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New Alarm Bells About Chemicals and Cancer
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of New York Times
Posted: May 10th, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/opinion/06kristof.html
The Presidents 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 ... warning that our lackadaisical approach to regulation may have far-reaching consequences for our health. It calls on America to rethink the way we confront cancer, including much more rigorous regulation of chemicals. The Presidents Cancer Panel suggests ... 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. 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.
Note: To read the President's Cancer Panel report, Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk, click here. For many other important reports from major media sources on potential cancer cures and treatments, click here.
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