Environmental Working Group, Curt DellaValle, Senior Scientist. June 14, 2016.

“More than 1,400 chemicals and chemical groups are known or likely carcinogens. Through industrial applications, consumer products and food, water and air, Americans are exposed daily to these cancer-causing compounds, which invade the body and build up in blood and urine. Federal health officials have measured many of these chemicals in our systems but the scope and range of carcinogenic pollution in people, known as body burden, has not been tallied – until now. Through a review of the scientific literature and publicly available human biomarker datasets, EWG compiled the first comprehensive inventory of known or likely carcinogens that have been measured in people. We found that up to 420 known or likely carcinogens have been measured in a diverse array of populations.  Exposures to these carcinogens are by no means limited to on-the-job contact with  industrial chemicals. Data from the nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Survey, or NHANES, conducted annually by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, confirms that many of these carcinogens are in the bodies of Americans not at risk of occupational exposure – indeed, at any given time some people may harbor dozens or hundreds of cancer-causing chemicals. This troubling truth underscores the need for greater awareness of our everyday exposure to chemicals and how to avoid them – and beyond individual choices, the need for stronger, more effective laws and regulations.”