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Monday, July 2, 2007
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Monday, July 2, 2007
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|  Big Fears, Little Risks
A video documentary featuring Walter Cronkite that reports on chemicals in the environment.
Produced by: the American Council on Science and Health
Release Date: 1989
Running time: 30 minutes |
Many of us may feel helpless to protect ourselves against the onslaught of health threats reported in the news. It seems that almost every day we open a newspaper or turn on the news, a new carcinogen has been discovered in our food or environment that in high-dose animal studies has been shown to cause cancer. But does this necessarily mean that it is a risk to human health?
This 1989 video documentary with Walter Cronkite is more timely now than ever before. As science advances to the point where we can measure minuscule traces of chemicals in just about everything, many assume we have also reached the point where everything is dangerous.
But the fact is, as Walter Cronkite reports in this film, there is increasing scientific evidence that the presence of trace amounts of chemicals in the environment poses no threat to human health. We've also found many carcinogens that occur naturally in common foods, such as minute amounts of arsenic in potatoes, yet these food are not considered dangerous. Should we fear or ban everything? Certainly not. It all boils down to the basic, commonsense scientific adage that "its the dose that makes the poison."
Indeed, many of the factors responsible for premature human death and disease are obvious, self-inflicted risks that are well within our personal control: lifestyle factors such as smoking, drinking and driving, failure to use a seat belt, failure to eat a varied diet and exercise regularly, or failure to adhere to preventive screening tests such as having blood pressure and cholesterol levels checked. These are the real threats to health we should be concerned about, not the many fads and fallacies reported in the media.
Anniversary Gala Dinner
