------ forwarded message ------
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2004 21:54:12 -0600
From: Teresa Binstock <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: WHO: Chemicals are the Next Tobacco?
WHO: Chemicals are the Next Tobacco?
http://www.ewg.org/policyenvironment/index.php#23JULY_chemicals
Posted 23 JULY 2004 by Lauren Sucher
According to a July 10 Lancet article
<http://www.ewg.org/news/story.php?id=2915>, "chemicals could be the
next tobacco for WHO," meaning that officials at the World Health
Organization (WHO) are taking the link between toxic chemicals and human
health very seriously. The author interviews several experts worldwide,
including Dr. Philip Landrigan of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York, who
worked with EWG on our investigation of chemicals in people. Landrigan
states that asthma, childhood cancer, learning disabilities and birth
defects -- which can all be linked to chemicals in the environment --
are on the rise. Now, the WHO appears to be gearing up for a major fight
with the chemical industry as it sets more rigorous standards for safety
testing.
The WHO is composed of volunteer scientists and researchers from around
the world, who meet annually to advise member countries on public health
issues. Its policies are not laws, but they are conceived by what may be
considered the world's top health experts. The Washington Post
<http://www.ewg.org/news/story.php?id=2916> reported on July 21 that
some 24 per cent of WHO advisors come from North America.
The Post story describes a Bush administration attempt to politicize
this prestigious panel. Administration officials have asked the WHO to
reverse its policy and allow them to choose the scientists who will
advise WHO. Official WHO policy is that WHO invites experts to join, and
that those experts may represent their own views only, not those of an
institution or government. The Bush administration wants American
experts to represent its own policies, rather than focus on public
health issues from a broad, purely scientific perspective.
To find out about how the Bush administration has hobbled efforts for
safer chemical policies, please visit
http://www.ewg.org/issues/toxics/index.php.
To read more about EWG's work on how many chemicals are found in people,
please visit http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden.
