President’s panel highlights impact of chemicals in contributing to cancer

The President’s Cancer Panel is the Mount Everest of the medical mainstream, so it is astonishing to learn that it is poised to join ranks with the organic food movement and declare: chemicals threaten our bodies.

Nicholas Kristof, after reading an advance copy of the body's forthcoming declaration, says:

The report warns about exposures to chemicals during pregnancy, when risk of damage seems to be greatest. Noting that 300 contaminants have been detected in umbilical cord blood of newborn babies, the study warns that: “to a disturbing extent, babies are born ‘pre-polluted.’ ”

Included in the report are recommendations to choose food grown without pesticides, chemical fertilizers and growth hormones. 

Full story: New York Times (May 5, 2010)