First Baby Bottles, Now the Furniture?

First a new report raises "some concern" about the safety of BPA, a chemical found in many plastic products, including food containers and baby bottles. Now new research might make you want to throw out your furniture, toss your shampoo and tear the insulation out of your walls.

It's a big study that for the first time finds a possible link between formaldehyde -- which exists in small amounts in lots of household products -- and Lou Gehrig's disease, a progressive, incurable neurological disorder. But before you start ripping your life apart, there are some important caveats:

Marc Weisskopf of the Harvard School of Public Health and his colleagues analyzed data collected from nearly 1 million Americans to get clues about whether something in the environment might play a role in Lou Gehrig's, which is also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS. The disease destroys cells in the brain and spinal cord. It's what physicist Stephen Hawking has, and what killed baseball legend Lou Gehrig.

Specifically, Weisskopf wanted to know whether people exposed to pesticides and herbicides are more likely to get Lou Gehrig's. That's what previous research had suggested. Turns out the researchers found no such link.

But people who reported being exposed to formaldehyde were 34 percent more likely to die from Lou Gehrig's. The longer the exposure, the greater the risk. Those who were around formadehyde a lot for more than 10 years were four times as likely to die from ALS as those who had no exposure.

The risk was greatest for people who had a lot of exposure on the job: Lab techs, doctors, veterinarians, dentists, firemen, nurses, photographers, printers and even beauticians. Beauticians may seem strange, but formaldehyde is in many cosmetics and shampoos. It's also in a lot of glues used to make furniture and other household furnishings.

But Weisskopf, who reported his findings yesterday at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Chicago, says it's way too soon to panic. The amount of formadehyde in common household products is really low. And since this is the first time this link has been suggested it has to be considered preliminary until confirmed by more research.

That said, there is good reason to avoid formaldehyde. It can trigger asthma attacks and other short-term problems. And the EPA declared the chemical a probable carcinogen.

The truth about toxicology is that the danger presented by a toxin usually depends on its dosage. It may be hard to take a "wait and see" approach, but that's certainly what the science -- so far -- suggests when it comes to formaldehyde and Lou Gehrig's.

By Rob Stein | April 17, 2008; 7:10 AM ET | Category: Environmental Toxins
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What about morticians. They have the single greatest exposure to it becuase it is the primary ingredient in enbalming fluid. What about alchohol? When alchohol is metabolized in turns into formadehyde in your body.

Posted by: akmzrazor | April 17, 2008 9:01 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precautionary_principle

"The precautionary principle is a moral and political principle which states that if an action or policy might cause severe or irreversible harm to the public, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue, the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action. It aims to provide guidance for protecting public health and the environment in the face of uncertain risks, stating that the absence of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason to postpone measures where there is a risk of serious or irreversible harm to public health or the environment."

Doesn't this seem appropriate if we STILL are unsure what CAUSES most forms of CANCER?
Not that we should not try to CURE cancer...but we need to PAY ATTENTION to the FOREIGN substances affecting us.

Posted by: robjdisc | April 17, 2008 9:38 AM

Morticians wasn't one of the job categories the researchers listed, but if they are exposed to high levels of formaldehyde on the job then this study does suggest they may face an increased risk.

Posted by: Rob Stein | April 17, 2008 9:54 AM

Thanks Rob for quoting the Precautionary Principle. I do not necessarily agree with this. They took saccharine off the market based on rat cancers in organs that humans do not have and with doses of saccharine exponentially higher than any human would eat. For instance, I'm on medication that could have serious side effects after I drink 6 liters of grapefruit juice in one day. So, should I avoid drinking ALL grapefruit juice or just limit myself to 4 oz? What makes actual sense?

The BPA issue is way overblown on message boards, but we really don't know what the issue is going to be because the studies don't agree.

In the 1970s someone told me "never work with chemicals at all." and I think that still holds true today.

Posted by: Anonymous | April 17, 2008 10:30 AM

I think it's important to remember that we're talking about very small risks. ALS is a relatively rare disease -- an estimated 5,600 new cases are diagnosed each year in the United States. But it is a devastating disease, so I certainly could understand the desire to avoid anything that might increase the risk.

Posted by: Rob Stein | April 17, 2008 11:42 AM

I am a physician who has become intolerant of formaldehyde. In medical school many of us had difficulty doing anatomy because of all of the open bodies. I always did better when I dissected my body by myself at 5 am without the air being filled from all the other corpses!

Funny but I developed Chemical Sensitivity later in life (40)and have learned a lot about the process by which toxins lead to mitochondrial damage. I suffered exposure to a moldy aquarium attached to my home and developed what appeared to be early Lou Gehrig's symptoms. (My diaphragm was weak so breathing was labored, I couldn
t hold a smile for a photo, brushing teeth turning a can opener were impossiblities). I was on Nightline recently telling my story (and riding my horse over 4 foot fences!) along with Bill Rea MD who effectively treated me at the environmental health center of Dallas (www.ehcd.com).

I assist patients at no charge to find a doctor to help them discern the toxic, nutritional, hormonal and gentic reasons for their ill health.

I am putting on a big talk (invitation only) in April at The George Washington University Hospital about this subject of Environemtnal Health and Illness to raise awareness, money and interest in the field of environmental medicine. As a Cornell trained physician I am out to change the level of knowledge about everything from CFS to Autism.

A majority of women over the age of 40 develop mild intolerances to perfume, diesel exhaust, mold, and develope ADD, anxiety, and even the clothing tags irritating their skin. Now that I have recovered from severe EI I can see how many of my friends, aquaintences and just people in general are affected by where they live and work and what they eat, breath and touch - as well as their genetic inability to detoxify certain tyes of chemicals and mold toxins.
General information is on my website (www.environmentalmedicineinfo.com) and if you want to attend this meeting or know someone who should attend this ground breaking meeting of the minds in DC please contact me pronto! Thanx, Lisa@nagy1.com

Posted by: LISA NAGY M.D. | April 18, 2008 11:10 PM

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