Environment Essay: Environment Plus Chemicals Equals Cancer

According many scientific researchers, our entire population has been dowsed with chemicals. There are several aspects of this dowsing that should concern us. First, and foremost, many of these chemicals are suspected to have damaging health effects on humans, as well as, other life forms. Second, most of these chemicals have only recently been produced so the environment is clearly changing and being challenged by these newcomers. Third, almost all of these chemicals exist in the forms and amounts that they do because of human practices-including agricultural, industrial, and many domestic activities as well. Fourth, many of the chemicals that we produce don't get used in a productive way-that is, they are wasted, disposed of, and/or left abandoned; consider that less than 5 percent of pesticides actually make contact with their host target. Fifth, most, if not all, of the chemicals used have replacements that are much less harmful or toxic. And sixth, and perhaps most discouragingly, many of us knowingly buy and use these chemicals without a moment's hesitation.

Do you think you have been dowsed with chemicals (i.e., overly exposed to toxins found in our environment)? Well, how would you know if you were? If you have lived in Illinois for most of your life, you have certainly been dowsed, and the older you are the more exposure you have undergone. In fact, if you have lived anywhere in the world sometime during the past sixty years, you have been exposed to many toxic substances as well. And, while many of us realize that we have lots of foreign materials in our bodies, ones that are likely damaging to our innards, we don't often give much thought to the matter. Steingraber tells us why this is a very disturbing state of affairs and something that we shouldn't continue to ignore.

Steingraber has spent the bulk of her recent life doing scientific detective work to determine how widely people have been exposed to toxic chemicals, and, more importantly, what effects have these exposures have had on human lives. Her investigative research has uncovered the following key pieces of information that warrant our immediate attention; we are certainly indebted to her for bringing many of these findings to light: