Doctors and Nurses Carry a Burden of Toxic Chemicals Just Like Yours. . . And Your Children's
Health Sentinel
Alice Shabecoff
October 24, 2009
Our doctors and nurses carry as many harmful chemicals in their bodies as the rest of us. You might think that, being trained in chemistry and medicine (as most of us are not) and therefore perhaps more careful, not to mention highly-educated and relatively affluent, health care professionals would have found ways to avoid toxics. But they are in fact exposed to the same kinds of chemicals and hazards as workers in blue collar industries. A report published today by three nonprofit health-related organizations, "Toxic Chemicals Found in Doctors and Nurses," is the first examination of the ‘body burden' of 20 members of the medical profession. Every one of them carried toxic chemicals, every one carried 18 of the same chemicals, and each participant bore a burden of at least 24 individual chemicals of the 62 chemicals for which labs ran their analysis. That adds up to major chemical pollution with major potential for harm.