Worried about toxic chemicals? This band exposes them
NEW YORK — It's frightening stuff.
During a single week back in August in which I bopped in and around New York City, I was exposed to at least 16 hazardous chemicals. These included phthalate chemicals of the type banned in kids toys and pacifiers, flame retardants such as TCPP and TPP, and Galaxolide, a common fragrance found in cleaning and beauty products.
I'm aware of the sobering details because of a wearable.
While most of us don high tech bands and fitness bracelets to count steps or calories burned, the ordinary looking, waterproof, silicon black band I had on my wrist for those seven days serves a very different purpose. It passively absorbs organic compounds that may be present in the air, water or consumer products around you. In fact, it can currently detect 1,418 chemicals.
The band was developed by scientists at Oregon State University and is now being commercialized by Oregon-based startup My Exposome. It is being used in research projects by organizations such as the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), which I worked through to get my results.
I received precise instructions. The band arrived in a special clear sealed plastic bag. I jotted down the date and time I first placed the band on my wrist, and wore it for exactly one week. I showered with it, swam with it and slept with it. And because of its light weight I barely noticed it was on.
When the week was up, I placed the band back in the sealed plastic bag, again noted the date and time, and shipped it back to the MyExposome lab, awaiting the results that would come in a detailed EDF report a few weeks later.
The EDF says that 57 chemicals in all were detected through a separate pilot program the organization has been conducting. On average, 15 chemicals per wristband were detected.
Each of the 16 chemicals detected in my own band showed up in at least one other wristband in the EDF pilot.
What's really alarming is where the chemicals likely come from. According to EDF, 20% of the chemicals that surfaced in my band are found in personal care products, 17% in plasticizers and 12% each in pesticides, combustion byproducts, fragrances and flame retardants.
It's especially scary given that such chemicals are associated with cancers and other serious medical consequences. And a note in the EDF report wasn't exactly reassuring:
"It is important to remember that the wristbands only detected whether or not the chemical was present in your environment. We do not know whether or not the chemical entered your body. Therefore, no conclusions can be made about the risks any of these chemicals may present to your health."
Indeed, I have no way of knowing for sure where I was exposed or to what degree? Was I at home or at work? Was I driving my car or riding the bus or subway? Was it when I took a dip in the ocean at the Jersey Shore? I suspect, but can't prove, that it was some combination of all of these. And even if I could prove the cause, what could be done to change things?
We are left, of course, with a "Big Data" problem.
"The promise we see for the bands in the near future is for building a broader, collective understanding of environmental exposures that could lead to some personal changes but also importantly policy changes that reduce key sources of harmful exposures which would have a larger societal impact," says EDF Vice President of Health Sarah Vogel.
MyExposome CEO Marc Epstein says that if more people were involved in a study, "we'd have a much better idea where you were exposed."
For now, an individual can ask to be tested but you'll have to get a group of at least 19 other people to join you since the company has set a 20-person minimum for testing. Also, the $1,000 per person cost is obviously prohibitive.
The EDF has established a website (www.edf.org/wristbands) where people can sign up if they are interested in joining the larger project the organization is planning with the wristbands.
Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon is urging Congress to pass a bipartisan chemical safety bill: "We're just surrounded by man-made toxic chemicals every which way you turn," he said in an interview. "How is it that we don't at all regulate these chemicals that we come into contact with every day? Most people belief that our government has tested chemicals to make sure they're safe before they allow them to be in common household products. And it's quite a shock when they discover that's not the case."
Merkley thinks the MyExposome wearable is a "a very valuable tool in educating us about the hidden risks in daily products."
Epstein says that people may argue about the conclusions surrounding the data that is uncovered, "but it's hard to argue about collecting the data."
Following my own revealing experience wearing the MyExposome band, I wholeheartedly agree.
Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow USA TODAY tech columnist @edbaig on Twitter