June 13th, 1998

LITTLE "EVIDENCE," BUT MANY DEATHS
By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.

Two voices from an Ivory Tower at the University of Southern California told us last week that all is well in the world. These two medical scientists have declared that exposure to environmental toxins does not cause cancer in a commentary in the L.A. Times called "Real Risks of Cancer Are Not in Environment but in Ourselves" (by Drs. Henderson and Preston-Martin, June 8, 1998).

This reckless article has contributed to furthering the confusion that exists among those exposed to toxic chemicals, pesticides, and other hazards in our world. The authors claimed that "few direct links" have been found between environmental factors and cancer. They cite studies that find "no evidence" and they suggest that genetic susceptibility, diet and obesity are the causes of our cancerous dilemmas.

In the community of Buttonwillow, California in the San Joaquin Valley, strawberry farmer Paul Buxman would disagree that his son's cancer was unrelated to the heavy pesticide use on his and neighboring farms. So would the parents of all the children from that community with cancer - brain cancers, back cancers, and all manner of afflictions. Many of them are dead now and all of them are unrecognized, uncounted sufferers.

The authors claim that if pesticides are linked to breast cancer, then the rates should be the highest in agricultural communities. Yet, they claim, there they are among the lowest while rates among urban women are high.

But when you think about it, of course this would be the case in our class-privileged, economically driven society. The poor, migrant farm workers that are suffering and dying in the San Joaquin Valley don't have medical insurance and are not counted. They rarely seek treatment until it is nearly too late. Many of the doctors they see to remove their tumors and breasts work for the large agribusiness companies - they do not report their findings in the New England Journal of Medicine or contact the Centers for Disease Control. Of course affluent women in urban areas seek medical care often and find incidence of breast cancers much earlier. They are visible and counted.

Pesticide Spraying (from "Environmental Science: Working With the Earth" by G. Tyler Miller, 1995)

Let the authors tell their story of "no evidence" to farm worker Ramona, mother of Filipo Franko who was born without arms and legs. Tell it to McFarland, California farm worker Marta Salinas who has documented dozens of cases of cancer in children in her community. Her four children have cancer, as do all of their friends.

The University of California, based on data from the California Environmental Protection Agency, said that in 1994 in San Joaquin alone, 12,481,715 pounds of 391 different pesticides were applied to crops. This does not include farms that do not report their uses. And the sufferers are largely Hispanic. You remember them, don't you, those evil immigrants who are toppling our way of life? It turns out that California agriculture relies on them to harvest our crops.

In Geismar, Louisiana - or Cancer Alley as it is nationally known - the manufacturers of the nation's chemicals have been discharging their poisonous byproducts into the environment for decades. Entire towns like Geismar have been boarded up, and the tumor and disease-riddled residents paid a couple of thousand dollars and told to sign a non-disclosure agreement forbidding them to ever talk about it.

Tell Amos Favorite, Sr, who lost nine family members to cancer, that there is no connection between their illnesses and the chemical plants next door. Tell the parents of the other children on the same street that have died of cancer. And these towns are mostly filled with African Americans.

Our bodies are assaulted with toxins at every turn in our world, both from expected sources like auto and industrial emissions, but also from items we have been taught to ignore, like the ingredients labeled "inert" in so many of the products we use. Over 650 chemicals that have been identified as hazardous by state, federal, and international agencies are hiding behind the "inert" label in pesticide products. In fact, over 2,500 substances are added to pesticides that are not included in labels.

Statistics don't tell the story. I challenge the ivory tower researchers to get out into the community. Go live in the pesticide-laden fields of the San Joaquin Valley. I want them to feel the burning in their lungs and the bloody rash on their arms after the helicopters spray the fields. I want them to look the suffering farm workers, neighbors of chemical plants, and thousands of maimed, breastless women in the eye and tell them that cancer is on the decline. Look them in the eye while standing on the graves of their dead children and tell them there is "no evidence." I dare them.

We have to open our minds, open our hearts, and open our souls to the truths that are staring us in the face - if we choose to look.

RESOURCES

1. Visit the Witness to the Future web site at http://www.witnesstothefuture.com/witnesses/sjv.html to learn the details behind the examples presented in this article. They have an outstanding video and CDROM on these tragedies.

2. Learn the details of California pesticide use at the University of California site http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PUSE/prepared.html

3. Read the article discussed above at http://www.latimes.com/sbin/iawrapper?NS-search-set=/35813/aaaa006q98134ae&NS-doc-offset=27&NS-adv-search=1& and write a letter to the L.A. Times with your concerns to them at letters@latimes.com

4. Keep track of pesticide issues at the Pesticide Action Network at http://www.igc.apc.org/panna/index.html

5. Learn what the pesticide company earnings were at http://www.igc.apc.org/panna/news/PANUPS1.html

6. Learn the details of what "inert" ingredients are doing to us at gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:70/00/orgs/panna/panups/panups_text/295

7. Find your Congressperson and e-mail them. If you know your Zip code, you can find them at http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ziptoit.html and tell them you want toxic emissions regulated in favor of the sick and injured, not to support business.

8. Learn about the issues. Seek out books on the subject. A good source for used (and new) books is Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, Oregon at http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/associate?assoc_id=212 where you will find a wonderful alternative to the massive chain bookstores taking over the market.

9. Visit the owlcam at http://members.aol.com/owlbox/nest98.htm to see a family of owls living and raising their young. Remind yourself of the miraculous cycles of life. Updated daily.

{Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D., can be found wringing his hands in Venice, California. He is a Professor of Environmental Studies for Antioch University, Los Angeles, and the University of Phoenix Southern California Campuses. Please send your thoughts, comments, and visions to him at jackie@deepteaching.com and visit his web site at http://www.jps.net/jackieg}