New cancer concern

Friday, May 7, 2010 | 2:01 a.m.

A chilling report released Thursday says the federal government hasn’t done enough to protect Americans from toxic and cancer-causing chemicals. The President’s Cancer Panel said everyday products contain material that could cause cancer, but the real risk is unknown because of a lack of oversight.

“With nearly 80,000 chemicals on the market in the United States, many of which are used by millions of Americans in their daily lives and are un- or understudied and largely unregulated, exposure to potential environmental carcinogens is widespread,” the report said, noting that microwaving plastic containers could leach harmful chemicals into food.

Chemicals are ubiquitous in society, and the report presents some sobering evidence: A study of umbilical cord blood “found traces of nearly 300 pollutants in newborns’ bodies, such as chemicals used in fast-food packaging, flame retardants present in household dust, and pesticides.” The report’s authors concluded that “to a disturbing extent, babies are born ‘pre-polluted.’ ”

Written by the panel that has advised presidents since 1971, the report states that the number of cancer deaths caused by environmental toxins has been “grossly underestimated” because only a few hundred of the chemicals in use have been tested for safety.

The American Cancer Society, which estimates that 6 percent of the nation’s cancer deaths are due to exposure of environmental toxins, downplayed the report. Dr. Michael Thun of the American Cancer Society called the report “unbalanced” and told USA Today that it “reflects one side of a scientific debate that has continued for almost 30 years.”

He said he was concerned that the report would confuse people about the best ways to prevent cancer, like stopping smoking, having regular screenings and taking other steps toward healthy living.

The report shouldn’t be dismissed and should actually raise Americans’ awareness about cancer. To call the report unbalanced is unfair to the authors, both of whom were appointed to the panel by former President George W. Bush. Drs. LaSalle Leffall, an oncologist and professor of surgery at Howard University, and Margaret Kripke, an immunologist at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas, spent months investigating environmental toxins and talking to some of the nation’s leading public health experts.

“We wanted to let people know that we’re concerned, and that they should be concerned,” Leffall told New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.

The report should help people make better choices. Suggestions include using plastic food and drink containers that are free of chemicals, such as bisphenol A, also known as BPA, and phthalates, which have been linked to health problems. The report also notes other ways that people can cut their exposure to harmful chemicals, such as drinking filtered water and being informed about products they buy. The Household Products Database, which has a listing of chemicals found in consumer goods, can be found at householdproducts

.nlm.nih.gov.

While people should make informed decisions, the government also has to take action. The fact that just a fraction of the chemicals in use in the United States have been tested for safety is appalling, and more needs to be done. The report calls for more research into the safety of chemicals used in the United States and better oversight and regulation. The Obama administration should make this issue a priority on its public health agenda, and Congress should make sure that regulators have the tools they need to keep Americans safe.