Like me, many of you will have asked for fitness equipment for Christmas or your birthday so you can finally achieve your ‘new year’s resolution’ of getting fit and healthy. On my birthday when I got the sand weights I was expecting, I had been over the moon. Well, that was until I noticed a small note on the back of the box reading ‘Warning contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects and other reproductive harm.’ Considering my goal is to get fit this product seemed to be doing quite the opposite so naturally I did some research while wondering how and why such harmful chemicals could make their way into my work out equipment. I found that due to California’s Preposition 65, products sold in California must have warning labels on them if they contain compounds that may cause ‘cancer, birth defects and other reproductive harm’. The list is frequently updated and now has over 800 different chemicals however some of them are only ‘probable carcinogens’ meaning not all compounds on the list have been scientifically proven to cause cancer. However, some chemicals on the list can apparently cause ‘reproductive harm’ or ‘birth defects’ but once again there is not always solid evidence that the chemicals do cause what they are said to. The Preposition does not allow amounts that cause significant risk of cancer to be used, the law defines ‘no significant risk’ as exposure out of 100 000 would cause no more than 1 extra case of cancer across a 70 year life time.
It is quite concerning to find out so many products that could give people cancer (or increase their risk of) are available in shops, especially as it is such a serious disease that an estimated half of people will have at some point in their lives. So where does that leave us as consumers? Firstly we should all be wondering why these dangerous compounds even made their way into so many products (other products include jewellery and pesticides) and why would the company not try to change the chemicals they use in order to preserve the health of their consumers? I couldn’t find anything about why the chemicals were used in the product but, they probably allow them as it is a cheaper production alternative (which people’s health can apparently be compromised for). According to research conducted by cancer UK 42% of cancer cases are preventable, the two largest preventable cases of cancer are caused by smoking (19%) and excess body weight (5%), if anything these statistics should be a wakeup call to the world to start making more of an effort to prevent cancer and just be more fit overall.
I personally feel that we should be trying to prevent anyone getting cancer rather than saying ‘It only causes cancer in 1 person per 100 000, what’s one more?’ but part of me also shrugged along with my friends who said ‘Everything seems to cause cancer these days.’ A couple of my friends shared concern, one said they wouldn’t use them as ‘there are other options available which don’t have any carcinogens in them’ but most people said they were not worried because ‘so many things are said to cause cancer so this won’t really make a difference’. I will continue to use my weights for exercise but still hesitate when I use them wondering if it is worth the risk.
By Jasmine Helm-Stovell, Rosebery
