People who live in the United States are now exposed to more than 70,000 chemicals. Many of these chemicals contain toxic waste byproducts such as PDBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), benzene, pesticides, chlorine, mercury, lead, and dioxin.

Hazardous waste is generated in a number of ways - through crop spraying trash incineration, water chlorination, bleaching, and additional industrial activities. These wastes, which can accumulate in people's bodies, are suspected to be the cause of cancer, birth defects, respiratory diseases, learning disorders, reproductive disorders, as well as other ailments.

Researchers found unusually high rates of multiple myeloma and lupus among residents in Nogales, Arizona and Tucson Arizona in 1994. They theorized that exposure to toxic chemicals attributed to the high rates

Nogales is near the border between the United States and Mexico. There are approximately 100 waste dumps and factories in Mexico that had, for a long time, been filling the air and water in the area with toxic waste.

An article in the Los Angeles Times written by Marla Cone said that Nogales "is plagued with so many sources of pollution that no one has a clue which chemical— or more likely which combination—might be playing a role in the lupus and myeloma."

A degreasing solvent called trichloroethylene had contaminated the water that 50,000 Tucson residents had consumed.

However, industrialists and environmentalists are still debating whether or not toxic waste actually causes cancer and other long lasting illnesses.

Let's take a look at dioxin. Dioxin does not readily degrade in water or soil. The EPA estimates that exposure to dioxin carries a cancer risk of 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 10,000.

Although some experts have called it the world's most toxic substance, some critics, such as environmental writer and educator Mike Weilbacher, when writing about dioxin, have contended that "the most studied chemical in history, produces no consensus on . . . its health effects."

Industrialists, such as those in the chemical industry, defend the use of other hazardous chemicals as well.

The Chlorine Chemistry Council has said that chlorinated compounds "are an essential component in the manufacture of 85% of pharmaceuticals." Harold Lyons and Ben Bolch, professors at Rhodes University contend that "chlorine, in its use for water treatment, has probably saved as many lives as any other chemical."

John Carey, writing for Business Week, has said, "Science is decades away from being able to pinpoint the hazards of the thousands of chemicals that permeate our environment."

And a lot of chemists are concerned that Americans are being manipulated into being needlessly afraid of all chemicals. Norman Borlaug, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, warns that Americans are in the "grip of a virulent strain of chemical-phobia" that has been induced by the "pseudo-scientific promoters of toxic terror."