365 Ways #125–President’s Cancer Panel Recommendations

#125–A 2008-2009 report from the President’s Cancer Panel says that the “risk of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated,” that “nearly 80,000 chemicals [are] on the market in the United States, many of which are … understudied and largely unregulated,” and that “the public remains unaware … that children are far more vulnerable to environmental toxins and radiation than adults.”

Some of the recommendations are:

• 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. Ideally, both mothers and fathers should avoid exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

• It is preferable to use filtered tap water instead of commercially bottled water.

• Exposure to pesticides can be decreased by choosing … food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers [i.e. organics] and washing conventionally grown produce to remove residues.

• Exposure to antibiotics, growth hormones, and toxic run-off from livestock feedlots can be minimized by eating free-range meat [i.e. don’t eat conventionally raised meat].