WHY WE CARE
In the U.S. from 1997-2008, childhood developmental disabilities increased 17% (1.8 million children) in parallel with the commercial use of chemicals.
Asbestos related deaths from Cancer between 1999-2013 totaled over 189,000.
New chemicals are designed at a rate faster than legislation can be adapted to include them, with 1,200,000+ chemicals in the EPA’s CompTox database, but only ~89,000 are regulated.
Chemicals can be a factor in the occurrence of health issues ranging from ADHD to cancer, to fertility, to endocrine issues, to impairing the barrier function of skin, for instance:
Childhood developmental diseases: Little Things Matter
Skin issues from contact dermatitis to skin cancer: The Skin Notations
Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals “mimic, block, or interfere with hormones” and are associated with an array of issues including adrenal insufficiency, diabetes, fertility, and impaired neuroendocrine development.
Why ChemClarity was founded:
In the span of 8 months in 2014, ChemClarity’s Founder, went from cycling 40 miles on Saturdays and being in finance at a Fortune 500 company to collapsing at work and being hospitalized for a week of testing.
She had developed uncommon symptoms: a hyperactive immune system, presenting as eczema over 75% of her body that could not recover its barrier function, and an endocrine issue, in that her blood pressure would drop would below life sustaining levels occasionally, and she would lose consciousness.
She saw 15+ medical specialists and had 5 emergency room visits due to dangerously low blood pressure in 2 years, but never received a diagnosis. Doctors finally suggested the cause was environmental. They never considered chemicals as a cause, because they didn’t have proper resources.
Gradually, her research led her to understand the health impacts of chemicals as a Member of the CDC’s Immune, Infectious and Dermal Disease Council, which is researching chemicals that cause dermal disease.
Fully recovered after 10 years, her goal in founding ChemClarity is to help others avoid chemical illness.
The Environmental, Health and Safety Department for her office building tested for molds, which was helpful, but the amounts were negligible - clearly not the problem.
Contacting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to test for chemicals, OSHA indicated that with over 89,000 chemicals in commercial use today, they would not know which chemicals to start testing, so the costs would be prohibitive.
Ann realized the burden of understanding chemicals falls to the patient and was determined to solve the problem for others.
Problem #1:
Medical doctors need resources about chemical exposures to refer patients to medical toxicologists for specialized testing and treatment.
Problem #2:
EH&S departments and OSHA need a tool that narrows the chemical universe of 1,200,000+ to a list of chemicals of <100 that may cause health issues in a building. That list reduces the cost of testing for property managers when they budget for and gain approval to renovate to remove chemicals.
Removing roadblocks for real estate owners and employers helps patients as well.
Solution:
ChemClarity is designing tools and services to guide non-scientists through the complex chemical landscape. The goal is to accelerate the recognition of chemical related illnesses and of where to locate harmful chemicals in the indoor environment.
