Following a year filled with baseless attacks on chemicals ranging from phthalates to BPA, a United Nations-sponsored research team released a report blaming these everyday chemicals for an increase in birth deformities, hormonal cancers and psychiatric diseases among many, many other conditions of vague or indeterminate etiology, including cancers of various types, obesity, you-name-it. The report also claims that these Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals could be linked to declines in human male sperm count and female fertility. This report, an update to a 2002 study on the proposed dangers of these chemicals, declares that these chemicals represent a global threat that needs to be resolved.
The authors hypothesized that because the increases in incidence and prevalence cannot be due solely to genetics, it is important to focus on understanding the contribution of the environment to these chronic disease trends in humans. However, they state that this is complicated by the fact that chemical components of many consumer products are not identified by manufacturers, and only a fraction of the many thousands of environmental chemicals have been tested. But they suggest that the studies that have been done looking at the effects of these chemicals on humans and animals, support a link to breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, infertility, asthma, obesity, strokes, and Alzheimer and Parkinson's diseases.
We re not sure what studies they are using to make the claims in this report, but we think they should take another look. The chemicals under attack in this report have been proven safe by scientific studies.
ACSH s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan had this to say: This rubbish reminds me of nothing more than the delusional President s Cancer Panel Report of 2010, in which two experts put together an attack piece against a wide variety of chemicals as carcinogens, based upon similarly thin evidence, mostly from rodent tests and unsupported assertions of anti-chemical groups. Unfortunately, it will soon take its place among the received wisdom of chemophobia-spewing NGOs such as NRDC and EWG, and the followers of Rachel Carson.
