Our society is now experiencing epidemic levels of diseases caused by exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The damages to health caused by EDCs include: cancer, diabetes, sexual dysfunction, behavioral deficit disorders such as ADHD, and obesity. All of these outcomes have been observed in animal studies at extremely low levels of exposure. Epidemiological studies have shown that humans experience the same disease outcomes for numerous EDCs. The time for acting to protect public health based upon a large body of scientific knowledge is upon us.
Dr. Theo Colborn, President of the Endocrine Disruption Exchange, describes a bill recently introduced into Congress that serves to create a new research program at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Research fostered by the Endocrine Disruption Prevention Act of 2009 will focus on assessing the endocrine disrupting affects of chemical substances used in our economy. This legislative piece provides for transfer of the scientific knowledge generated at NIEHS to the national regulatory agencies, including: US EPA, US FDA, and USDA. It will then be the responsibility of these agencies to insure that the public is protected from exposure to those substances known to be EDCs.
It is essential that Americans call upon their members of Congress to make every effort to insure that the Endocrine Disruption Prevention Act becomes law. Corporations will mount a substantial opposition to passage of the Act. We must not let the lovers of money cheat us of protection from chemicals known to cause terrible harm. Getting this legislation and the rewriting of the Toxic Substances Control Act through Congress is critical to the continuance of human beings on this Earth. We are losing our way in a morass of pollutant exposure and disease. In the gathering darkness, we must take a firm hold on the bright light of scientific knowledge and persevere in bringing about the return of a healthful World. All it will take to restore the healthfulness of Nature is the courage to use what we know to control the use of chemicals regardless of the opposition of the bad corporate kings.
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