A woman's office chair stuck to the wood floor where her teenagers had spilled stuff as they used the computer. She pulled a bottle of wood cleaner/conditioner out from under her kitchen sink and scrubbed the floor with it. Phew! It stunk of chemicals. Soon the whole house smelled of the cleaner. She read on the label, "Use only in well ventilated areas. Wear rubber gloves." But she was already done, and she hadn't worn gloves. She opened lots of windows and wiped up as much excess cleaner as she could with paper towels. Then she threw the bottle of cleaner in the trash and wrote "wood cleaner" on her shopping list for her next trip to the health food store, where she figured she could find a nontoxic brand.

Steinman's top 10  toxic or dangerous products 1. Children's bubble bath ingredient: Ethoxylated alcohols.  Cause for concern: Contaminated with 1.4-dioxane, which is carcinogenic. 2. Balloons Cause for concern: Babies and toddlers may swallow and choke to death. 3. Permanent hair coloring products ingredient: Phenylenediamine-based dyes.   Cause for concern: Carcinogenic: human epidemilogical evidence linking hair dyes to lymphoma. 4. Feminine hygiene products ingredient: Talc.   Causes for concern: Carcinogenic, linked to increased risk of ovarian cancer. 5. Men's hair coloring products ingredient: Lead.   Cause for concern: Carcinogenic:  human epidemiological evidence 7. American Beef ingredient: Growth hormones.  Cause for concern: Interact with secondary amines to form nitrosamines, linked to childhood leukemia, brain cancer. 9. Flea collars ingredient: Propoxur.   Cause for concern: carcinogenic, neurotoxic. 10.  Tap water ingredient:  Trihalomethanes.   Cause for concern: carcinogenic.

How much danger was this woman in? David Steinman says all by itself the wood cleaner may pose a tiny risk, but along with all of her other exposures to toxins, in her food, in household products like cleaners and cosmetics, in the water she drinks and the air she breathes, she may be increasing her risk of cancer and other illnesses. What can she do? According to Steinman, she can at least reduce her exposure to toxins, even if she cannot avoid them altogether.

David Steinman is the author or co-author of Diet for a Poisoned Planet (Crown 1990, Ballantine 1992), The Safe Shopper's Bible (Macmillan, 1995), Living Healthy in a Toxic World (Perigee, 1996), The Breast Cancer Prevention Program (Macmillan 1997, 1998), and the forthcoming novel, Bloodlands. He is former chairman of Citizens for Health and served two years on a committee of the National Academy of Sciences where he co-authored Seafood Safety (National Academy Press, 1991). He is the publisher of The Doctors' Prescription for Healthy Living, one of the nation's leading consumer health magazines. Steinman is a member of the teaching faculty at National University and the University of Phoenix. He has won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers' Association, Sierra Club, and Society of Journalists' "Best of the West."

Nexus publisher Ravi Dykema caught up with Steinman recently by phone, at his home in Topanga, California. They speak about organic food, baby shampoo and lotion, water quality, our over-sanitized lives, a lawsuit that resulted from Steinman's past whistle blowing, and other topics.

RD: I interviewed you in 1995 when The Safe Shopper's Bible first came out.What's been going on since then?

DS: I think we're making a lot of progress in America in terms of eating cleaner foods, using safer products and cleaning up the environment. However, environmental and ecological issues have normally taken a back seat. Now, with the election of George W. Bush and the events of 9/11, I think they're off the bus altogether. Even before 9/11, certain events caused both by individuals and powerful interests were threatening the environmental movement in America. For example, the organic movement is one of the most important movements in the last two decades. But there's a great threat to the organic movement in America, from genetically modified crops.

It's very difficult now to find organic foods that have not become intermixed with genetically modified foods. Studies have found genetically modified remnants in organic foods. And some crops have had key organic, non-toxic organisms bioengineered into their very structures, leading to an overuse in genetically modified crops and causing those organisms to lose their effectiveness. And since many of the large feed companies are owned by pesticide companies, they're causing the organic movement to become contaminated by its crops, potentially making the word "organic" meaningless.

RD: From what I hear, it's hard to find a corn cereal these days that contains unmodified corn.

DS: Organic cereals purportedly don't contain genetically modified corn or else they couldn't be called "organic," so there's still a firewall between seed stocks and the crops that are organic and those that contain GMOs. But widespread cross-contamination is making the distinctions blurry. Cross-contamination happens post-harvest, if harvested crops are mixed together, and it can happen via cross-pollination. It's really diluting the meaning of the term "organic," and could make consumers say, "Hey, what's the difference? It really doesn't matter what I buy." And frankly, after 9/11, the country is so pre-occupied with interests of national security that very little thought is given to the plight of farm workers, farm children and consumers.

RD: The Safe Shopper's Bible had a list called "The Dirty Dozen." Could you name the consumer products you think are the most toxic?

DS: There's one area of real concern that we've looked at in recent months: Children's cosmetics and personal care products. We've been doing a lot of testing of products like baby shampoo, lotion and bubble bath, and we consistently find that manufacturers are selling products to consumers that are adulterated with a very potent carcinogen called 1,4-dioxane, a byproduct of the manufacturing process of the detergents that are used in shampoos and bubble baths. Any parent ought to be outraged at how careless the manufacturing of these products is. 1,4-dioxane is classified as a probable human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency and by international agencies, and it's not even disclosed on the label.

Think about it. Your child is taking a bath. The warm water is opening up her pores. Her skin is being made more permeable by the detergent. Her whole body is immersed in the bathtub. And some company doesn't care enough about the child to have removed this cancer-causing contaminant. Meanwhile, your child is being exposed to this carcinogen. Maybe it's a small risk, but it's a cumulative exposure because it's present in so many children's products-baby wipes, skin lotion, sunblock for kids, shampoo, bubble bath and liquid soap.

RD: Are children more sensitive than adults to these carcinogens?

DS: Yes, for a number of reasons. First, children are smaller and their immune systems aren't as developed. Their cells are rapidly reproducing. And the latency period for some carcinogens is 10 to 20 years or more. So their effects may not be manifest until someone reaches their 30s, 40s or 50s. Much of our adult cancer risk is probably a result of childhood exposure to carcinogens.

RD: You said companies are aware that 1,4-dioxane is in their products. How do you know?

DS: Because I've spoken to the Food and Drug Administration about the problem, and they've continually requested that companies eliminate this from their raw materials. But the companies aren't doing it. The FDA knows that, too, but they're powerless. There are no pre-market safety testing standards for cosmetics and personal care products. Anything can be put on the market in that category. And the only way you can get it off the market, the only way the government can get it off the market, is to prove that it is doing harm to the consumer. And that's impossible to do in a court. It's hard to point the finger at any one chemical and say, "This is what caused my child's cancer."

RD: So you could never prove that a potential carcinogen was doing any harm.

DS: Exactly. For example, we have very strong evidence of hair coloring products causing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and other cancers in women who use them. But it's very difficult in a strict legal sense to prove that a woman's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is the result of her use of hair dyes for 20 years. Consequently, it's difficult to bring these companies to court and force them to manufacture safer products.

RD: Have any of the products you pinpointed in The Safe Shopper's Bible changed their formulas?

DS: Yes, some real progress has been made. For example, Lysol removed a cancer-causing chemical in its product after it was put on "The Dirty Dozen" list, and Ajax lowered its level of a cancer-causing chemical in its powder cleanser. So there were some real positive changes that came from The Safe Shopper's Bible, and that's very heartening. It shows that consumers and investigative reporters can make a difference by bringing these things to light.

RD: Was there any legal action against you as a result of "The Dirty Dozen" list?

DS: Yes-in one case, even though we were accurate in something, a company sued both myself and Samuel S. Epstein, MD, the co-author of the book, for revealing what we did. We pointed out that their product contained very high levels of 1,4-dioxane, in addition to containing a particular type of oil of orange that was a tumor promoter. We also told them we would continue to expose their product if they didn't reformulate it. They finally agreed to reformulate their product and make it safer. So we did make a lot of difference, although I've also been disappointed in some areas. I think one of my greatest disappointments is that the organic food industry has been unable to produce a wide range of competitively priced foods. It's very difficult for any family to afford a $5 basket of organic strawberries. And it's very difficult for a middle-class family with three kids to shop at a Whole Foods or Wild Oats.

The good news is farmers' markets have sprung up everywhere, making organic foods very economical. We've also seen a lot more sustainable farms emerge, where urban city dwellers buy shares in a rural farm and purchase their organic produce. Both of these trends help preserve smaller farms, which is encouraging. But the disappointing thing is that many people still can't afford organic foods, and that bounty should be shared by everyone if possible.

RD: Do you really think this makes a big difference to overall health?

DS: Our world is more toxic than ever before, but we now have a real opportunity to fight against this toxicity. One of the keys is to eat organic foods. More and more studies are linking pesticides and other chemical exposures to increased risk for cancer, birth defects and reproductive problems. And organic foods have been shown over and over again to contain higher levels of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. So in terms of both protection against pesticide exposure and added nutritional benefits, organic foods make a huge difference.

There are other reasons why organic foods are important. First, they preserve the health of the soil. There's a reason why farmers let their fields lay fallow in the seventh year in biblical tradition. They knew that by doing so, they would allow the soil to regenerate, letting microorganisms replenish their population. All sorts of organisms in the soil help produce the vitamins and minerals in our foods, and pesticides destroy these.

RD: Where else do you see toxicity in people's lives?

Make your own: Twelve simple recipes for common household cleaners Many excellent natural cleaners are available, but can be expensive. You can make your own household cleaning products for just pennies. Here are some recipes adapted from The Safe Shopper's Bible by David Steinman and Samuel S. Epstein, MD (Macmillan, 1995): Bathroom cleaners. For disinfecting, mix 2 teaspoons borax, 4 tablespoons distilled white vinegar and three to four cups of hot water. For stronger cleaning, add 1/4 teaspoon liquid soap. Bleach. Use hydrogen peroxide, a less caustic alternative, or dry white cotton and linen fabrics in direct sun to lighten them. Carpet cleaners. Use baking soda to deodorize and borax to disinfect. For stained carpets or rugs, combine 1/4 cup liquid soap with three or more tablespoons of water in a small bowl to make a foamy cleaner that can be rubbed into stains. Rinse well. Fabric softeners. Add 1/4 cup baking soda or borax to the wash cycle for softening, or 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar to the wash cycle for softening and eliminating static cling. Floor cleaners. Add one cup of vinegar to a pail of hot water. For disinfecting, add 1/2 cup of borax to two gallons of hot water. For cutting through grease, combine 1/4 cup sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda, it's available in most groceries) with one tablespoon liquid soap, 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar and two gallons of hot water. Furniture polish. For dusting, use 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar plus one teaspoon olive oil. For polishing, use a one-to-one mixture of olive oil and distilled white vinegar. Glass and window cleaners. Combine equal parts water and distilled white vinegar in a refillable spray bottle, or use 1/2 teaspoon liquid soap, two tablespoons distilled white vinegar and two cups of water. Laundry starch. To starch light-colored clothes, dissolve two to three tablespoons cornstarch in a cup of water and pour into a spray bottle. To starch dark-colored clothing, add 1/2 cup black tea to the formula above. Metal polishes. Cover the bottom of a pan with aluminum foil, add two to three inches of water, one teaspoon salt and one teaspoon baking soda. Place on stove and bring to a boil, and completely immerse silverware. After boiling for two to three minutes, add hot water from the tap. Rinse silverware and dry. Oven cleaners. Lightly cover the bottom of the oven with water, being sure not to flood it. Sprinkle baking soda over the water, then add another light layer of water. Let it sit overnight, then use a cloth to remove the grease, and use a plant-based liquid soap to wash off residue. Rinse well. Scouring powders. Use plain baking soda, or mix one teaspoon borax, two tablespoons distilled white vinegar and two cups hot water. For grease, use 1/2 teaspoon sodium carbonate, two tablespoons distilled white vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon liquid soap and two cups hot water. Toilet bowl cleaners. Pour one cup of borax and 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar or lemon juice into toilet bowl. Let mixture remain for several hours or overnight, then scrub with a toilet brush and flush. Add a few drops of pine oil to the formula to disinfect.

DS: Water quality has deteriorated over the last seven years. More and more mid-western water supplies, especially those taken from reservoirs, are contaminated by herbicide run-off with chemicals that aren't adequately removed by municipal water treatment. And these chemicals contaminate many rural wells.

Atrazine, for example, is frequently found in mid-western water supplies and is linked with ovarian cancer in women. It's been covered extensively by all the major media, but the damage has already been done. The exposures have already occurred. And they continue to occur.

And even though many of these occurrences are covered by the media, people feel removed from what's actually happening until it happens to them or their neighbor. In terms of activism, we're in a low period in the United States. We feel comfortable in our suburban homes and our SUVs, and we don't have time to even think about these issues, much less do anything about them. But the effects of environmental pollution are going to manifest in many of us later in life, in cancer, premature mortality, genetic abnormalities.

While I was on The Safe Shopper's Bible book tour, I met a woman whose son had been born with an undescended testicle. She said, "Well, you know, I grew up all my life eating seafood from Lake Michigan, and I wonder if this could be the cause of my son's undescended testicle." It's pretty clear in the literature that organo-chlorine pesticides accumulating in seafood and fish in the Great Lakes, particularly Lake Michigan, are closely linked to reproductive abnormalities-like undescended testicles. These things are happening in our lifetimes, to us and to our kids. But most people are too wrapped up in their own lives to do anything.

RD: What could people do to change the situation?

DS: I think the presidential election is really important. We need to get more political leaders in office who understand what conservation and ecology are about. I think Al Gore would have won the election if he had spoken passionately, even once, about the environment. America was so ripe to elect an environmental president in 2000. When you're running for president, you have to be sincere and tell people what you really think. Instead, Gore told people what his advisers told him he was thinking. It was extremely disappointing to have someone who truly cares about the environment miss out on such a great opportunity to become president, because he didn't speak about the environment.

Besides electing leaders who are supportive of the environment, we need to either become directly involved-writing letters, making contributions-or we need to support groups who are doing that kind of work for us. Make contributions to Green Peace, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, CoPIRG in Colorado, and other groups that are working on behalf of the environment.

RD: On a different note, there have been alarming increases in a number of diseases and health problems. Is there any link to environmental toxins?

DS: Clearly we have illnesses that are linked to the environment-for example, there's a clear link between Parkinson's disease and pesticides and heavy metal exposures. Infertility in men and women can also be linked to pesticide exposures. Asthma is clearly related to industrial exposures, particularly air pollution. Some cases of heart disease are linked to increased levels of mercury from dental fillings and certain seafood like swordfish. And many allergies can be traced back to our over sterilized environment. As America becomes more urbanized, our allergies are going to increase. People need to be exposed to microorganisms that pesticides are killing off in the soil. They need to be exposed to the organisms that their anti-bacterial soaps and cleaners are killing on their hands and kitchen counters. When children are exposed to the environment, their immune systems are educated to deal with a multitude of potential allergens and organisms. When their environment becomes too sterile, their immune systems don't get the chance to develop tolerance. As they get older, when they encounter certain allergens, the immune system doesn't know how to respond, so it mounts a full-force attack. The result is an allergic response.

RD: So eating organic, living away from urban air pollution and letting kids play in the dirt are some solutions. Any others?

DS: Avoiding the use of pesticides around your home, in your home or by your neighbors. They're the most dangerous toxins. When kids play in the dirt they get exposed to pesticides. When they play on the grass, they get exposed. When pesticides are used to kill ants in the home, toddlers get exposed from crawling on the floor. Pesticides used around the home clearly increase your child's risk of cancer. There's no doubt about it. And they also increase your pet's risk for cancer as well.

Finding a great source of drinking water is very important. Home filtration systems are no longer an option-they should be as much a part of the home as the faucet. You just have to have them. It doesn't matter where you live. Exercise is extremely important to staying healthy, by stimulating the immune system and causing the body to eliminate toxins via perspiration. Saunas help to lower the amounts of toxic chemicals in the body. And nutritionally, people need to be aware of supplements that offer protection against toxins.

RD: What are the most important ones?

DS: I think it's smart to drink green tea made with maiitake mushrooms. Herbs and spices like turmeric, grapeseed extract and milk thistle are very protective, and may delay or prevent cancers from appearing. It's also important to get adequate amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, found in fatty fish like wild Pacific salmon, tuna and flax. Omega-3 fatty acids help prevent diseases related to toxic exposures, especially cancer. These supplements-along with reducing pesticide use, exercise, filtering your water and using organic foods, cosmetics and household cleaning products-are so basic, I don't even think of them as optional anymore. They're as important to living healthfully as getting adequate sleep.