Environmental Toxin Update

Report from President's Cancer Panel warns of dangers of environmental toxins.
USA Today (5/6, Szabo) reports that "widespread exposure to environmental toxins poses a serious threat to Americans, causing 'grievous harm' that government agencies have not adequately addressed, according to a strongly worded report released today by the President's Cancer Panel, a body of experts that reports directly to President Obama." A great deal "of the suffering faced by people diagnosed with toxin-related cancer 'could have been prevented through appropriate national action,' according to the 240-page report." USA Today adds, "The report was produced by cancer specialists LaSalle Lefall and Margaret Kripke, both of whom were appointed by President Bush and who heard from dozens of experts over the past two years."
The report, according to the Los Angeles Times (5/6, Maugh), "highlights some potential risks that almost everyone agrees on. Those include: the increasing exposure to radiation as the result of greater use of medical testing and treatment; radon in homes, particularly in the East; and exposure to toxic chemicals during military service and for people living close to military bases." The Times added, "Government and industry should invest much more money in researching the potential risks of such chemicals -- and that research should be done before the chemicals come into wide use, not after large numbers of people have been exposed to them, the report said." However, "reaction to the report was mixed."
Reuters (5/6, Fox) quotes the American Cancer Society's Dr. Michael Thun as saying, "The report is most provocative when it restates hypotheses as if they were established facts." He added, "For example, its conclusion that 'the true burden of environmentally (pollution) induced cancer has been grossly underestimated' does not represent scientific consensus. Rather, it reflects one side of a scientific debate that has continued for almost 30 years."
In the New York Times (5/6, A33), op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof writes, "I've read an advance copy of the report, and it's an extraordinary document." He points out that "the report warns about exposures to chemicals during pregnancy, when risk of damage seems to be greatest." According to Kristof, "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."
MedPage Today (5/6, Walker) reported that "radiation exposure has long been recognized as a cancer risk, but this latest report...claims that patients and healthcare professionals are not completely aware of radiation exposure from imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT) scans -- a radiation exposure that might be increasing with the use of whole body scans and virtual colonoscopy." And although "the report issued a call for increased emphasis on dialing down the radiation exposure with CT, the government may actually be out in front on this issue -- the FDA recently proposed new safety requirements for manufacturers of CT scanners and fluoroscopic devices." These "requirements are designed to reduce unnecessary radiation from medical imaging."