Study exposes chemical cocktail risk

Exposure to a mixture of chemicals is far more harmful than the damage from individual chemicals, according to a study of male rats.

Results from a study published in the US journal Environmental Health Perspectives, indicate that assessing the risk of chemicals one-compound-at-a-time will underestimate potential harm.

People are exposed to hundreds of chemicals at a time but that cocktail may currently be considered 'safe' based on the individual toxicities of those chemicals.

'Evaluations that ignore the possibility of combination effects may lead to considerable underestimations of risks associated with exposures to chemicals that disrupt male sexual differentiation,' said the study, a joint project between researchers from the National Food Institute in Denmark and The School of Pharmacy at the University of London.

Useful links
The study in full: Synergistic Disruption of External Male Sex Organ Development by a Mixture of Four Anti-androgens

See also

• UK Government misleading public on air pollution
• Computer companies breaking promises on toxins