After reading the headline, Weighing Cancer Risks, From Cellphones To Coffee, ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross was ready to sink his teeth into what he perceived to be yet another anti-chemical news story. But after reading the first paragraph, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that Associated Press writer Marilynn Marchione s lead-in cut cleverly to her real, pro-science message: she actually wants to remind her readers that, despite media hype, the cancer risks attributable to such everyday items as cellphones, coffee, formaldehyde, or styrene are minimal to none.
This refreshing article comes on the heels of a report released last month by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization (WHO), stating that cellphones are possible carcinogens that may raise the risk of brain tumors. But as Dr. Len Lichtenfield, deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, points out, cancer rates have not increased since the advent of cellphones.
The problem with labeling substances as carcinogens, like IARC did, is that they ve left out half of the equation by failing to mention how much exposure is considered hazardous, says A. Wallace Hayes, editor of the scientific journal Food and Chemical Toxicology.
The rule, Hayes continues, is RITE: Risk Is equal to Toxicity times Exposure, which Dr. Ross puts in layman s terms: Everything under the sun, even water, can be considered toxic, or a hazard, to a varying degree. A substance such as cyanide is highly toxic, so even a small exposure creates a risk. Water, on the other hand, is not toxic at common exposures but too much of it can kill. He adds, The precautionary principle doesn t take into account the level of exposure necessary to present a real risk to health. So when activists call a chemical a carcinogen, they don t take real-world levels of exposure into account.
Why, then, are some people still shying away from phthalates and resorting to Bluetooth headsets? Because it s human nature to fear those risks that we don t control, such as exposure to so-called hazardous chemicals in our food and water, more than those we do, such as sedentary behavior or smoking, both of which pose a much greater risk to health, explains David Ropeik, a consultant and author of How Risky Is It Really? Why Our Fears Don t Always Match the Facts.
Sadly, Ropeik is right, says ACSH s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan: When it comes to cancer phobias, common sense holds little sway.
