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New Science but Old Policies

A haiku on how we reward ignorance and punish innovation Charlotte Brody, RN. New Science but Old Policies. • What ’ s the problem? • Why do we think the problem has anything to do with chemicals? • Why has it taken us so long to figure this out? • What do we do now?.

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New Science but Old Policies

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  1. A haiku on how we reward ignorance and punish innovation Charlotte Brody, RN New Science but Old Policies

  2. • What’s the problem?• Why do we think the problem has anything to do with chemicals? • Why has it taken us so long to figure this out?• What do we do now?

  3. What’s the problem?

  4. We’re living longer,but we’re less healthy

  5. Cancer mortality is going down but cancer incidence keeps going up

  6. Young women may be losing their health and their right to choose to become mothers • 30% more babies are being born premature • 25 to 50% of women have fibroids • 10 to 15% suffer from endometriosis • Girls are developing breasts and starting their periods earlier • Breast cancer went up 40% between 1973 and 1998 Shaping Our Legacy: Reproductive Health and the Environment. A report on the Summit on Environmental Challenges to Reproductive Health and Fertility, January 28–30, 2007. www.prhe.ucsf.edu/prhe/pubs/shapingourlegacy.pdf and Hormone Disruptors and Women’s Health, Reasons for Concern at www.healthandenvironment.org

  7. Young men may grow up to be half the man their fathers were • Sperm counts down 50% over 50 years • Compared with 30 years ago • 46% more men get testicular cancer • 76% more men get prostate cancer Shaping Our Legacy: Reproductive Health and the Environment. A report on the Summit on Environmental Challenges to Reproductive Health and Fertility, January 28–30, 2007. www.prhe.ucsf.edu/prhe/pubs/shapingourlegacy.pdf

  8. •CDC reports 6.1 million U.S. couples with infertility problems in 1995 •7.3 million couples with infertility in 2002 •Largest reported increase in women under 25 Are we losing the right to reproduce? Barrett, Julia R., Fertile Grounds for Inquiry, EHP, November 2006 and Shaping Our Legacy

  9. Death from cardiovascular disease is 29% higher for African American adults and 40% higher from stroke. African American women are twice as likely to die from cervical cancer than white women. American Indians, Alaska natives, African Americans and Hispanics are at least twice as likely to have diabetes than whites. The Disease Burden is worse for Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans

  10. Why do we think the problem has anything to do with chemicals?

  11. Wildlife Tragedies Florida Panther

  12. Human Tragedies: Minamata, Japan Chemical Plant Dumps Mercury into Bay

  13. Human Tragedies: DBCP Harmful to workers who made it and the workers who used it

  14. Human Tragedies:Thalidomide http://www.jamd.com/search?assettype=g&assetid=3159439&text=Sherri+Finkbine

  15. Human Tragedies: Diethylstilbestrol (DES) Exposure to DES in the womb = Deformed uterus = Impaired fertility Increased risk of miscarriage Premature labor & birth Fibroids Cancer of the Vagina and Cervix Third Generation Effects

  16. Vandenberg, LN, MV Maffini, PR Wadia, C Sonnenschein, BS Rubin and AM Soto. 2007. Exposure to environmentally relevant doses of the xenoestrogen bisphenol-A alters development of the fetal mouse mammary gland. Endocrinology 148(1):116-27. Animal Studies Predict Human Harm

  17. Bisphenol A in 92.6% of 2,517 NHANES participants 6 years old and older in 2003-2004 www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/

  18. Phthalates Since 2003, in cells: Human breast cancer cells stimulated Counteract tamoxifen In lab animals: Decreased testosterone Change in mammary glands Additive harm In humans: Sperm damage More allergic symptoms In amniotic fluid Correlation with anogenital distance and mother’s reported use of baby products Lower levels of thyroid hormone

  19. Why has it taken us so long to figure this out?

  20. Linear dose response curves don’t capture the chemical problem Outdated frameworks miss low dose effects, mixtures, synergies, timing, sensitivities and other differences between people and long delays between Exposures and visible effects, including Multigenerational effects Neat but wrong

  21. Hormones: Tiny doses control communication and coordination of body tissues 300 ppt in a 143 lb. woman is equivalent to .000000000002 of one plain M &M

  22. Two Ways to Make Hormones

  23. In a human body •Estrogens •Testosterone •Adrenaline •Insulin •Thyroid •Progesterone •LH •FSH Two Ways to Make Hormones In a factory •Atrazine •Bisphenol A •DDT •DES •Dioxins •PBB •PCB •Phthalates

  24. Hormone disruptors send the wrong message at the wrong time to the wrong place

  25. Mixtures and synergies destroy resiliency and create disease Stress Genes Racism Access to Health Care Gene Expression Social Support Radiation Nutrition Toxic Chemicals Poverty Infections Adapted from T. Schettler’s modification of Hubbs-Tait et al. “Psychological science in the public interest”

  26. Long Delays Women exposed to relatively high levels of DDT prior to mid-adolescence are 5 times more likely to develop breast cancer Cohn, BA, MS Wolff, PM Cirillo and RI Sholtz. 2007. DDT and breast cancer in young women: New data on the significance of age at exposure. Environmental Health Perspectives doi:10.1289/ehp.10260

  27. Manufactured doubt and fear prevent new science from becoming new policy

  28. What do we do now?

  29. Lessen stressors to create resiliency and decrease disease Stress Genes Racism Access to Health Care Gene Expression Social Support Radiation Nutrition Toxic Chemicals Poverty Infections Adapted from T. Schettler’s modification of Hubbs-Tait et al. “Psychological science in the public interest”

  30. Lower exposures we can lower Insert slide Executive Summary, CDC's Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, 2005

  31. Chemical Facts Change The Framework from Linear Dose Response Curves to a Recognition That Chemicals Work Like Pharmaceuticals Neat but wrong Mixtures and synergies Sensitive populations Timing

  32. • 81,000 chemicals registered in US in 2003 • 99% of chemicals by volume grandfathered in without evidence of safety when TSCA become law in 1976 Definitions of “unreasonable risk” and “least onerous control” are unworkable • Under TSCA, restrictions on 5 chemicals are in place, we don’t know the health effects of more than 85% of these chemicals Denison, R.A., Not That Innocent and Tickner, J.A., Introduction to TSCA TSCA: US chemical regulation:Reward ignorance and punish innovation

  33. How the FDA got the power to require proof of safety before a drug was marketed www.fda.gov/cder/about/history/ and Pomper, G.M., Ordinary Heroes and American Democracy

  34. A closing haiku It seems so simpleIf you can’t show that it’s safethen you can’t sell it www.womenshealthandenvironment.org

  35. Thank you.

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