Last week one of my dearest friends called to tell me that she had been diagnosed with colon cancer and would have surgery on Tuesday, May 4. Last night I got word from her husband that the surgery was successful, that “a large tumor was removed.” The lab reports will not be back for several days, so it’s wait and see.
So when I read Nicholas Kristof’s column in today’s NY Times, I read with even more interest and care than I would have ordinarily. The title is “New Alarm Bells About Chemicals and Cancer,” and it is on p. A30, should you want to read the whole article. I thought I would share with you the most salient features of the piece. After all, who among us has not been touched by cancer–if not directly in our own life, surely in the lives of our friends and families. In fact, one of the startling things that Kristof says is that “some 41percent of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives.”
Kristof has had a sneak preview of the current report of the President’s Cancer Panel, which is not some fringe scare group, but a panel of distinguished cancer experts established in 1971 to study our country’s cancer program and report directly to the President.
One of the most startling conclusions of the report is that 300 chemical contaminants have been found in umbilical cord blood of newborns. The Panel puts it this way: “To a disturbing extent, babies are born ‘pre-polluted.’” They point out that only a few hundred of the more than 80,000 chemicals being used in the U.S. have been tested to see if they are safe. And they add, “Many known or suspected carcinogens are completely unregulated.” (Italics mine.)
The Cancer Panel calls for much more rigorous regulation of chemicals. And how is the food industry responding? They are already fighting legislation in the Senate (backed by California’s Dianne Feinstein) to ban bisphenol-A (BPA), commonly found in plastic food and drink containers. The data of BPA studies is inconclusive, but the Panel’s position is that we should be prudent rather than approving suspected chemicals before absolute proof of toxicity is found. Also in the works is the Safe Chemicals Act, supported by Senator Frank Lautenberg, which may garner additional support once this new cancer report is published.
One of the authors of the report told Kristof, “We wanted to let people know that we’re concerned, and that they should be concerned.” Kristoff tells us that “some cancers are becoming more common, particularly in children,” and “the proliferation of chemicals in water, foods, air and household products is widely suspected as a factor.”
No, all chemicals are not harmful, says Kristof, but to help people decide what to do when they are uncertain, the report makes some suggestions:
–Take particular care when pregnant or when children are small in choosing foods, toys, and garden products. Information about products can be found at www.cosmeticsdatabase.com or www.healthystuff.org
–If your job exposes you to chemicals, remove shoes when entering your house and wash work clothes separately.
–Filter drinking water.
–Store water in glass or stainless steel containers, or in plastics that don’t contain BPA.
–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.
Some of you who read this article will see the recommendations as “just one more thing to worry about,” and you will be all too ready to trust the corporate world and their products. Please don’t. Think Toyota. Think British Petroleum. I’m not saying all corporations are evil by any means, but they are not persons, they are entities that have a bottom line, and that bottom line is to make money for stock holders. Do not trust your children’s health to them. Please.
