Political figures often seem uncomfortable with a lot of personal scrutiny.

Rep. Hannah Pingree, D-North Haven, is opening herself up, to the extreme.

Pingree, the 30-year-old House Majority Leader and fast-rising star of the Maine Legislature, has given up samples of her blood, hair and urine to be tested for toxic chemicals. It’s part of a study to be released within a few weeks by a coalition of environmental and public health organizations.

Pingree, who has made no secret of findings that she is carrying around an assortment of toxins that have no business in the human body, sponsored a bill this session to phase out a common fire retardant chemical. (The phase out of deca-BDE got the initial support of the Natural Resources Committee last week, although committee members brought it back for a follow-up discussion today.)

We’ll bring you the full study details as soon as they’re available. In the meantime, the Lewiston Sun Journal had a story about Pingree’s role as a very public guinea pig and her decision to forgo sushi and tuna as a result.

All of which makes you wonder: If a 30-year-old woman who grew up on a fairly remote Maine island has this stuff in her body, what are the rest of us packing around?

E-mail this entry to a friend