Wow! The most useful biomarker may very well be the 20% of the population who suffer from allergies, chemical or electrical sensitivities, whose bodies are exquisitely fine tuned to the environment. Historically, they were probably the most valued members of the tribe who would test food, smell danger... In modern times, however, they are ostracized, outcast and labelled with ‘psychological’ illnesses because the current medical system is geared to address only acute conditions and treat symptoms with drugs, and it fails to address the cause of the problem. Probably more to the point, to acknowledge and validate these important members of our society would question the very fabric of the western way of life.
THE TRUE COST OF PROGRESS
“The fact that the public remained doubtful for years about the effects of products like asbestos, tobacco smoke, x-rays, lead dust, pesticides, bisphenol-A … is not a coincidence. This doubt was manufactured, bought and paid for by industry.”
Sean Penn (actor).
The Human Experiment Movie.
The greatest hurdle I face as an educator, is convincing people that exposure standards for chemicals and electromagnetic fields are not adequate to protect their families. Most people don’t realize that the industry doing the harm is also often the one setting the standards and that many of the products they buy in stores have probably never been tested to determine their impact on human beings. The pharmaceutical and telecommunications industries and many of the larger chemical manufacturers are introducing new technologies and products that have never been tested for their impact on human health. When one chemical is found to be toxic, it is frequently replaced with another chemical that maybe more toxic. Bisphenol-A and Bisphenol-S being one such example. Companies also employ scientists who cherry pick data and fail to publish studies that may impact their bottom line. They chant “there’s no evidence of harm” because the burden of proof is not on them to prove their products or technologies are safe, whilst simultaneously they obtain licenses from government regulators so they can legally pollute our air, water, soil, and poison every living creature on this planet in the name of “progress”.
Big money is very persuasive at a political level.
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”
Upton Sinclair (1932).
As a result of delay tactics employed by industry, in addition to the burden of proof falling on researchers like myself who often spend years, decades or even a lifetime to investigate the impact of an agent on human health, the history of medicine is littered with numerous examples of missed opportunities, wasted resources, and counter-productive policies due to the inability to act on available evidence.99
In 1857, the father of epidemiology, Dr John Snow, demonstrated that ‘contagions’ in water were responsible for the cholera epidemic;100 in 1956, Dr Alice Stewart proved that one fetal x-ray doubled the incidence of childhood leukaemia;101 and in 1950, Dr Richard Doll published his findings correlating smoking with lung cancer.102 All of these clinicians were ostracized by their peers, the industry and the medical establishment at the time of their findings, and it took decades for their work to be validated.