New Alarm Bells About Chemicals and Cancer

New Alarm Bells About Chemicals and Cancer
by Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times
May 6th, 2010

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.

Be an educated consumer, know what you are putting on your body. Use only truly natural organic personal care products. Buy Natural Organic Products

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Natural and Organic Products

Natural and Organic Products

You might expect a product labeled "pure, natural and organic" to be, well … pure, natural and organic. But you might be in for a surprise.

Unlike the food industry, there are no legal standards for organic or natural personal care products sold in the United States. This means that companies can, and often do, use these terms as marketing gimmicks. For example, the top-selling shampoo in the United States is Clairol Herbal Essences, which until recently claimed to offer users an "organic experience." However, there isn't much about this product that is either herbal or organic; it contains more than a dozen synthetic petrochemicals and has a moderate toxicity rating in Skin Deep.

Even top-selling brands in the natural products sector have been found to contain 1,4-dioxane, a synthetic chemical carcinogen.

New industry standards are emerging that may help consumers differentiate between the natural and not-so-natural products, but multiple standards with different meanings may not be helpful for consumers. For example, some require safety substantiation from a certifying body and others don't. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is advocating for a standard that means ingredients are both natural and safe for people.

What You Can Do

Encourage your favorite retailers and manufacturers of natural and organic products to clarify their use of the terms. Most importantly, be a critical consumer and remember that natural is a marketing term, not a legally binding description.

More Information

Science and health effects: 1,4-dioxane

Very few, if any, cosmetics or personal care products list 1,4-dioxane as an ingredient (i), even though an analysis by Campaign for Safe Cosmetics co-founder the Environmental Working Group suggests that it may be found in 22 percent of the more than 25,000 products in the Skin Deep database of cosmetics products (ii). That's because 1,4-dioxane is a frequent contaminant of common cosmetics ingredients (iii), but as a contaminant it is not listed among intentionally added ingredients.

Products That May Contain 1,4-dioxane

Because it is a contaminant produced during manufacturing, the FDA does not require 1,4-dioxane to be listed as an ingredient on product labels. Without labeling, there is no way to know for certain how many products contain 1,4-dioxane—and no guaranteed way for consumers to avoid it.

Most commonly, 1,4-dioxane is found in products that create suds, like shampoo, liquid soap and bubble bath. Environmental Working Group's analysis suggests that 97 percent of hair relaxers, 57 percent of baby soaps and 22 percent of all products in Skin Deep may be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane (iv). Independent lab tests co-released by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics in 2007 showed that popular brands of children's bubble bath and body wash contained 1,4-dioxane.

Besides sodium laureth sulfate, other common ingredients that may be contaminated by 1,4-dioxane include PEG compounds and chemicals that include the clauses "xynol," "ceteareth" and "oleth."

Where It Comes From

1,4-dioxane is generated through a process called ethoxylation, in which ethylene oxide, a known breast carcinogen, is added to other chemicals to make them less harsh. This process creates 1,4-dioxane. For example, sodium laurel sulfate, a chemical that is harsh on the skin, is often converted to the less-harsh chemical sodium laureth sulfate (the “eth” denotes ethoxylation), which can contaminate this ingredient with 1,4-dioxane.

Alternatives do exist, but many companies don't take advantage of them. Vacuum-stripping can remove 1,4-dioxane from an ethoxylated product, or manufacturers can skip ethoxylation entirely by using less-harsh ingredients to begin with (v). Organic standards do not allow ethoxylation at all. A study by the Organic Consumers Association (vi) shows that 1,4-dioxane is nonexistent in a variety of cosmetics produced and certified under the USDA National Organic Program, as well as other products.

Health Concerns

Research shows that 1,4-dioxane readily penetrates the skin (vii). 1,4-dioxane is considered a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (viii) and listed as an animal carcinogen by the National Toxicology Program (ix). It is included on California’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals known or suspected by the state to cause cancer or birth defects (x). The California Environmental Protection Agency also lists 1,4-dioxane as a suspected kidney toxicant, neurotoxicant and respiratory toxicant.

It is highly unlikely that any one product containing 1,4-dioxane will cause harm on its own. However, repeated exposures from many different products add up. The same baby could be exposed to 1,4-dioxane from baby shampoo, bath bubbles and body wash in a single bath, as well as from other contaminated personal care products today, tomorrow and the next day. Repeated exposures to a single carcinogen, synergistic effects from exposures to multiple carcinogenic and mutagenic ingredients, and concerns about exposures at key points in development (such as pregnancy, infancy and puberty) are cause for concern even though little risk is evident from a single small exposure. Buy only natural, organic, non-toxic products.

Measuring the Pollution in People

Toxic chemicals in personal care products have been proven to have an accumulative affect in our bodies. For those with chronic illnesses, that burden becomes even greater. It is so important to avoid toxic chemicals as much as possible and lighten the load. Buy only natural, organic non-toxic products.

Measuring the Pollution in People

A number of striking studies (i) have shown that the man-made chemicals in our environment and in consumer products—including cosmetics—make their way into our bodies. Many of the chemicals found in cosmetics are absorbed by the skin into the body, and can be detected in blood or urine.

The length of time chemicals remain in the body varies from chemical to chemical and ranges from hours to decades. For chemicals that are excreted quickly, the fact that we can so consistently measure them indicates continual exposures that may have long-term effects on health.

Body Burden and Biomonitoring

Body burden refers to the levels of man-made chemicals in an individual’s body, generally measured through blood or urine. Large-scale biomonitoring programs that assess the levels of chemicals in a population or subset of a population would greatly support the ability of researchers to explore the links between exposures and disease. A gap in determining the long-term effects of chemical exposures upon disease has long been a lack of knowledge about chemical exposures and the intake of environmental toxins into the body. Ongoing biomonitoring programs would fill this vital data gap.

The Pollution in People

The largest U.S. body burden study to date measured the levels of 148 chemicals in approximately 3,000 people of varying ages, ethnicities and geographical locations (ii). This study, by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, detected a common sunscreen ingredient, benzophenone-3 (BP-3) in 96.8 percent of individuals (iii), and triclosan, an antibacterial agent often used in antibacterial soaps, in 74.6 percent of individuals (iv). A CDC study found residues of four different phthalates in more than 75 percent of subjects (v). Phthalates are found in numerous cosmetics, often as a constituent ingredient of fragrances. A 2008 study of teen girls by the Environmental Working Group revealed 16 hormone-altering cosmetics chemicals in their young test subjects (vi).

The CDC tests of 148 chemicals represents a very small percentage of the over 80,000 chemicals manufactured and the approximately 10,000 chemicals used in cosmetic products. The next edition of the CDC report, anticipated in 2009, will include measurements of 250 chemicals, an increase that still doesn't approach the total number of chemicals in commerce. Nevertheless, this and other studies illustrate that chemicals we use in an array of consumer products make their way into our bodies (vii). This knowledge also furthers our understanding of the links between the chemicals we use, the absorption of these chemicals into our bodies, and the known and probable health effects of these chemicals.

i.Commonweal Biomonitoring Resource Center (2005). Taking It All In: Documenting Chemical Pollution in Californians through Biomonitoring. Available online at http://www.commonweal.org/programs/download/TIAI_1205.pdf. Accessed August 19, 2008.

Environmental Working Group (2006). Across Generations: Industrial Chemicals in Mothers and Daughters: The pollution we share and inherit. Available online at http://www.ewg.org/reports/generations/. Accessed August 19, 2008.

Environmental Working Group (2005). Body Burden: The Pollution in Newborns. Available online at: http://www.ewg.org/node/17686. Accessed August 19, 2008.

Environmental Working Group (2003). Body Burden: The Pollution in People. Available online at: http://archive.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden1/. Accessed August 19, 2008.

ii Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2005). Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. Available online at http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/. Accessed December 23, 2008.

iii Calafat AM, Wong LY, Ye X, Reidy JA, Needham LL. Concentrations of the Sunscreen Agent, Benzophenone-3, in Residents of the United States: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2004. Environ Health Perspect 116:893–897 (2008).

iv Calafat AM, Ye X, Wong LY, Reidy JA, Needham LL. Urinary Concentrations of Triclosan in the U.S. Population: 2003–2004. Environmental Health Perspectives, 116:303–307 (2008).

v Silva MJ, Barr DB, Reidy JA, Malek NA, Hodge CC, Caudill SP, Brock JW, Needham LL, Calafat AM. “Urinary Levels of Seven Phthalate Metabolites in the U.S. Population from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2000,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 112(3): 331-338 (2004).

vi Sutton, R (2008). Teen Girls' Body Burden of Hormone-Altering Cosmetics Chemicals. Available online at http://www.ewg.org/reports/teens. Accessed October 10, 2008.

vii Commonweal and Breast Cancer Fund (2005). Taking It All In: Documenting Chemical Pollution in Californians through Biomonitoring. Available online at http://www.commonweal.org/programs/download/TIAI_1205.pdf. Accessed August 19, 2008.

Environmental Working Group (2006). Across Generations: Industrial Chemicals in Mothers and Daughters: The pollution we share and inherit. Available online at http://www.ewg.org/reports/generations/. Accessed August 19, 2008.

Environmental Working Group (2005). Body Burden: The Pollution in Newborns. Available online at: http://www.ewg.org/node/17686. Accessed August 19, 2008.

Environmental Working Group (2003). Body Burden: The Pollution in People. Available online at: http://archive.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden1/. Accessed August 19, 2008.