TheyLovedBloodand Soil but Not the Mind 209foundvariousnewssourcesreliablein providingaccurateinformationaboutcancerrisks,
a paltry22 percentof the AACR’s membersfoundtheNewYorkTimesreliable,whilea
pitiable9 percentand 6 percent,respectively,evaluatedthe weeklynewsmagazinesand
TV networknewscastsas reliable.
TheRalphNader-employedscientist-activistSidneyWolfe,alongwithSamuelEp-
stein,werethe two cancerexpertsmostfrequentlycitedby thosenewsmedia.Simultane-
ously,environmentalactivistsare apt to writeBruceAmesoff as a dishonestindustry
shill.Consideringthesereputations,Lichterand Rothmandecidedto poll the anti-capital-
ist AACRmemberson howreliabletheyjudgedeachof a wholeslewof cancerexperts,
whichincludedWolfe,Epstein,andAmes.Of the 10 cancerexpertsgiven,the AACR
ratedAmesthe mostreliable—67 percentratinghimof highreliabilityand 19 percentin
the mediumarea.No morethan6 percentratedhimlow,and8 percentabstainedfrom
answering.In the caseof EpsteinandWolfe,theywererespectivelythe lowestandsec-
ond-lowestrated.A pitiful24 percentof the AACRmembersratedeachof themas being
highlyreliable.
FinallyRothmanandLichterhadboththe AACRmembersandthe environmental
activistsratethe cancerrisksof variousactivitiesandsubstances,on a scaleof 0 to 10.
Seventhroughten wouldbe majorrisks,4–6 wouldbe moderate,and 0–3 minor.Whereas
environmentalactivistsgavethe chemicaldioxina meanratingof 8.1, AACRmembers
ratedit a muchsmaller4.59.Thoughenvironmentalistsgavenuclearpowerplantsa 4.6
rating,AACRjudgedthema 2.46.Environmentalistsassignedthe syntheticpesticide
DDTa 7.3 rating;amongAACR,DDT’s ratingwas3.83.Andwhereasthe appleadditive
Alargot 4.1 fromenvironmentalists,it receiveda mere2.18fromAACR.By contrast,the
AACRmembersratedsmokingat 9.19,second-handsmokeat 5.88,fat in one’s dietas
5.39,a low-fiberdietat 4.83,andalcoholconsumption4.22.It is ironic,then,thata
significantnumberof Americansare morefrightenedof nuclearenergythantheyare of
drinkingbeer.Rothmanand Lichtercommenton theirtwo surveysthatwhile“usingthe
Table9.2. HowMuchConfidenceDo the AACRExpertsHavein VariousCancerExpertsCitedin
Media?
Individual HighLevelof Mediumof Levelof Low Levelof Don’t Know
Rated Confidence(percent) Confidence(percent) Confidence(percent) (percent)
BruceAmes 67 19 6 8
RichardPeto 57 15 3 24
RichardDoll 53 8 2 37
Samuel 49 18 7 26
Broder
Robert 47 18 11 24
Weinberg
Joseph 40 15 4 41
Fraumeni
IrvingSelikoff 30 15 4 51
John 29 12 4 56
Higginson
SidneyWolfe 24 15 11 50
Samuel 24 20 17 40
EpsteinSource:S. Rothmanand S. R. Lichter1996,233.