Tuesday 9 May 2006

The "Indecent Exposure" survey provides the British public with their first ever tool for assessing how exposed they may be to certain hazardous chemicals in their day to day lives. The short questionnaire analyses people's lifestyles, diet, behaviour and use of particular products to estimate what hazardous chemicals they may be exposed to, and provides some suggestions about how to reduce their exposure in the future.

Giles Watson, Toxics Policy Officer said: "This online test is a great way for people to get an understanding of what sort of potentially harmful chemicals may be forced upon them in the most ordinary of situations."

Over the last 5 years WWF has taken blood samples from over 200 people of all ages around the UK and has found that every single one of them contained an array of hazardous chemicals ranging from pesticides banned decades ago to flame retardants used in electrical goods and gender-bending phthalates used in toiletries and to soften plastics. Later this year the EU will finally decide what controls are to be placed on Europe's multi-billion pound chemicals industry. The strength of this decision will have a profound impact on the health of both people and the environment in Europe.

Colin Butfield, Director of the Chemicals & Health Campaign added: "The most effective thing that anyone can do to reduce the amount of hazardous chemicals in the environment - and therefore in their bodies too - is to make their voice heard, and they can do this by taking part in the survey. We need to ensure the EU doesn't allow dangerously weak legislation that is soft on the chemicals industry to be pushed through as a result of multi-million dollar lobbying campaigns by this immensely wealthy industry. It would be tragic to think that the EU would prioritise the short term demands of industry ahead of the health of Europe's people and environment."