Fw: New Alarm Bells About Chemicals and Cancer

[Guest guest]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/opinion/06kristof.html?hp

 

May 6, 2010

 

Op-Ed Columnist

 

New Alarm Bells About Chemicals and Cancer

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

 

The President's Cancer Panel is the Mount Everest of the medical mainstream, so

it is astonishing to learn that it is poised to join ranks with the organic food

movement and declare: chemicals threaten our bodies.

 

The cancer panel is releasing a landmark 200-page report on Thursday, warning

that our lackadaisical approach to regulation may have far-reaching consequences

for our health.

 

I've read an advance copy of the report, and it's an extraordinary document. It

calls on America to rethink the way we confront cancer, including much more

rigorous regulation of chemicals.

 

Traditionally, we reduce cancer risks through regular doctor visits,

self-examinations and screenings such as mammograms. The President's Cancer

Panel suggests other eye-opening steps as well, such as giving preference to

organic food, checking radon levels in the home and microwaving food in glass

containers rather than plastic.

 

In particular, the report warns about exposures to chemicals during pregnancy,

when risk of damage seems to be greatest. Noting that 300 contaminants have been

detected in umbilical cord blood of newborn babies, the study warns that: " to a

disturbing extent, babies are born 'pre-polluted.' "

 

It's striking that this report emerges not from the fringe but from the mission

control of mainstream scientific and medical thinking, the President's Cancer

Panel. Established in 1971, this is a group of three distinguished experts who

review America's cancer program and report directly to the president.

 

One of the seats is now vacant, but the panel members who joined in this report

are Dr. LaSalle Leffall Jr., an oncologist and professor of surgery at Howard

University, and Dr. Margaret Kripke, an immunologist at the M.D. Anderson Cancer

Center in Houston. Both were originally appointed to the panel by former

President George W. Bush.

 

" We wanted to let people know that we're concerned, and that they should be

concerned, " Professor Leffall told me.

 

The report blames weak laws, lax enforcement and fragmented authority, as well

as the existing regulatory presumption that chemicals are safe unless strong

evidence emerges to the contrary.

 

" Only a few hundred of the more than 80,000 chemicals in use in the United

States have been tested for safety, " the report says. It adds: " Many known or

suspected carcinogens are completely unregulated. "

 

Industry may howl. The food industry has already been fighting legislation in

the Senate backed by Dianne Feinstein of California that would ban bisphenol-A,

commonly found in plastics and better known as BPA, from food and beverage

containers.

 

Studies of BPA have raised alarm bells for decades, and the evidence is still

complex and open to debate. That's life: In the real world, regulatory decisions

usually must be made with ambiguous and conflicting data. The panel's point is

that we should be prudent in such situations, rather than recklessly approving

chemicals of uncertain effect.

 

The President's Cancer Panel report will give a boost to Senator Feinstein's

efforts. It may also help the prospects of the Safe Chemicals Act, backed by

Senator Frank Lautenberg and several colleagues, to improve the safety of

chemicals on the market.

 

Some 41 percent of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in

their lives, and they include Democrats and Republicans alike. Protecting

ourselves and our children from toxins should be an effort that both parties can

get behind - if enough members of Congress are willing to put the public

interest ahead of corporate interests.

 

One reason for concern is that some cancers are becoming more common,

particularly in children. We don't know why that is, but the proliferation of

chemicals in water, foods, air and household products is widely suspected as a

factor. I'm hoping the President's Cancer Panel report will shine a stronger

spotlight on environmental causes of health problems - not only cancer, but

perhaps also diabetes, obesity and autism.

 

This is not to say that chemicals are evil, and in many cases the evidence

against a particular substance is balanced by other studies that are

exonerating. To help people manage the uncertainty prudently, the report has a

section of recommendations for individuals:

 

¶Particularly when pregnant and when children are small, choose foods, toys and

garden products with fewer endocrine disruptors or other toxins. (Information

about products is at www.cosmeticsdatabase.com or www.healthystuff.org.)

 

¶For those whose jobs may expose them to chemicals, remove shoes when entering

the house and wash work clothes separately from the rest of the laundry.

 

¶Filter drinking water.

 

¶Store water in glass or stainless steel containers, or in plastics that don't

contain BPA or phthalates (chemicals used to soften plastics). Microwave food in

ceramic or glass containers.

 

¶Give preference to food grown without pesticides, chemical fertilizers and

growth hormones. Avoid meats that are cooked well-done.

 

¶Check radon levels in your home. Radon is a natural source of radiation linked

to cancer.