Toxic Chemicals and the Rise of Childhood Cancer: What is the Relationship?

Since 1975 cancer in American children has increased, especially childhood leukemia and brain cancer. 

Meanwhile, 80,000 chemicals have been produced in the U.S. to create commonly-used products, which include known carcinogens such as asbestos, formaldehyde, lead, cadmium, trichloroethylene, and vinyl chloride, with virtually no government oversight.

The use of toxic chemicals has risen dramatically in the last 50 years to a point that they are now ubiquitous in human bodies and our environment. Although it is not clear exactly why these childhood cancers are on the rise, a substantial and growing body of evidence suggests that these chemicals may play a role.