Pesticides in the Food Supply

Samuel Epstein and Jay Feldman (“Opening the Door for Carcinogens,” Op-Ed Page, Feb. 27) imply that pesticide use on our food supply is somehow related to a cancer epidemic in the United States.

Recent cancer statistics for the U.S. population indicate that the only cancers that show an increasing trend are those associated with the lung and breast. Since most cancers are age related, individuals living to age 70 and beyond have about a 25% chance of being afflicted with cancer. There is no proven link between human consumption of relatively minute quantities of pesticide residues on our foods and a cancer epidemic or the occurrence of cancer in humans.

MEIER SCHNEIDER

Los Angeles