May 3, 2007
Healthy chemical world lecture series
“Hidden Health Hazards: Everyday Exposures to Toxic Chemicals,” a look at common consumer products such as air fresheners, dryer sheets, cleaners and hand sanitizers which can have unlisted ingredients that are toxic chemicals, is the first of four lectures on the University of Washington campus concerned with how one can stay healthy in a chemical world.
The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be Thursday, May 10, at 7 p.m. in Kane Hall Room 120, will feature work by Anne Steinemann, UW professor of civil and environmental engineering and public affairs, and director of the UW’s Water Center.
Most exposure to pollutants occurs from sources that are close to us and within our control, such as consumer products that are used in homes, workplaces, schools and other indoor environments. Paradoxically, Steinemann says, these and many other toxic chemicals in products are not tested, regulated or listed on product labels because they are protected under “trade secret” or other rules.
In her recently published book “Exposure Analysis,” Steinemann writes, “Our regulations, designed to protect human health, offer scant protection against major sources of pollutant exposure that endanger human health. The largest of these sources — common consumer products and building materials — are virtually untouched by existing laws.” For example, Steinemann says many consumer products contain “hazardous air pollutants” and “priority pollutants” that are regulated in air and water but not in products. The highest exposure to many hazardous air pollutants occurs indoors because of these products, she says.
Other lectures in the series will be May 17, James Repace of Repace and Associated talking about secondhand smoke; May 24, Riki Ott, marine toxicologist from Cordova, Alaska, about the lingering effect on health of the Exxon Valdez oil spill; and May 31, Steven Gilbert, UW affilitate associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences, about the precautionary approach to protect health.
For more information visit https://go.washington.edu/uwaa/events/2007earthinit_otos/details.tcl. The lecture series is sponsored by the UW Alumni Association, UW Earth Initiative and the UW Water Center.
