Printed on chlorine-free 100% PCW Recycled Paper, with Soy-Inks.
org
“Our Body Burden” of Chemicals: A Call to Action
Continued From Page 5
collaboration, among a growing cadre
of informed and enlightened interests. It
clearly must be based also on prevention
and not just after-the-exposure remedial
efforts to control potentially harmful expo-
sures.
A recent Business Week cover story tells
us that we are “closer than you think” to
a world in which “socially responsible
and eco-friendly practices actually boost
a company’s bottom line.” Those same
practices will boost an entire society’s
bottom line, not only from a financial but
also from an overall perspective. In this
sense, we as a society should move not
from the “cradle-to-grave” philosophy
that became popular in the 1990’s, but
rather to a “cradle-to-cradle” approach
that can lead to an infinite product life-
cycle of ongoing use and usefulness.
We must realize not only that we citizens
have a “right to know” but also that our
governmental leaders have a profound
responsibility to tell us more about the
chemicals that pervade our society. Here,
we must be careful consumers, with a
healthy skepticism of what both govern-
ment and manufacturers tell us. With our
right to know comes our responsibility to
understand.
We must appreciate that the fundamen-
tal principle of criminal law — that the
accused is innocent until proven guilty
— does not translate well to our market-
place, where chemicals in our environ-
ment are too often assumed innocent until
they have been proven to cause harm.
We must keep in mind here, as they say,
that the absence of evidence of harm is
Please share this newsletter and be sure it is recycled.
12
not evidence of an absence of harm. This
reality calls for broadening our practical
application of the precautionary principle
as it is being found increasingly through-
out the European Union: the burden of
demonstrating the safety and efficacy of
chemicals should lie with the manufac-
turer, not on us as citizens having to prove
that those chemicals do cause harm.
Remember, too, that we cannot speak of
these potential harms as they apply only
to a single chemical in isolation. Asking
the human health effects one chemical
at a time simply misunderstands a critical
point: We must also understand the cu-
mulative effects, what scientists call the
synergistic effects of all of them in com-
bination — the “chemical soup” to which
we are unknowingly exposed throughout
our lives.
We can look back on a long list of govern-
ment inactions for which no single politi-
cal party can be held solely responsible.
There are things, too, that manufacturers
of chemicals — and consumers of chemi-
cals, including you and I — must do better,
and it all begins with better informing our-
selves. Recall here Pogo’s admonition that
“We have met the enemy, and it is us.”
Collaboration, again, is the key. There is
much we can do together. But we dare
not wait or procrastinate before also
taking constructive individual actions
to manage our own, and our families’
adverse chemical exposures. You can
contact me to share your views through
teresa@heinzoffice.org
www.environmentaloncology.
Center for Environmental Oncology
Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4
ADDITIONAL Spring 2007 • Volume 1 • Number 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTERNET RESOURCES “Our Body Burden” of
Chemicals: A Call to Action
Beyond Pesticides
Teresa Heinz Kerry
www.beyondpesticides.org
PAGE 4
Breast Cancer Fund
What Green Patriotism Means to Me
www.breastcancerfund.org
David Steinman
Department of Environmental Quality PAGE 6
www.deq.state.mi.us/sid-web
Killing Weeds — Killing Frogs?
Environmental Working Group Herbicides, Toxicity, and Biological Effects
www.ewg.org PAGE 8
Health Care Without Harm Herbicide Toxicity
www.hcwh.org PAGE 10
Healthy Child, Healthy World
UPCOMING EVENTS
www.healthychild.org
MYTHS VS. FACTS ABOUT CANCER AND
OSHA
www.osha.gov
ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS May 9, 2007
12 noon – 1 PM
by: Devra Lee Davis, PhD, MPH, Director, Center for Environmental Oncology of UPCI, Lunch and Learn talk by
Perfectly Natural
Ronald B. Herberman, MD, Director, UPCI and UPMC Cancer Centers Dr. Evelyn Talbott with Dr. Stephen Grant
www.perfectlynatural.com
“Benzene and Cancer”
Recently, the media heralded good news because fewer people are smoking and
The Collaborative on Health and the Environment UPMC Cancer Pavilion
www.healthandenvironment.org with banner headlines and televised lead- more are getting screened for polyps and 5150 Centre Avenue
The CDC in stories: Cancer death rates are going curable stages of colo-rectal cancer. How- Pittsburgh, PA 15232
www.cdc.gov ever, incidence, or new cases of cancer,
down! This is certainly true for all types of Herberman Auditorium, Room 202A
Free healthy lunch served.
The E-House Company cancer combined. But, this is not true for are increasing for a number of specific
Please pre-register at 412-623-1175 or
www.ehousecompany.com a number of specific types of the disease, types of cancer, including non-Hodgkin’s Email: malones@upmc.edu
The Green Guide nor do African Americans share in the lymphoma and childhood cancer. Child-
www.thegreenguide.com same declines as do whites. This newslet- hood cancer is the second largest cause
May 12, 2007
Mother’s Day Celebration and Breast Cancer
The National Cancer Institute ter explores some of the many myths vs. of death in children ages 0-15 in the United Awareness Event
www.nci.nih.gov/cancertopics facts about cancer, the environment, and States (second only to accidents), and 9 AM – 11 AM—Children’s music and activities,
The Rachel Carson Homestead sound public policy. It also features work more than 8,000 new cases are diagnosed raffle for Mom, giveaways
www.rachelcarsonhomestead.org from some leading voices, Teresa Heinz each year. While improvements in treat-
11 AM – 12 Noon—Talk on Women and Breast Cancer
By Talal El-Hefnawy, MD, PhD
Safe 2 Use Kerry and David Steinman, who are edu- ment have reduced deaths from childhood Whole Foods
www.safe2use.com
cating the public about the links between cancer, incidence rates increased nearly 5880 Centre Avenue
Susan G. Komen for the Cure environmental exposures and cancer. As 21% between 1975 and 1998 — approxi- Pittsburgh, PA 15206
cms.komen.org/komen/index.htm Please call 412-623-1175 for more details
always, further information can be found mately 1% each year, and have continued
Venture Outdoors
on our website: to increase until at least 2003. (1) This is Continued on page 2
www.ventureoutdoors.org
www.environmentaloncology.org not due to improved detection (or smoking
Myth: Rates of cancer deaths, of all types or an aging population) but to unexplained,
and in all populations, are going down. environmental influences.
see page 3 sidebar for references.
Total deaths from cancers, indeed, are de- Funding for this newletter is provided by
clining in the United States. This is largely Continued on page 2 The Highmark Foundation and the Heinz Endowments.
 www.environmentaloncology.org CEO-UPCI CEO-UPCI www.environmentaloncology.org

Myths vs. Facts about Cancer and Environmental Risks Herbicide Toxicity
Continued From Page 1 Continued From Page 10

Race also plays an important role in cancer times as likely to have mothers who were filled with a diversity of formulations ad- considered one of the “inert ingredients”
incidences. The American Cancer Society exposed to pesticide sprays or foggers vertised to control the invasion of weeds in this formulation, can be very toxic to
reports that African-American men and during pregnancy compared to healthy and insects both inside and outside the amphibians and other aquatic organisms
women have 40% and 20% higher death children. A report released by the Lowell home. Each year, 2.6 billion pounds of pes- (www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/pesticide/
UPCOMING EVENTS ticides are used in the United States, and risk_assessments/Surfactants.pdf). DECLINES IN SEX RATIO AT BIRTH AND FETAL
rates from all cancers combined when Center for Sustainable Production con-
Continued from page 1 there are notable toxic effects associated
DEATHS IN U.S. AND JAPAN
compared with whites. The use of hor- cluded that instituting measures to reduce Understanding the toxicity of pesticide in-
with their use. Agricultural application ac- Published April 9, 2007 in Environmental Health Perspec-
May 13, 2007 mone-containing personal care products parental and childhood exposures to these gredients is tricky business. Searching for tives by Devra Lee Davis, Pamela Webster, Hillary Stain-
Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure counts for 90% of the pesticide use and
is one possible explanation why young and other substances suspected of caus- the toxicity of several individual pesticides thorpe, Janice Chilton, Lovell Jones, Rikuo Doi
Sponsored by Susan G. Komen Foundation
African American women get more breast ing cancer, including development of safer the balance is used in consumer products, (glyphosate, diquat dibromide, dicamba)
6:30 AM – 9 AM
Schenley Park, Flagstaff Hill cancer than do their white counterparts. substitutes, should play an important role swimming pools, for insect control, and for on the US EPA website (http://www.epa. Whether declines in births of baby boys are con-
Pittsburgh, PA Also, African Americans tend to live and in a cancer prevention strategy. (1) weed control on golf courses, lawns, and gov/IRIS/subst/0223.htm) revealed that, in nected with a number of puzzling patterns in male
work in more polluted areas than do oth- other open fields. each case, the toxicity studies were per- reproductive health is a matter of serious concern.
May 19, 2007 Myth: A small amount of a chemical
er people. While one in eight Americans Several studies — some from the 1980s, early 1990s,
11 AM – 7 PM carcinogen in a children’s product isn’t Use of weed-killers containing glypho- formed by the manufacturer, and I did not
Venture Outdoors Festival and our new paper — show that over the past two
is African American, one in two African dangerous because the level is so low. sate has increased by a factor of 10 over see any mention of independent lab veri-
North Shore Riverfront Park to three decades the births of baby boys have de-
Americans works in a lower paying field Low doses of cancer-causing chemicals the last 15 years. In 1999, the USEPA re- fication of the results. To add to the con-
Pittsburgh, PA clined in Japan, the U.S., England and Wales, Den-
Look for Center for Environmental Oncology’s Table! and in jobs, such as sanitation, which puts are safe because there is a threshold for ported that glyphosate was the second fusion, the environment does not contain
mark, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany,
Call 412-255-0564 for more details them at increased exposure to toxins. cancer induction. most commonly used pesticide and es- individual pollutants, but rather a complex
Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay,
Myth: Most cancers are genetic in nature When experimental animals are tested at timated that up to 33 million kilograms of mixtures of chemicals individuals are ex- Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, and Costa Rica.
June 12, 2007
12 noon – 1 PM so there’s little we can do to protect the lowest parts per billion level — over active ingredient were applied annually to posed to, which adds another dimension Since 1970, the proportion of white boys born in the
Lunch and Learn talk by ourselves. lawns, fields, and golf courses (Donaldson to toxicity assessments. U.S. and Japan has dropped from105.5 boys per 100
Talal El-Hefnawy, MD, PhD, the animal’s lifetime — they develop can-
et al, 2002, National Pesticide Use Data- Some people want to be convinced that girls to 104.6 and from 106.3 to 104.97, respectively.
“Endocrine Disruptors in Common In fact, the National Cancer Institute re- cer. The levels found in some children’s
base, available online). Laboratory stud- chemicals are toxic before they will stop Even such tiny drops in the sex ratio can amount to
Pediatric Conditions” ports that only about one in ten cases of bathing products are one thousand times
(with a focus on genital malformations ies have shown that, depending on the using them. Personally, I try to avoid us- thousands of missing baby boys. For example, if the
breast cancer occur in a woman born with greater and measured in parts per million.
and precocious puberty) dose, glyphosate can be toxic in animal ing pesticides, because if you read the la-
sex ratio in the U.S. and Japan had remained at its
Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh a genetic risk of the disease. An expert The gold standard for cancer protection 1970 rate, almost 137,000 and 125,000, respectively,
studies, causing gastrointestinal effects, bel carefully most of them have warnings
Pittsburgh, PA panel convened by Mt. Sinai Hospital re- widely used by federal agencies is that an more baby boys would have been born between
developmental effects, and possibly can- written on them. Rachel Carson asked a
Room B213-214 cently concluded that genetic predisposi- isolated chemical should not be estimated
cer at specific concentrations. In general, 1970 and 2000. No one knows why this is happen-
Free Healthy Lunch served
tion accounts for no more than 20% of all to cause more than one excess cancer per different question. She wondered why
Call 412-623-1175 to pre-register though, the USEPA does not consider ing, but some interesting clues exist...
childhood cancers and that the environ- one million persons. This is called a one- there was so much enthusiasm for using
or email malones@upmc.edu glyphosate to be very hazardous to birds
mental-attributable fraction of childhood in-one-million risk. chemicals to eradicate pests, especially See www.environmentaloncology.org
and mammals or to fish and invertebrates when this approach required continu-
cancer could be between 5% and 90%, However, cancer risks from exposure for the full article.
(http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0057.htm). ous application of stronger and different
depending on the type of cancer. (1) to cancer-causing chemicals in several
However, Dr. Rick Relyea, a scientist at the chemicals on an ongoing basis. She then
This means that a potentially large percent- products substantially exceed this gold
University of Pittsburgh, has shown that took the time to go out and survey the
age of childhood cancers are preventable. standard. Results from an independent
application of a well-known weed killer damage that these chemicals caused to
One study of pesticide exposures testifies chemical testing laboratory, released a
containing glyphosate and the surfactant the environment and her message was
to the detrimental effects of toxic chemi- month ago, found this probable human Sources: Alternatives to Pesticides Sidebar
POEA, when applied at concentrations chilling. This year, in honor of Rachel Car-
cals on children’s health, specifically in carcinogen, also known as para-dioxane, Beyond Pesticides – National Coalition Against the Misuse
suggested by the manufacturer, killed 98% son, I recommend that people read Silent
relation to cancers. In this study, children in some common children’s shampoos at of Pesticides: www.beyondpesticides.org
of all frog tadpoles within three weeks and Spring and think about Carson’s message
with leukemia were 4 to 7 times as likely levels higher than those recommended by Children’s Health and the Environment Coalition
79% of all juvenile frogs within one day and its continuing relevance as we search
to have been exposed to pesticides used the US Food and Drug Administration. The – HealtheHouse: http://www.checnet.org/healthehouse/
Shadyside Medical Building UPMC Cancer Pavillion (Relyea, R. The lethal impact of roundup for the causes of rising rates of chronic home/home.asp
in the yard or garden compared to chil- Environmental Working Group, (www.ewg.
on aquatic and terrestrial amphibians. As disease and cancer today.
dren without the disease. Another study org), a research and advocacy organiza-
Spring 2007 found that children with leukemia were 11 tion, estimates that more than a quarter
it turns out, the POEA surfactant, which is Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4 Volume 1 • Number 4
Continued on page 3

2 Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute 11
 www.environmentaloncology.org
ALTERNATIVES TO PESTICIDES
If you have cockroaches, try:
• Bay leaves
• Fine dusting of boric acid
• Equal parts of boric acid powder or baking
soda mixed with powdered sugar (avoid use
on countertops, etc.)
• Equal parts of oatmeal, flour, & Plaster of Paris
• Bait boxes
Ants:
• Sprinkle black pepper, chili powder, or chalk
• Brush a 1 to 10 mixture of lavender & olive oil
into the tracks that ants follow
• Ants are known to avoid ferns & juniper leaves,
lavender flowers, & goldenrod
Moths:
• Cedar balls or chips
• Lavender
Fleas:
• Vacuum thoroughly & frequently
• Wash pet bedding weekly in hot soapy water.
Spray pet daily with 50/50 mixture of white
vinegar & water
• Mix brewer’s yeast, Vitamin B, or garlic tablets
with pet food
• Rub animal’s coat with fennel, rue & rosemary
• Enzyme shampoos
Mice & Rats:
• Lavender, cedar oil, or camphor will repel them
• Traps
• Baits
• Place cotton balls saturated with peppermint
oil in areas of rodent activity
Continued on page 11
Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4
10 Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
CEO-UPCI
Copyright Maryann Donovan, 2007
Herbicide Toxicity
by Maryann Donovan, MPH, PhD, Scientific Director, CEO of UPCI;
Associate Director, Research Services, UPCI; Assistant Professor, Department of
Pathology, University of Pittsburgh
This year, 2007, is the 100 year anniversary
of Rachel Carson’s birth. Rachel Carson, a
biologist, published Silent Spring in 1962.
With this book, she launched the environ-
mental movement by raising many issues
about the disconcerting changes that she
and others observed in the world around
them — in the woods, in the fields, in the
parks, and even in their suburban yards. It
was the 1950’s, and chemicals, including
herbicides and pesticides, were the new
weapons being advertised to control the
encroachment of weeds and insects into
communities, neighborhoods, and homes.
Consistently, Rachel Carson and the other
“environmental detectives” were able to
correlate the application of chemicals for
“weed” or “pest” control with the death
of songbirds, the destruction of non-tar-
get plants, and the pollution of lakes and
streams resulting in the death of fish. All
of the evidence suggested that there was
a link between application of these chemi-
cals and environmental damage, but this
was the dawn of the environmental move-
ment when it was much more difficult for
biologists to show the mechanism be-
tween exposure to these chemicals and
the destruction that was being observed
in the environment.
I recently re-read Silent Spring. In addi-
tion to being impressed with the observa-
tions that Rachel Carson made about the
effects of pollution on ecology, another
fact made an impression as well: Rachel
Carson reported that the application of
massive quantities of chemicals only tem-
porarily controlled the plant and insect
pests. Invariably, the “pests” developed
resistance that required continuous reap-
plication of more and varied toxins.
Now, 45 years later, the chemicals may
have changed, but the shelves of hard-
ware and home and garden stores are
Continued on page 11
CEO-UPCI www.environmentaloncology.org
Myths vs. Facts about Cancer and Environmental Risks
Continued From Page 2
of all personal-care-products sold in the and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of
United States may contain this cancer- Cosmetics and Colors, that an error was
causing agent. present in the Public Health Statement of
A recently published (February 15, 2007) the toxicological profile. The FDA pointed Citation for Myth vs Facts article
“Newsweek” article stated, “The pres- out to ATSDR that the FDA had not recom- (1) 1Gouveia-Vigeant, T. & Tickner, J. “Toxic chemicals and
ence of a cancerous agent at levels above mended a limit for 1, 4-dioxane in cosmetic childhood cancer: A review of the evidence.” Lowell Center for
those suggested by the FDA is disturbing products.” In fact, the only FDA recom- Sustainable Production, University of Massachusetts Lowell,
enough. The idea that such a compound mendation about 1, 4-dioxane pertains to One University Avenue, Lowell, Massachusetts 01854. Viewed
at http://www.sustainableproduction.org/downloads/Child%20
exists at any amount in any products that levels in adhesives and food additives. (3)
Canc%20Exec%20Summary.pdf.
can be in regular contact with babies’ skin The ATSDR revised notice advises con-
(2) Devra Davis. “Cancer: How Dangerous Are Our Cosmetics?”
is even more disconcerting. Scientists sumers to read labels: Newsweek February 15, 2007 3.
have long known that certain chemicals “1, 4-dioxane may be a contaminant in
(3) Toxicological Profile for 1,4 Dioxane. The Agency for Toxic
like paradioxane can cause cancer...Now cosmetics, detergents, and shampoos that Substances and Disease Registry. July 2006 http://www.atsdr.
we’re beginning to realize that the sum to- cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp187.html#bookmarkdisclaimer
contain the following ingredients (which
tal of a person’s exposure to all the little may be listed on the product label): “PEG,” (4) http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs187.
amounts of cancerous agents in the envi- html#bookmark07
“polyethylene,” “polyethylene glycol,”
ronment may be just as harmful as big dos- “polyoxyethylene,” “-eth-“ or “-oxynol-.” (5) “Cosmetic Handbook” U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
es of a few well-known carcinogens.”(2) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. FDA/IAS*Booklet:
*Most manufacturers remove 1, 4-dioxane 1992 http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-hdb3.html
The combined effects of our lifetime expo- from these ingredients to concentrations
(6)Black, R.E., Hurley, F.J., Havery, D.C., Journal of AOAC Inter-
sure to dioxane and other carcinogens can recommended by the FDA as safe. Thus, national, Vol.84, No. 3, 2001.
create synergistic effects, so what may most products on the market today contain
(7) European Union Council Directive. “ The Rules Governing
look like low exposure levels for any one 1,4-dioxane in very small amounts or not at Cosmetic Products in the European Union”, Approximation of
compound adds up and even multiplies. all. However, some cosmetics, detergents, the laws of the Member States relating to cosmetic products
and shampoos may contain 1, 4-dioxane (76/768/EEC). 27 July 1976, p. 27. Viewed at : Annex II List
Myth: We are protected, thanks to the FDA, of Substances Which Cosmetic Products Must Not Contain:
which has established a recommended at levels higher than recommended by the
#342, Dioxane. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.
level of no more than 10 parts per million FDA. Because products contaminated at do?uri=CELEX:31976L0768:EN:NOT
in consumer products. concentrations higher than the FDA-rec-
ommended levels are not possible to deter-
David Steinman’s research, discussed in
mine without testing, families should avoid
his book Safe Trip to Eden and additional
using products containing the ingredients CANADA’S CAMPAIGN AGAINST CANCER
studies after the book was published,
listed above unless the manufacturer can The Canadian government, along with labor and
shows that at least 15 percent of cosmetic
guarantee that 1, 4-dioxane is below the environmental groups, are mounting revolutionary
products with 1,4-dioxane exceed the FDA
FDA-recommended level. (4) policies to prevent cancer. Look for the forthcoming
recommended upper limit. But since these
book Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable
so-called limits are only voluntary, com- In 1992, 1, 4-dioxane was listed as a Epidemic (New Society Publishers) by Guy
panies not meeting them face no conse- banned ingredient in cosmetics. (5) But, Dauncey, Liz Armstrong and Anne Wordsworth.
quences from the federal government. in 2001, FDA scientists reported finding
Please visit these websites for more information:
increased levels in a number of consumer
Within a day of the “Newsweek” article Cancer Care Ontario www.cancercare.on.ca
products. (6) Within the past few years,
appearing, ATSDR, an agency charged Canadian Cancer Society www.cancer.ca
the European Union has banned the use of
with evaluating toxic hazards, withdrew
para-dioxane in all personal care products
from its website the toxicological profile and recently initiated a recall of any con-
of 1, 4-dioxane. The revised posting as of
taminated products, including a number of
Spring 2007
April, 2007 says, “In February, 2007, ATSDR
children’s bath products. (7) Volume 1 • Number 4
was informed by the Director of the Food
Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute 3
 www.environmentaloncology.org
This Moment
on Earth
Today’s New
Environmentalists
and their Vision
for the Future
A new book by John Kerry
and Teresa Heinz Kerry
This optimistic book
highlights more than a dozen grassroots environmental
activists and describes how the search for solutions to
our pressing environmental problems is uniting people
world-wide. In this passionate and personal book,
John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry shine the light on
an inspiring cross-section of these new environmental
pioneers and offer a guide on how you, too, can get
involved to protect the world. “Environmentalism isn’t
dead,” they write. “It’s just being reborn — the very idea
of what it means to be an ‘environmentalist’ is being
revolutionized. People from all walks of life, without
concern for party or ideological lines, are coming
together in unprecedented numbers across the globe.”
www.womenshealthandenvironment.org
Citation “Citation from Our Body
Burden of Chemicals: A Call to Action.”
Cone, Marla, Silent Snow: The Slow Poisoning of the Arctic,
Grove Press, New York, NY (April 2005)
“The Pollution Within”, National Geographic Magazine,
October 2006 http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0610/
feature4/index.html
Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4
4 Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
CEO-UPCI
“Our Body Burden” of Chemicals:
A Call to Action
by Teresa Heinz Kerry excerpted with permission from “Women’s Health & Environment
News,” (A Project of the Heinz Family Philanthropies), February 2007 issue
Veteran prize-winning environmental
journalist Marla Cone, of the Los Angeles
Times, caught the attention of many with
her award-winning book Silent Snow: The
Slow Poisoning of the Arctic. Cone’s work
shows that it is not merely city dwellers
or those living near major metropolitan
areas who face these daunting chemical
body burdens.
“The Arctic is the last place on Earth I
expected to find the world’s most severe
toxic contamination,” she wrote. Few sto-
ries over her 19-year environmental re-
porting career “have astonished me and
intrigued me as much as the discovery of
a toxic legacy haunting the Arctic,” a phe-
nomenon she now sadly labels the “Arctic
Paradox.”
“How could the Arctic, seemingly un-
touched by contemporary ills, so inno-
cent, so primitive, so natural, be home
to the most contaminated people on the
planet?” she wondered. Cone added that
she herself had grown up “oblivious to
such concerns” in her childhood home
on the shores of Lake Michigan, “in one
of the nation’s most toxic hot spots at the
dawn of the environmental movement.”
Her story is a truly riveting example of just
how pervasive and lurking — yet how
seemingly invisible — these toxic burdens
have become in our own “normal” bodies
and those of our family members.
But again I ask: Are we hearing? And are
we listening and understanding? And then
acting on those understandings?
One more example, this one from National
Geographic, also from 2006.
“I’m a writer engaged in a journey of
chemical self-discovery,” David Ewing
Duncan wrote in “The Pollution Within.”
He had himself tested for 320 chemicals.
“I might have picked up from food, drink,
the air I breathe, and the products that
touch my skin — my own secret stash of
compounds acquired by merely living.”
The National Geographic funded his
$15,000 worth of tests to “learn what
substances build up in a typical Ameri-
can over a lifetime, and where they might
come from.”
“I hope you are not nervous, but this con-
centration is very high,” a Stockholm toxi-
cologist told him after reviewing the test
results...
Overall, Duncan’s blood test results, “read
like a chemical diary from 40 years ago,”
he wrote, with traces of several banned
and restricted chemicals (DDT and its
breakdown products DDE), termite-killers
chlordane and heptachlor, and lots more.
Curious about his newly discovered body-
borne “inventory of household chemicals,”
Duncan turned the test results over to his
internist. That physician “admits that he,
too, knows little about these chemicals,
other than lead and mercury. But he con-
firms that I am healthy, as far as he can
tell. He tells me not to worry.”
What about the cumulative impacts of that
chemical soup combination? Duncan re-
ported that a Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) expert advised him
that the combination “might have additive
effects, or they might be antagonistic, or
they may do nothing. We don’t know.”
Continued on page 5
CEO-UPCI
Killing Weeds — Killing Frogs?
Herbicides, Toxicity, and Biological Effects
Continued From Page 8
tion of frogs (Hayes, T. et al. Feminization
of male frogs in the wild. Nature 419: 895-
96,2002).
Is there evidence that contamination
of food, air and water with atrazine may
have health effects for humans? The an-
swer is yes, there is some evidence. But,
like many studies of chemicals, the data
are not always clear and absolute. In 2006,
the California EPA published a risk assess-
ment for atrazine use in California (Gam-
mon D., et al. Pest Manag. Sci 61:331-355,
2006). Near the end of this comprehensive
report (p. 351-352) comments about endo-
crine (hormone) effects of atrazine and
cancer studies in humans and animals
are mentioned. The authors summarize
published evidence showing that atra-
zine delays onset of puberty in male rats,
inhibits estrogen binding in vitro and in
vivo, and causes a premature termination
of reproduction and an increase in breast
tumors in female rats. In other reports, at-
razine caused cells in culture to increase
expression of aromatase, and this mecha-
nism might explain the reduced testoster-
one and increased estrogen measured in
the blood of male rats. All of the effects
Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
observed in these laboratory and animal
studies are consistent with atrazine act-
ing like a hormone directly or indirectly
by changing the enzymes involved in hor-
mone metabolism. This same report also
alludes to several studies suggesting that
occupational exposure to atrazine, either
through manufacturing or farming, may
increase the risk of prostate cancer al-
though not all studies show this effect.
Hormones are very important for human
biology and the timing, amounts, and types
of hormones present are tightly regulated
in humans. Like frogs, in addition to our
own hormones, we are being exposed to
“endocrine disrupting” chemicals in our
air, food, and water. We know that humans
harbor measurable levels of potentially
toxic environmental pollutants in their tis-
sues. The relationship between body-bur-
den levels of these chemicals and chronic
disease and cancer is actively being stud-
ied by many scientists including research-
ers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer
Institute. We look forward to sharing the
results from these research studies as we
get clues about the role that these chemi-
cals may play in cancer progression.
www.environmentaloncology.org
6. Why does storm and water runoff from parking lots
cause pollution in our receiving streams and main rivers?
It carries with it parking lot surface materials
that are carcinogens like polynuclear aromatic
hydrocarbons, naphthalene and creosote and oils,
grease and gasoline, volatile organic compounds
and additionally, animal and pet feces.
7. Are there water problems in the Southwestern
Pennsylvania region related to unsafe levels of nitrates
in water?
Yes, Unsafe levels of nitrates have been reported in the
Connoquenessing Creek affecting the water supply of
Zelienople and in rural areas and main stem rivers. Children
are particularly susceptible to water high in nitrates.
It can cause the development of methemoglobinemia,
which affects the ability to deliver oxygen to tissue as
well as developmental and neurological problems.
8. What forms of pollution increase because of
unsustainable commercial or residential development?
The forms that increase are biological oxygen demand
(BOD-a proxy measure for human and/or pet waste);
chemical oxygen demand (COD-a proxy measure for the
amount of organic chemicals in the water); total nitrogen
(fertilizers), phosphates and suspended solids; and the
metals- lead, copper, zinc, cadmium, chromium; nickel.
9. Is radon 222, the gas, a problem for residents of
Pennsylvania?
Yes, In a study of the Allegheny-Monongahela basin
over half of the groundwater samples tested were
above the EPA proposed MCL for radon in drinking
water. And, although radon sampling is required for
municipal sources there are no requirements to test for
or remediate high radon in water levels in private wells.
10. Is arsenic a problem in drinking water?
Yes, arsenic is present in drinking water from
geological deposits in many areas of the United
States and Western Pennsylvania. It also comes from
confined animal feeding lots and legacy iron and steel
production. Exposure to arsenic in drinking water has
been associated with many adverse health effects
including lung, bladder, liver and skin cancers.
All references can be found on our website
www.environmentaloncology.org
Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4
9
 www.environmentaloncology.org
WATER POLLUTION IN
SOUTHWESTERN PA
By Conrad Dan Volz, DrPH, MPH, Co-Director,
Division of Environmental Assessment and Control
1. What is the most serious water pollution problem
in the Southwestern Pennsylvania area?
Overflow of outdated combined sewers and
sanitary sewers directly into our streams and rivers
is the most serious water pollution problem.
2. What environmental public health threat
does sewer overflows present?
Sewer overflows threaten public health through
endemic or epidemic infection from human
pathogens such as the bacteria E. coli or the
parasites Cryptosporidium and Giardia.
3. Are there Cryptosporidium or Giardia
oocystes in western Pennsylvania water?
Yes. Alarmingly, studies at and downstream from
sewage outfalls in main stem rivers and tributaries
near Pittsburgh, PA have shown elevated levels of the
human parasites Cryptosporidium and even higher
levels of Giardia. This poses a risk to our drinking
water and individuals coming in contact with the water
while fishing or during other recreational activities.
4. Isn’t epidemic waterborne bacterial infection
a thing of the past in the United States?
No. In 1993 there was a massive epidemic of
Cryptosporidiosis in Milwaukee that sickened
over 400,000 people and killed at least 40
people with weakened immune systems.
5. Who is most at risk for contracting a
waterborne infectious disease?
Anglers and other water recreationalists
are at most risk due to fish consumption
and direct contact with contaminants.
See Article in Scientific American
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=01DC8631-
E7F2-99DF-3D0A925F84E60223&chanID=sa003
Continued on page 9
Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4
8 Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
CEO-UPCI
Killing Weeds — Killing Frogs?
Herbicides, Toxicity, and Biological Effects
by Maryann Donovan, MPH, PhD, Scientific Director, CEO of UPCI
Dr. Tyrone Hayes, Professor of Integra-
tive Biology at Berkeley, has studied frogs
since he was a little boy. In February 2007,
he visited the Center for Environmental
Oncology of UPCI to speak about his stud-
ies of the effects of pesticides on frogs,
specifically the pesticides that act like
hormones, also called “disruptors.” Run-
off from pesticide application can lead to
contamination of water sources including
small puddles, lakes, streams, and ground-
water. Amphibians, such as frogs, live in
and near water making them vulnerable to
contaminants. In a recent paper, Dr. Hayes
discussed the effect on frog development
when larvae or adults were exposed to
herbicides (atrazine, metolachlor, alachlor,
nicosulfuron), insecticides (cyfluthrin, cy-
halothrin, tebupirimphos), and fungicides
(metalaxyl, propiconizole) either individu-
ally or in combination (Hayes, T.B. et al.
Pesticide mixtures, endocrine disruption,
and amphibian declines: are we underes-
timating the impact? Environmental Health
Perspectives 114: supplement 1, 2006).
He chose these pesticides because they
represented the actual pesticide mixture
that was being applied to cornfields in the
Midwest. Compared with the individual
pesticides, the mixtures had much more
significant effects. Exposure of frog lar-
vae to mixtures of the chemicals caused
a significant delay in the initiation of meta-
morphosis and retarded growth resulting
in smaller animals. Seventy percent of the
animals exposed to the nine-compound
mixture were unable to sit upright.
Certainly, at least in part,
endocrine disrupting
chemicals in the envi-
ronment may be contributing to the decline
in amphibians being reported globally.
One of the chemicals included in Dr. Hayes’
study was atrazine, the most commonly
used herbicide in the United States and
probably the world. Because of concerns
about toxicity, atrazine is banned in Eu-
rope. In the United States, by contrast, the
EPA estimates that 65-70 million pounds
of atrazine is applied mostly to corn, sor-
ghum, and sugarcane fields. Dr. Hayes has
spent almost 10 years studying the effects
of atrazine, an endocrine disruptor, on frog
development. In his laboratory studies, he
exposed Rana pipiens, the leopard frog,
larvae to different concentration of atra-
zine ranging from 0, 0.1, or 25 parts per bil-
lion (ppb). The animals were exposed from
just after hatching until tail resorption was
complete. Only exposed males developed
eggs in the testes (testicular oocytes) and
other gonadal abnormalities. You might
wonder if this was just a laboratory phe-
nomenon and so did Dr. Hayes. To address
that question, Dr. Hayes and his research
team went out into the field to evaluate
frogs from 8 different sites located be-
tween Iowa and Utah. They used records
of atrazine sales, locally, to identify po-
tentially contaminated sites. For controls,
they evaluated frogs from non-agricultural
regions in Iowa, Utah, Wisconsin, and Ne-
braska that reported low atrazine sales.
Levels of atrazine were measured in the
water taken from each site and only one
site had levels too low to be measured
and this was the only
site where testicular
oocytes were not ob-
served in the local popula-
Continued on page 9
CEO-UPCI www.environmentaloncology.org
WORK-RELATED CANCER RISKS
Table 1: Industrial Processes
Carcinogenic to Humans:
Aluminum and coke production
Auramine and Isopropyl alcohol manufacture
Coal gasification
Coal-tar pitches
Furniture manufacture
Iron and steel founding
“Our Body Burden” of Chemicals: A Call to Action Manufacture of magenta
Nickel refining
Continued From Page 4
Rubber industry
He also quoted the chair of the California I believe, too, that we must not allow the
Shoe manufacture and repair
Senate Health Committee, Deborah Oritz, pursuit of perfection to impede our com- Underground hematite mining
as cautioning that “the key is knowing mitment to progress.
Table 2: Individuals with Increased
more about these substances, so we are We must appreciate that our actions may
Cancer Risk due to Occupation:
not blindsided by unexpected hazards.” forever be based on incomplete knowl-
Hair dressers and barbers
“We benefit from these chemicals,” Ortiz edge of all there is to know about the po-
Drycleaners
told Duncan, “but there are consequenc- tential effects of the thousands of potential Chemists, processors, and dial painters
es, and we need to understand these con- chemical contaminants, and the thou- Farm workers
Nurses, radiologists, and some other medical
sequences much better than we do now.” sands of various chemical combinations
professionals
But before we can understand, we need to to which our bodies are unwilling hosts.
Truck/bus drivers
hear — and we need to clearly listen to — Gertrude Stein cautioned us that “Every- Printing, typesetting, and textile processors
the precautionary tales our scientific com- body gets so much information all day long Vinyl chloride workers
Tailors
munity is telling us about both the knowns that they lose their common sense.” That’s
Painters
and the unknowns involving what we have even truer today, and it’s critical that we
Gasoline station attendants
come casually to accept as our “chemical retain our common sense and good judg- Workers exposed to asbestos
body burden.” (My concern here is that ment. Firefighters
Sawmill workers and carpenters
what we don’t know in fact CAN hurt us. Having said that, we must also appreciate Workers exposed to sunlight often, e.g. landscapers
Just as we human beings must increas- that the so-called “command-and-con-
ingly recognize that we are all internalized
trol” era has peaked, perhaps even run its Sources:
into the total environment, we need to un- course. We simply no longer have the time National Cancer Institute: http://rex.nci.nih.gov/NCI_Pub_
derstand, too, that the environment itself is
or resources to expend on programs that Interface/raterisk/risks95.html
in the end might do more to fatten lawyers’
internalized, for good and for bad, in us as
humans.) wallets than they do to reduce our own
What we as individuals do matters, and it toxic exposures and risks.
matters a lot. In that context, our next era of sound en-
I’m a strong believer in the importance of vironmentalism must be based, like other
practical actions we each can take. And good public policy efforts, on increased Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4
Continued on page 12
Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute 5
 www.environmentaloncology.org CEO-UPCI CEO-UPCI www.environmentaloncology.org

What Green Patriotism Means to Me

Continued from page 6
3. Buy organic or natural personal care
products. Believe it or not, most cosmetics
and personal care products are extremely
oily! Any bubble bath product that con-
NO SAFE PLACE? tains sodium laureth sulfate or polyethyl-
the cars on the road are driving with one
or more tires under inflated. Tires lose air
through normal driving (especially after
hitting pot holes or curbs), permeation
and seasonal changes in temperature.
Continued from page 6

Question:
Dear Center for Environmental Oncology,
Is it responsible for parents to raise children, from
birth to adulthood, in Pittsburgh?
I know that air pollution is especially dangerous
to children, but I don’t know how the impact
compares to other risks we ordinarily endure.
Stephanie R. Land, PhD
Department of Biostatistics
NSABP and UPCI, University of Pittsburgh
Continued on page 7
Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4
What Green Patriotism Means to Me
by: David Steinman, publisher and founder of Freedom Press and author of Safe Trip to
Eden, 10 Ways to Save the World from a Global Warming Meltdown.
We all know we should be using safe home
and garden products for our health and
consuming organic foods whenever pos-
sible. Many people are aware of the dan-
gers of synthetic flame-retardants used in
mattresses, bedding, and furniture. Almost
every bubble bath and shampoo product
for children, we now know, contains the
undisclosed carcinogen 1,4-dioxane (and
is not listed on the label thanks to loop-
holes in federal legislation).
Knowing about these dangers and taking gerous petrochemicals. There are actually
action by buying safe alternative prod- a lot of things you can be doing that are
ucts is critical to protecting your personal good not only for you but for the nation.
health. But did you know that what you are Here are the top 10 things I try to do every-
doing is also an act of Green Patriotism?
All of the dangerous chemicals mentioned
so far in this article are petrochemicals.
Many of our nation’s emerging health prob-
lems, including rising cancer rates which
reproductive effects, are positively linked
with our dependence on oil. Products with
undisclosed chemical carcinogens like
2,4-D in weed killer or 1,4-dioxane in bub-
ble baths are not just bad for your personal
health but also dangerous to our national
security. While brave soldiers are fighting
overseas, we ought to be doing something
to lessen our nation’s dependency on for-
eign oil.
Almost half of our nation’s energy needs
are from our homes, lifestyles and per-
sonal transportation. Even simple acts of
self-protection for you or your children,
like buying a safe bubble bath derived from
plant-instead of petroleum-based ingre-
dients, means you are personally taking
action to lessen our dependency on dan-
day to be a Green Patriot:
1. Buy organic foods. This is my number
one priority. By buying organic, I not only
receive great nutrition and freshness but
also avoid petrochemical pesticides and
herbicides.
2. Buy non-petrochemical household
cleaning products. Most home cleaning
products use petroleum distillates or other
petroleum raw materials. I choose prod-
ucts like those from Ecover or Seventh
Generation that purposely avoid fueling
our oil dependency by relying on plant-
based materials.
Continued on page 7
ene glycol (PEG compounds) on its label
is petroleum based. Alternative non-pet-
rochemical brands include Aubrey Organ-
ics, Avalon, Aveda, Lily and MyChelle.
4. Buy organic clothing whenever possi-
ble. Once again, we find ourselves awash
in oil. Fabrics like rayon and nylon are all
petrochemical polymers. Cotton, the com-
mercial mainstay of the clothing industry,
is one of the most heavily sprayed crops
in the world. There are now so many great
sources of organic and eco-safe clothing.
Start at www.organicclothes.com and go
from there.
5. Use filtered instead of bottled water. I’m
not totally against bottled water. Biota, for
example, uses corn-based packaging for
their bottles, which is great, and Ethos
at Starbucks contributes to building safe
water supplies globally. This is also great.
But to lessen the need for petroleum re-
quired for all of those water bottles, I
prefer at home and in my office, to use a
Brita water pitcher filter combined with an
under-the-sink or end-of-the-faucet filter.
I have tested this brand and found it works
really well to eliminate almost all detect-
able chemicals in my drinking water. I re-
ally trust it. If we all did this, there’d be a
lot fewer plastic bottles floating around
the environment.
6. Keep my car’s tires inflated. My next
car will be a hybrid, but until then, I keep
my tires properly inflated. Not a big deal?
Wrong. You can improve your gas mileage
by around 3.3 percent by keeping your
tires inflated to the proper pressure. Ac-
cording to the AAA: about 80 percent of
They can lose one or two psi (pounds per
square inch) each month in the winter and
even more in the summer. And, you can’t
tell if they’re properly inflated just by look-
ing at them. You have to use a tire-pres-
sure gauge. Not only is under-inflation bad
for your tires, but it’s also bad for your gas
mileage, affects the way your car handles
and is generally unsafe. If all of us did this,
we would save some 200,000 thousand
barrels of oil a day, so why aren’t we do-
ing things like this?
7. When I do travel, I buy carbon offsets
from www.carbonfund.org and www.ter-
rapass.com. That way I help to invest in
wind and solar and other clean forms of
energy; it isn’t perfect but it helps.
8. Avoid overly packaged products. I al-
ways look now for the least packaged
products or those in easy to recycle ma-
terials. I try to avoid those with excessive
petrochemical-based plastic packaging.
9. Recycle plastic packaging. Recycling
plastic bottles and packaging (including
shopping bags) made from petrochemi-
cals reduces our dependency on oil.
10. Finally, everyday, I try to talk to people
about Green Patriotism. Just like I’m talk-
ing to you. It’s a way of doing good things
for your country and tying everything into
a larger way of looking at our relationship
to God, country, family, and community.
It’s good for you. It’s good for America.
Disclaimer: Any products mentioned
here are not necessarily endorsed
by the University of Pittsburgh
Cancer Institute (UPCI).
Answer:
All sorts of factors are at play; air pollution is
only one of the countless influences determining
the ultimate health of these children. If one
were to move based on that indicator alone, one
could just as likely end up in a place that, on the
balance, actually had a higher burden of other
harmful influences (toxics in the water, ambient
radiation, climate-related exposures, potential for
natural disasters, violent crime). The real goal of
our endeavors in environmental health is to get
physicians and laypeople to view the environment
as dynamic, rather than static. Rather than trying
to move from a “bad” environment to a better one,
the practitioner or patient can move to correct the
deficiencies in their current environment component
by component - changing cleaning products,
buying organic produce, advocating for smoke-free
workplaces and non-diesel buses, etc. As we have
learned from our experience with infectious disease,
terrorism, and now climate change, there is, in Dr.
Devra Davis’ words, “No Safe Place” - unless we
create that place wherever we already live.
Jonathan Weinkle, MD
Medicine-Pediatrics Resident
Continuing Medical Education Advisor
for the Center for Environmental Oncology of UPCI
Visit www.greenpatriot. us for more information.
Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4

6 Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute 7
 www.environmentaloncology.org CEO-UPCI CEO-UPCI www.environmentaloncology.org

What Green Patriotism Means to Me

Continued from page 6
3. Buy organic or natural personal care
products. Believe it or not, most cosmetics
and personal care products are extremely
oily! Any bubble bath product that con-
NO SAFE PLACE? tains sodium laureth sulfate or polyethyl-
the cars on the road are driving with one
or more tires under inflated. Tires lose air
through normal driving (especially after
hitting pot holes or curbs), permeation
and seasonal changes in temperature.
Continued from page 6

Question:
Dear Center for Environmental Oncology,
Is it responsible for parents to raise children, from
birth to adulthood, in Pittsburgh?
I know that air pollution is especially dangerous
to children, but I don’t know how the impact
compares to other risks we ordinarily endure.
Stephanie R. Land, PhD
Department of Biostatistics
NSABP and UPCI, University of Pittsburgh
Continued on page 7
Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4
What Green Patriotism Means to Me
by: David Steinman, publisher and founder of Freedom Press and author of Safe Trip to
Eden, 10 Ways to Save the World from a Global Warming Meltdown.
We all know we should be using safe home
and garden products for our health and
consuming organic foods whenever pos-
sible. Many people are aware of the dan-
gers of synthetic flame-retardants used in
mattresses, bedding, and furniture. Almost
every bubble bath and shampoo product
for children, we now know, contains the
undisclosed carcinogen 1,4-dioxane (and
is not listed on the label thanks to loop-
holes in federal legislation).
Knowing about these dangers and taking gerous petrochemicals. There are actually
action by buying safe alternative prod- a lot of things you can be doing that are
ucts is critical to protecting your personal good not only for you but for the nation.
health. But did you know that what you are Here are the top 10 things I try to do every-
doing is also an act of Green Patriotism?
All of the dangerous chemicals mentioned
so far in this article are petrochemicals.
Many of our nation’s emerging health prob-
lems, including rising cancer rates which
reproductive effects, are positively linked
with our dependence on oil. Products with
undisclosed chemical carcinogens like
2,4-D in weed killer or 1,4-dioxane in bub-
ble baths are not just bad for your personal
health but also dangerous to our national
security. While brave soldiers are fighting
overseas, we ought to be doing something
to lessen our nation’s dependency on for-
eign oil.
Almost half of our nation’s energy needs
are from our homes, lifestyles and per-
sonal transportation. Even simple acts of
self-protection for you or your children,
like buying a safe bubble bath derived from
plant-instead of petroleum-based ingre-
dients, means you are personally taking
action to lessen our dependency on dan-
day to be a Green Patriot:
1. Buy organic foods. This is my number
one priority. By buying organic, I not only
receive great nutrition and freshness but
also avoid petrochemical pesticides and
herbicides.
2. Buy non-petrochemical household
cleaning products. Most home cleaning
products use petroleum distillates or other
petroleum raw materials. I choose prod-
ucts like those from Ecover or Seventh
Generation that purposely avoid fueling
our oil dependency by relying on plant-
based materials.
Continued on page 7
ene glycol (PEG compounds) on its label
is petroleum based. Alternative non-pet-
rochemical brands include Aubrey Organ-
ics, Avalon, Aveda, Lily and MyChelle.
4. Buy organic clothing whenever possi-
ble. Once again, we find ourselves awash
in oil. Fabrics like rayon and nylon are all
petrochemical polymers. Cotton, the com-
mercial mainstay of the clothing industry,
is one of the most heavily sprayed crops
in the world. There are now so many great
sources of organic and eco-safe clothing.
Start at www.organicclothes.com and go
from there.
5. Use filtered instead of bottled water. I’m
not totally against bottled water. Biota, for
example, uses corn-based packaging for
their bottles, which is great, and Ethos
at Starbucks contributes to building safe
water supplies globally. This is also great.
But to lessen the need for petroleum re-
quired for all of those water bottles, I
prefer at home and in my office, to use a
Brita water pitcher filter combined with an
under-the-sink or end-of-the-faucet filter.
I have tested this brand and found it works
really well to eliminate almost all detect-
able chemicals in my drinking water. I re-
ally trust it. If we all did this, there’d be a
lot fewer plastic bottles floating around
the environment.
6. Keep my car’s tires inflated. My next
car will be a hybrid, but until then, I keep
my tires properly inflated. Not a big deal?
Wrong. You can improve your gas mileage
by around 3.3 percent by keeping your
tires inflated to the proper pressure. Ac-
cording to the AAA: about 80 percent of
They can lose one or two psi (pounds per
square inch) each month in the winter and
even more in the summer. And, you can’t
tell if they’re properly inflated just by look-
ing at them. You have to use a tire-pres-
sure gauge. Not only is under-inflation bad
for your tires, but it’s also bad for your gas
mileage, affects the way your car handles
and is generally unsafe. If all of us did this,
we would save some 200,000 thousand
barrels of oil a day, so why aren’t we do-
ing things like this?
7. When I do travel, I buy carbon offsets
from www.carbonfund.org and www.ter-
rapass.com. That way I help to invest in
wind and solar and other clean forms of
energy; it isn’t perfect but it helps.
8. Avoid overly packaged products. I al-
ways look now for the least packaged
products or those in easy to recycle ma-
terials. I try to avoid those with excessive
petrochemical-based plastic packaging.
9. Recycle plastic packaging. Recycling
plastic bottles and packaging (including
shopping bags) made from petrochemi-
cals reduces our dependency on oil.
10. Finally, everyday, I try to talk to people
about Green Patriotism. Just like I’m talk-
ing to you. It’s a way of doing good things
for your country and tying everything into
a larger way of looking at our relationship
to God, country, family, and community.
It’s good for you. It’s good for America.
Disclaimer: Any products mentioned
here are not necessarily endorsed
by the University of Pittsburgh
Cancer Institute (UPCI).
Answer:
All sorts of factors are at play; air pollution is
only one of the countless influences determining
the ultimate health of these children. If one
were to move based on that indicator alone, one
could just as likely end up in a place that, on the
balance, actually had a higher burden of other
harmful influences (toxics in the water, ambient
radiation, climate-related exposures, potential for
natural disasters, violent crime). The real goal of
our endeavors in environmental health is to get
physicians and laypeople to view the environment
as dynamic, rather than static. Rather than trying
to move from a “bad” environment to a better one,
the practitioner or patient can move to correct the
deficiencies in their current environment component
by component - changing cleaning products,
buying organic produce, advocating for smoke-free
workplaces and non-diesel buses, etc. As we have
learned from our experience with infectious disease,
terrorism, and now climate change, there is, in Dr.
Devra Davis’ words, “No Safe Place” - unless we
create that place wherever we already live.
Jonathan Weinkle, MD
Medicine-Pediatrics Resident
Continuing Medical Education Advisor
for the Center for Environmental Oncology of UPCI
Visit www.greenpatriot. us for more information.
Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4

6 Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute 7
 www.environmentaloncology.org
WATER POLLUTION IN
SOUTHWESTERN PA
By Conrad Dan Volz, DrPH, MPH, Co-Director,
Division of Environmental Assessment and Control
1. What is the most serious water pollution problem
in the Southwestern Pennsylvania area?
Overflow of outdated combined sewers and
sanitary sewers directly into our streams and rivers
is the most serious water pollution problem.
2. What environmental public health threat
does sewer overflows present?
Sewer overflows threaten public health through
endemic or epidemic infection from human
pathogens such as the bacteria E. coli or the
parasites Cryptosporidium and Giardia.
3. Are there Cryptosporidium or Giardia
oocystes in western Pennsylvania water?
Yes. Alarmingly, studies at and downstream from
sewage outfalls in main stem rivers and tributaries
near Pittsburgh, PA have shown elevated levels of the
human parasites Cryptosporidium and even higher
levels of Giardia. This poses a risk to our drinking
water and individuals coming in contact with the water
while fishing or during other recreational activities.
4. Isn’t epidemic waterborne bacterial infection
a thing of the past in the United States?
No. In 1993 there was a massive epidemic of
Cryptosporidiosis in Milwaukee that sickened
over 400,000 people and killed at least 40
people with weakened immune systems.
5. Who is most at risk for contracting a
waterborne infectious disease?
Anglers and other water recreationalists
are at most risk due to fish consumption
and direct contact with contaminants.
See Article in Scientific American
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=01DC8631-
E7F2-99DF-3D0A925F84E60223&chanID=sa003
Continued on page 9
Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4
8 Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
CEO-UPCI
Killing Weeds — Killing Frogs?
Herbicides, Toxicity, and Biological Effects
by Maryann Donovan, MPH, PhD, Scientific Director, CEO of UPCI
Dr. Tyrone Hayes, Professor of Integra-
tive Biology at Berkeley, has studied frogs
since he was a little boy. In February 2007,
he visited the Center for Environmental
Oncology of UPCI to speak about his stud-
ies of the effects of pesticides on frogs,
specifically the pesticides that act like
hormones, also called “disruptors.” Run-
off from pesticide application can lead to
contamination of water sources including
small puddles, lakes, streams, and ground-
water. Amphibians, such as frogs, live in
and near water making them vulnerable to
contaminants. In a recent paper, Dr. Hayes
discussed the effect on frog development
when larvae or adults were exposed to
herbicides (atrazine, metolachlor, alachlor,
nicosulfuron), insecticides (cyfluthrin, cy-
halothrin, tebupirimphos), and fungicides
(metalaxyl, propiconizole) either individu-
ally or in combination (Hayes, T.B. et al.
Pesticide mixtures, endocrine disruption,
and amphibian declines: are we underes-
timating the impact? Environmental Health
Perspectives 114: supplement 1, 2006).
He chose these pesticides because they
represented the actual pesticide mixture
that was being applied to cornfields in the
Midwest. Compared with the individual
pesticides, the mixtures had much more
significant effects. Exposure of frog lar-
vae to mixtures of the chemicals caused
a significant delay in the initiation of meta-
morphosis and retarded growth resulting
in smaller animals. Seventy percent of the
animals exposed to the nine-compound
mixture were unable to sit upright.
Certainly, at least in part,
endocrine disrupting
chemicals in the envi-
ronment may be contributing to the decline
in amphibians being reported globally.
One of the chemicals included in Dr. Hayes’
study was atrazine, the most commonly
used herbicide in the United States and
probably the world. Because of concerns
about toxicity, atrazine is banned in Eu-
rope. In the United States, by contrast, the
EPA estimates that 65-70 million pounds
of atrazine is applied mostly to corn, sor-
ghum, and sugarcane fields. Dr. Hayes has
spent almost 10 years studying the effects
of atrazine, an endocrine disruptor, on frog
development. In his laboratory studies, he
exposed Rana pipiens, the leopard frog,
larvae to different concentration of atra-
zine ranging from 0, 0.1, or 25 parts per bil-
lion (ppb). The animals were exposed from
just after hatching until tail resorption was
complete. Only exposed males developed
eggs in the testes (testicular oocytes) and
other gonadal abnormalities. You might
wonder if this was just a laboratory phe-
nomenon and so did Dr. Hayes. To address
that question, Dr. Hayes and his research
team went out into the field to evaluate
frogs from 8 different sites located be-
tween Iowa and Utah. They used records
of atrazine sales, locally, to identify po-
tentially contaminated sites. For controls,
they evaluated frogs from non-agricultural
regions in Iowa, Utah, Wisconsin, and Ne-
braska that reported low atrazine sales.
Levels of atrazine were measured in the
water taken from each site and only one
site had levels too low to be measured
and this was the only
site where testicular
oocytes were not ob-
served in the local popula-
Continued on page 9
CEO-UPCI www.environmentaloncology.org
WORK-RELATED CANCER RISKS
Table 1: Industrial Processes
Carcinogenic to Humans:
Aluminum and coke production
Auramine and Isopropyl alcohol manufacture
Coal gasification
Coal-tar pitches
Furniture manufacture
Iron and steel founding
“Our Body Burden” of Chemicals: A Call to Action Manufacture of magenta
Nickel refining
Continued From Page 4
Rubber industry
He also quoted the chair of the California I believe, too, that we must not allow the
Shoe manufacture and repair
Senate Health Committee, Deborah Oritz, pursuit of perfection to impede our com- Underground hematite mining
as cautioning that “the key is knowing mitment to progress.
Table 2: Individuals with Increased
more about these substances, so we are We must appreciate that our actions may
Cancer Risk due to Occupation:
not blindsided by unexpected hazards.” forever be based on incomplete knowl-
Hair dressers and barbers
“We benefit from these chemicals,” Ortiz edge of all there is to know about the po-
Drycleaners
told Duncan, “but there are consequenc- tential effects of the thousands of potential Chemists, processors, and dial painters
es, and we need to understand these con- chemical contaminants, and the thou- Farm workers
Nurses, radiologists, and some other medical
sequences much better than we do now.” sands of various chemical combinations
professionals
But before we can understand, we need to to which our bodies are unwilling hosts.
Truck/bus drivers
hear — and we need to clearly listen to — Gertrude Stein cautioned us that “Every- Printing, typesetting, and textile processors
the precautionary tales our scientific com- body gets so much information all day long Vinyl chloride workers
Tailors
munity is telling us about both the knowns that they lose their common sense.” That’s
Painters
and the unknowns involving what we have even truer today, and it’s critical that we
Gasoline station attendants
come casually to accept as our “chemical retain our common sense and good judg- Workers exposed to asbestos
body burden.” (My concern here is that ment. Firefighters
Sawmill workers and carpenters
what we don’t know in fact CAN hurt us. Having said that, we must also appreciate Workers exposed to sunlight often, e.g. landscapers
Just as we human beings must increas- that the so-called “command-and-con-
ingly recognize that we are all internalized
trol” era has peaked, perhaps even run its Sources:
into the total environment, we need to un- course. We simply no longer have the time National Cancer Institute: http://rex.nci.nih.gov/NCI_Pub_
derstand, too, that the environment itself is
or resources to expend on programs that Interface/raterisk/risks95.html
in the end might do more to fatten lawyers’
internalized, for good and for bad, in us as
humans.) wallets than they do to reduce our own
What we as individuals do matters, and it toxic exposures and risks.
matters a lot. In that context, our next era of sound en-
I’m a strong believer in the importance of vironmentalism must be based, like other
practical actions we each can take. And good public policy efforts, on increased Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4
Continued on page 12
Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute 5
 www.environmentaloncology.org
This Moment
on Earth
Today’s New
Environmentalists
and their Vision
for the Future
A new book by John Kerry
and Teresa Heinz Kerry
This optimistic book
highlights more than a dozen grassroots environmental
activists and describes how the search for solutions to
our pressing environmental problems is uniting people
world-wide. In this passionate and personal book,
John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry shine the light on
an inspiring cross-section of these new environmental
pioneers and offer a guide on how you, too, can get
involved to protect the world. “Environmentalism isn’t
dead,” they write. “It’s just being reborn — the very idea
of what it means to be an ‘environmentalist’ is being
revolutionized. People from all walks of life, without
concern for party or ideological lines, are coming
together in unprecedented numbers across the globe.”
www.womenshealthandenvironment.org
Citation “Citation from Our Body
Burden of Chemicals: A Call to Action.”
Cone, Marla, Silent Snow: The Slow Poisoning of the Arctic,
Grove Press, New York, NY (April 2005)
“The Pollution Within”, National Geographic Magazine,
October 2006 http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0610/
feature4/index.html
Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4
4 Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
CEO-UPCI
“Our Body Burden” of Chemicals:
A Call to Action
by Teresa Heinz Kerry excerpted with permission from “Women’s Health & Environment
News,” (A Project of the Heinz Family Philanthropies), February 2007 issue
Veteran prize-winning environmental
journalist Marla Cone, of the Los Angeles
Times, caught the attention of many with
her award-winning book Silent Snow: The
Slow Poisoning of the Arctic. Cone’s work
shows that it is not merely city dwellers
or those living near major metropolitan
areas who face these daunting chemical
body burdens.
“The Arctic is the last place on Earth I
expected to find the world’s most severe
toxic contamination,” she wrote. Few sto-
ries over her 19-year environmental re-
porting career “have astonished me and
intrigued me as much as the discovery of
a toxic legacy haunting the Arctic,” a phe-
nomenon she now sadly labels the “Arctic
Paradox.”
“How could the Arctic, seemingly un-
touched by contemporary ills, so inno-
cent, so primitive, so natural, be home
to the most contaminated people on the
planet?” she wondered. Cone added that
she herself had grown up “oblivious to
such concerns” in her childhood home
on the shores of Lake Michigan, “in one
of the nation’s most toxic hot spots at the
dawn of the environmental movement.”
Her story is a truly riveting example of just
how pervasive and lurking — yet how
seemingly invisible — these toxic burdens
have become in our own “normal” bodies
and those of our family members.
But again I ask: Are we hearing? And are
we listening and understanding? And then
acting on those understandings?
One more example, this one from National
Geographic, also from 2006.
“I’m a writer engaged in a journey of
chemical self-discovery,” David Ewing
Duncan wrote in “The Pollution Within.”
He had himself tested for 320 chemicals.
“I might have picked up from food, drink,
the air I breathe, and the products that
touch my skin — my own secret stash of
compounds acquired by merely living.”
The National Geographic funded his
$15,000 worth of tests to “learn what
substances build up in a typical Ameri-
can over a lifetime, and where they might
come from.”
“I hope you are not nervous, but this con-
centration is very high,” a Stockholm toxi-
cologist told him after reviewing the test
results...
Overall, Duncan’s blood test results, “read
like a chemical diary from 40 years ago,”
he wrote, with traces of several banned
and restricted chemicals (DDT and its
breakdown products DDE), termite-killers
chlordane and heptachlor, and lots more.
Curious about his newly discovered body-
borne “inventory of household chemicals,”
Duncan turned the test results over to his
internist. That physician “admits that he,
too, knows little about these chemicals,
other than lead and mercury. But he con-
firms that I am healthy, as far as he can
tell. He tells me not to worry.”
What about the cumulative impacts of that
chemical soup combination? Duncan re-
ported that a Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) expert advised him
that the combination “might have additive
effects, or they might be antagonistic, or
they may do nothing. We don’t know.”
Continued on page 5
CEO-UPCI
Killing Weeds — Killing Frogs?
Herbicides, Toxicity, and Biological Effects
Continued From Page 8
tion of frogs (Hayes, T. et al. Feminization
of male frogs in the wild. Nature 419: 895-
96,2002).
Is there evidence that contamination
of food, air and water with atrazine may
have health effects for humans? The an-
swer is yes, there is some evidence. But,
like many studies of chemicals, the data
are not always clear and absolute. In 2006,
the California EPA published a risk assess-
ment for atrazine use in California (Gam-
mon D., et al. Pest Manag. Sci 61:331-355,
2006). Near the end of this comprehensive
report (p. 351-352) comments about endo-
crine (hormone) effects of atrazine and
cancer studies in humans and animals
are mentioned. The authors summarize
published evidence showing that atra-
zine delays onset of puberty in male rats,
inhibits estrogen binding in vitro and in
vivo, and causes a premature termination
of reproduction and an increase in breast
tumors in female rats. In other reports, at-
razine caused cells in culture to increase
expression of aromatase, and this mecha-
nism might explain the reduced testoster-
one and increased estrogen measured in
the blood of male rats. All of the effects
Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
observed in these laboratory and animal
studies are consistent with atrazine act-
ing like a hormone directly or indirectly
by changing the enzymes involved in hor-
mone metabolism. This same report also
alludes to several studies suggesting that
occupational exposure to atrazine, either
through manufacturing or farming, may
increase the risk of prostate cancer al-
though not all studies show this effect.
Hormones are very important for human
biology and the timing, amounts, and types
of hormones present are tightly regulated
in humans. Like frogs, in addition to our
own hormones, we are being exposed to
“endocrine disrupting” chemicals in our
air, food, and water. We know that humans
harbor measurable levels of potentially
toxic environmental pollutants in their tis-
sues. The relationship between body-bur-
den levels of these chemicals and chronic
disease and cancer is actively being stud-
ied by many scientists including research-
ers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer
Institute. We look forward to sharing the
results from these research studies as we
get clues about the role that these chemi-
cals may play in cancer progression.
www.environmentaloncology.org
6. Why does storm and water runoff from parking lots
cause pollution in our receiving streams and main rivers?
It carries with it parking lot surface materials
that are carcinogens like polynuclear aromatic
hydrocarbons, naphthalene and creosote and oils,
grease and gasoline, volatile organic compounds
and additionally, animal and pet feces.
7. Are there water problems in the Southwestern
Pennsylvania region related to unsafe levels of nitrates
in water?
Yes, Unsafe levels of nitrates have been reported in the
Connoquenessing Creek affecting the water supply of
Zelienople and in rural areas and main stem rivers. Children
are particularly susceptible to water high in nitrates.
It can cause the development of methemoglobinemia,
which affects the ability to deliver oxygen to tissue as
well as developmental and neurological problems.
8. What forms of pollution increase because of
unsustainable commercial or residential development?
The forms that increase are biological oxygen demand
(BOD-a proxy measure for human and/or pet waste);
chemical oxygen demand (COD-a proxy measure for the
amount of organic chemicals in the water); total nitrogen
(fertilizers), phosphates and suspended solids; and the
metals- lead, copper, zinc, cadmium, chromium; nickel.
9. Is radon 222, the gas, a problem for residents of
Pennsylvania?
Yes, In a study of the Allegheny-Monongahela basin
over half of the groundwater samples tested were
above the EPA proposed MCL for radon in drinking
water. And, although radon sampling is required for
municipal sources there are no requirements to test for
or remediate high radon in water levels in private wells.
10. Is arsenic a problem in drinking water?
Yes, arsenic is present in drinking water from
geological deposits in many areas of the United
States and Western Pennsylvania. It also comes from
confined animal feeding lots and legacy iron and steel
production. Exposure to arsenic in drinking water has
been associated with many adverse health effects
including lung, bladder, liver and skin cancers.
All references can be found on our website
www.environmentaloncology.org
Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4
9
 www.environmentaloncology.org
ALTERNATIVES TO PESTICIDES
If you have cockroaches, try:
• Bay leaves
• Fine dusting of boric acid
• Equal parts of boric acid powder or baking
soda mixed with powdered sugar (avoid use
on countertops, etc.)
• Equal parts of oatmeal, flour, & Plaster of Paris
• Bait boxes
Ants:
• Sprinkle black pepper, chili powder, or chalk
• Brush a 1 to 10 mixture of lavender & olive oil
into the tracks that ants follow
• Ants are known to avoid ferns & juniper leaves,
lavender flowers, & goldenrod
Moths:
• Cedar balls or chips
• Lavender
Fleas:
• Vacuum thoroughly & frequently
• Wash pet bedding weekly in hot soapy water.
Spray pet daily with 50/50 mixture of white
vinegar & water
• Mix brewer’s yeast, Vitamin B, or garlic tablets
with pet food
• Rub animal’s coat with fennel, rue & rosemary
• Enzyme shampoos
Mice & Rats:
• Lavender, cedar oil, or camphor will repel them
• Traps
• Baits
• Place cotton balls saturated with peppermint
oil in areas of rodent activity
Continued on page 11
Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4
10 Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
CEO-UPCI
Copyright Maryann Donovan, 2007
Herbicide Toxicity
by Maryann Donovan, MPH, PhD, Scientific Director, CEO of UPCI;
Associate Director, Research Services, UPCI; Assistant Professor, Department of
Pathology, University of Pittsburgh
This year, 2007, is the 100 year anniversary
of Rachel Carson’s birth. Rachel Carson, a
biologist, published Silent Spring in 1962.
With this book, she launched the environ-
mental movement by raising many issues
about the disconcerting changes that she
and others observed in the world around
them — in the woods, in the fields, in the
parks, and even in their suburban yards. It
was the 1950’s, and chemicals, including
herbicides and pesticides, were the new
weapons being advertised to control the
encroachment of weeds and insects into
communities, neighborhoods, and homes.
Consistently, Rachel Carson and the other
“environmental detectives” were able to
correlate the application of chemicals for
“weed” or “pest” control with the death
of songbirds, the destruction of non-tar-
get plants, and the pollution of lakes and
streams resulting in the death of fish. All
of the evidence suggested that there was
a link between application of these chemi-
cals and environmental damage, but this
was the dawn of the environmental move-
ment when it was much more difficult for
biologists to show the mechanism be-
tween exposure to these chemicals and
the destruction that was being observed
in the environment.
I recently re-read Silent Spring. In addi-
tion to being impressed with the observa-
tions that Rachel Carson made about the
effects of pollution on ecology, another
fact made an impression as well: Rachel
Carson reported that the application of
massive quantities of chemicals only tem-
porarily controlled the plant and insect
pests. Invariably, the “pests” developed
resistance that required continuous reap-
plication of more and varied toxins.
Now, 45 years later, the chemicals may
have changed, but the shelves of hard-
ware and home and garden stores are
Continued on page 11
CEO-UPCI www.environmentaloncology.org
Myths vs. Facts about Cancer and Environmental Risks
Continued From Page 2
of all personal-care-products sold in the and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of
United States may contain this cancer- Cosmetics and Colors, that an error was
causing agent. present in the Public Health Statement of
A recently published (February 15, 2007) the toxicological profile. The FDA pointed Citation for Myth vs Facts article
“Newsweek” article stated, “The pres- out to ATSDR that the FDA had not recom- (1) 1Gouveia-Vigeant, T. & Tickner, J. “Toxic chemicals and
ence of a cancerous agent at levels above mended a limit for 1, 4-dioxane in cosmetic childhood cancer: A review of the evidence.” Lowell Center for
those suggested by the FDA is disturbing products.” In fact, the only FDA recom- Sustainable Production, University of Massachusetts Lowell,
enough. The idea that such a compound mendation about 1, 4-dioxane pertains to One University Avenue, Lowell, Massachusetts 01854. Viewed
at http://www.sustainableproduction.org/downloads/Child%20
exists at any amount in any products that levels in adhesives and food additives. (3)
Canc%20Exec%20Summary.pdf.
can be in regular contact with babies’ skin The ATSDR revised notice advises con-
(2) Devra Davis. “Cancer: How Dangerous Are Our Cosmetics?”
is even more disconcerting. Scientists sumers to read labels: Newsweek February 15, 2007 3.
have long known that certain chemicals “1, 4-dioxane may be a contaminant in
(3) Toxicological Profile for 1,4 Dioxane. The Agency for Toxic
like paradioxane can cause cancer...Now cosmetics, detergents, and shampoos that Substances and Disease Registry. July 2006 http://www.atsdr.
we’re beginning to realize that the sum to- cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp187.html#bookmarkdisclaimer
contain the following ingredients (which
tal of a person’s exposure to all the little may be listed on the product label): “PEG,” (4) http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs187.
amounts of cancerous agents in the envi- html#bookmark07
“polyethylene,” “polyethylene glycol,”
ronment may be just as harmful as big dos- “polyoxyethylene,” “-eth-“ or “-oxynol-.” (5) “Cosmetic Handbook” U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
es of a few well-known carcinogens.”(2) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. FDA/IAS*Booklet:
*Most manufacturers remove 1, 4-dioxane 1992 http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-hdb3.html
The combined effects of our lifetime expo- from these ingredients to concentrations
(6)Black, R.E., Hurley, F.J., Havery, D.C., Journal of AOAC Inter-
sure to dioxane and other carcinogens can recommended by the FDA as safe. Thus, national, Vol.84, No. 3, 2001.
create synergistic effects, so what may most products on the market today contain
(7) European Union Council Directive. “ The Rules Governing
look like low exposure levels for any one 1,4-dioxane in very small amounts or not at Cosmetic Products in the European Union”, Approximation of
compound adds up and even multiplies. all. However, some cosmetics, detergents, the laws of the Member States relating to cosmetic products
and shampoos may contain 1, 4-dioxane (76/768/EEC). 27 July 1976, p. 27. Viewed at : Annex II List
Myth: We are protected, thanks to the FDA, of Substances Which Cosmetic Products Must Not Contain:
which has established a recommended at levels higher than recommended by the
#342, Dioxane. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.
level of no more than 10 parts per million FDA. Because products contaminated at do?uri=CELEX:31976L0768:EN:NOT
in consumer products. concentrations higher than the FDA-rec-
ommended levels are not possible to deter-
David Steinman’s research, discussed in
mine without testing, families should avoid
his book Safe Trip to Eden and additional
using products containing the ingredients CANADA’S CAMPAIGN AGAINST CANCER
studies after the book was published,
listed above unless the manufacturer can The Canadian government, along with labor and
shows that at least 15 percent of cosmetic
guarantee that 1, 4-dioxane is below the environmental groups, are mounting revolutionary
products with 1,4-dioxane exceed the FDA
FDA-recommended level. (4) policies to prevent cancer. Look for the forthcoming
recommended upper limit. But since these
book Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable
so-called limits are only voluntary, com- In 1992, 1, 4-dioxane was listed as a Epidemic (New Society Publishers) by Guy
panies not meeting them face no conse- banned ingredient in cosmetics. (5) But, Dauncey, Liz Armstrong and Anne Wordsworth.
quences from the federal government. in 2001, FDA scientists reported finding
Please visit these websites for more information:
increased levels in a number of consumer
Within a day of the “Newsweek” article Cancer Care Ontario www.cancercare.on.ca
products. (6) Within the past few years,
appearing, ATSDR, an agency charged Canadian Cancer Society www.cancer.ca
the European Union has banned the use of
with evaluating toxic hazards, withdrew
para-dioxane in all personal care products
from its website the toxicological profile and recently initiated a recall of any con-
of 1, 4-dioxane. The revised posting as of
taminated products, including a number of
Spring 2007
April, 2007 says, “In February, 2007, ATSDR
children’s bath products. (7) Volume 1 • Number 4
was informed by the Director of the Food
Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute 3
 www.environmentaloncology.org CEO-UPCI CEO-UPCI www.environmentaloncology.org

Myths vs. Facts about Cancer and Environmental Risks Herbicide Toxicity
Continued From Page 1 Continued From Page 10

Race also plays an important role in cancer times as likely to have mothers who were filled with a diversity of formulations ad- considered one of the “inert ingredients”
incidences. The American Cancer Society exposed to pesticide sprays or foggers vertised to control the invasion of weeds in this formulation, can be very toxic to
reports that African-American men and during pregnancy compared to healthy and insects both inside and outside the amphibians and other aquatic organisms
women have 40% and 20% higher death children. A report released by the Lowell home. Each year, 2.6 billion pounds of pes- (www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/pesticide/
UPCOMING EVENTS ticides are used in the United States, and risk_assessments/Surfactants.pdf). DECLINES IN SEX RATIO AT BIRTH AND FETAL
rates from all cancers combined when Center for Sustainable Production con-
Continued from page 1 there are notable toxic effects associated
DEATHS IN U.S. AND JAPAN
compared with whites. The use of hor- cluded that instituting measures to reduce Understanding the toxicity of pesticide in-
with their use. Agricultural application ac- Published April 9, 2007 in Environmental Health Perspec-
May 13, 2007 mone-containing personal care products parental and childhood exposures to these gredients is tricky business. Searching for tives by Devra Lee Davis, Pamela Webster, Hillary Stain-
Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure counts for 90% of the pesticide use and
is one possible explanation why young and other substances suspected of caus- the toxicity of several individual pesticides thorpe, Janice Chilton, Lovell Jones, Rikuo Doi
Sponsored by Susan G. Komen Foundation
African American women get more breast ing cancer, including development of safer the balance is used in consumer products, (glyphosate, diquat dibromide, dicamba)
6:30 AM – 9 AM
Schenley Park, Flagstaff Hill cancer than do their white counterparts. substitutes, should play an important role swimming pools, for insect control, and for on the US EPA website (http://www.epa. Whether declines in births of baby boys are con-
Pittsburgh, PA Also, African Americans tend to live and in a cancer prevention strategy. (1) weed control on golf courses, lawns, and gov/IRIS/subst/0223.htm) revealed that, in nected with a number of puzzling patterns in male
work in more polluted areas than do oth- other open fields. each case, the toxicity studies were per- reproductive health is a matter of serious concern.
May 19, 2007 Myth: A small amount of a chemical
er people. While one in eight Americans Several studies — some from the 1980s, early 1990s,
11 AM – 7 PM carcinogen in a children’s product isn’t Use of weed-killers containing glypho- formed by the manufacturer, and I did not
Venture Outdoors Festival and our new paper — show that over the past two
is African American, one in two African dangerous because the level is so low. sate has increased by a factor of 10 over see any mention of independent lab veri-
North Shore Riverfront Park to three decades the births of baby boys have de-
Americans works in a lower paying field Low doses of cancer-causing chemicals the last 15 years. In 1999, the USEPA re- fication of the results. To add to the con-
Pittsburgh, PA clined in Japan, the U.S., England and Wales, Den-
Look for Center for Environmental Oncology’s Table! and in jobs, such as sanitation, which puts are safe because there is a threshold for ported that glyphosate was the second fusion, the environment does not contain
mark, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany,
Call 412-255-0564 for more details them at increased exposure to toxins. cancer induction. most commonly used pesticide and es- individual pollutants, but rather a complex
Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay,
Myth: Most cancers are genetic in nature When experimental animals are tested at timated that up to 33 million kilograms of mixtures of chemicals individuals are ex- Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, and Costa Rica.
June 12, 2007
12 noon – 1 PM so there’s little we can do to protect the lowest parts per billion level — over active ingredient were applied annually to posed to, which adds another dimension Since 1970, the proportion of white boys born in the
Lunch and Learn talk by ourselves. lawns, fields, and golf courses (Donaldson to toxicity assessments. U.S. and Japan has dropped from105.5 boys per 100
Talal El-Hefnawy, MD, PhD, the animal’s lifetime — they develop can-
et al, 2002, National Pesticide Use Data- Some people want to be convinced that girls to 104.6 and from 106.3 to 104.97, respectively.
“Endocrine Disruptors in Common In fact, the National Cancer Institute re- cer. The levels found in some children’s
base, available online). Laboratory stud- chemicals are toxic before they will stop Even such tiny drops in the sex ratio can amount to
Pediatric Conditions” ports that only about one in ten cases of bathing products are one thousand times
(with a focus on genital malformations ies have shown that, depending on the using them. Personally, I try to avoid us- thousands of missing baby boys. For example, if the
breast cancer occur in a woman born with greater and measured in parts per million.
and precocious puberty) dose, glyphosate can be toxic in animal ing pesticides, because if you read the la-
sex ratio in the U.S. and Japan had remained at its
Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh a genetic risk of the disease. An expert The gold standard for cancer protection 1970 rate, almost 137,000 and 125,000, respectively,
studies, causing gastrointestinal effects, bel carefully most of them have warnings
Pittsburgh, PA panel convened by Mt. Sinai Hospital re- widely used by federal agencies is that an more baby boys would have been born between
developmental effects, and possibly can- written on them. Rachel Carson asked a
Room B213-214 cently concluded that genetic predisposi- isolated chemical should not be estimated
cer at specific concentrations. In general, 1970 and 2000. No one knows why this is happen-
Free Healthy Lunch served
tion accounts for no more than 20% of all to cause more than one excess cancer per different question. She wondered why
Call 412-623-1175 to pre-register though, the USEPA does not consider ing, but some interesting clues exist...
childhood cancers and that the environ- one million persons. This is called a one- there was so much enthusiasm for using
or email malones@upmc.edu glyphosate to be very hazardous to birds
mental-attributable fraction of childhood in-one-million risk. chemicals to eradicate pests, especially See www.environmentaloncology.org
and mammals or to fish and invertebrates when this approach required continu-
cancer could be between 5% and 90%, However, cancer risks from exposure for the full article.
(http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0057.htm). ous application of stronger and different
depending on the type of cancer. (1) to cancer-causing chemicals in several
However, Dr. Rick Relyea, a scientist at the chemicals on an ongoing basis. She then
This means that a potentially large percent- products substantially exceed this gold
University of Pittsburgh, has shown that took the time to go out and survey the
age of childhood cancers are preventable. standard. Results from an independent
application of a well-known weed killer damage that these chemicals caused to
One study of pesticide exposures testifies chemical testing laboratory, released a
containing glyphosate and the surfactant the environment and her message was
to the detrimental effects of toxic chemi- month ago, found this probable human Sources: Alternatives to Pesticides Sidebar
POEA, when applied at concentrations chilling. This year, in honor of Rachel Car-
cals on children’s health, specifically in carcinogen, also known as para-dioxane, Beyond Pesticides – National Coalition Against the Misuse
suggested by the manufacturer, killed 98% son, I recommend that people read Silent
relation to cancers. In this study, children in some common children’s shampoos at of Pesticides: www.beyondpesticides.org
of all frog tadpoles within three weeks and Spring and think about Carson’s message
with leukemia were 4 to 7 times as likely levels higher than those recommended by Children’s Health and the Environment Coalition
79% of all juvenile frogs within one day and its continuing relevance as we search
to have been exposed to pesticides used the US Food and Drug Administration. The – HealtheHouse: http://www.checnet.org/healthehouse/
Shadyside Medical Building UPMC Cancer Pavillion (Relyea, R. The lethal impact of roundup for the causes of rising rates of chronic home/home.asp
in the yard or garden compared to chil- Environmental Working Group, (www.ewg.
on aquatic and terrestrial amphibians. As disease and cancer today.
dren without the disease. Another study org), a research and advocacy organiza-
Spring 2007 found that children with leukemia were 11 tion, estimates that more than a quarter
it turns out, the POEA surfactant, which is Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4 Volume 1 • Number 4
Continued on page 3

2 Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute Center for Environmental Oncology — University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute 11
 Printed on chlorine-free 100% PCW Recycled Paper, with Soy-Inks.
“Our Body Burden” of Chemicals: A Call to Action
Continued From Page 5
collaboration, among a growing cadre
of informed and enlightened interests. It
clearly must be based also on prevention
and not just after-the-exposure remedial
efforts to control potentially harmful expo-
sures.
A recent Business Week cover story tells
us that we are “closer than you think” to
a world in which “socially responsible
and eco-friendly practices actually boost
a company’s bottom line.” Those same
practices will boost an entire society’s
bottom line, not only from a financial but
also from an overall perspective. In this
sense, we as a society should move not
from the “cradle-to-grave” philosophy
that became popular in the 1990’s, but
rather to a “cradle-to-cradle” approach
that can lead to an infinite product life-
cycle of ongoing use and usefulness.
We must realize not only that we citizens
have a “right to know” but also that our
governmental leaders have a profound
responsibility to tell us more about the
chemicals that pervade our society. Here,
we must be careful consumers, with a
healthy skepticism of what both govern-
ment and manufacturers tell us. With our
right to know comes our responsibility to
understand.
We must appreciate that the fundamen-
tal principle of criminal law — that the
accused is innocent until proven guilty
— does not translate well to our market-
place, where chemicals in our environ-
ment are too often assumed innocent until
they have been proven to cause harm.
We must keep in mind here, as they say,
that the absence of evidence of harm is
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12
not evidence of an absence of harm. This
reality calls for broadening our practical
application of the precautionary principle
as it is being found increasingly through-
out the European Union: the burden of
demonstrating the safety and efficacy of
chemicals should lie with the manufac-
turer, not on us as citizens having to prove
that those chemicals do cause harm.
Remember, too, that we cannot speak of
these potential harms as they apply only
to a single chemical in isolation. Asking
the human health effects one chemical
at a time simply misunderstands a critical
point: We must also understand the cu-
mulative effects, what scientists call the
synergistic effects of all of them in com-
bination — the “chemical soup” to which
we are unknowingly exposed throughout
our lives.
We can look back on a long list of govern-
ment inactions for which no single politi-
cal party can be held solely responsible.
There are things, too, that manufacturers
of chemicals — and consumers of chemi-
cals, including you and I — must do better,
and it all begins with better informing our-
selves. Recall here Pogo’s admonition that
“We have met the enemy, and it is us.”
Collaboration, again, is the key. There is
much we can do together. But we dare
not wait or procrastinate before also
taking constructive individual actions
to manage our own, and our families’
adverse chemical exposures. You can
contact me to share your views through
teresa@heinzoffice.org
www.environmentaloncology.org
Center for Environmental Oncology
Spring 2007
Volume 1 • Number 4
ADDITIONAL Spring 2007 • Volume 1 • Number 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTERNET RESOURCES “Our Body Burden” of
Chemicals: A Call to Action
Beyond Pesticides
Teresa Heinz Kerry
www.beyondpesticides.org
PAGE 4
Breast Cancer Fund
What Green Patriotism Means to Me
www.breastcancerfund.org
David Steinman
Department of Environmental Quality PAGE 6
www.deq.state.mi.us/sid-web
Killing Weeds — Killing Frogs?
Environmental Working Group Herbicides, Toxicity, and Biological Effects
www.ewg.org PAGE 8
Health Care Without Harm Herbicide Toxicity
www.hcwh.org PAGE 10
Healthy Child, Healthy World
UPCOMING EVENTS
www.healthychild.org
MYTHS VS. FACTS ABOUT CANCER AND
OSHA
www.osha.gov
ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS May 9, 2007
12 noon – 1 PM
by: Devra Lee Davis, PhD, MPH, Director, Center for Environmental Oncology of UPCI, Lunch and Learn talk by
Perfectly Natural
Ronald B. Herberman, MD, Director, UPCI and UPMC Cancer Centers Dr. Evelyn Talbott with Dr. Stephen Grant
www.perfectlynatural.com
“Benzene and Cancer”
Recently, the media heralded good news because fewer people are smoking and
The Collaborative on Health and the Environment UPMC Cancer Pavilion
www.healthandenvironment.org with banner headlines and televised lead- more are getting screened for polyps and 5150 Centre Avenue
The CDC in stories: Cancer death rates are going curable stages of colo-rectal cancer. How- Pittsburgh, PA 15232
www.cdc.gov ever, incidence, or new cases of cancer,
down! This is certainly true for all types of Herberman Auditorium, Room 202A
Free healthy lunch served.
The E-House Company cancer combined. But, this is not true for are increasing for a number of specific
Please pre-register at 412-623-1175 or
www.ehousecompany.com a number of specific types of the disease, types of cancer, including non-Hodgkin’s Email: malones@upmc.edu
The Green Guide nor do African Americans share in the lymphoma and childhood cancer. Child-
www.thegreenguide.com same declines as do whites. This newslet- hood cancer is the second largest cause
May 12, 2007
Mother’s Day Celebration and Breast Cancer
The National Cancer Institute ter explores some of the many myths vs. of death in children ages 0-15 in the United Awareness Event
www.nci.nih.gov/cancertopics facts about cancer, the environment, and States (second only to accidents), and 9 AM – 11 AM—Children’s music and activities,
The Rachel Carson Homestead sound public policy. It also features work more than 8,000 new cases are diagnosed raffle for Mom, giveaways
www.rachelcarsonhomestead.org from some leading voices, Teresa Heinz each year. While improvements in treat-
11 AM – 12 Noon—Talk on Women and Breast Cancer
By Talal El-Hefnawy, MD, PhD
Safe 2 Use Kerry and David Steinman, who are edu- ment have reduced deaths from childhood Whole Foods
www.safe2use.com
cating the public about the links between cancer, incidence rates increased nearly 5880 Centre Avenue
Susan G. Komen for the Cure environmental exposures and cancer. As 21% between 1975 and 1998 — approxi- Pittsburgh, PA 15206
cms.komen.org/komen/index.htm Please call 412-623-1175 for more details
always, further information can be found mately 1% each year, and have continued
Venture Outdoors
on our website: to increase until at least 2003. (1) This is Continued on page 2
www.ventureoutdoors.org
www.environmentaloncology.org not due to improved detection (or smoking
Myth: Rates of cancer deaths, of all types or an aging population) but to unexplained,
and in all populations, are going down. environmental influences.
see page 3 sidebar for references.
Total deaths from cancers, indeed, are de- Funding for this newletter is provided by
clining in the United States. This is largely Continued on page 2 The Highmark Foundation and the Heinz Endowments.