A MOTHER is to go to the European Parliament today after she and her family took part in a unique test that highlighted the hidden perils of daily living.

Beth Williams, her partner Andrew Sharkey, their children Shamus and Connie, and the family's paternal grandmother all had their blood tested to highlight the effects of man-made chemicals in everyday products.

The study by the World Wildlife Fund, showed that many of these are potentially damaging to health, while the long-term impacts of others are still unknown.

Worryingly for parents, in some instances the younger family members were shown to have higher levels of chemicals than anyone else.

Thirteen-year-old Shamus was found to have three times the amount of polychlorinated biphenals (PCBs) - a group of chemicals used in electrical equipment in the 1970s but now banned in the UK - in his blood compared with his mother.

Connie had the highest levels of perfluorinated chemicals (PFC's), which are used in products such as non-stick pans and floor waxes, of the family members sampled.

Some of the chemicals are found in ordinary household products ranging from cosmetics and antibacterial soap to carpets and computers.

Now the family, who live in Worcester Road, Stourport, on-Severn, are calling for hazardous man-made chemicals to be properly regulated, replaced where safer alternatives exist, or banned.

Beth will meet regional MEPs to tell them, from her own personal experience, why a change in the law is essential.

The ecology lecturer at the University of Worcester said: "I hope that when I go to Brussels, the MEPs will reassure me that they are going to do as much as they can to tackle the potentially harmful effects of hazardous chemicals.

"I'm going to take the results of the blood tests that were carried out on me and my family to show the politicians the hard evidence of what man-made chemicals we've actually got in our bodies."

The EU is to vote on proposed legislation on chemicals in November, which would make producers responsible for the impacts of their products.

Miss Williams added: "Maybe we can start to do something to protect the unborn.

"There are chemicals that should not be in products, let alone in people and wildlife."