Who will keep the cancer away?

About a month ago, the nation heard that Deborah Rice, an award-winning toxicologist was removed from an EPA panel investigating the toxicological effects of “deca”,a flame retardant used widely in electronics. Their reasoning? There was a “conflict of interest” because she openly believed the chemical was harmful. Nevermind that her “opinion” was based on years of research. I don’t understand why the chemical companies who pressured for her removal weren’t charged with the “conflict of interest”. Who really has more to lose? If deca gets banned, the chemical companies producing it lose millions of dollars. If deca doesn’t get banned…well, nothing changes. Rice doesn’t lose any money, just peace of mind. Who is really looking out for themselves, and who is looking out for the “common well-being”?

I was really upset to hear more news today that the very organizations that we rely on to protect us from harmful substances (EPA, FDA) are relying on producers with financial stakes rather than publicly funded science to make their decisions. And we wonder why we see such high incidences of cancer today…

Well, I was happy to read that some people have recognized this problem and are trying to do something about it. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is looking into the chemical industry’s influence on science in the EPA. It may be too late to protect us from deca (and hundreds of other toxins already prevalent in our environment), but hopefully this is a step in the right direction. Why do people really value economic profits over the health of our communities? Wealth can help fund research to combat cancer, but we can be so much wealthier and healthier if we prevent toxins from getting into our environment in the first place, like this legislation is trying to do.