Most of the concern about contamination has been focused on the potential for chemical contaminants to cause cancer. Our Stolen Future also shows that protections designed to avoid cancer impacts are inadequate to protect against disruptions in hormone systems. The science presented in Our Stolen Future challenges the most basic assumptions behind the current regulation of chemicals. This understanding assumes that dose and response have a linear relationship - the higher the dose the higher the effect. This means that important parts of the whole structure of laws designed to measure the costs and the benefits of using many synthetic chemicals are invalid.
Current approaches allow use unless harm has been proven with scientific certainty.
Our Stolen Future presents compelling scientific evidence that this is not adequate. Before chemicals should be allowed to be used in widespread fashion, there should be firm evidence that they do no harm. Children and the unborn are the most at risk and current regulatory laws do little to protect them. First, a fetus and a growing child are still developing the hormonal relationships that define the endocrine system. Their organ systems are acutely sensitive to hormonal signals, which guide their development to maturity.