Speaker:
Bruce P. Lanphear, MD, MPH. Simon Fraser University.
Bruce Lanphear has led studies that the US, Canada, and European Union relied on to set standards for lead in air, food, water, and house dust. His studies were the impetus for the remarkable conclusion that no amount of lead is safe for children. Dr. Lanphear, vexed by our inability to control the worldwide epidemic of chronic disease due to widespread exposure to industrial pollutants, toxic chemicals, and excess consumption, is leading an effort to produce videos to enhance understanding of how human health is inextricably linked with environmental hazards and elevate efforts to prevent disease.
Overview:
For extensively-studied toxic chemicals – like lead, air pollution, and benzene – scientists have found that the risk of death, disease or disability rises sharply, beginning at the lowest measurable concentrations. These findings, which conflict with how agencies regulate chemicals, indicate that the contribution of toxic chemicals to chronic disease is grossly underestimated. If no threshold exists for widely disseminated toxic chemicals, we will need to achieve near-zero levels to protect people and laboratories will need to measure concentrations of toxic chemicals in blood and other body fluids in parts per billion or lower.
Objectives:
At the end of this activity, participants will be able to:
- Be familiar with three or more chemicals that are toxic at low levels of exposure
- Appreciate the growing importance of laboratory technology to measure chemicals in blood and other body fluids in the parts per billion.