In 2006, Environmental Defence, a national environmental organization based in Toronto, released a study concerning the health of every Canadian from coast to coast. This scientific investigation involved testing families across Canada for concentrations of industrial chemicals in their bodies. The findings were published in a report called Polluted Children, Toxic Nation. The title alone should give some idea as to what was discovered.

Environmental Defence

Established in 1984, Environmental Defence is a group of concerned scientists, doctors, urban planners and lawyers who strive to give community groups and citizens a fighting chance in environmental legal battles against companies and government departments.

In 2005, Environmental Defence, along with several other organizations, prompted the Ontario government to create the Golden Horseshoe Greenbelt, a 1.8 million acre strip of forest land that curves around the GTA. They are currently fighting to expand protection of this land. Environmental Defence has also played an instrumental role in other significant government actions in Ontario, such as the passing of the Clean Water Act (2006), the Endangered Species Act (2007) and the upcoming Lake Simcoe Act.

The organization is not limited to Ontario and is active all over the country. For example, in 2002 it put a stop to the construction of what would have been Canada’s largest factory farm in Flagstaff County, Alberta. The factory, which would have held 80,000 hogs, would have been a large polluter of Alberta’s air, land and water.

Effort is currently being directed at the upcoming reassessment of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), an act which concerns the entire country, as it regulates the manufacture, marketing, use, transport and disposal of toxic chemicals in Canada.

Environmental Defence is also involved in taking legal actions in order to protect the environment. In 2001, Environmental Defence launched a $750 million class action lawsuit against Inco Limited for years of toxic nickel, lead and arsenic contamination released from its Port Colborne, Ontario refinery.

In short, Environmental Defence has a long history of protecting the environment in Canada. For a complete history: www.environmentaldefence.ca/campaigns/history.htm.

The Polluted Children, Toxic Nation study is one of Environmental Defence’s on-going national campaigns. The study, which further developed the 2005 study Toxic Nation, reveals surprising information concerning the health of Canadians.

Polluted Children, Toxic Nation

The Polluted Children, Toxic Nation study examined five different families across Canada, from British Columbia to New Brunswick. Three generations of each family were studied, meaning grandparents, parents and children. Remarkably, this 2006 study is the first study ever completed to assess toxic chemical concentrations in Canadian youth.

The Goals

The study had two primary goals. Firstly, to find if there is any difference between the amounts of chemicals between generations and, secondly, to uncover any threat to the health of children. Each member of all the families supplied samples of blood and urine, which were tested for 68 toxic chemicals.

The Findings

Of the 68 toxic chemicals tested for, 46 were found in the individuals participating. Even children as young as 10 years old were found to have several of these toxic substances in their systems. On average, the study reported that “32 chemicals were detected in each parent volunteer, and 23 chemicals were detected in each child volunteer.”

The toxins found often have more than one negative health effect on the human body. For example, pesticides, which are commonly used and can be found on virtually all of the fruits and vegetables we eat, are undisputedly known to cause cancer (carcinogens), to be toxic to our mental functions (neurotoxins), to disrupt our body’s hormone activity (hormone disruptors), to disturb our lungs and breathing (respiratory toxins) and to negatively affect the reproductive and developmental abilities of our body (reproductive/developmental toxins).

In total, the substances found in the volunteers were 38 carcinogens, 19 neurotoxins, 23 hormone disruptors, 12 respiratory toxins and 38 reproductive/developmental toxins.

Although dangerous toxins like PCBs and DDT were banned before the child volunteers in the study were born, these chemicals were detected in all of the children and all of the parents. The child volunteers did show generally lower numbers and concentrations of PCBs and pesticides than their parents. This proves that when the government bans a toxic chemical, the population’s toxic load decreases.

There were also instances where the children were more contaminated than their parents by chemicals which are still in use.

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something has to change

These startling figures and discoveries can sometimes be confusing and may not always convey a clear message. The bottom line is that industrial chemicals, which are known to be poisonous to our bodies in different ways, are pervasive in our lives and in our bodies. It is a real problem that we can no longer ignore. Part two of this series will analyze an average daily routine, and examine possible sources of contamination in our lives.

For more information, visit www.environmentaldefence.ca