While concentrating on global warming and greenhouse gases, politicians and the press have not paid much attention to another growing problem: the thousands of toxic chemicals spewed into the environment by industry, mining, and agriculture. These chemicals—asbestos, lead, mercury, polycyclic hydrocarbons, herbicides, and pesticides, just to name a few—have caused occupational and environmental diseases and have contaminated a significant proportion of our food supply with trace but potentially significant amounts of toxic chemicals. Other environmental contamination episodes have resulted in land areas becoming uninhabitable (Chernobyl, Love Canal) while others have made necessary the destruction of hundreds of thousands of farm animals (Michigan’s PBB contamination of the 1970s).
Since the 1960s, the United States has been a leader in cleaning up these chemicals both in the environment and in the workplace. But the cost of the environmental control systems has raised the cost of industrial and agricultural production. In response, manufacturers have exported millions of jobs overseas to countries where environmental pollution and worker exposure to toxic chemicals go on unabated. Outsourcing is frequently the equivalent of condoning sweatshops. We now consume products from China, Mexico, and other countries at the expense of the health of their workers and citizens. The overall effect on worldwide pollution is unchanged. The pollution is only transferred to another area. Occupational and environmental diseases are increasing at a rapid pace in these developing countries. Now these highly polluted countries are sending their products back to us—including foods and medicines—sometimes with dangerous levels of contamination with toxic substances.
Consumers need to know the origin of the products they buy. Of particular concern are the foods we eat and the medications we take. There are numerous reports of imported foodstuffs contaminated with toxic chemicals and of medications having ineffective levels of the drug (less than stated) and contamination with impurities. Certain countries have much higher production standards than others.
