3 34 Ha r m fr o m Toxi c Ch e m i c a l s
Toxic mixtures
There are so many chemicals in our environment that often we cannot know
which ones we are exposed to or how the combination may affect us. This
chemical mixture makes it especially difficult to trace a person’s health
problems to chemical exposure. In most cases though, chemical mixtures are
more harmful than each chemical by itself.
Scientists study each chemical alone to see how it can harm a person’s
health. But many chemical products, such as cleaners, dyes, plastics, paints,
and glues, are a mixture of several chemicals. For example, paint contains
solvents, pigments, and other materials. Solvents cause 1 set of health problems,
and pigments cause another. Mixed together, they can cause a third set of
health problems, including ones that each chemical alone might not cause.
Most waste from industry, such as smoke from a smokestack or chemical waste
dumped into waterways, is also a mixture of many chemicals.
This way, no one
can say which
bullet killed him...
...but they’ll
probably blame
it on my last
cigarette.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012