Preventing Harm

We all want to protect our families and provide them with safe, healthy water and food. That's why it's important to learn what dangerous chemicals go into everyday products, the locations where they're manufactured and what safer choices exist. These facts can help us to be better prepared in the event of attacks or accidents at facilities, and to avoid daily exposures in household products.

Recent studies by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control have shown that industrial chemicals, including phthalates (see "Personal Care") and perfluorinated acids, have collected in the bodies of all Americans tested. The U.S. Department of Health and the FBI have warned that terrorists might disperse such easy-to-get chemicals as chlorine, used to bleach paper and purify water; phosgene,used in dyes; and hydrogen cyanide, used in some pesticides. Other dangeous chemicals include vinyl chloride for making PVC plastic and ammonia for synthetic fertilizer. The Environmental Protection Agency has found123 places where toxic gases released by an attack on a chemcal plant could kill or harm a million people, and 700 places where 100,000 people could be vulnerable. If we stop buying products containing toxic chemicals, fewer will be produced and accumulate in our bodies.