WUC

Thank you for your work-

We have little understanding of how the synergy of interacting chemicals blend and what those outcomes are to human health.

When we are dealing with children for me "suspected" harm is good enough when making choices for my own family especially when it comes to the unnecessary exposures such as lawn and garden pesticides, a choice of toys and or some types of foods that are known and or suspected of posing a risk to human health.

If there is an opportunity to reduce the unnecessary and preventable environmental exposures that may be suspected of doing harm to human health..as parents we should take precautionary steps if we can and especially when it comes to children.

Children are different from adults. Pound for pound, children eat more food, drink more water, and breathe more air than adults. Thus, they are likely to be exposed to substances in their environment at higher levels than are adults. Exposure to toxicants may result in irreversible damage, even though the same exposure to a mature system may result in little or no damage.

While sounds science is critical when working to reduce the environmental exposures that are both "suspected" and or "known" to cause harm to human health; in the case of children we need to be especially sensitive to how these exposures may impact children.

Bill Couzens, Founder Lesscancer.org posted 03/28/2008 at 11:47:32

Your point is well taken. Poverty is at the base of many public health concerns. Your work is to be commended. And I am grateful for all you are doing.

The Hilton Foundation has always understood the importance of taking care of children. Your water programs save millions of lives. You have responded to one of the world"s most critical needs.

In the work to prevent cancer causing environmental exposures scientist too are looking at the condition of water in this country. And while water is abundant in this county sound science is discovering we are exposing ourselves to series of chemical and pharmaceutical exposures in our drinking water that we are uncertain of its long-term effects.

Scientist have pointed to something called endocrine disruptors which are hormone acting exposures from pharmaceuticals to agricultural pesticides linked to changing and or altering the sex of fish.

Disruption of the endocrine system can occur in various ways. Some chemicals mimic a natural hormone, fooling the body into over-responding to the stimulus (e.g., a growth hormone that results in increased muscle mass), or responding at inappropriate times (e.g., producing insulin when it is not needed). Other endocrine disrupting chemicals block the effects of a hormone from certain receptors (e.g. growth hormones required for normal development). Still others directly stimulate or inhibit the endocrine system and cause overproduction or underproduction of hormones (e.g. an over or under active thyroid). Certain drugs are used to intentionally cause some of these effects, such as birth control pills. In many situations involving environmental chemicals, however, an endocrine effect is not desirable.

These exposures have left a permanent thumbprint in our water.

This all matters in the work to prevent cancer because scientists now tell us that 2/3rds of all cancer comes from outside of the body. Today we have steadily increasing cancers and while the cure is increasing ¦cancer should never be an expected stage of life.

We also do not know how these exposures are affecting children.

Cancer remains the leading cause of death among U.S. children ages 1 to 19 years, second only to accidents.

Children are different from adults. Pound for pound, children eat more food, drink more water, and breathe more air than adults. Thus, they are likely to be exposed to substances in their environment at higher levels than are adults. Exposure to toxicants may result in irreversible damage, even though the same exposure to a mature system may result in little or no damage.

While the cure for cancer is critical, in the larger picture we must look at the road to less cancer. We must look to our environment where there are commonplace cancer causing environmental exposures.

The environment of today is the proverbial mirror for human health. Our role is charged with reducing the unnecessary and preventable exposures that have taken on the everyday landscape in our own lives those known to have caused cancer and those we suspect to have caused cancer.

We must keep our eye on the goal this is all about prevention not panic.

The work that the Hilton Foundation is doing to save lives is commendable ¦and pressing¦they are addressing critical and urgent needs.

All foundations should be so effective.


Bill Couzens, Founder,Lesscancer.org



posted 03/22/2008 at 10:08:17