The Charge of the Cancer Brigade

The topic of cancer weighs heavily on the regulatory mind. Indeed, federal agencies are now waging an all-out war on the nation’s “cancer epidemic.” Interagency committees are battling to determine a national policy on chemical carcinogens. Stringent and expensive regulations are being aimed at chemicals in our air, food, and workplaces. War has been declared, but, unfortunately, it’s a misdirected war against a misidentified enemy.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have a long history of waging war against allegedly carcinogenic chemicals. The FDA’s banning of red dye #2, cyclamates, and the cattle growth-stimulant DES, and the proposed banning of saccharin, were all in the name of “protecting us from cancer.” The EPA’s banning of the pesticides aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor, and chlordane, and its frequently reformulated air carcinogen standards, have the same intent. Now, however, we have more agencies and committees in on the act.

The topic of cancer weighs heavily on the regulatory mind. Indeed, federal agencies are now waging an all-out war on the nation’s “cancer epidemic.” Interagency committees are battling to determine a national policy on chemical carcinogens. Stringent and expensive regulations are being aimed at chemicals in our air, food, and workplaces. War has been declared, but, unfortunately, it’s a misdirected war against a misidentified enemy.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have a long history of waging war against allegedly carcinogenic chemicals. The FDA’s banning of red dye #2, cyclamates, and the cattle growth-stimulant DES, and the proposed banning of saccharin, were all in the name of “protecting us from cancer.” The EPA’s banning of the pesticides aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor, and chlordane, and its frequently reformulated air carcinogen standards, have the same intent. Now, however, we have more agencies and committees in on the act.