancer-causing agents later in life.
==References==
<references/>
==External links==
*[http://www.287reasons.com "287" The Body Burden Movie for Theatrical Release 2008]
*[http://287themovie.wordpress.com The Blog for The "287" Movie]
*[http://www.bodyburden.org http://www.bodyburden.org]
*[http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2 http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2]
*[http://www.ourstolenfuture.org http://www.ourstolenfuture.org]
*[http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org]
*[http://www.insidebayarea.com/bodyburden http://www.insidebayarea.com/bodyburden]
*[http://www.calbbc.org/site/pp.asp?c=9eIELMMAG&b=65900 http://www.calbbc.org/site/pp.asp?c=9eIELMMAG&b=65900]
*[http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2003/5686/abstract.html http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2003/5686/abstract.html]
*[http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/NewScience/human/cancer/2002/2002-1101birnbaumandfenton.htm Birnbaum and Fenton review Website]
*[http://www.pbs.org/tradesecrets/problem/bodyburden.html Bill Moyers Test at PBS.org]
*[http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport CDC report]
*[http://www.environmentaldefence.ca/toxicnation/home.php Toxic Nation]
*[http://green.nationalgeographic.com/environment/going-green/toxic-people.html?nav=FEATURES The Pollution Within]
*[http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org/whatisbb.htm What is Body Burden? at chemicalbodyburden.org]
*[http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/policy/toxics/index.cfm WWF - Toxic Chemicals]
[[Category:Health sciences]]
[[Category:Radiobiology]]