Source: www.nytimes.com
NEW YORK, May 18, 2010: The Presidents Cancer Panel has recently joined ranks with the organic food movement and declared: 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.
This document 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 Presidents 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. 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.
The report does not 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. A few are:
- Particularly when pregnant and when children are small, choose foods, toys and garden products with fewer endocrine disruptors or other toxins.
- 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 dont 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.