"C. Everett Koop is bought by industry"

[Jim Muckerheide <jmuckerheide@delphi.com>]

Group,

Note that even C. Everett Koop and a panel of 17 is "bought by industry"
and needs "peer-review" in order be acceptable to the pygmies. This
report doesn't address the panel's finding that Greenpeace used junk
science.

Regards, Jim Muckerheide
jmuckerheide@delphi.com
==================

OVER OBJECTIONS, REPORT CALLS PVC TOYS, MEDICAL SUPPLIES SAFE

Toys and medical supplies made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and
softened with
di-ethylhexyl phthalates (DEHP) are not harmful, according to the
American
Council on Science and Health (ACSH). In a widely criticized report
released
Tuesday, the group summarized a review of scientific literature and risk

assessments, concluding that while DEHP does leach out of the products,
it
does not pose a significant risk to children or patients. The ACSH's
17-member
panel was headed by former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. The
panel's findings were not peer reviewed, the scrutiny applied to
submissions to
academic journals. Health Care Without Harm, an international coalition
which
released its own study last week finding definite risks from DEHP,
questioned
ACSH’s findings. "It's difficult to understand how the panel could have
reviewed
the hundreds of studies on leaching and health effects and still come
out with
such simple, soothing words of assurance" said Charlotte Brody, HCWH
co-coordinator. "Did they consider the studies on dialysis patients or
tube-fed
children and patients who receive many blood transfusions? Did they
consider
the animal studies that provide insights into human health effects?" The
National
Environmental Trust (NET) cautioned the public not to rely on the makers
of
chemicals for unbiased information about chemicals. ACSH receives 76
percent
of its funding from corporations and corporate funders, including makers
of
DEHP products, Congressional Quarterly's Public Interest Profiles has
found.
"To give parents assurances of safety when no new research has been
conducted and when government laboratories are looking at the matter is
the
height of irresponsibility," said Phil Clapp, president of NET.


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