Free Republic

REALLY? THE FACTS A widely circulated e-mail message has caused fears that heating plastics in the microwave can contaminate food with dioxins, a group of carcinogens. Experts say there is little truth to this: dioxins almost never turn up in commercial plastics. But Dr. Rolf Halden of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health said another substance that gives many plastics their flexibility, called plasticizers, can migrate into food in small amounts. Plasticizers, unlike dioxins, are not known to be toxic. To be on the safe side, however, the Food and Drug Administration recommends that consumers use only plastic containers...

A German scientific research institute has warned that most condoms on the market contain a cancer-causing chemical and has urged that their manufacture be subjected to stringent quality control. The Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Institute in Stuttgart said on Friday it had found the carcinogen N-Nitrosamine in 29 of 32 types of condoms it tested in simulated conditions. The condoms, which were kept in a solution with artificial sweat, exuded huge amounts of cancer-causing N-Nitrosamine from its rubber coating. Researchers measured amounts of N-Nitrosamine, that were way above the prescribed limits for other rubber products such as baby pacifiers. "N-Nitrosamine...

While I.B.M. officials deny it, evidence is being offered by stricken employees that unusually large numbers of men and women who worked for the giant computer corporation over the past few decades have been dying prematurely. I.B.M. employees, and relatives of employees who have died, are claiming in a series of very bitter lawsuits that I.B.M. workers have contracted cancer and other serious illnesses from chemicals they were exposed to in semiconductor and disk-drive manufacturing, laboratory work and other very basic industrial operations. Dr. Richard Clapp, a respected epidemiologist from Boston University who was hired by a group of 40...

From: The Pro-Life Infonet Carcinogens and the Abortion-Breast Cancer Link By Karen Malec [Pro-Life Infonet Note: Karen Malec is the president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer.] An official list of "known human carcinogens" released by the Department of Health and Human Services in December 2002 includes steroidal estrogens for the first time. The Report on Carcinogens states that steroidal estrogens are used in estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) and common abortifacient drugs. Both kinds of drugs have been widely utilized by American women. The federal report is available on the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences website. [1] While certain...

<p>WHEN MICHAEL LERNER volunteered to give blood and urine samples to medical researchers, he figured they'd only find a few chemicals in his body. After all, Lerner, the president and founder of Commonweal, a health and environmental research institute in Marin County, has lived in Bolinas for 20 years, eaten a healthy diet and avoided exposure to industrial chemicals.</p>