CDHS

Environmental Health Decision-making:

How do we get our communities involved?

Lois J Shapiro-Canter

This is the recap by Tiya Madden, of a talk given at the September 10th, 2006 CDHS monthly meeting.

Lois J Shapiro-Canter, J.D., president and CEO of the Saratoga Foundation for Women World-Wide, Inc, spoke at our September meeting. Shapiro-Canter has been a leader in environmental, economic, and civil justice for more than two decades and is a former Albany County Assistant District Attorney. Her discussion with us focused on "Environmental Health Decision-making: How do we get our communities involved?"

Environmental Contaminants

We began with an overview of the contaminants in our environment, then took an up-close look at lead prevention efforts, and concluded with a list of questions to get us thinking about how we can support the effort to reduce our exposure to harmful chemicals.

We are faced with the hard truth that we live amidst over 75,000 manmade chemicals which have never been tested for their effects on human health. These chemicals are in the blood of people all over the planet. We are continually exposed to chemicals that cause cancer, endocrine disruption, infertility, as well as skin cancers and weakened immune systems due to depletion of the ozone layer. We are literally walking around with 250+ chemicals in our bodies, which are not only harmful to ourselves, but also disrupt the development of fetuses and compromise the safety of breast milk. What your mother is exposed to could have an effect on your health later in life. Examples of harmful chemicals we are exposed to include lawncare products which cause mammary tumors in rats and are suspected of increasing the risk of human breast cancer. Hormone-disrupting chemicals found in Polycarbonate plastics (water bottles, toys, teethers, microwaveable plastics, and food containers) have also invaded the human body. Despite the corporate assurances that these substances are safe, researchers are finding otherwise.
The European Union is more responsive than the U.S. to controlling dangerous chemicals because they focus more on pre-market approval to ensure product safety. Unfortunately, the U.S. does not have these pre-market approval laws. In order to fight for these pre-market testing laws in the U.S., it is necessary to understand the obstacles we face:
1. Laws and regulations designed to protect the public and the environment are often rescinded by political administrations.
2. Countries, through the WTO, threaten sanctions against other countries' environmental laws claiming they impede the global economy.
3. Tort-reform laws limit the individual’s right to sue companies for causing harm.
4. The Fairness doctrine was rescinded in 1987 by the Reagan administration in an effort to control public opinion. (the Fairness doctrine was implemented in the 1940's to ensure both points of view are heard on the public airways. Without this law, Rush Limbaugh-style programs air without the environmental/public safety viewpoint receiving airtime).

Some goals for us:

* We need to educate families about their toxic exposures at home, school, the workplace, and the environment. We need to ensure that people become educated about the toxic exposures in their food, lawn products, etc.
* Environmental health education must be provided at every level in school.
* Environmental health information must be made personal so that people understand what a real (and personal) difference can be made by avoiding dangerous products.
* Establish in New York State a regulation like California’s “Proposition 65,” which requires corporations to place warnings on their products and provides consumers with the right to sue.
* Amend trade-secret laws.
* Establish precautionary health standards – pre-market approval.

Lead Poisoning

Lead Poisoning is still a problem, despite the fact that all lead poisoning is preventable. Lead paint has been banned since 1978, but most older homes have some old layers of lead paint. Disturbed layers of paint can fall as dust onto hands and children's toys, etc. The U.S. food industry voluntarily eliminated lead soldering in food cans, but the risk still exists in canned foods imported from other countries. Foreign candy is risky as well, because of the lead in the ink found on wrappers and/or improper storage of ingredients. Bread wrappers are another lead source because of the bright red and yellow paint on the bags. Many other imported foods and food colorings contain lead. Another risk is lead pipes, although 90% of lead blood levels in children are linked to sources other than drinking water. Ceramic tableware, cups, and other containers can contain lead in their glazes. The Saratoga Foundation for Women World-Wide Inc. can provide you with recommendations on how to avoid and eliminate lead exposure.

Questions to ponder

Lois J. Shapiro-Canter concluded her discussion with a list of questions to get us thinking about how we could support the effort to reduce our exposure to harmful chemicals:

1. Environmental Health Issues: what are the most common toxic exposures to be addressed and their connection to disease?
2. How do we make environmental health a priority to families? How do we influence people to make the connection between chemical contaminants and disease?
3. At-risk communities: how do we engage poor and minority communities to get involved with environmental health issues? What are the obstacles to be addressed?
4. Identification and promotion of environmentally conscious business practices: how do we work with business to adopt environmentally friendly practices to decrease/eliminate toxic exposures?
5. What have we learned from the past 50-plus years of the environmental health movement? What strategies work and how do we overcome the obstacles?
6. Identify the networks that exist to market and publicize environmental health information in schools, workplace, homes, medical offices and the community.
7. What kind of public policy initiatives and laws should be enacted in New York State to Improve environmental health?

A book mentioned by the speaker was Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening Our Own Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival? – A Scientific Detective Story by Theo Colborn, John Peterson Myers, and Dianne Dumanoski – considered to be a worthy sequel to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.

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