UC Toxics News: Spring 2006
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TSR&TP Director John Knezovich kicked off the 19th Annual Research Symposium Friday evening with a surprise game of Toxics Jeopardy. The 150 participants collaborated at each table on the answers and bet on final jeopardy (This Cal EPA Secretary announced his retirement in January 2006). Boos and cheers emanated from the room as the answers were read. Scores were high, averaging above 5000, but the winning table had nearly 10,000 points. Winners were given $25 gift cards to iTunes or Borders.

When the clamor subsided, Knezovich introduced the keynote speaker, Dick Jackson, MD, MPH, a Professor of Environmental Health at UC Berkeley and former State Health Officer under Governor Schwarzenegger. Jackson also served as director of the Center of Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Environmental Health in Atlanta for nine years.

Jackson began his talk with the premise that scientists can play a big role in influencing policy decisions. Public outrage and laws to reduce toxics in the environment can have enormous positive impacts on health. Jackson cited the fights against lead and public smoking as examples.

Better IQ - It’s not from video games
Looking back, people said action was impossible on the lead issue in the early 1970s. Industry was vehemently opposed. As a result of scientific vigilance to prove lead was harmful and political action to remove it from paint and gasoline, a national health and nutrition exam survey showed in the late 1970s that blood lead levels of American children dropped from 22 to 13 ug/dL. A similar survey was done in the early 1990s and found that average lead levels in children were under 3. Society benefits from prevention - every 10 ug/dL drop in blood lead levels raises IQ by 2.6 points. IQ tests had to be recalibrated. “Kids weren’t getting smarter because they were playing video games,” said Jackson. Each IQ point is estimated to be worth $14,500 of earning power. The economic benefit of preventing lead exposure in children is huge.

A different kind of toxicology

Obesity is a new kind of toxicology. "We need to demonize junk food." -Dick Jackson, M.D., MPH

“We need to demonize junk food, ” said Jackson. Obesity is the fastest growing health risk in the United States. General lack of exercise is a big part of the problem. “Americans work like bankers and eat like lumberjacks,” Jackson proclaimed. If current trends toward obesity continue, 33% of babies born in 2000 will become diabetic by age 40, reducing their life expectancy by 15%. The most rapidly growing surgery in the U.S. is gastric bypass. Jackson said the medical fix is not going to take care of this problem; “This is a different type of toxicology.”

Cheaper than water
Jackson purported that a major contributor to our national weight problem has been an unprecedented consumption of sugary drinks. Price supports for corn over the last 30 years have resulted in massive production and use of high fructose corn syrup. “Corn is so cheap to grow, soda is cheaper than water,” said Jackson. He asked if this is really where we want to be putting our tax dollars. The U.S. uses 75 billion pounds of atrazine because it enhances the production of corn by 3%. Jackson said that “every child in the Midwestern U.S. drinks atrazine in their ground and surface water for at least a third of the year so we can grow 3% more surplus corn.” He proposes a one cent tax on each teaspoon of high fructose corn syrup to generate $2.1 billion a year that could be used to subsidize the fresh fruits and vegetables we should be eating.

A sustainable Walmart?
The organic movement is gaining momentum because of Proposition 65 and the public right to know. Studies have shown that organic diets reduce levels of chemicals in children’s bodies within a few days. Walmart sells many organic products and is now the largest consumer of organic cotton. Cradle to cradle and green chemistry are becoming important to consumers. There has been a dramatic consciousness shift. A sustainable Walmart may no longer be an oxymoron.

Bigger than Chicago and hotter than Phoenix
Jackson said the threat of global warming is real. Surface temperatures on earth are increasing. Five of the hottest years in history have been recorded in the past 10 years. Jackson warned that there will be a Sierra Nevada meltdown - our grandchildren won’t see snow on Half Dome or most of the Sierra and there won’t be any snow in the Arctic Circle within 60 years if we don’t reverse the trend. “Sacramento will become bigger than Chicago and hotter than Phoenix.”

Don’t just be scientists, be leaders
Jackson concluded his talk with a call to action. “California is going to have to take the lead. This great country and this great state can turn this around. We have had marvelous successes with real steadfastness. The dam is going to break. The world is ripe for your leadership.”

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