HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - timing of DDT exposure important in whether it raises risk of breast cancer

fauxgypsy · 10-10-2007, 07:43 PM

I was exposed to DDT as a child at my grandparents home where they regularly sprayed for mosqitoes. And in the cities where I lived where they regularly sprayed for mosquitoes, Etc. Etc. Etc. I believe that many of the illnesses prevalent today in my generation are the result, not just of our lifestyles, but are the direst result of being the first generation to be so often exposed to so many unregulated chemicals during our formative years. DDT is just one of those. There are many sites that pertain to DDT. Some of them ridicule the idea that there was ever a problem with
DDT, some of them want us to believe that its benefits outweigh its risks. Most of them explain the problems it causes.

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts35.html
http://extoxnet.orst.edu/pips/ddt.htm
http://www.epa.gov/pbt/pubs/ddt.htm
http://www.who.int/malaria/docs/FAQonDDT.pdf

In thirty years it looks like they could have found a better way to fight malaria than to just repeat the mistakes of the past. The quote below shows me how ignorant I am of our governments programs. If it is cheap and effective, use it no matter what the resulting costs are down the road. I did not realize, either, that they are considering using it again in our country. DDT is one of many chemicals that I believe that over time, research will show the actual cost of using it, not just monetarily but in human suffering. I am not in any way trying to discount the significance of malaria, but I don't think that repeating the mistakes of the past is the way to deal with it.

“I anticipate that all 15 of the country programs of President Bush’s $1.2 billion commitment to cut malaria deaths in half will include substantial indoor residual spraying activities, including many that will use DDT,” said Admiral R. Timothy Ziemer, Coordinator of the President’s Malaria Initiative. “Because it is relatively inexpensive and very effective, USAID supports the spraying of homes with insecticides as a part of a balanced, comprehensive malaria prevention and treatment program. “
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/.../2006/pr50/en/

And then there is Chlordane
http://www.chem-tox.com/chlordane/

And of course--Dioxin
http://www.ejnet.org/dioxin/

It seems to me that we are constantly adding to the mix and each time we say that this new and improved version is going to be better, safer, more effective. I know that each time I choose to use a chemical in my home or yard I am adding to the problem. I want to be able to say that they shouldn't use DDT at all, but I am not the one dying of malaria or watching my child die. It is easy to look way over there and to say Not In My Back Yard. But we willingly use products in our homes that are considered dangerous by some. Will we look back someday and say if only we had not used that cleaning product or that air freshener, our child or our partner would not have gotten cancer?

http://www.afhh.org/res/res_alert.htm#airfresheners

We use chemicals on a daily basis and have no idea of their long term effects. Every time I poison a fire ant nest in my yard I have to wonder if I am poisoning myself or the next generation. The human body is a cauldron of chemical pathways, chemical signals, chemical reactions.

http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ult...Signaling.html

It is so complex and we know so little. Every time we think we know something, another researcher, another technique comes along and takes us deeper into this universe inside our bodies. Who would have thought that feeding cattle grain instead of grass could affect our metabolism when we eat it? ( omega 3 vs omega 6, thanks RB) How much more so do the chemicals that we expose ourselves to daily affect us? Have you ever really thought about the chemicals you encounter during a single day? Or in a single meal? Read labels. How many of those chemicals existed a hundred years ago?
I guess what I am saying on my puny little soap box is that I wish I could point a finger and say "this, this is what caused my cancer." If I didn't have this gene, if I hadn't had that beer, if they hadn't used DDT when I was a child, I wouldn't have cancer. I may be proved wrong many times over but I believe that ultimately it will be a combination of many things acting together that caused the insult to the cell that began my cancer. And I am just enough of a pessimist to believe that these things will not change significantly in my lifetime and probably not in the lifetime of
my great grandchildren. At this point many of the chemicals that are causing our problems are also allowing the lifestyles that we all depend on. We all need food, energy, clothes. We want all children to live and thrive. We are in constant competition with other organisms ( bacteria, insects, fungi, and other humans) for our space on earth. That is not to say that all of the chemicals we use are necessary, again the example of the air freshener, but could so many of us live on this earth without chemicals? There are no easy answers but it does begin at a personal level. What chemical could you give up today? What choice can I make tomorrow that could have a beneficial effect? And will I? I know that I will probably continue to poison fire ants. But I can make a different choice in how I freshen my house or control insects in my garden.

Leslie

10-10-2007, 07:43 PM	#3
fauxgypsy Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 600	My soapbox I was exposed to DDT as a child at my grandparents home where they regularly sprayed for mosqitoes. And in the cities where I lived where they regularly sprayed for mosquitoes, Etc. Etc. Etc. I believe that many of the illnesses prevalent today in my generation are the result, not just of our lifestyles, but are the direst result of being the first generation to be so often exposed to so many unregulated chemicals during our formative years. DDT is just one of those. There are many sites that pertain to DDT. Some of them ridicule the idea that there was ever a problem with DDT, some of them want us to believe that its benefits outweigh its risks. Most of them explain the problems it causes. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts35.html http://extoxnet.orst.edu/pips/ddt.htm http://www.epa.gov/pbt/pubs/ddt.htm http://www.who.int/malaria/docs/FAQonDDT.pdf In thirty years it looks like they could have found a better way to fight malaria than to just repeat the mistakes of the past. The quote below shows me how ignorant I am of our governments programs. If it is cheap and effective, use it no matter what the resulting costs are down the road. I did not realize, either, that they are considering using it again in our country. DDT is one of many chemicals that I believe that over time, research will show the actual cost of using it, not just monetarily but in human suffering. I am not in any way trying to discount the significance of malaria, but I don't think that repeating the mistakes of the past is the way to deal with it. “I anticipate that all 15 of the country programs of President Bush’s $1.2 billion commitment to cut malaria deaths in half will include substantial indoor residual spraying activities, including many that will use DDT,” said Admiral R. Timothy Ziemer, Coordinator of the President’s Malaria Initiative. “Because it is relatively inexpensive and very effective, USAID supports the spraying of homes with insecticides as a part of a balanced, comprehensive malaria prevention and treatment program. “ http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/.../2006/pr50/en/ And then there is Chlordane http://www.chem-tox.com/chlordane/ And of course--Dioxin http://www.ejnet.org/dioxin/ It seems to me that we are constantly adding to the mix and each time we say that this new and improved version is going to be better, safer, more effective. I know that each time I choose to use a chemical in my home or yard I am adding to the problem. I want to be able to say that they shouldn't use DDT at all, but I am not the one dying of malaria or watching my child die. It is easy to look way over there and to say Not In My Back Yard. But we willingly use products in our homes that are considered dangerous by some. Will we look back someday and say if only we had not used that cleaning product or that air freshener, our child or our partner would not have gotten cancer? http://www.afhh.org/res/res_alert.htm#airfresheners We use chemicals on a daily basis and have no idea of their long term effects. Every time I poison a fire ant nest in my yard I have to wonder if I am poisoning myself or the next generation. The human body is a cauldron of chemical pathways, chemical signals, chemical reactions. http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ult...Signaling.html It is so complex and we know so little. Every time we think we know something, another researcher, another technique comes along and takes us deeper into this universe inside our bodies. Who would have thought that feeding cattle grain instead of grass could affect our metabolism when we eat it? ( omega 3 vs omega 6, thanks RB) How much more so do the chemicals that we expose ourselves to daily affect us? Have you ever really thought about the chemicals you encounter during a single day? Or in a single meal? Read labels. How many of those chemicals existed a hundred years ago? I guess what I am saying on my puny little soap box is that I wish I could point a finger and say "this, this is what caused my cancer." If I didn't have this gene, if I hadn't had that beer, if they hadn't used DDT when I was a child, I wouldn't have cancer. I may be proved wrong many times over but I believe that ultimately it will be a combination of many things acting together that caused the insult to the cell that began my cancer. And I am just enough of a pessimist to believe that these things will not change significantly in my lifetime and probably not in the lifetime of my great grandchildren. At this point many of the chemicals that are causing our problems are also allowing the lifestyles that we all depend on. We all need food, energy, clothes. We want all children to live and thrive. We are in constant competition with other organisms ( bacteria, insects, fungi, and other humans) for our space on earth. That is not to say that all of the chemicals we use are necessary, again the example of the air freshener, but could so many of us live on this earth without chemicals? There are no easy answers but it does begin at a personal level. What chemical could you give up today? What choice can I make tomorrow that could have a beneficial effect? And will I? I know that I will probably continue to poison fire ants. But I can make a different choice in how I freshen my house or control insects in my garden. Leslie __________________ In the world of destiny, there are no statistics. Jan. 26- mammogram and ultrasound- suspicious lump Mid-February- lumpectomy, infiltrating ductal carcinoma ~4.5 cm and a 1 cm DCIS, did not get clear margins, did not check lymph nodes ER+/PR+, her2 +++, nuclear grade 3 of 3 February 20-PET scan showed something on liver. No biopsy. March- Started carboplatin, herceptin, taxol on a four week cycle May 3- Pet scan, with intent to do a biopsy, found nothing, liver or breast- no biopsy because there is nothing to biopsy June 21- new onc, very concerned that there had been no biopsy, June 18th-CAT scan, bone scan-negative August 7th - Brain MRI-negative August 9th- mastectomy, all pathology negative January 2008 still NED! New oncologist -herceptin for full year after chemo- until July, and tamoxifen---negative scans since May '07 July 2008-Finished Herceptin!