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Health Issues regarding Everyone!!!

Published Sunday, May 7, 2000

Student pursues carcinogen research

Student pursues carcinogen research. She earns accolades from findings that a possible cancer source from microwaved plastic wrap seeped into food.

By Chris Lehourites
ASSOCIATED PRESS

                     CONWAY, Ark. -- Claire Nelson was in the seventh grade when the
                     thought occurred to her: Can cancer-causing particles seep into food
                     covered with household plastic wrap while it is being microwaved?

                     "I thought it would be easy to test," said Nelson, 18, a freshman at
                     Hendrix College.

                     Motivated by her discovery that no one had done extensive research on
                     plastic wraps before, Nelson decided to study the effects of radiation on
                     carcinogens.

                     Roughly six years later, she is receiving international accolades and
                     meeting some of the most influential people in the scientific field.

                     Nelson had read that one of several suspected carcinogens --
                     di(ethylhexyl)adepate, or DEHA -- is in many plastic wraps, and that the
                     Food and Drug Administration had never tested whether the carcinogen
                     migrated into food being microwaved. That's when she got her idea.

                     She microwaved plastic wrap in virgin olive oil, hoping to find that the
                     carcinogens seeped into the oil. She found that, and more.

                     "I tested four different kinds of plastic wraps and I found not just the
                     carcinogens but also xenoestrogen was migrating, and that causes low
                     sperm count in men and breast cancer in women," Nelson said.

                     Getting to that point took discipline and determination.

                     At age 12, Nelson didn't have the resources to undertake her research,
                     and so she set it aside.

                     "I had the idea, but I didn't start to work on the project until the 10th
                     grade," when the promise of an automatic A in a science class revived it,
                     she said.

                     "My teacher said if we made regionals in the science fair that we would
                     get 10 bonus points," Nelson said.

                     "So I asked what we get if we make states, and she said 30 points.
                     Then I asked what we get if we make internationals, and she said an
                     automatic A."

                     Without the equipment or facilities to get the job done, she started
                     making phone calls. Many calls later, she got help from Jon Wilkes, a
                     scientist at the National Center for Toxicological Research in Jefferson,
                     Ark., southeast of Little Rock.

                     "Sometimes students who work with us come to us and ask for help with
                     science projects. In her case it was different," Wilkes said. "She had
                     already done a fair amount of research and she had already concluded
                     that nobody had ever studied plastic wraps."

                     Nelson, by then a junior at Hall High School, at first had her mother drive
                     her 25 miles every couple of days from the family's home in Little Rock
                     to Jefferson. A year later, with her family moved to Mississippi and her
                     living in an apartment in Little Rock, Nelson was making the trip by
                     herself and balancing time between debate team competition and
                     cheerleading.

                     Wilkes said it isn't rare for non-scientists to come up with an idea like
                     Nelson's, but it is rare for them to actually pursue a way to test their
                     theories. Wilkes and the toxicological research center, an arm of the
                     FDA, let her run her experiments using government equipment.

                     "Sometimes she would be asleep standing up," Wilkes said. "But she'd
                     be there working -- if there was no debate or basketball game to cheer
                     at."

Her research concluded, Nelson got her A.

                     "The first year I had specific evidence but not numbers. The second year
                     I got the numbers," said Nelson, whose family continues to live in
                     Southaven, Miss., outside Memphis, Tenn.

                     Her analysis found that DEHA was migrating into the oil at between 200
                     parts and 500 parts per million. The FDA standard is 0.05 parts per
                     billion. Nelson couldn't find any regulations concerning xenoestrogen,
                     making it difficult to know how much is too much.

Her findings won her the American Chemical Society's top science prize
for students while she was a junior.

Last year, she was the salutatorian at Hall and placed fourth in the
International Science and Engineering Fair in Fort Worth, Texas.

Recognition for her research continues as Nelson completes her
freshman year at tiny Hendrix College in Conway.

                     Her findings were published as a one-paragraph summary in several
                     science journals and submitted to others. Nelson also appeared in an
                     advertisement in the March edition of Discover magazine, touting the
                     international science fair.

                     "I went to Washington recently for the largest science conference in the
                     world and I got to meet Nobel Prize winners from all over the world," she
                     said.

Still, Nelson isn't sure whether she wants to pursue a career in science.

"I'm undeclared right now," she said of choosing a major. "I think I might
want to get into broadcast journalism."

In the meantime, she has lined up a summer job at America Online in
New York, using an age-old connection to get her foot in the door.

"My boyfriend's uncle got me the job," she said.

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This was taken from the Contra Costa Times of the SF East Bay Area. I have a link to them by clicking on the Contra Costa Times at the top or bottom on this page. They have been my number one source of information locally and I want them to get the credit for what they do in this respect. This county is the worst in the USA for toxics and they try to fight the refineries and etc... but I am sure they get pushed hard for exposing them for what these polluting industries really are. Killers in my opinion. Please send them letters of support for the fight to breath real clean air!!! Not just that, This site is soon to have to close due to lack of funds to keep it up. I need help keeping it going. Any Donation will help!

Thank You,
Hawkeyes

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