Home pollution dangers unrecognized

PROVIDENCE, R.I., Nov. 21 (UPI) -- People are apt to equate pollution with large-scale contamination or industry, but pollution at home has been a blind spot, a U.S. study said.

Lead author Rebecca Gasior Altman, who conducted the study while at Brown University, in Providence, R.I., said that many are becoming more aware of lead in some toys, but women do not readily connect typical household products with personal exposure to chemicals and related adverse health effects.

"Pollution at home has been a blind spot for society. The study documents that an important shift occurs in how people understand environmental pollution, its sources and possible solutions as they learn about chemicals from everyday products that are detectable in urine samples and the household dust collecting under the sofa," Altman said in a statement.

The researchers interviewed 25 women, all of whom had participated in an earlier study, which tested for 89 environmental pollutants in 120 households. The study found about 20 target chemicals per home on average.

The new study found that nearly all the study participants chose to learn their personal results, but most women were surprised and puzzled at the number of contaminants detected.

The study, published in the December issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, found people who learned about chemicals in their homes and bodies were not alarmed, but eager to get more information.