中新社北京5月16日电 (记者 刘长忠) 一项xx机构{zx1}调查显示，中国每年有220万青少年死于因室内污染所引发的呼吸系统疾病，因此被中国国家科技部列入“十五”科技攻关重大项目“室内空气 污染控制措施的研究”科研课题。

记者从中国疾病预防控制中心今天下午举行的新闻发布 会上了解到，中国标准化委员会中国青少年卫生健康指导中心{zx1}调查结果表明，中国每年有220万青少年死于因室内污染所引发的呼吸系统疾病，其中100万 是5岁以下幼儿。有关数据显示，室内空气污染的程度高出室外污染5-10倍，全球4%的疾病与室内空气质量相关。

室内污染物主要分为甲醛、苯、氨和氡四种，其中甲醛在中国有毒化学品优先控制名单上高居第二位，已 经被世界卫生组织确定为致癌和致畸形物质。甲醛主要来源于室内建筑材料和家具，如胶合板、刨花板、泡沫填料、木地板、壁纸、油漆和涂料等。相关数据显示， 甲醛在新装修后的房间在其后5-15年左右的时间里缓缓释放。长期接触低剂量甲醛可引起各种慢性呼吸道疾病，引起青少年记忆力和智力下降，引起鼻咽癌、结 肠脑瘤、细胞核基因突变、抑制DNA损伤修复、月经紊乱、妊娠综合症、新生儿染色体异常，甚至可以引起白血病。在所有接触者中，儿童孕妇和老年人对甲醛尤 为敏感，危害也就更大。

中国科技部、卫生部、中国疾病预防控制中心、中华预防医学 会、中国保健协会、中国卫生监督协会等部门今天在此间举行“国家 ‘十五’重大科技攻关项目—室内空气污染控制措施研究成果发布会”称，由中国疾病预防控制中心环境所研制的以海曼普滤芯为主要净化材料的海曼普快速除甲醛 空气净化器，成功为解决中国普遍存在的家装污染和室内空气污染提供了一种有效的手段。完

Was it hype or health care? on may 6, the President's Cancer Panel published an alarming 240-page report on the risk of cancer from chemicals and other substances in the environment. "The true burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated," the report's authors concluded. "The American people — even before they are born — are bombarded continually with ... these dangerous exposures."

The list of potential threats is exhaustive and, frankly, unavoidable: bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates found in plastic, pesticides, exhaust from traffic, pharmaceuticals in the water supply, industrial chemicals and radiation from medical tests, cell phones and the sun. The authors of the report — Dr. LaSalle Leffall Jr., of Howard University College of Medicine, and Margaret Kripke, professor emerita at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center — urge the government to increase research and regulation of these carcinogens, which pose "grievous harm," especially to children, and give specific advice to consumers for avoiding them. More than 80,000 chemicals are on the U.S. market, of which only a few hundred have been proved safe, the authors note. "People have the idea that they are being protected and that things that are harmful aren't getting onto the market," says Kripke. "But that's probably wishful thinking."

In large part, the panel's findings — chiefly that more research is needed — jibe with those of mainstream cancer researchers. But while the report highlights valid data, says Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, its final conclusions overreach them. "There are environmental causes of cancer. We should not trivialize them, and we do need more research," he says, but the contention that the rate of environmentally caused cancers is "grossly underestimated" is not based in fact. "[The rate] very well may be higher [than the current estimate of 6% of all cancers], but the research has not been done to quantify that."

But that is precisely the point, says Kripke. Although the panel's report concedes that "at this time, we do not know how much environmental exposures influence cancer risk," Kripke says the 6% figure is based on a study from 1981 and long outdated. "A lot has happened in 30 years ... and will still affect people for the next 30 years," she says, which is why the panel argues that we must not wait for proof of harm before protecting the public. In its lengthy policy recommendations, the report calls for, among other things, routine discussions between doctors and patients about environmental exposures and shifting the burden of proof of chemical safety from government to industry.

But researchers' main criticism of the cancer report is that it distracts from the known, major causes of cancers: smoking, obesity, alcohol, sexually transmitted infections. We don't want mothers to be "very concerned about some chemical in plastic, which might theoretically cause cancer in her child," instead of focusing on the food that's going into the container, says Brawley, estimating that up to one-third of all cancers in the U.S. are obesity-related. So while choosing pesticide-free produce may be a good precaution — indeed, none of the panel's advice is bad — you might be better off simply eating more fruits and vegetables in general, he says.

SIDEBAR
10 Cancer Panel Recommendations
1. Drink filtered tap water
2. Store food and water in glass, stainless steel or BPA- and phthalate-free containers
3. Minimize children's and pregnant women's exposure to carcinogens and endocrine-disrupting chemicals
4. Choose fruits and vegetables grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers; wash all produce to remove residues
5. Choose free-range meat that has not been exposed to antibiotics or growth hormones
6. Minimize consumption of processed, charred or well-done meats
7. Turn off lights and electrical devices when they're not in use
8. Drive a fuel-efficient car; walk, bike or use public transportation
9. Check home radon levels
10. Reduce radiation exposure from cell phones and medical tests; avoid UV overexposure