Environment

Ever wonder what sort of chemicals you are surrounding your body with day in and day out. Personally, living in a city, I try to block thoughts like that from my mind, but there is a lot of important information that could be gained from the knowledge. While many of diseases are genetic, most of them are believed to also be influenced by other factors. These include diet, exercise, and exposure to chemicals. An understanding of what chemicals are most universally present around us would allow a focussed analysis of which of them might be harmful. This is where MyExposome comes into play. The rubber-like wristbands are worn for one week and absorb any chemicals you (and it) come in contact with. At the end of the week, the bracelet is mailed back to the company where is analyzed. So far the company has performed a pilot program with 28 people. Out of the 1,400 chemicals that can be tested for (out of an astonishing 84,000 manufactured in the US), only 57 chemicals were found among the bracelets in the pilot program. Also interesting, almost everyone was exposed to at least one pesticide and one flame retardant.

The company is currently on Kickstarter, aiming to get the bracelet in more hands and to help cover the costs of testing. With a price of almost $1,000 the testing must be incredibly expensive! While the concept is excellent, the price model isn’t there. One has to wonder if they were unable to get funding or grants through other channels. Hopefully the processing costs can be driven down enough to allow for a broader sample in the future!