Proof of Burden

Scores of contaminants course through people's veins

Farm-field runoff, raw sewage, and smokestack emissions may contain a slew of poisonous chemicals. But how about a healthy person’s blood? Two independent teams of scientists report that bodily fluids carry chemical cocktails that include toxic metals, artificial hormones, and ingredients of plastics, flame-retardants, pesticides, herbicides, and disinfectants.