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Dust is more than just dirt and skin flakes and the federal
government wants to know whether it could be exposing young children to
harmful chemicals as they crawl through their days.
Health Canada is looking for scientists to collect and analyze
dust at hundreds of daycares to look for the residue of potentially
dangerous substances used in everyday items such as plastic toys,
cleaning solutions and vinyl flooring.
...
Health Canada is conducting a separate but similar study of dust
in Canadian households, but said it is ordering this investigation
because there is a lack of sufficient data on the levels of toxins
young kids are exposed to on a daily basis.
"Daycare time can represent a substantial portion of the day for
some small children and it is important to consider all potential
exposures," departmental spokesman Philippe Laroche wrote in an email
Monday. "This study will provide valuable information about such
exposures and will allow a more accurate estimation of risk."
The three-year study will cost up to $300,000 and involves
sampling the dust at 300 randomly chosen daycares in urban Ontario and
Quebec and testing indoor air for particulates at 30 randomly selected
child-care centres.
Health Canada says the study will target toxins the federal
government considers priorities for regulation because they are harmful
to human health or the environment.
These include bisphenol-A, banned in baby bottles but still
found in hard plastics and the lining of canned food, and
perfluorinated chemicals used in some non-stick cookware and furniture
polish.
Other priority chemicals to be measured include non-brominated
flame retardants used in some sealants and caulking, phthalates found
in some soft plastic toys and vinyl flooring, pesticides, as well as
antibacterial, preservative and scent-producing chemicals found in
household cleaning products.
"These are all very nasty chemicals or those that have a big
question mark hanging over them in terms of how toxic they are," said
Kathy Cooper, a researcher with the Canadian Environmental Law
Association. "They are found in very, very small levels, but they are
definitely found."
Laboratory studies have shown these chemicals cause negative
health effects, such as disrupting the endocrine system. They have been
linked to early puberty, stunted growth and obesity
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- reprinted from the Toronto Star