. RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH WEEKLY #536 .
. ---March 6, 1997--- .
. HEADLINES: .
. IMMUNE SYSTEM TOXINS .
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IMMUNE SYSTEM TOXINS
In 1987, about 45% of Americans were living with one or more
chronic conditions (a term that includes chronic diseases and
impairments). In 1935, the proportion was 22%, so chronic
conditions have approximately doubled during the last 60 years.
The majority of people with chronic conditions are not disabled,
nor are they elderly. In fact, one out of every four children in
the U.S. (25%) now lives with a chronic condition.[1]
Chronic conditions can often be "managed" (helping people to live
with the condition), but they usually cannot be cured. The cost
of chronic conditions in 1990 was estimated to be $659 billion
--nearly three quarters of all U.S. health care costs. (To get
this huge number into perspective, it may help to know that the
entire U.S. military budget is $250 billion per year.)
Perhaps it is time we looked seriously at prevention as an
approach to chronic conditions.
Humans and other vertebrates (animals with a backbone) come
equipped with a complicated "immune system" which PREVENTS
diseases that might be caused by pathogens (bacteria, viruses,
fungi, and parasites) or cancerous cells. We are constantly
exposed to hundreds of pathogens in daily life, but our immune
system recognizes them as dangerous and swiftly isolates them and
removes them from our bodies. The immune system is a built-in
disease-prevention mechanism that works hard to keep us healthy
so long as we keep our immune system healthy.
If the immune system is damaged in certain ways, it can allow
pathogens to overwhelm our defenses and make us sick. Under
other circumstances (which are poorly understood), the immune
system goes haywire and attacks its host, causing major damage of
a different kind, known as "autoimmune" diseases. These
"autoimmune" diseases include insulin-dependent diabetes,
multiple sclerosis, lupus erythematosus, schleroderma, rheumatoid
arthritis, and about a dozen others.[2] In these diseases, the
immune system attacks and breaks down the host organism, causing
prolonged misery and death.
A third class of immune disorders is "hypersensitivity
reactions," or allergic reactions, such as asthma, hay fever
(allergic rhinitis), and food allergies (to milk, egg whites,
peanuts, fish, soy and other foods), some of which may be minor,
others of which may be fatal.
As early as 1984, the U.S. National Toxicology Program [NTP]
(within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
observed that chemical damage to the immune system could result
in "hypersensitivity or allergy" to specific chemicals or to
chemicals in general. NTP said damage to the immune system can
have far-reaching consequences for an individual, leaving him or
her vulnerable to attack by bacteria and viruses, at heightened
risk of cancer, and even predisposed to develop AIDS.[3]
Unfortunately, during the past 50 years, corporations have been
permitted to release more and more industrial chemicals and
consumer products that damage the immune systems of birds,
amphibians, reptiles, fish, and mammals, including humans. The
immune system itself has only been fully recognized since the
1950s, and it wasn't until the 1970s that all the major
components and activities of the immune system were identified.
Many of these are not well understood even today.[2]
Partly as a result of this ignorance, public health authorities
have still not established consistent criteria for measuring
damage to the immune system,[4] which of course allows corporate
polluters a lot of "wiggle room" when they are asked to stop
releasing --or to clean up past releases of --immunotoxic
chemicals such as PCBs, cadmium (see REHW #179), and mercury
(REHW #462). (PCBs are a class of industrial chemicals outlawed
in the U.S. in 1976 because of their dangerous properties.
Unfortunately, large quantities of them persist in the
environment to this day, affecting wildlife and humans.[5])
A new study of immunotoxic chemicals affecting mammals appeared
earlier this year in ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, a
publication of the American Chemical Society.[6] Since 1987,
large numbers of dolphins, seals, and sea turtles have been
killed by disease in the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, the
North Sea, and the Mediterranean. (See REHW #399.)
In this new study, researchers examined carcasses of bottlenose
dolphins found dead on Atlantic and Gulf coast beaches in
Florida, 1989-1994. They found elevated levels of tin, a toxic
metal that has been used for the past 40 years to paint the
bottoms of boats and ships to prevent the growth of barnacles and
slime. (The specific tin compounds are tributyl tin, dibutyl
tin, and monobutyl tin, together called organotin compounds.
Tributyl tin is added to paint to prevent growth of organisms on
ships' bottoms; it slowly degrades into the other two compounds.)
The tin found in bottlenose dolphins was compared to the tin
found in spotted dolphins, and pygmy sperm whales, which spend
their lives far offshore. The bottlenose dolphins had higher
levels of tin, presumably because they spend their lives close to
shore, where anti-fouling paint from boats and ships has
contaminated bottom sediments and local food chains.
The researchers conclude that the tin compounds --which are well
established immunotoxins --combined with PCBs and the pesticide
DDT, which are also found at high levels in dolphins and which
are also well-established immunotoxins --together may have
deprived the dolphins of their main defense against disease,
their immune systems. They then succumbed to bacteria and
viruses that they had previously been able to live with.
Other common agents and environmental contaminants known to harm
the immune system include:
** Ultraviolet light from the sun --the kind of light that is
increasing in the northern latitudes of the Earth because
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have damaged the planet's protective
ozone shield 10 to 30 miles in the sky. (See REHW #246, #441.)
Ultraviolet sunlight striking the inhabited portions of the
planet has increased 5% to 10% in recent years. In sum, we are
now all taking a bath in a moderately immunotoxic agent.[7]
** Dioxin and PCBs. As mentioned above, PCBs are a class of
industrial chemicals now outlawed in the U.S., but still present
in many parts of the environment at toxic levels. Dioxins are a
class of chemicals created as unwanted byproducts of
incineration, metal smelting, and the manufacture of many
pesticides. Dioxins and PCBs are carcinogenic and powerfully
immunotoxic in many animals, including humans. (The
International Agency for Research on Cancer [IARC] --part of the
World Health Organization --announced February 14, 1997, that the
most potent dioxin, 2,3,7,8-TCDD, is a now considered a Class 1
carcinogen, meaning a "known human carcinogen.")[8]
In monkeys (marmosets), changes in white blood cells associated
with the immune system can be measured at dioxin levels of 10
ng/kg (nanograms of dioxin per kilogram of body weight) --25%
below the dioxin level already found in average Americans. Mice
with body burdens of 10 ng/kg --25% below the amount already
found in you and me --display an increased susceptibility to
infections by viruses, presumably because their immune system has
been damaged. (See REHW #463 and #414.)
** Agent orange --the chemical used by the U.S. in Vietnam to
defoliate the jungle, damages the immune system. Furthermore,
Vietnam veterans have an above-average likelihood of being struck
by diabetes --a serious immune system disease. (REHW #463.) In
the general population in the U.S., the incidence (occurrence) of
diabetes doubled between 1964 and 1981.[9] It is worth noting
that Agent orange is composed of two pesticides, 2,4,5-T and
2,4-D. Though 2,4,5-T was banned in the U.S. in the early 1980s
for fear of birth defects, 2,4-D is still most the popular
herbicide used to kill broad-leaf weeds, such as dandelions, in
lawns today. After people spray 2,4-D on their lawn, it is
carried indoors on the family dog and on children's feet. Once
indoors, it contaminates rugs and carpets and persists for a very
long time. (REHW #436)
** Many pesticides damage the immune system. In 1996, a study of
pesticides and the immune system, published by the World
Resources Institute (WRI), examined a growing body of literature
from around the world, showing that many common pesticides
degrade the immune systems of laboratory animals, wildlife, and
humans.[10]
WRI examined studies of all major classes of pesticides
--organochlorines such as DDT, organophosphates such as
malathion, and carbamates such as aldicarb. All three classes
were immunotoxic.
** Living near a toxic dump damages the immune system in some
people, though these effects have been rarely studied. (REHW #272)
** Exposure to fibers of asbestos and fiber glass damages the
immune system. (REHW #444.) These effects may be more common
than, and perhaps more important than, cancer caused by exposure
to such fibers, but have been largely ignored in favor of cancer
studies.
** Organochlorine chemicals, including those known as "endocrine
disrupters," damage the immune system. The endocrine (hormone)
system strongly influences the immune system, so chemicals that
mimic hormones may disrupt immune functions.[11] In addition,
common chlorine-containing chemicals such as perchloroethylene
(dry cleaning fluid), trichlorethylene (a common industrial
solvent), and chloroform (created in drinking water when it is
chlorinated to kill germs) can damage the immune system. (REHW
#279, #365, #399)
Since 1970, the U.S. has spent 98% of its health dollars trying
to cure diseases, and only 2% trying to prevent them.[12] During
this same period, many diseases connected to the immune system
such as asthma (REHW #218, #374) and diabetes have increased
dramatically, and deaths from infectious diseases (not including
AIDS) have increased 22%. (REHW #528) These seem to be strong
indications that immune disorders are increasing. Perhaps all
these immunotoxins are having a cumulative effect.
The U.S. government does not seem prepared to cope with these
problems. To prevent damage to the immune system would require
strong action to curb the release of immunotoxic chemicals into
the environment. This would require a government that is
independent of, and stronger than, the corporations releasing the
chemicals. At present we do not have anything close to that kind
of government.
--Peter Montague
(National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981/AFL-CIO)
===============
[1] Catherine Hoffman and others, "Persons With Chronic
Conditions," JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION Vol.
276, No. 18 (November 13, 1996), pgs. 1473-1479. The data
describe the non-institutionalized population.
[2] William R. Clark, AT WAR WITHIN; THE DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD OF
IMMUNITY (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995). Clark lists
autoimmune diseases on pg. 123.
[3] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health
Service, National Toxicology Program, FISCAL YEAR 1984 ANNUAL
PLAN (Research Triangle, N.C.: National Toxicology Program [P.O.
Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709], 1984), pg. 157.
[4] Anna Fan, Robert Howd, and Brian Davis, "Risk Assessment of
Environmental Chemicals," ANNUAL REVIEW OF PHARMACOLOGY AND
TOXICOLOGY Vol. 35 (1995), pgs. 341-368.
[5] See, for example, Andrew C. Revkin, "New Studies Show PCB's
[sic] Persist in Hudson, and Are Entering Air," NEW YORK TIMES
February 22, 1997, pg. A1.
[6] K. Kannan and others, "Elevated Accumulation of Tributyltin
and Its Breakdown Products in Bottlenose Dolphins (TURSIOPS
TRUNCATUS) Found Stranded along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf
Coasts," ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY [ES&T] Vol. 31, No. 1
(1997), pgs. 296-301.
[7] And see A.J. McMichael and others, editors, CLIMATE CHANGE
AND HUMAN HEALTH (Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization,
1996), Chapter 8, especially pages 167-170.
[8] According to the press statement, the new IARC finding on
dioxin will be published in Volume 69 of IARC MONOGRAPHS ON THE
EVALUATION OF CARCINOGENIC RISKS TO HUMANS. The IARC can be
contacted at: IARC, 150 Cours Albert Thomas, 69372 Lyon, France.
[9] National Diabetes Data Group, DIABETES IN AMERICA [NIH
Publication No. 85-1468] (no place of publication [Bethesda,
Md.?]: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public
Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Institute
of Arthritis, Diabetes, and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, August
1985), Table 2, pgs. VI-4, VI-5.
[10] Robert Repetto and Sanjay S. Baliga, PESTICIDES AND THE
IMMUNE SYSTEM: THE PUBLIC HEALTH RISKS (Washington, D.C.: World
Resources Institute, 1996). Available for $14.95 from WRI
Publications, P.O. Box 4852, Hampden Station, Baltimore, MD
21211. Telephone: 1-800-822-0504, or (410) 516-6963. Fax: (410)
516-6998. E-mail: chrisd@wri.org.
[11] William R. Clark, AT WAR WITHIN; THE DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD OF
IMMUNITY (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), Chapter 8.
See also: Phyllis B. Blair and others, "Disease Patterns and
Antibody Responses to Viral Antigens in Women Exposed IN UTERO to
Diethylstilbestrol," in Theo Colborn and Coralie Clement,
editors, CHEMICALLY-INDUCED ALTERATIONS IN SEXUAL AND FUNCTIONAL
DEVELOPMENT: THE WILDLIFE/HUMAN CONNECTION [Advances in Modern
Environmental Toxicology Vol. XXI] (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
Scientific Publishing Co., 1992), pgs. 283-288. And, in the same
volume, see Phyllis B. Blair, "Immunologic Studies of Women
Exposed IN UTERO to Diethylstilbestrol," pgs. 289-294.
[12] Speech by Gilbert Omenn, Dean, School of Public Health and
Community Medicine, University of Washington, given at the
meeting of Grantmakers in Health, Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
February 27, 1997.
Descriptor terms: chronic diseases; immune system; children;
health care costs; prevension; diabetes; multiple schlerosis;
lupus erythematosus; schleroderma; rheumatoid arthritis;
arthritis; hypersensitivity reactions; allergies; national
toxicology program; cancer; bacteria; viruses; fungi; parasites;
corporations; dolphins; marine mammals; gulf of mexico; atlantic
ocean; tributyltin; tin; pcbs; ddt; uvb; ultraviolet radiation;
cfcs; chlorofluorocarbons; dioxin; carcinogens; iarc;
international agency for research on cancer; world health
organization; who; agent orange; vietnam veterans; 2,4,5-t;
2-4,d; herbicides; perticides; world resources institute; wri;
toxic dumps; landfilling; asbestos; fiberglass; endocrine
disrupters; endocrine system; perchloroethylene;
trichloroethylene; chloroform; asthma; infectious diseases;
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