WARNING: If you're a parent, a search of the term "children" in the president's Cancer Panel report released last week could cause heartbreak, despair, anger or any combination of the three.

From farms to cities, from land to sky, from the car to the bed, every second of the day people are exposed to toxins. They're in the air we breathe, the land upon which we walk, the water we drink and the food we eat.

Perhaps the most alarming news to come from this report is that children are the most likely to suffer from the health consequences of nearly 80,000 unregulated and largely unresearched chemicals found in the U.S. on any given day.

"Children of all ages are considerably more vulnerable than adults to increased cancer risk and other adverse effects from virtually all harmful environmental exposures," the report says.

While the report notes that childhood mortality from cancer has "dropped dramatically since 1975," from the same year through 2006, "cancer incidence in U.S. children under 20 years of age has increased."

Here are just some of the frightening statistics cited by the panel:

NEWBORNS ARE 'PRE-POLLUTED'

• "Tests of umbilical cord blood found traces of nearly 300 pollutants in newborns' bodies, such as chemicals used in fast-food packaging, flame retardants present in household dust, and pesticides."
• "According to EPA statistics, more than 600,000 children born each year test positive for unhealthy levels of methylmercury."

'UNDUE INFLUENCE' FROM INDUSTRY LOBBYISTS: FDA RULED BPA 'SAFE' FOR KIDS

• "BPA is used in numerous products, including baby bottles and food and beverage can liners. It disrupts the endocrine system because it acts as a weak estrogen. Extensive research has linked BPA to breast cancer, obesity, diabetes, and other serious medical problems."

The Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction concluded in 2008 that there is "some concern for effects on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and children at current human exposures to bisphenol A."

Yet in 2008, the FDA ruled that BPA is safe even for infants. Based on selected studies, some of which were industry-sponsored, and what is alleged to have been undue influence by industry lobbyists. The FDA's safety assessment was rejected by a March 2009 consortium of international experts from academia, government and industry as incomplete and unreliable because it failed to consider all of the scientific work relating to BPA.

LEUKEMIA RATES HIGHER FOR CHILDREN RAISED ON FARMS

• "Leukemia rates are consistently elevated among children who grow up on farms, among children whose parents used pesticides in the home or garden, and among children of pesticide applicators. Because these chemicals often are applied as mixtures, it has been difficult to clearly distinguish cancer risks associated with individual agents."

INDUSTRY EMISSIONS CAUSE CANCER

• "Conveniences of modern life—automobile and airplane travel, dry cleaning, potable tap water, electricity and cellular communications, to name a few—have made daily life easier for virtually all Americans. Many of these conveniences, however, have come at a considerable price to the environment. Some of the environmental effects of modern life are known or suspected of harming human health.[...]NATA results indicate that local industry emissions account for about 25 percent of the average overall cancer risk due to air toxins."

DRINKING WATER 'STEEPED IN CHEMICALS'

• "Americans' drinking water comes from groundwater and rain that fills streams, reservoirs, rivers, lakes and, ultimately, the oceans. Chemicals improperly stored and disposed of by industry and individuals alike soak into the soil and eventually leach into groundwater. As clouds and rain, water absorbs chemicals in the air. As a result, the water we drink is steeped in varying mixtures of chemicals and other substances. Some of these contaminants are not harmful to human health in trace or extremely small amounts, while others can cause or contribute to numerous diseases, including cancer."

• "The quality of drinking water is regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974, but enforcement takes place at the state level. The legislation authorizes EPA to establish standards (Maximum Contaminant Levels, or MCLs) to protect tap water and requires that owners and operators of public water systems comply with these standards."

• Regulated chemicals in drinking water include:

•  53 organic chemicals (atrazine, benzene)
• 16 inorganic chemicals (arsenic, nitrate)
• 7 disinfection by-products (trihalomethanes)
• 6 microorganisms (cryptosporidium)
• 4 radionuclides (alpha particles from radon, radium.)"

LANDSCAPING EXPOSES CHILDREN TO PESTICIDES

• "About a quarter of the pesticides used annually in the U.S. are for landscaping purposes. Landscaping workers who apply these chemicals to lawns and other non-agricultural sites can sustain high levels of exposure, with cancer risks similar to those of farm workers. Homeowners can be exposed to fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides when mowing residential lawns after chemicals have been recently applied and by handling and applying chemicals themselves. Children may be exposed when playing in areas where chemicals have been applied. In addition, individuals can be exposed to these chemicals by swimming in or eating seafood from contaminated bodies of water."

RISKS OF CELL PHONE USE BY KIDS: NOT ENOUGH RESEARCH

Cell phone use has increased from about 100 million users in the U.S. in 2000 to 255 million in 2007. While studies on the effects of radio frequencies on the brain haven't been conclusive in linking cell phone usage to brain cancer, the panel recommends that until questions like, "do children or adolescents using cell phones face increased cancer risk," are answered, precautions should be taken against excessive use of cell phones.

The list, unfortunately, goes on. But who, or what, is to blame?

Most politicians and other advocates of the free market are unlikely to secure funding for studying and regulating the chemicals that are poisoning us. In this sense, their collective inaction has failed us.

The biggest change will come from our local communities. Perhaps we can, at a local level, effectively change the notion that it's okay for profit to come before people and the health of our children.

While some people may take a fatalistic attitude, saying that we can't escape it so we may as well accept it, the panel's findings could lead to increased awareness among Americans. Such awareness could lead to badgering and eventually convincing at least some policy makers to create legislation limiting the amount of toxins emitted by the continually profiteering realm of big business.

Instead of living in fear, though, we can work toward creating a bright side to this otherwise dismal situation. There are steps we, as parents, can take to reduce our childrens' exposure to everyday toxins. By removing as many toxins as possible, we can only hope that our efforts will reduce the chances that our children will suffer from cancer and other environmentally-induced diseases in their lifetimes.

Noting that "individual small actions can drastically reduce the number and levels of environmental contaminants," the panel recommends the following actions to keep kids safe:

• Choose foods that are minimally processed and preserved. They're more likely to be free of chemicals. Go organic and buy local as much as you can.
• Filter tap water to decrease exposure to endocrine disruptors.
• Avoid bottled water and bottle your own water in steel, glass, or BPA-free plastic.
• Don't microwave food in plastic. Use ceramic or glass dishes instead.
• Consult the Household Products Database to help you make informed decisions about everyday purchases.
• Turning off lights and electrical devices when not in use indirectly reduces exposure to petroleum combustion because you're helping to decrease the amount of it needed to generate electric.
• By using a headset, you can reduce exposure to radio frequencies given off by cell phones.
• Check the radon levels in your home periodically.
• Become an advocate for your family and community. The panel says, "to a greater extent than many realize, individuals have the power to affect public policy by letting policymakers know that they strongly support environmental cancer research and measures that will reduce or remove from the environment toxins that are known or suspected carcinogens or endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Individuals also can influence industry by selecting non-toxic products and, where these do not exist, communicating with manufacturers and trade organizations about their desire for safer products."