Author's Book on Cancer Fuels Flames Again

"We see the out-and-out manipulation of research or suppression of it," said Francesca Grifo, senior scientist and director of the Union of Concerned Scientists' scientific integrity program in Washington. "The fact she is putting these things together maybe will get people to ask more questions."

On the other hand, Bruce Ames, a retired University of California biochemist and National Medal of Science winner, said Davis is fanatical and "has gone completely overboard about traces of chemicals versus what is out there -- bad diets and smoking."

Elizabeth M. Whelan, president and founder of the American Council on Science and Health, a New York group of doctors and scientists who question the reliability of the science government uses to regulate, agrees with Ames. She called Davis's book "fringe." The real health risks, Whelan said, are tobacco, exposure to sunlight, obesity, and for women, sexual habits, childlessness and drinking too much.

The Donora accident from childhood prompted Davis to write her first book, "When Smoke Ran Like Water," which became a National Book Award finalist after it was published in 2002. It took 20 years and the loss of both parents to cancer for her to write her new book.

Equally important in shaping her views, Davis said, were the years she spent in Washington. She worked on toxicology studies at the Environmental Protection Agency in the 1970s. She spent a decade at the National Academy of Sciences, again focusing on environmental toxins. And President Bill Clinton appointed her head of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, which investigates industrial accidents.

She said she learned in Washington how corporate lawyers had succeeded in setting the standard of proof for dangerous chemicals higher than it should be by arguing that it's hard to "prove" what the real cause of a cancer might be.

"In the absence of regulatory focus in the U.S. today and the lack of leadership, we are losing ground," Davis said. "The devastating impact on science makes McCarthyism look like child's play."

Cindy Skrzycki is a regulatory columnist with Bloomberg News. She can be reached atcskrzycki@bloomberg.net.