Posted on 09/16/2002 9:55:59 PM PDT by chance33_98
Report: California's Air Poses Cancer Risk For Kids Toxins Can Cause Cancer
POSTED: 2:42 p.m. PDT September 16, 2002 UPDATED: 2:54 p.m. PDT September 16, 2002
SAN DIEGO -- By the time most children in California turn 18, they have inhaled toxic contaminants exceeding federal safety levels hundreds of times over, a study said.
The report by the National Environmental Trust, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., claims that a 2-week-old baby in Southern California has already been exposed to more pollution than is considered acceptable over a lifetime by the federal government, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"The concentration of cancer-causing air pollution in California is so great that, just by breathing this air, children will accumulate cancer risks that are pretty astounding," Andy Igrejas, environmental health program director for the National Environmental Trust, said in remarks reported by the Times.
The study looked at pollution in San Diego, the Los Angeles region, the Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley and the Sacramento Valley. The analysis was consistent with other studies, including a report prepared three years ago by U.S. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles).
The report says California is the nation's smoggiest state. The air pollution contains a mix of industrial and automotive chemicals. Many of the components cause reproductive harm and neurological damage as well as contribute to smog and haze, but can cause cancer.
State air board officials estimate that air contaminants cause 720 cancer cases per million people annually in the greater Los Angeles area. That translates to a risk almost 1,000 times greater than the federal government's acceptable limit, the Times reported.
Wacky Waxman Alert.
If you visit the National Cancer Institute site, you'll find that the mortality rates for lung-related cancers are well below the rates for the U.S. as a whole, and way below those of such "unpolluted" states as Arkansas.
I don't think there's a crisis here that warrants federal intervention.
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