skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Medical copays reduce health care access in MS prisons; Israel planted explosives in pagers sold to Hezbollah according to official sources; Serving looks with books: Libraries fight 'fast fashion' by lending clothes; Menhaden decline threatens Virginia's ecosystem, fisheries.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

JD Vance calls for toning down political rhetoric, while calls for his resignation grow because of his own comments. The Secret Service again faces intense criticism, and a right to IVF is again voted down in the US Senate.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

Environmental Health Risks: Not Just Cancer

play audio
Play

Friday, May 14, 2010   

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A recent report delivered to President Obama by a special panel appointed by President Bush warned that the risk of cancer from environmental toxins is "grossly under-estimated." But, making the situation even worse, say many health professionals, are the other ill effects of such pollutants. Dr. Kristen Welker-Hood is with Physicians for Social Responsibility.

"There can be Attention Deficit Disorder, or memory problems, there can be problems with your hormone system, there can be infertility issues, there can be respiratory or cardiovascular issues or even metabolic. For example, the development of type 2 diabetes."

Welker-Hood says the President's Cancer Report "got it right," in recommending a precautionary approach to reduce exposures, even if there's scientific uncertainty about whether certain chemicals or radio waves cause cancer.

"The thing that I would love to see a report come out and talk about also is the other things that can happen in the human body because of chemical exposure. Not just cancer. That's not the only thing we care about."

The report said Americans are bombarded - even before they are born - by combinations of toxic exposures.

Health educator and radio host Camilla Rees says the eventual development of cancer is only one concern. More immediate symptoms are equally troubling.

"We cannot only be focusing on the long-term effects like the potential for cancers through DNA breaks and other mechanisms, but we need to also be thinking about the acute symptoms that people experience."

The public remains unaware that children are far more vulnerable to environmental toxins and radiation than adults, according to the report. At the Sensory Learning Center in Boulder, Colo., executive director Mary Bolles treats children with such afflictions as autism, ADD and ADHD.

"I've seen thousands of young children in the last twenty years, and more and more we see young children with neurological issues."

The American Cancer society took a different tack in it's criticism of the President's Cancer Panel report, saying it gave short shrift to the major, known causes of cancer, such as tobacco, sunlight, alcohol and obesity.

February 2014 update: The report is archived at deainfo.nic.nih.gov




get more stories like this via email

more stories
Including the $236 million in federal funding for wildland fire management recently announced for 2025, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has invested a total of $1 billion to the cause, according to the Department of the Interior. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

This month, the federal government announced funding for next year's wildfire management, totaling $236 million and experts hope threatened …


Social Issues

play sound

From gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson to Superintendent of Public Instruction hopeful Michele Morrow, some Republicans running for office have …

Social Issues

play sound

California is home to more than 181,000 people who are unhoused, with 75,000 in Los Angeles alone, so the Los Angeles Food Policy Council will host a …


The California Department of Conservation is holding a public meeting online on Sept. 24, to update the public on its progress in plugging abandoned oil wells. (Alizada Studios/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Groups concerned about pollution and climate change are asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a trio of bills dubbed the "make polluters pay" package…

Social Issues

play sound

This week, National Voter Registration Day was another timely reminder for Ohioans preparing for the 2024 general election. The latest reports from …

Menhaden are forage fish species and filter feeders, each capable of filtering up to seven gallons of water per minute. (Photo of female Osprey with Menhaden/TRCP)

Environment

play sound

In Virginia's waters, the decline of a small but critically important fish is causing growing concern among conservation groups and fishermen alike…

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado voters will decide whether to change the state's constitution to ensure families have school choice as a fundamental right. Kallie Leyba…

Environment

play sound

By Claire Elise Thompson for Grist.Broadcast version by Kathryn Carley for New Hampshire News Connection reporting for the Grist-Public News Service C…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021