Dr. Donald Wigle, of the University of Ottawa in Canada, and Dr. Bruce Lanphear of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio contend that more must be done to protect people from the most common environmental toxins – lead, radon, tobacco smoke and byproducts of drinking water disinfection.
While the US and Canada have made progress toward minimizing lead exposure, it is still of some concern.
Of even greater concern are the byproducts that form when chlorine is used to disinfect water, since these chemicals have been linked to miscarriages and bladder cancer. And both tobacco smoke and radon, a natural radioactive gas, are associated with lung cancer.
The scientists warn that even low (supposedly safe) levels of exposure to any of these substances can be harmful.