President's Cancer Panel 2010 Report on reducing environmental cancer risk: What we can do now
The President's Cancer Panel recently published a landmark report, "Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now", highlighting the impact of environmental factors on cancer risk. To read the details of the 240 page report, click here. While the report highlights disturbing statistics including what percentage of the population is estimated to get cancer and eventually die from cancer, we should look at the report as a challenge to educate ourselves about products, food, and water that will keep you and your family safe.
As stated in the report, the prevailing regulatory approach in the US is reactionary rather than precautionary. Instead of requiring manufacturers and proponents of a chemical, device, or activity to prove their safety, the public bears the burden of proving that a given environmental exposure is harmful - after countless people have already been exposed. Only a few hundred of the more than 80,000 chemicals in use in the US have been tested for safety.
Because we suspect that many of you, like us, are primarily concerned with how to keep yourself and your family members safe, we are first focusing on the report's recommendations: concrete steps that we can each take to reduce our exposure to environmental chemical elements that increase our risk of cancer.
What Individuals Can Do - Recommendations
Reduce Chemical Exposures
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Remove shoes before entering the home; wash work clothes separately from other family laundry. Drink and use filtered home tap or well water. Unless you know that your home water source is contaminated, it is preferable to use filtered tap water instead of commercially bottled water. Store and carry water in stainless steel, glass, or BPA- and phthalate-free containers to reduce exposure to chemicals that may leach from plastic containers. (We recommend you take the same precautions for all foods and drinks.)
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Eat foods grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Wash conventionally grown produce to remove residues. (We recommend spraying with white vinegar and then scrubbing the produce to really get the residues off.)
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Eat free-range meats raised without antibiotics and growth hormones. Avoid processed, charred, and well-done meats to reduce exposure to carcinogens.
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Properly dispose of pharmaceuticals, household chemicals, paints, and other materials to minimize water and soil contamination. (Call your city or county to see if its household hazardous waste collection program includes pharmaceuticals. If not, mix unused drugs with coffee grounds or cat litter, put in a sealable container and put in the trash.)
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Choose products made with non-toxic substances or environmentally safe chemicals (We recommend using no-VOC paints; neogreene instead of neoprene; non-toxic household cleaners and pest deterrents; and organic landscaping techniques).
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Turn off lights and electrical devices when not in use. Reducing demand for electricity will reduce exposure to petroleum combustion by-products (in other words, toxic air and water pollution).
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Drive a fuel-efficient car, bike or walk, or use public transportation to cut the amount of toxic exhaust in the air. (Turning off your car if you're going to be stopped for more than 30 seconds will save gas and reduce emissions.)
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Reduce or eliminate exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke in the home, auto, and public places. If you're a smoker, consider quitting: most counseling medications to help smokers quit are covered by health insurance or are available at little or no cost. (And you'll save money by not buying tobacco products!)
Protect our children
It is vitally important to recognize that children are far more susceptible to damage from environmental carcinogens and endocrine-disrupting compounds than adults. To the extent possible, parents and child care providers should choose foods, house and garden products, play spaces, toys, medicines, and medical tests that will minimize children's exposure to toxics.
