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New research published in Environmental Health Perspectives shows that exposure to mixtures of chemicals are more harmful than previously thought. Researchers found that healthy reproductive development of male rat offspring was thwarted by a selected mixture of chemicals found in food, consumer products and the environment. A synopsis of the new research by Heather Hamlin and Wendy Hessler concludes, “Exposure to a mixture of environmental chemicals is far more harmful to male rats than exposure to the individual chemicals would predict, even when the level of each contaminant in the mixture causes no effect by itself. Incidence of penis deformities were much stronger with the mixes than what would be predicted from the potency of the individual chemicals.” When individual chemicals were tested at a level U.S. regulators have determined “safe,” no negative effects were seen. “However, when the chemicals were mixed together, the rats had reduced anogenital distances, indicating that the rats were becoming feminized.” The research confirms the troubled state of current pesticides regulation, where compounds are tested one at a time, and not evaluated for their impact in mixture. Real world scenarios involve exposure to multiple pesticides and hundreds of chemicals each day. For example, What’s On My Food? finds 42 different pesticides on conventional apples, indicating that the possibility exists for quite a chemical cocktail on any given industrially-grown apple. Pesticide Action Network Senior Policy Analyst Kristin Schafer comments, “Science continues to confirm our deep concern that U.S. chemicals policies don’t protect human health or ecosystems from harm. Overhaul is needed to support a quick shift toward green chemistry, agroecological farming and other approaches that offer the safest food and products for all Americans.”