COA Contact Us - City of Alexandria

challenge for the Obama administration, they wrote, is to intensify research efforts
into environmental toxins.
"With the growing body of evidence linking environmental exposures to cancer,
the public is becoming increasingly aware of the unacceptable burden of cancer
resulting from environmental and occupational exposures that could have been
prevented through appropriate national action," Leffal and Smith wrote in the
letter to the president.
Among the potential exposures cited in the report were pesticides, fertilizers,
pharmaceutical byproducts in the water supply, household chemicals and tanning
beds. Emissions from cars, trucks and planes add to the toxic mix, the authors
wrote.
But the authors said there was no evidence connecting the use of cell phones to
increased cancer risk.
While Americans are exposed to thousands of chemicals each year, only several
hundred of those chemicals have been safety tested, Leffal and Smith said.
The study of environmental factors and their effect on cancer has been giving
short shrift compared to studying lifestyle factors and genetic and molecular
causes of cancer, the authors claimed.
But paging through the lengthy report, it was difficult to find solid science to back
that strong statement.
"At this time, we do not know how much environmental exposures influence
cancer risk and related immune and endocrine dysfunction," Leffal and Smith
wrote.
In an interview, Leffal said he hoped the report, if nothing else, would raise
awareness that chemicals and other environmental toxins may be causing cancer
and that more studies are needed.
"We think based on what we know, when you look at all the data, it just appears
to us that there are areas where its been greatly under-reported," Lefall said. "We
don't know 100 percent, but that's why we believe we need to do more research."
The National Toxicology Program, part of the Department of Health and Human
Services, does list some chemicals such as benzene and formaldehyde and some
substances including tobacco as carcinogenic, but environmental factors, such air
pollutants and naturally-occurring chemicals, are less well-understood.
Public awareness about some compounds, such as bisphenol A (BPA), has