Common Chemical Pollutants Causing a Lot of Ill Health

Due to industrialization and inadequate controls on release of manufacturing chemicals into the environment and into the products being made, the entire population is constantly being exposed to a wide variety of chemical pollutants. The key question, of course, is their safety. The most acutely damaging ones have been progressively limited. However, virtually all safety research is on single toxins and very little of it looks at the impact of chronic exposure, especially chronic exposure to multiple chemicals simultaneously. This editorial discusses the clinical significance of 4 of the chemicals (acrolein, acrylamide, perchlorate, and phthalates) found most often in samples doctors send to labs for analysis. The research clearly demonstrates that these chemicals in a dose-dependent manner disrupt physiology, impair health, and increase risk for common diseases.