What can a single person do?
I spoke recently with Dr. Anthony Cortese, a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow over a dinner with a few Radford University students about the our duty as scientists to act as leaders for the community and the challenges associated with it. It seems one of the biggest difficulties is getting the media's attention. We've all seen the news commercials dramatically announcing the next weight loss fad or the newest cancer causing thing. It was for this very reason that BPA became rampant through the media: an estrogen mimic that feeds cancer!
The great thing about the power of the media though, is that it worked! Consumers started calling for BPA free water bottles and the suppliers responded! Unbeknownst to most though, the BPA was mostly replaced with BPS which some consider to be worse than BPA. So the trick then, is to keep the public informed on what chemicals they're being exposed to and what they can do to avoid it. I find it unfortunate that such regulation is left to the consumer.
As in individual, it is our job to share our knowledge of EDCs with others through social media and popular press. Ideally, such regulation would take place on a governmental level and regulated by associations such as the FDA. Also, EDC research would be shouldered by the companies that use then, not the government nor the consumer who may be suffering the effects.
The great thing about the power of the media though, is that it worked! Consumers started calling for BPA free water bottles and the suppliers responded! Unbeknownst to most though, the BPA was mostly replaced with BPS which some consider to be worse than BPA. So the trick then, is to keep the public informed on what chemicals they're being exposed to and what they can do to avoid it. I find it unfortunate that such regulation is left to the consumer.
As in individual, it is our job to share our knowledge of EDCs with others through social media and popular press. Ideally, such regulation would take place on a governmental level and regulated by associations such as the FDA. Also, EDC research would be shouldered by the companies that use then, not the government nor the consumer who may be suffering the effects.
"The road to freedom must be uphill, even if it is arduous and frustrating."
-Andrew Goodman
Learning Outcomes 3, 4