A Natural Environmental Health Facts Ezine

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"A NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH FACTS Ezine" Here to Inform and Help You Become Healthier and Happier while Achieving Quality Longevity!

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Sunday May 15, 2005
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=> IN THIS ISSUE!
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==> Editors' Ranting & or Warnings
==> Something To Think About
==> Health Thought for the day!
==> Showcase Health Spotlight
==> Monthly Spotlight Ads
==> Today's Health Tip
==> Food of The Week
==> Health Today
==> Environmental Report
==> Life Changing Information

Greetings and thank you for subscribing! I do hope your weekend will be a restful and relaxing one!

Strange place here? We have a freeze that kill or maim a lot of the garden plants then two days later we are into summer of 80 degrees. Geesh, I wish mother nature would make up her mind...

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Take charge of you and your family's health before it takes charge of you!
Lena

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Something To Think About
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When was the last time you went for a walk without pain? What prescription did your doctor give you to alleviate and prevent the joint pain? Did that prescription correct the problem? Chances are it didn’t!

Bone and joint problems is at the top of the list of causes of disability in the U.S.. Sadly our chemical laden medical world treats symptoms not problems therefore are not helping the problem.

According to medical experts one in seven people are experiencing joint problems. For those over 65 years of age it soars to 80% of people plagued with joint problems. There are several reasons for these problems. Those are traumatic overuse or underuse of the joints as well as poor diet, bacterial infection or virus, immune deficiency factors and heredity all playing a role.

Post World War II the pharmaceutical industry began to adulterate and try to reproduce chemical drugs with the properties that had in the past, in their natural state, rebuilt the bones and joints thereby alleviating the problem. But their attempt has been a dismal failure and creates more problems than they solve. Of course that industry has tried to please the Fast Food mentality that now exists, by giving fast pain relief without curtailing the problem causing the pain!

The last few years has seen all Vioxx and the likes of it come on the market with devastating results and creating more problems than they help…

Basic science tells us that our body regenerates itself when given the proper tools to do so, but that has long been forgotten and is rarely to never taught in our medical schools. History also teaches that the proper nutrition can repair our bodies as well. That too is being ignored by the bulk of physicians and scientists. If regeneration was truly taught by our medical schools the pharmaceutical companies could not sell so many chemical laden body-destroying drugs, which line their pockets with wealth. So it’s no mystery to me why they would not make something that works, it would drain their coffers? Whether anyone wants to believe it or not medicine is a business to those training our doctors!

We also have to bear some of the blame for our bone and joint pains! Our sedentary lifestyles also contribute to the pain our joints and bones suffer. The stiffness and soreness, due to inactivity, frequently start as minor symptoms, often initiated by bad weather. Before too long the stiffness leads to agonizing symptoms, which stop any kinds of movements and propels you to the doctor’s office. Where the rule to regeneration is broken by them all. Exercise has proven to regenerate the bones and joints but our society has been brain washed to think that pain should stop you from moving! So the get up and move, when joint pain hits in order to rebuild them, no longer exists as in past generations!

Diet is another factor, especially as we age, more commonly poor eating habits are found among people with joint and bone problems. A diet lacking in fruits, vegetables and omega-3 and omega-6 fats can lead to the production of sticky, watery joint fluid that is unable to properly nourish cartilage and other joint structures or flush out the toxins that build up. It is important for people with joint and bone problems to eat whole foods, including fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts and drink plenty of clean, clear chemical-free water. Take daily food

supplements, especially minerals, vitamins and Omega 3 laden fish or flax-seed oil, which will help rebuild the immune system and help to absorb the nutrients your body does consume in your diet!

Have you ever known a person taking medications such as the common NSAID’s (ibuprofen, aspirin, Motrin, etc.) to regenerate their bones and completely cure the problem? None! it does not happen!

In the twenty years I worked in medical offices I only saw a downhill spiraling of health problems that can only be attributed to the drugs prescribed for those problems. On the other hand I have seen people go off all NSAID’s and corticosteroids and regain total regeneration of their joints and bones, without a prescription! Myself and my husband included in that group.

Unfortunately traditional drugs play a major role in the continuing decline of the joints and muscles. Once requiring a prescription but can now be purchased over the counter to the tune of millions of dollars lining the drug companies

pockets. If you are taking one of these: Aspirin – Orudis – Ibuprofen – Tandearil – Aleve – Rufen – Bufferin – Datril – Indocin – Nuprin – Asolid – Liquipen – Nafon – Butazolidin - Tylenol – Oxalid – Advil – Tolectin – Excedrin –IB – Clinoril – Midol 2000. You are unknowingly headed into a downhill decline.

Warning: None of the above should be taken in conjunction with herbal/nutritional supplements!

Although you may initially relieve the pain and cover the symptoms with prescription or over-the-counter meds you are accelerating cartilage damage and worsening your condition. You may also begin experiencing any or several of the following. Headaches, Diarrhea, Constipation, Drowsiness, Sore throat, Sensitivity to sunlight, Dizziness, Ulcers, Ringing in the ears, Nervousness,

Kidney/urinary problems, Swelling of hands/feet, Cramps nausea, Rashes, Hypertension, Weight gain and colds. All are COMMONLY KNOWN SIDE EFFECTS from these drugs. Then one of the major side effects noted only by the hospitals, is death. More than 10,000 people die yearly from the side effects of these drugs with hundreds of thousands hospitalized. The JAMA (Journal of American Medicine Association) documented.

Your body was made to take in food -- not chemicals. Drugs are unnatural to the body and create poisons to deplete the system of nutrients, which destroy the body. They may also subdue pain temporarily but these drugs are damaging to you. Clinical tests have shown that arthritis and rheumatism are the result of various nutritional deficiencies, but when was the last time your doctor told you that your diet could make you healthier? In order for the body to repair itself it must be fed the building blocks that can restore it to the natural state. Along with proper diet and exercise there are much-needed nutrients and herbs that can regenerate and restore joints and bones when taken over a period of time. True chemicals tend to give you that “right now good feeling” that this generation goes for but in the long run is ruining any chance of regeneration and contributing to your downward spiraling health.

For information on how to take care of bone and joint problems without prescriptions Click Here

A recent study performed by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations reports that the number of surgical errors was up over 1000% from 1998 to 2001. Doctors often perform surgery on the wrong body part or even the wrong person, resulting in serious personal injury and even fatalities. These unacceptable errors are a combination of too many unnecessary surgeries (90% of surgeries are considered unnecessary) and poor communication between patients and doctors.

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Look What A Balance of Minerals Can Prevent!

*Acne - zinc, sulfur
*Anemia - iron, cobalt, copper, selenium
*Arthritis - calcium, copper, magnesium, potassium, boron
*Asthma - manganese, zinc, potassium
*Brittle nails - iron, zinc
*Birth defects - zinc, copper, cobalt, selenium, magnesium, manganese

*Cancer - selenium, germanium
*Candida (yeast infection) - zinc, selenium
*Heart disease - calcium, copper, magnesium, potassium, selenium
*Chronic Fatigue & Fibromyalgia - zinc, selenium, chromium, vanadium
*Constipation - iron, magnesium, potassium
*Cramps - calcium, sodium

*Depression - calcium, copper, iron, sodium, zinc, chromium
*Diabetes - chromium, vanadium, zinc
*Digestive problems - chlorine, chromium, zinc
*Eczema - zinc
*Goiter (low thyroid) - iodine, copper
*Hair loss - copper, zinc

*Graying hair - copper
*Hyperactivity - chromium, zinc, magnesium, lithium
*Immune system weakness - zinc, selenium, chromium
*Impotence - selenium, zinc, manganese, calcium, chromium
*Infertility - calcium, zinc, selenium, chromium, copper, cobalt, manganese
*Liver dysfunction - cobalt, selenium, zinc

*Low blood sugar - chromium, vanadium, zinc
*Memory loss - manganese
*Muscular weakness - selenium, potassium, manganese
*Nervousness - magnesium
*Osteoporosis - calcium, magnesium, boron
*PMS - zinc, chromium, selenium

*Receding gums - calcium, potassium, magnesium, boron
*Sexual dysfunction - selenium, zinc, manganese
*Wrinkles/sagging (aging) – copper

Linus Pauling, PhD a top scientist and two-time Nobel Prize winner stated:
"YOU CAN TRACE EVERY SICKNESS, EVERY DISEASE, AND EVERY AILMENT TO A MINERAL DEFICIENCY"

Read the 1936 statement of fat bellies on the horizon

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Statistical Contortionism among Statin Drugs
By Shane Ellison, M.Sc.
Copyright © 2005 All Rights Reserved
Courtesy of www.healthmyths.net

A veil of secrecy obscures the truth behind FDA-approved drugs, especially the cholesterol-lowering drugs. This veil was constructed using millions of dollars for marketing campaigns and consulting fees to medical doctors. Thanks to successful government lobbying on behalf of drug companies, the U.S. Government upholds these immoral practices. While effective, the veil is wafer-thin. It is easily torn down using basic statistical definitions.

Before you consider the effectiveness and safety of a prescribed drug, you must first understand these statistical definitions. They are total mortality, absolute risk reduction (ARR) and relative risk reduction (RRR). Understanding these statistical definitions is the number-one weapon for defending against dangerous drugs.

Total mortality is the most logical focal point for deciphering whether or not a drug is worth the risk. Using the total mortality rate to measure effectiveness ensures that while a drug might prevent the targeted disease, it does not accidentally kill you from cancer, heart attack, or some other deadly illness.

If Mr. Jones knew that drug X might accidentally kill him from cancer would he spend his money on it?

When reporting total mortality, drug companies can either report "absolute" or "relative" terms. For the big picture, the absolute risk reduction in total mortality (termed absolute total mortality) must be used rather than relative risk reduction. Absolute total mortality is the most important statistical association. It refers to the actual difference in risk reduction between the treated (the suckers who received the experimental drug) and the non-treated group. This difference elucidates whether or not drug X increases lifespan.

For example, the absolute total mortality rate for drug X is 1%. This was derived from the raw data. It showed the treated group to have a 3% reduction in total mortality. The untreated had a 2% reduction in total mortality. Therefore, the absolute total mortality rate was 1%. This translates to a 1% chance of increasing lifespan for users of drug X.

If Mr. Jones knew that drug X might accidentally kill him from cancer and confer a paltry 1% chance of increasing his lifespan, would he spend the money on it? No. He will use that money to pay for a personal trainer. Knowing the absolute total mortality rate preserved Mr. Jones' health and saved him money.

The same cannot be said for Bob Misinformed Smith. Leaving out the absolute total mortality rate, Bob Misinformed Smith's family doctor told him that drug X had a 33% risk reduction in total mortality. He left out that this was "relative" risk reduction and Bob did not ask. Following doctor's orders, Bob scurried to the pharmacist to pay for his prescription. He then rushed home to watch football. Subsequent football commercials deceptively regurgitated the 33% relative risk reduction in total mortality among users of drug X. John Misinformed Smith smiled with hope - false hope.

What was deceptive about using relative risk reduction? Relative risk reduction exaggerates benefits. It is the percentage (not an actual difference in risk reduction) of the decrease achieved by the treated group vs. the untreated group. While the absolute total mortality was 1%, the same raw data yielded a relative risk reduction in total mortality of 33%.

Pretend you are a medical doctor. Which number will you regurgitate to patients? The absolute 1% or the relative 33%?

Relative terms are the least important statistical associations. Yet they are the most important for drug representatives, medical doctors and statistical contortionists within the media because they exaggerate benefits. Relative terms are good for a drug company's bottom line but bad for our health. Focusing soley on relative risk reduction is akin to hiding evidence because it always makes a drug look more effective than it really is.

Now meet drug X: The statin drugs, particularly Pravachol, Zocor and Lipitor. The unprecedented success of these drugs is due to a combination of the pharmaceutical industry's statistical contortionists and their propaganda claiming that high cholesterol leads to heart disease.

Pravachol fails to increase lifespan. The WOSCOPS trial showed only a 0.9% absolute drop in total mortality among those taking Pravachol over 5 years. Pravachol drug pushers touted a 22% drop in relative risk reduction for total mortality.

Zocor fails to increase lifespan. The 4S trial showed only a 3.3% drop in absolute drop in total mortality among users of Zocor. Zocor drug pushers touted a 29% relative risk reduction for total mortality.

Lipitor fails to increase lifespan. The Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac
Outcomes Trial ? Lipid Lowering Arm (ASCOT-LLA) trial, showed Lipitor to offer a 0% reduction in absolute total mortality rates among users. Lipitor drug pushers touted...whatever they wanted.

Those unable to lift the veil of secrecy behind the statin drugs will no doubt fall victim to them. Just say no to unsafe and ineffective FDA-approved drugs.

About the Author
Shane holds a Master's degree in organic chemistry and has first-hand industry experience with drug research, design and synthesis. He understands that Americans want and deserve education rather than prescriptions. His shocking e-book surrounding cholesterol-lowering drugs and HEART DISEASE can be downloaded for FREE at www.health-fx.net His life saving book Health Myths Exposed is available at Amazon or www.healthmyths.net.

Monkey's Aren't So Dumb!

April 2004 found me in Hawaii and loving the fruits available. One of the things I enjoyed most was the banana. It was a bit different than what we get here in the U.S. but it was oh so sweet and tasty. As I reminisced my trip and about that great treat while there I thought what better food for the week?

Bananas could be called the food to healing and health! Over the years as the doctors I worked with put patients on blood pressure medications - which remove a multitude of minerals and vitamins, but the medical profession only recognizes potassium as the mineral necessary to health ? I was instructed to tell the patient to be sure and eat lots of potassium rich foods in particular a banana or two a day.

In my search about bananas last year I found great prevention and healing properties in them? Also that Bananas contain three natural sugars, sucrose, fructose and glucose, and when combined with fiber, bananas produce an instant, sustained, and substantial boost of energy. Research has shown that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout.

According to a recent survey of people suffering from depression found that many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein the body converts into serotonin, which makes you alert, improves your mood, and generally make you feel happier. So eat and expect less depression!

PMS may be averted by eating bananas. The vitamin B6 in bananas regulates blood glucose levels, which is responsible for some of PMS symptoms and eating does affect your mood (among other things).

Anemia medication: Bananas are high in iron, which stimulates the production of hemoglobin in the blood, which helps anemia.

Blood Pressure leveler: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt making it the perfect food to lower blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has permitted the banana industry to officially claim the fruit's ability to 'reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.' So is it the bananas doing the job or the medication the doctor gave you?

Brain Power increased: 200 students at a Middlesex, UK school were helped through exams by eating bananas at breakfast, at break, and during lunch to boost their brainpower. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation prevention: High in fiber, bananas in the diet can restore normal bowel movement without laxatives.

Hangover cure: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates the system.

Stomach calmer: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness treatment: Snacking on bananas between meals helps keep blood sugar levels helping to avoid morning sickness. Morning sickness is caused from a lack of B vitamins more often than blood sugar fluctuations and since bananas have the B's eat one?

Mosquito bite treatment: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves calmed: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight and work too much? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found work pressure leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Out of 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that to avoid panic-induced food cravings and control blood sugar levels, snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours kept levels steady

Ulcers calm down: Bananas can prevent intestinal disorders because of the soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in sensitive health situations. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach. Experts say that bananas strengthen the surface cells of the stomach lining, forming a sturdier barrier against noxious juices.

Temperature control: Many cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that lowers both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their babies are born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancers, tryptophan and Vitamin B's.

Calm smoking withdrawals: Bananas can also help people trying to stop smoking. B6 and B12 in bananas, as well as potassium and magnesium, help the body recover from the withdrawal effects.

Stress leveler: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the body's heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain, and regulates the body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate raises reducing potassium levels. These levels can be rebalanced by eating a high-potassium banana.

Cut Stroke Risk: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes as much as 40%!

Warts: It is said if you want to destroy a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart (with the yellow side out). Tape the skin in place with a Band-Aid or surgical tape. Takes a while but will take care of the virus that causes warts, hence the removal of the wart.

Grow Beautiful Rose Bushes with Bananas: Blend the soft part of the banana skin in a blender full of water and pour on the base of your rose bushes to promote healthy roots and new growth.

Eating fresh fruits and vegetables results in a basic detoxification diet. So, eat as many raw and pure, unprocessed and uncooked foods as you can each day and make bananas one of those raw fruits.

BANANA SMOOTHIE

3 ripe frozen bananas
4-5 T peanut butter (all natural creamy or chunky)
1 T ground flaxseed
2 T honey
1 c. skim or 1% milk ( Use soy milk)

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree well and serve.
NOTE: I add strawberries, pineapple chunks, frozen fresh peaches and frozen grapes to this as an added fiber and alternate taste.

Enjoy your nutritious healthy food!
Lena

AIDS Activists Go After Vitamin Salesman
May 13, 2005
By CLARE NULLIS

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) - A South African court on Friday opened a hearing against a self-styled nutrition guru who claims that anti-retroviral medicines are poisonous and that his own "natural" multivitamin therapies are more effective against the AIDS virus.

An AIDS activist group, The Treatment Action Campaign, had filed a petition with the Cape High Court against Matthias Rath, a German-born doctor who has a California-based foundation and claims tiny doses of natural nutrients can cure everything from heart disease to AIDS.

"The Rath Foundation is preying on vulnerable people with life-threatening illnesses with two aims: to sell their products and to support the HIV denialists who have caused enormous damage to our country," the Action Campaign said in a statement.

It accused him of sowing fear among the poor and the sick to sell his "extortionately" priced multivitamin compounds.

The case has stirred passions in this country with the highest number of HIV infected people in the world, or about 5.3 million at the end of 2003, and where an estimated 600 to 1,000 people die of AIDS every day. The hearing had to be delayed after it began because of noise from demonstrators outside the courtroom.

Judge Siraj Desai told the packed session the court was not being called upon to decide on the efficacy or safety of anti-retrovirals versus "natural" therapies, but to determine whether to order a stop to Rath's allegations.

The clashing viewpoints highlighted the complexities of treating AIDS in many African countries which have long relied on medicinal plants and natural remedies and which lack the infrastructure taken for granted by industrialized countries.

Rath, who attended the court session denied the charges and accused the Action Campaign of trying "to publicly discredit our foundation and slander me personally."

After Friday's session, the case was adjourned until May 26.

The United Nations has joined the criticism against Rath for his full-page advertisements in international media touting his company's vitamin supplements and claiming that anti-retroviral medicines are toxic.

"These advertisements are wrong and misleading," said a statement received Thursday from the World Health Organization, the U.N. Children's Fund and UNAIDS. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health also condemned Rath last week, saying he twisted the findings of their research to advocate his position.

Scientists have found that while there are side effects to anti-retroviral drugs, such as nausea, diarrhea, rashes and abdominal pain, those are far outweighed by the benefits of treatment.

The Action Campaign intended to use an anti-defamation law to target Rath's business in South Africa. The hearing Friday asked for a temporary order for Rath to cease referring to the campaign as a front for multinational pharmaceutical companies, pending a full defamation suit which the group hoped to launch later this year.

The group is also pressing the government's regulatory authority, the Medicines Control Council, to clamp down on Rath and stop what the group alleges are illegal experiments on humans in poor townships.

The Medicines Control Council said in a statement to the South African Press Association earlier this week that it was investigating the vitamin dealer, but declined to speculate on whether it would take action and close down his operations.

"Rath is more active in South Africa than anywhere else in the world because of senior political leaders flirting with quackery and denialism," said Nathan Geffen, an Action Campaign spokesman. Geffen said health activists hoped that the increased public criticism of Rath would finally shame South African authorities into action.

Rath, who has offices in Germany, the Netherlands and Santa Clara, Calif., maintains that chronic shortage of micronutrients is to blame for a wide variety of ailments, including heart disease, strokes, cancer and AIDS. These diseases "will essentially be unknown in the future" if his theories about natural therapies and food supplements are put into practice at a global level, he insists.

"The HIV/AIDS epidemic has become one of the greatest threats to mankind ever," he says on his Web site. "This human tragedy has become a multibillion-dollar market for the pharmaceutical investment business - the drug cartel - in which the return on investment is based on the continuation of the AIDS epidemic," he maintains.

LENA'S COMMENT: It is a known fact that if you have your immune system healthy it will bounce bacteria, virus and parasitic infections off the body and in order to do that nutritional supplements are necessary. This last paragraph says it all! None of the guys claims are off base, just not what big money drug industry wants anyone to know!

PAIN MAY ONLY MEAN YOU ARE LOW ON MINERALS AND TRACE MINERALS!
"YOU CAN TRACE EVERY SICKNESS, EVERY DISEASE, AND EVERY AILMENT TO A MINERAL DEFICIENCY" Linus Pauling, PhD a top scientist and two-time Nobel Prize winner Science is just now discovering what he already knew!
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Pentagon Is Asking Congress to Loosen Environmental Laws
By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
May 11, 2005

WASHINGTON, May 10 - After three unsuccessful tries, the Pentagon is asking Congress again this year to loosen major environmental laws to allow military training exercises around the country to proceed unimpeded.

Military officials say the requested changes, which could be approved this week as part of the defense authorization bill for 2006, are essential to preserve the quality of training and to avoid lawsuits over possible violations of statutes that govern air, water and waste.

With more than 100,000 American military personnel in Iraq, training issues have taken on a heightened sense of urgency, giving the request a better chance of passing this year despite opposition from environmental advocacy groups and state and local governments.

"Workarounds, while sounding reasonable and feasible, cannot sacrifice realistic combat training," Paul W. Mayberry, a deputy under secretary of defense, said in a speech last month, referring to interruptions to military exercises. "All too often, such workarounds chip away at basic fabric and underpinnings of the training objectives."

Mr. Mayberry cited several examples, including the way troops headed for Iraq learned to roll up their tents, a security issue at night because of the way light reflects off the material. In training, he said, they were faced with "an environmental requirement" not to disturb desert tortoises in the training area.

Dozens of groups have complained to Congress that the military's needs are covered by the laws that they seek to change and that waivers would result in conditions getting worse on and around the nation's military bases, endangering the health of millions of people.

As the owner of 425 active bases and more than 10,000 training ranges, the Defense Department is widely regarded as one of the nation's leading polluters, producing vast amounts of chemicals from ordnance that leach into groundwater, as well as air pollution from military vehicles. The Environmental Protection Agency lists more than 130 Superfund sites on military bases.

"Congress would never consider letting the nation's biggest corporate polluter off the hook," Heather Taylor, deputy legislative director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a conference call with reporters. "Why, then, would Congress grant immunity to America's, and the world's, largest polluter?"

Since 2001, the Pentagon has been asking Congress for greater latitude in complying with environmental laws. When it came to birds and animals, lawmakers were willing to compromise, granting exemptions to federal laws. But they have been more resistant to changes that might affect human health under the Clean Air Act; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, dealing with solid waste; and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, which deals with toxic wastes and is better known as the Superfund law.

A request for changes under those statutes is before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has yet to take it up, and the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is expected to finish a bill by Friday.

Under the changes proposed, the military would have an additional three years to reach compliance with clean air standards in areas where training exercises have produced new levels of pollution. Under the solid waste statutes, the definition of "solid waste" for military purposes would no longer include explosives, weapon materials or munitions. And a waiver to the Superfund law would allow the military to cap financial liability for cleaning up toxic sites.

Maj. Susan Idziak, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the Clean Air Act proposal would give states and the Defense Department adequate time to adjust to emissions from new military readiness activities.

"The department has experienced several close calls where the relocation of military readiness activities could have been stymied by the conformity requirements of the Clean Air Act," Major Idziak said.

The other changes, she said, would clarify "ambiguities in the law" in the face of two lawsuits against the Defense Department aimed at stopping training, "potentially setting a precedent that could be applied at any range in the U.S."

Opponents to the waiver request say the Pentagon has not demonstrated a need to change the laws.

Genaro Lopez, a union leader from San Antonio who participated in the conference call, said health officials there had documented hundreds of cases in recent years of cancer and neuromuscular disease from groundwater contaminated by Kelly Air Force Base, which closed in 1995.

Another participant, Terry Dyer, the organizer of an environmental health group in North Carolina, said contamination from Camp Lejeune that began in the 1940's exposed residents to "a cocktail of chemicals" that have caused elevated levels of illness.

Jerry Ensminger, a 24-year Marine veteran based at Camp Lejeune, told Congress last year that his daughter, Jane, was 6 when she she received a diagnosis of leukemia in 1982. She died three years later.

As a result of her death and others, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services, surveyed more than 12,000 women who were pregnant and were living at Camp Lejeune from 1968 through 1985 and found 103 children whose health was compromised in utero by exposure to contaminated water that their mothers drank.

Opponents of the waivers also pointed to Congressional testimony last year in which a senior Pentagon official, in response to questions, offered no examples of complaints involving existing environmental laws.

Ben Cohen, deputy general counsel for environment and installations at the Pentagon, appearing at a joint hearing of two House subcommittees, said that in response to a 2003 query from Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, no base commander cited any problems. Nor did Mr. Cohen identify any governor or Environmental Protection Agency official who had complained about the military's compliance with environmental laws.

That prompted Representative John D. Dingell, a Michigan Democrat and the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, to tell Mr. Cohen, "I am trying to figure out what you are doing here."

LENA'S COMMENT: It looks like the environment is being attacked from all sides with no regard to what we are leaving in the wake for the next generations...