FORT WORTH, Texas — Angelia and John Counts have two kids, two dogs and a three-bedroom home on a leafy cul-de-sac in a suburb near Fort Worth.

They also have dozens of toxic chemicals in their blood. So do their children.

And scientists say they're just like you.

The Countses are among 12 people who volunteered, as part of a newspaper project, to have their blood analyzed for more than 80 of the many man-made chemicals in widely used products. The chemicals include flame retardants in many car seat cushions and computer wires, pesticides in imported fruits and vegetables, and the coatings often found in microwave popcorn bags and fast-food wrappers.

The goal: Determine how many of those chemicals are in their bodies.

The analysis found small amounts of dozens of the chemicals in everyone tested.

The overall results mirror those of national studies and highlight what health experts fear is an emerging threat.

"Everybody in the U.S. has many chemicals in them," said Dr. Arnold Schecter, a public-health physician and researcher at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Dallas, who helped guide the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's effort.

To many, exposure to these potentially harmful chemicals is the tradeoff for living in such a technologically advanced society with a high standard of living. These substances are found in many of the items that make our lives convenient, comfortable and safe.

While none of the chemicals detected in the study were at levels considered to be an immediate health concern, they build up in the body and the environment.

Health experts aren't sure how each chemical individually affects people's health, to say nothing of the mixture.

"If you knew the answer, you'd be way ahead of the game," said Larry Needham, a research chemist in the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's environmental health lab in Atlanta.

In general, experts believe that the mixture can weaken the body's ability to fight off illnesses. At high enough levels, some of the chemicals have been shown to cause cancer and birth defects. Some also are known or suspected to cause developmental problems.

"There is a difficulty in understanding — what does the soup of chemicals mean?" said Dr. Nachman Brautbar, a medical toxicologist at the University of Southern California's School of Medicine. "Is it good for the body? Probably not."

Many of the chemicals the project measured have long been banned in the United States. They include the pesticide DDT, a known cancer-causing agent, as well as an extremely dangerous form of dioxin that was in the Vietnam War defoliant Agent Orange.