The Latest Outrage: Senate Bill to Honor Rachel Carson
Blocked by Chemical Industry Interests
by Jeffrey Dach MD
_________________________________________
Tom Coburn Calls Rachel Carson's Work "Junk Science"
 Rachel Carson, a marine biologist and a longtime resident of Silver Spring MD would have turned 100 years this Sunday if she had not died of breast cancer in 1964. Her landmark book, "Silent Spring", is credited with spurring the formation of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in 1970 and the banning of DDT in 1972 (in the US). (1) (2) (3) (4)
Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.) had intended to submit a senate resolution celebrating the lifetime achievements of Rachel Carson. (5)
Left Image: Rachel Carson Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Unfortunately, the proposed bill was effectively blocked by Republican Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn, M.D., in a move seeming to represent the interests of the chemical and pesticide industry. Senator Tom Coburn commented that DDT was important for malaria control. How much malaria have you seen in the US lately, Tom? Let me answer that for you; very little. Malaria has been eradicated in the US since the 1950's. Of the 1,337 malaria cases reported for 2002 in the United States, all but five were imported, i.e., acquired in malaria-endemic countries outside the US. There were 8 reported deaths from malaria in the US in 2002. (6)
Breast cancer mortality here in the US is 5 THOUSAND times greater than malaria mortality. 178,480 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 40,460 women will die of cancer of the breast in 2007 in the US. (7 ) (8 )
The Breast Cancer-Pesticide Link
The pesticide-breast cancer link was clearly shown in research from Israel which linked three pesticides found in dairy products to increased cancer in mice. After a public outcry in 1978, the Israeli government was forced to ban the three pesticides, Benzene Hexachloride, DDT, and Lindane . After the banning of these pesticides in Israel, breast cancer mortality rates (which had increased every year for 25 years), dropped nearly 8 per cent for all age groups and dropped more than a thirty-three percent for women ages 25-34 in 1986. (9) (10)
Why would Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. make the serious mistake of calling Rachel Carson's work "junk science"? It's my guess that Senator Tom Coburn never learned about the pesticide-breast cancer connection in medical school, or perhaps he unwittingly expressed the sentiment of the pesticide/chemical industry which tends to malign environmentalists such as Rachel Carson.
Since her death from breast cancer in 1964, Rachel Carson has come to be celebrated as a hero by environmentalists. The title “Silent Spring” refers to the sad absence of songbirds in springtime because they die from eating insects containing toxic amounts of DDT and other pesticides.
Pesticides sprayed on our food supply move right up the food chain to us humans where they build up in the tissues of the body causing hormonal disruption, toxic effects on the nervous system and increased cancer risk. As you might guess, this is a lengthy topic. Suffice it to say that that the chemical structure of DDT is very similar to DES (Diethylstilbestrol), a synthetic estrogen which was banned because it causes cervical cancer in the daughters of women given DES during pregnancy. (11) (12) (12a) (13)
DDT was banned in 1964, and DES was banned in 1971. The Silent Spring Institute continues the legacy of Rachel Carson, and has focused on chemicals in the environment which cause breast cancer as hormonal disruptors. (14)
Thanks to efforts made by Rachel Carson, the Silent Spring Institute, and others, the EPA has banned the following endocrine disruptor chemicals: PCBs, chlordane, DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, kepone, toxaphene, and 2,4,5-T . (15)
Rachel Carson’s work reminds us to avoid these toxic chemicals and hormone disruptors. By doing so, we may reduce the risk of breast cancer and a host of other health problems. Other scientists such as Theo Colborn have continued Rachel Carson line of investigation with the book, “Our Stolen Future” which describes in detailed scientific terms the effect of endocrine disruptor chemicals on the developing fetus of animals in the wild as well as in us humans. (16) (17) (18) One example from Theo Colborn's book describes reproductive failure in Florida Alligators attributed to DDT and other pesticides dumped into the Everglades. The Pesticides were detected in the alligator egg shells. (19) (20)
Ten Ways to Reduce Your Exposure to Chemicals and Decrease Cancer Risk (19)
1. Use glass containers in the microwave and encourage your family/friends to do the same. Some plastic containers contain hormone disruptor chemicals that can leach into food when they are heated.
2. Ask for dry cleaning services that do not use “PERC” or ask for “wet cleaning.” The familiar smell of dry cleaning comes from residues of perchloroethylene (PERC) which are under study for breast cancer and are associated with other cancers.
3. Pthalates: Take time to read labels and avoid “phthalates” and “fragrance” in products. Phthalates are endocrine disrupting compounds that have been associated with cancer, impaired fertility, and male birth defects. They are found in hundreds of products including shampoo, lotion, perfume, cosmetics, vinyl and plastics, including toys. They are now being monitored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The most common phthalates are: dibutyl phthalate (DBP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), and diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), and phthalates are often an ingredient in “fragrance.” Look for labels that say “phthalate-free” and ask for products that are phthalate-free.
4. When grilling foods, minimize “char” by reducing the heat level and/or using marinades. “ Char” contains PAHs – polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – that are known to cause mammary tumors in animals.
5. Purchase organic foods when possible to reduce your exposure to pesticides and protect your family. Many pesticides are endocrine disruptors. Pesticides are also known to affect brain development and neurological function.
6. Monitor what goes down the drain in your home. Never put cleaning solvents, pesticides, paint thinners, automobile oil, or gas down a drain.
7. Remember that all vacuum cleaners are not created equal. Carpets can harbor pesticides, mold and allergens, flame retardants, and other chemicals. Vacuums with strong suction, a brush on/off switch, a multi-layered bag for dust collection, and a HEPA filter are considered the best to avoid recycling dust back into the air.
8. Look for electronic equipment and furniture without PBDEs. PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) are commercially produced flame retardants that are often added to polyurethane foam, various plastics, and electronics equipment. They are endocrine disruptors that affect thyroid hormones.
9. Use organic practices for gardening/lawn care, and encourage neighbors to do the same. Pesticides and herbicides used on gardens and lawns are tracked into the house on shoes and by pets. Children and pets that play on the lawn are exposed, and the chemicals can leach into waterways and drinking water wells.
10. Encourage your town to adopt policies of using natural/non-toxic solvents in public buildings, especially schools, and using organic practices in the care of green spaces. Using safer cleaners and eliminating pesticides on a town-wide basis will reduce exposure to compounds that mimic estrogen or otherwise disrupt hormones.
Our Breast Cancer Prevention Program:
Of course, the essential mineral Iodine is the essential ingredient of our breast cancer prevention program discussed in a previous newsletter. (20)
In addition to Iodine, I3C (Indole-3 carbinol) and DIM (Di-Indole Methane) are broccoli extracts which are over the counter nutritional supplements which have been carefully studied and shown to have a beneficial effect on human estrogen metabolism. (21) (22) (23) (24) (25)
Without boring you with the biochemistry, suffice it to say that the the breakdown and elimination of estrogen by the liver is beneficially diverted towards the 16 hydroxy pathway to estriol and away from the 2 hydroxy pathway which requires a methylation reaction. The net result is a decrease in breast cancer risk with the use of DIM.
If you are taking bio-identical hormone supplementation, it is important that you also add DIM to your supplement program. Call Marisol at the office 954 983 1443, and she will place an order for DIM which can be delivered to your shipping address, or stop by the office to pick it up.
One final update: A Quiet Victory for Rachel Carson
The Post Office in Rachel Carson’s home town, Springdale, Pennsylvania, has been named in her honor. The ceremony at the Post Office was held on May 27, 2008.
Latest Updates:
Breast Cancer and Pesticide DDT, DDE Bibliography, The original DDT bibliography was developed and posted 8.08.96 by Suzanne M. Snedeker, Ph.D BCERF Research Project Leader. Selected sections were updated by Erica Allgyer in the spring of '00 as a part of an undergraduate independent study project. Other sections were updated in October and November of 2000, and February of 2001 by Dr. Snedeker and Michael Marshall, undergraduate Research Assistant.
Breast Cancer Linked To Pesticide DDT, Study Suggests ScienceDaily (Oct. 9, 2007)
Jeffrey Dach MD
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References
(1) www.silentspring.org/newweb/about/rachel.html
(2) www.amazon.com/Silent-Spring-Rachel-Carson/dp/0395683297
(3) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Spring
(4) www.worldofmolecules.com/pesticides/ddt.htm
(5) www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/22/AR2007052201574.html
(6) www.cdc.gov/malaria/facts.htm"
(7) seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/breast.html
(8) seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2004/results_single/sect_01_table.01.pdf
(9) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=pubmed"
(10)
http://www.bcaction.org/Pages/SearchablePages/1992Newsletters/Newsletter013B.html
(10a) Jerome B. Westin and Elihu Richter of the Unit for Environmental and Occupational Medicine of Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Medicine in Jerusalem. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 609, 1990.
(10b) Jerome B. Westin and Elihu Richter, "The Israeli Breast-Cancer Anomaly," in Devra Lee Davis and David Hoel, editors, TRENDS IN CANCER MORTALITY IN INDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES (New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1990), pgs. 269-279.
(11) www.ehponline.org/docs/1996/104-12/shelbyfig1.GIF
(12) www.ohiou.edu/news/months/may/347.html
(12a) www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/122/10/778
(13) www.leflaw.com/index.php?module=pagemaster&
PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=20
(14) library.silentspring.org/publications/pdfs/brody_rudel_EHP03.pdf
(15) www.worldofmolecules.com/pesticides/ddt.htm
(16) www.ourstolenfuture.org/index.htm
(17) www.ourstolenfuture.org/Basics/chapters.htm
(18) www.p2pays.org/ref/06/05386.htm
(19) www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1470392
(20) www.brynosaurus.com/funny/alligator/paper/Alligator-Penis-Apopka-Guillette.htm
(21) www.dimfaq.com/site/articles.htm
(22) www.allergyresearchgroup.com/news/letters/2005oct_dim.htm
(23) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17317210
&query_hl=6&itool=pubmed_docsum
(24)http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&
list_uids=16434996&query_hl=10&itool=pubmed_docsum
(25) lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals/i3c/
Jeffrey Dach MD
4700 Sheridan Suite T
Hollywood Fl 33021
954-983-1443
www.jeffreydach.com
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Conflict of Interest Disclaimer: We receive no money from the pharmaceutical industry or from the NIH. We do not sell any products to the public at large. We do however, make available selected nutritional supplements to our office clients at a small markup to cover our costs.
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Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 8:52 PM
To: Jeffrey Dach MD
Subject: Rachel Carson
Dear Dr. Dach:
Much of Rachel Carson's work was junk science.
Have a look at Gordon Edwards at:
http://www.jpands.org/jpands0903.htm page 83.
J. Gordon Edwards, Ph.D. Value of Pesticides to Humanity
The chemical compound that has saved more human lives than any other in history, DDT, was banned by order of one man, the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Public pressure was generated by one popular book and sustained by faulty or fraudulent research. Widely believed claims of carcinogenicity, toxicity to birds, anti-androgenic properties, and prolonged environmental persistence are false or grossly exaggerated. The worldwide effect of the U.S. ban has been millions of preventable deaths.ABSTRACT
-------------------------------The issue of malaria eradication was in third world countries, not the US.
Can you really fault Gordon Edward's paper?
I have other write-ups of the EPA ignoring its own scientists reports to ban it.
Wilhelm Ruckelshaus said he never even read the report, but was known to have banned DDT for political reasons.
Some other reasons for Israeli breast cancer will have to be found.
Very sincerely, --Joel M. Kauffman
Joel M. Kauffman [kauffman@.....net]
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While Rachel Carsen's book became a best seller, and she was voted one of the most INFLUENTUAL people of the 20th century by Time Magazine, Monsanto organized a huge counterattack against her.
Over the years. the connection between pesticides and hormonal disruption has been firmly established in the scientific literature. Hormonal disruption causes a host of reproductive problems. Since the Women’s Health Initiative study, we have known that breast cancer risk is increased by synthetic hormones such as Provera.
On the other hand, it is also true that the use of DDT to control malaria has saved many millions of lives, and I believe that th use of DDT in third world countries to eradicate malaria outweighs the potential harm as a hormone disruptor and breast cancer risk factor in those areas.
However, as mentioned, breast cancer mortality in the US is 5000 times greater than malaria mortality, and therefore breast cancer and other hormonal disrupting effects become of greater significance here. This issue is highly political because it impacts corporate profits from the manufacture and sale of pesticides, and impacts the corporate farm economy which uses pesticides freely and depends on them to insure crop yields. 40,000 women die annually in the US of breast cancer. We can no longer help these women. Do we not have an obligation to do our best to prevent breast cancer in the remainder of the population ?
Useful references and links, both Pro and Con. Evironment VS. Chemical Industry, in a political debate with science distorted to fit the politics.
(1) Pesticide exposure: the hormonal function of the female reproductive system disrupted? Reini W Bretveld Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 2006, 4:30 doi:10.1186/1477-7827-4-30 http://www.rbej.com/content/4/1/30
(2) Extensive bibliography on pesticide exposure.
http://www.organic-center.org/reportfiles/Pesticide_Bibliography_12-26-06.pdf
(3) DDT: A case study in scientific fraud” is the last article written by J. Gordon Edwards, Emeritus Professor of Entomology at San Jose State University, and perhaps the world’s leading authority on DDT, before his untimely death in July of this year. This article first appeared in the peer-reviewed Fall 2004 Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, published by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, and is reprinted with its permission.
http://www.jpands.org/vol9no3/edwards.pdf
(4) Myths and Facts about DDT by Donald E. Waite, DO, MPH.
Waite says DDT does not cause cancer and bird populations actually increased after introduction of DDT. Chemical Industry Postition Paper.
http://www.eco-imperialism.com/Waite%20-%20Facts%20about%20DDT.pdf
(5) Eco-Freaks by Joel M. Kauffman http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/kauffman3.html
(6) Green Hands Dipped In Blood: The DDT Genocide By John Jalsevac August 15, 2005 - LifeSiteNews.com Special Report 1. The Worst Crime of the 20th Century http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005_docs/DDTworstcrime.pdf
(7) A more balanced look at DDT and Silent Spring.
Was Rachel Carson a fraud and is DDT actually safe for humans? The Straight Dope, December 13 2002, by Cecil Adams
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/805839/posts
(8) State of the Evidence : Carcinogenic Chemicals and Breast Cancer
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/atf/cf/{DE68F7B2-5F6A-4B57-9794-AFE5D27A3CFF}/StateofEvidenceBook.v11.pdf
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Rachel Carson's 100th birthday remembrance certainly brought out a diversity of viewpoints.
Was she a visionary who eliminated toxic chemicals from America's environment, or was she a crack pot whose radical actions are responsible for millions of malarial deaths?
I hope that the next centennial anniversary of her birthday will put her accomplishments into proper perspective. In a day in which any chemical that could be safely manufactured and used was approved, she pointed out environmental and human health problems of persistent organic pollutants (POPs)... chemicals designed to kill ... occurring beyond their manufacture and use points. The process of democracy at its finest allowed the analysis, debate and banning of these chemicals over two decades. There is no other arena in history where man has reversed a technological course for environmental reasons. Yea human race!
The use of PCB, DDT, toxaphene, chlordane, heptachlor, Lindane, Aldrin, Dieldrin, hexachlorocyclohexane and hexachlorobenzene were banned in the developed countries because they were suspected of causing cancer or were acutely toxic in the environment. Yea Rachel!
As these bans were pursued in developing countries, argument focused upon malarial vector (mosquito) control. Why? The real battle should have been the use of DDT in general agriculture. When developing countries banned agricultural DDT, what did they use to control pests? Toxaphene!
Banning DDT on grains only, and overseeing its 'discriminate' use for mosquito control would have avoided the spread of DDT in dangerous quantities and controlled mosquitoes. The DDT ban fight became a smokescreen for the use of all the other POPs!!
Now toxaphene, probably the most used pesticide on the planet, circulates through the air from its uses in developing countries and pollutes cold, clear waters from the northern Great Lakes to the Arctic. Lake Superior, a lake the size of the state of Maine with depths going to below sea level. Its waters, if spilled over the continental United States would cover the area to a depth of six feet and is frightfully polluted with foreign toxaphene. Its trout harbor 5 parts per million of toxaphene, ten times the level that would classify them as hazardous waste! This is the legacy of the Green Revolution, the 1960s era export of techology to starving nations.
Arctic polar bear and killer whales are on the edge of survival or decimated by banned pesticides and PCBs. PCBs and pesticides circulate through our air in hundreds of millions of molecules per breathful quantities, amounts that are now being connected to asthma, diabetes and cancer. Inuit ingest 15X a tolerable quantity of poisons.
Rachel Carson was on the right track. Unfortunately, her work is not complete and the planet is still at risk.
Please visit coldclearanddeadly.com for more information.
Melvin J. Visser
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