1. Pthalates 2. Bisphenol A 3. Perfluorochemicals 4. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers

Invented in the 1930s, phthalates (tha–lates) are found in many everyday products, from cosmetics to flexible plastics used to make food wraps, toys, and building materials.

Studies of suggest exposure to phthalates increases the risk of reproductive system birth defects and hormonal alteration in baby boys, and reproductive problems and hormonal changes in men. Though phthalates are considered hazardous waste and are regulated as air and water pollutants, they are unregulated in food, cosmetics, and consumer and medical products.

Personal care products expose children to an average of 60 chemicals every day that they can breathe in or that absorb through their skin. Product testing showed phthalates in three-quarters of 72 name-brand products tested. Because federal law contains no safety standard for cosmetics, it is legal for companies to use ingredients that are reproductive toxins like phthalates, carcinogens, and other potentially harmful substances.

BPA is a component of epoxy resins that are used to line food cans and to make hard plastic polycarbonate bottles and containers, popularized by Nalgene and others. It leaches into food, water, and infant formula and has been detected in 93 percent of all Americans tested by the Centers for Disease Control. Bisphenol A

BPA raises special concerns because numerous studies have found it to be toxic at exposure levels equivalent to or even below the amounts detected in people. BPA is linked to breast and prostate cancer and neurobehavioral changes in offspring exposed in the womb.

BPA is a signature compound in the fight for reform of the nation's toxic chemicals laws. It contaminates nearly all Americans, it causes toxic effects at very low doses, the effects associated with BPA, like breast and prostate cancer, are on the rise, yet the EPA has only the most clumsy and convoluted authority to control its use and reduce exposure to populations at risk.

Many new parents are aware that the toxic chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) leaches from plastic baby bottles found on the shelves of stores across America. But a new investigation by Environmental Working Group (EWG) reveals that BPA is also used to line nearly all infant formula cans. BPA levels found in liquid formula are likely to be far higher than those that leach from bottles under normal use.

PFCs are industrial chemicals widely used as water, stain and grease repellants for food wrap, carpet, furniture, and clothing. The family includes such well known name brands as Scotchgard, Stain Master and Teflon. Perflurochemicals

Available scientific findings to date show that PFCs widely contaminate human blood that they persist in the body for decades, that they act through a broad range of toxic mechanisms of action to present potential harm to a wide range of organs (ovaries, liver, kidney, spleen, thymus, thyroid, pituitary, testis), and that they persist indefinitely in the environment with no known biological or environmental breakdown mechanism

Human Toxome Project By the Environmental Working Group (

Baby #3's cord blood contained 212 of 395 industrial compounds, pollutants and other chemicals tested, including chemicals linked to brain and nervous system toxicity, cancer, and birth defects and developmental delays. Many of these chemicals are found in newborn infants!

PBDEs are brominated fire retardants, intentionally added to flexible foam furniture– primarily mattresses, couches, padded chairs, pillows, carpet padding and vehicle upholstery – and to electronic products. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers

Studies of laboratory animals link PBDE exposure to an array of adverse health effects including thyroid hormone disruption, permanent learning and memory impairment, behavioral changes, hearing deficits, delayed puberty onset, decreased sperm count, and fetal malformations.

The chemicals build up in the body, are stored in fatty tissues and body fluids, such as blood and breast milk, and can be passed on to fetuses and infants during pregnancy and lactation. People are primarily exposed to PBDEs in their homes, offices and vehicles.

These are just 4 chemicals out of many toxic chemicals that humans have created. We have not evolved with these compounds and our bodies have not evolved ways to de-toxify them.

In light of this, carbon dioxide doesn’t seem so bad to me.