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Frequently Asked Questions



  1. Can I volunteer to be tested for pollutants by Environmental Defence?
  2. What laboratories has Environmental Defence used for the Toxic Nation studies?
  3. What chemical substances has Environmental Defence tested for in people?
  4. How much does it cost for a person to be tested for pollutants?
  5. What is the purpose of body burden testing?
  6. Is Environmental Defence involved with Health Canada/Statistic Canada’s body burden study? Can I volunteer to be part of this study?
  7. What can I do to protect myself from harmful pollutants?
  8. Does Environmental Defence endorse products or companies that sell non-toxic products or detoxification treatments on the Toxic Nation web site?  
  9. What can I do to get rid of the toxic chemicals that may be in my body?
  10. How can I support the work Environmental Defence is doing to protect people from pollution?

1. Can I volunteer to be tested for pollutants by Environmental Defence?

At this time, Environmental Defence is not conducting further body burden testing of the general population. If a study is undertaken in the future a call for volunteers will be posted here.

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2. What laboratories has Environmental Defence used for the Toxic Nation studies?

For our body burden studies, Environmental Defence contracted three laboratories:

For information on being tested please contact the laboratories directly.

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3. What chemical substances has Environmental Defence tested for in people?

The types of chemicals tested for in Toxic Nation volunteers have included:

  • metals (such as lead and mercury),
  • organochlorine pesticides (i.e. DDT),
  • organophosphate insecticide metabolites,
  • polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs, used in flame retardants),
  • perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs, used in non-stick and stain repellent applications),
  • polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, formerly used in electric transformers),
  • polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, air pollutants), and
  • volatile organic compounds (VOCs, also air pollutants).

For a complete list of the chemicals Environmental Defence has tested for, please refer to the appendices of our reports, available on our reports page. The methodologies used for our body burden studies are also outlined in the appendices.

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4. How much does it cost for a person to be tested for pollutants?

The cost of testing for pollutants in a person varies by the number and type of substances being tested for; prices also vary by laboratory. For example, testing for a panel of metals can cost under $100, while testing for pesticides or PBDEs can cost hundreds of dollars. For Environmental Defence’s study on the pollution in Canadian families it cost over $2000 CAD per person to test for 68 chemicals.

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5. What is the purpose of body burden testing?

While body burden testing can identify the chemicals that are in your body, the test results cannot be used to determine the exact source of those chemicals, or how they may affect your health.

Body burden testing can be used for several purposes, including:

  • gaining a better understanding of human exposures to a range of substances;
  • establishing reference ranges that can be used to determine whether a person or a group has an unusually high level of a contaminant in their body;
  • identifying potentially vulnerable groups that may experience higher levels of exposure;
  • tracking, over time, trends in levels of exposure in a population;
  • developing responsible and equitable chemical regulations and public health initiatives that reduce the population’s exposure to chemicals of concern; and,
  • evaluating the effectiveness of those regulations and initiatives.

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6. Is Environmental Defence involved with Health Canada/Statistic Canada’s body burden study? Can I volunteer to be part of this study?

Environmental Defence is not involved with Statistics Canada’s Health Measures Survey, which will include body burden testing of 5,000 Canadians. To find out more about Statistics Canada's Health Measures Survey, please visit their web site.

Statistics Canada will randomly select Survey participants, meaning that an individual cannot ‘sign up’ or volunteer to participate. Random sampling of volunteers is necessary so that the survey findings can be generalized for the broader population of Canada.

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7. What can I do to protect myself from harmful pollutants?

Visit the Toxic Nation Healthy Home to get tips on how to reduce your exposure to toxins in common household and personal care products.

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8. Does Environmental Defence endorse products or companies that sell non-toxic products or detoxification treatments on the Toxic Nation web site?  

Environmental Defence does not endorse any individual company, product or treatment in our Toxic Nation campaign, but we do encourage people to choose products that are free from toxic chemicals.

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9. What can I do to get rid of the toxic chemicals that may be in my body?

Environmental Defence does not recommend any specific detoxification treatment, program, or product. We recommend that you speak to a health professional, such as your family doctor or a specialist if necessary, for information on detoxification or other treatments.

A test conducted by WWF UK found that reducing exposure to toxic chemicals may reduce overall levels in a person over time (read more). By preventing new exposures to pollutants, your overall toxic load decreases. At the same time, your body continually flushes out chemicals that you have been exposed to in the past.

Government action that eliminates sources of exposure to toxic chemicals can also help to get rid of toxic chemicals inside our bodies. For example, in the Toxic Nation study on pollution in Canadian families we found that for chemicals that were banned over the last 30 years, such as PCBs and DDT, levels were lower in children than in their parents; other chemicals that are still in use, such as PBDEs and PFCs, were detected at higher levels in children than adults. These findings suggest that when governments take action to eliminate toxic chemicals, people’s toxic load decreases, even if it takes several generations. 

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10. How can I support the work Environmental Defence is doing to protect people from pollution?

Here are three ways you can support our work to protect people from pollution:

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