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To the Editor:
An Aug. 29 Week in Review article reports that the efforts by some environmentalists to clean up ''brownfield'' industrial sites have worsened the economic woes of the mostly poor areas where they are located. Similarly, an Aug. 29 front-page article describes the resurgence of malaria because of the ban on the use of the insecticide DDT (front page, Aug. 29).

Robert Bork's arguments ("Tobacco Suit Is Latest Abuse of the Rule of Law," editorial page, Sept. 23) concerning the impending Federal lawsuit against the tobacco industry are unscientific and specious. His assertion that smoking is "not addictive as medical science has long defined addiction" is presumptuous, if for no other reason than the tobacco magnates and their subservient "scientists" acknowledged the addictive nature of tobacco in their own internal memos.

To the Editor:
American consumers should be appalled at the thought of the consortium of anti-biotech activists declaring war on socalled "genetically modified organisms." These "activists" assume they know what is best for all of us, and would limit our choices, as well as those of plant breeders and farmers world-wide with no rational, scientific basis for their actions.

The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) today released the names of the physicians and scientists who will serve on an independent, blue-ribbon panel to be chaired by former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C Everett Koop. The panel will review the scientific research data relevant to the safety of vinyl plastic consumer products and medical devices containing the chemical components known as phthalate esters.

To the Editor:
Daniel Machalaba alludes to a most dangerous trend, almost as an afterthought ("Local Ties," front page, Feb. 3). He refers to perchloroethylene as a "suspected carcinogen," and then goes on to point out that no one knows "yet" what it's adverse health effects might be. As Mr. Machalaba then points out, this lack of scientific data has not stopped the plaintiff's bar from declaring that "victims" of this contamination should be compensated for "toxic damage."

New York, NY October 21,1998.
The American Council on Science and Health rejects the Center for Science in the Public Interest s claims that soda necessarily contributes to poor dietary status and/or ill health in children. ACSH President Dr. Elizabeth Whelan and ACSH Director of Nutrition Dr. Ruth Kava offer this perspective:

To the Editor:
Jane Brody was correct to advise us to continue to consume fiber, despite a recent Harvard study that found fiber not to be protective against colon cancer ("Keep the Fiber Bandwagon Rolling, for Heart and Health," July 20).
The fact that this article was even necessary points out the perils of making unwarranted health claims.

To the Editor:
Holcomb B. Noble's article discussing the heavy burden of asthma faced by poor, largely minority children in New York City (News article, July 27, 1999) neglects to mention a prime trigger of children's asthma: cigarette smoke. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke is known to increase severity of asthma symptoms, and to impair recovery following hospitalization of asthmatic children.

At least two United States senators have concluded that American children are at risk because parents are not warned about pesticides sprayed at schools. Some scientists disagree and claim that the senators are unnecessarily alarming parents based on an unfounded health scare and are consequently misdirecting priorities for children's health.

To the Editor:
Holman Jenkins has certainly captured the irony involved in the states' de facto partnership with the tobacco industry, ostensibly to protect the continuing influx of settlement dollars into state coffers ("Look Who's Falling in Love...", April 26). However, he is wrong about a few points:

To the Editor:
It is distressing that the USDA, by attempting to legally define "organic", has granted legitimacy to the concept that so-called "organic" food is any safer or better than conventionally produced foods (Regulators Nearing Tougher Standard for Organic Food, pg. B13, 3/6/00).

Many Americans engage in bicycling principally to improve their health and/or physical fitness for example, to control body weight, blood pressure, and/or plasma cholesterol concentrations, and/or to increase agility. Bicycling is useful not only toward these ends but also as a mode of physical therapy (e.g., to promote recovery from knee surgery) and as a means of stress reduction.
On the other hand, bicycling entails many health risks, even for experienced bicyclists. National statistics suggest that in the United States:

In regard to "Spending on Prescription Drugs Rose 19%" (Economy, May 8): I fear that many readers will view this significant increase on drug spending in 2000 as more bad news about health care in the U.S. Yet if we consider how many patients have been helped by the very drugs that are responsible for this rise in spending, we might instead see this as a step forward.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A wide variety of factors may influence an individual's likelihood of developing various types of cancer. These factors are usually referred to as risk factors. Different types of cancer may have different risk factors.

To the Editor:
Re "Tobacco's New Best Friend," by Jacob Sullum (Op-Ed, July 20):
I agree with Mr. Sullum when he asserts that government is an ally of the tobacco industry, but this has long been true. Although the tobacco industry appeared to fight the congressionally mandated warning labels that began appearing on cigarette packs in 1965, the industry was well aware that these labels would shield them from liability for their deceptive marketing practices, and that they would have no beneficial effect on public health.

Your article "Monsanto and Pharmacia to Join, Creating a Pharmaceutical Giant" (front page, Dec. 20) states that Monsanto has been under attack in Europe and in the United States for developing genetically modified crops that are substantially superior to regular varieties.
While opponents of genetically modified products fan the flames of public fear of use of such crops, the truth is that they do not threaten food safety, and in fact hold much promise for present and future generations.

My favorite way of putting risks into perspective is to consider the average loss of life expectancy they cause, LLE (indicated in parentheses throughout this article). I present here a brief catalog of these, taken from my paper published in the September 1991 issue of Health Physics Journal.

The American Medical Association took out a full-page ad in the February 27 New York Times, chastising NBC for deciding to run hard liquor ads, putting impressionable teens at risk. The AMA has thereby compounded a mistake begun by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

A lot of health-related politics has less to do with philosophy than with tribal allegiances. Those tribal allegiances are strong and make people disinclined to listen to each other or to examine the weaknesses in their own arguments.
In a saner, calmer world, for instance, one probably would not have to deal with people who regard it as un-American to avoid eating beef fat nor with people who think that evil corporations will destroy the world merely by sewing genetically-modified corn.
But here we are.

As parents around the country were getting their children ready to go to school this morning, ABC's Good Morning America (GMA) and CNN were both giving parents warnings about how their children get to and from school one about diesel fumes on school buses, the other about ill-fitting seatbelts. GMA went with the diesel fuel story, and that raises questions about how they prioritize health stories.

To the Editor:
Re "Responding to Anthrax Attacks" (editorial, Oct. 16):
Given the public concern over the recent anthrax cases and scares, I am disconcerted by the lack of information coming from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which should be in the forefront of such communication. Sharing what it knows is a large part of preventing irrational responses, like unwise self-medicating.

A national public health group has released two new publications, each of which presents evidence that childhood vaccinations are safe, and urge Americans to continue to protect their children's health by immunizing them against common childhood diseases.

At least one type of stroke is more likely in the morning, according to a study done by neurologists and internists at Italy's University of Ferrara. They found that about 44% of the ischemic strokes (due to reduced blood flow to the brain, as with a blood clot) in the population they studied started in the quarter of the day between 6am and noon. The scientists suggest a "chronotherapeutic approach," including antihypertensive agents designed to lower morning blood pressure.

Executive Summary

Although AIDS remains a major health problem in New York City (NYC), previous estimates of the number of persons infected with the AIDS virus in NYC were overstated, according to a new report by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), AIDS in New York City: Update 2001