News and Views

Researchers at University of California, Davis and Los Angeles measured food-borne toxin exposure in children and adults by pinpointing foods with high levels of toxic compounds and determining how much of these foods were consumed. These compounds have been linked to cancer, developmental disabilities, birth defects and other conditions. Risk was assessed by comparing toxin consumption to established benchmarks for cancer risk and non-cancer health risks. All 364 children in the study (207 preschool children between two and seven and 157 school-age children between five and seven) exceeded cancer benchmarks for arsenic, dieldrin, DDE and dioxins.