Many people do not know that they were exposed to DES. Mothers may not have known they were taking DES or remember the kinds of medication they were given when they were pregnant; some prescription vitamins included DES. Any woman who received medication during pregnancy primarily between 1938 and 1971, and the child she was carrying, may be DES exposed. Try to get the medical records from your (or your mother's) pregnancy from either the attending physician, the medical records department of the hospital where the birth took place, or the pharmacy where the prescriptions were filled.

All DES daughters need regular screening exams for CCA throughout their lives; in addition, they need special care beginning in the first weeks of pregnancy, even if they have already had children. DES sons should practice testicular self-examination regularly because of increased risk for non-cancerous cysts as well as for cancer. DES mothers are advised to pay particular attention to their breast care because they may be at increased risk for breast cancer.

Dioxin is in all of our bodies, and the U.S. EPA estimates that 90% of that dioxin comes from our food. For many Americans, more than three-quarters of that dioxin comes from beef and dairy products and from seafood. Dioxin accumulates in fat and works its way up the food chain. People with high levels of dioxin in their bodies may experience infertility, higher rates of endometriosis in women, and immune system damage.

Dioxin from incinerators and cement kilns can travel in the wind for up to 1,000 miles, attached to dust particles or water vapor. Even though few dairy and beef farms are in the immediate vicinity of dioxin-emitting incinerators, airborne dioxin falls on pastures of grazing land, where it sticks to the grass or hay, which is eaten by cattle.

Once in the air, dioxin washes out or settles onto soil, plants, water and the beds of rivers, lakes and the sea. Deep-ocean fish have lower levels of dioxin, but coastal fish and shellfish have higher levels due to pollution of coastal sediments. Low-income communities are often more likely to rely on subsistence fishing to provide food and thus are even more likely to be affected than the general population. These communities are also much more often the locations for incinerators of all kinds.

We can drastically cut our dioxin exposure by reducing our consumption of fish, poultry, meat and dairy products, but the elimination of animal fats from our diets will not stop the continued production of dioxins, nor will it protect those who live near industrial sites and dumps contaminated by dioxins that they absorb directly through their water and air.

Actions to reduce dioxin contamination of the U.S. food supply include phasing out chemical production that generates chlorine-containing waste, and switching from waste incineration to recycling.

Although plant matter takes up less dioxin from the soil, even organic vegetables are susceptible to contamination by airborne pesticide "drift." This means that no one can live in a nontoxic environment if their community is using pesticides; aerial spraying causes approximately five times greater loss of pesticides to drift than ground spraying, and even under ideal conditions only about 50% of the spray reaches the target when aerially applied. The rest goes wherever the wind carries it. The only way to stop the problem of drift is to change broadcast spraying methods, and to explore non-toxic methods for community pest control.

Incinerators have been dubbed "landfills in the sky," because they transform toxic waste into gaseous emissions which are dispersed into the air over land and into the water regardless of whether they are burning hazardous, medical, military, municipal or Superfund waste. Newer, safer alternatives to incineration currently exist, but billions of dollars in contracts and outdated EPA policies perpetuate incineration across the country.

There are no epidemiological studies to validate the EPA's position that incinerators pose no risk to human health or the environment. Such assurances are based upon the dubious art of "health risk assessments," written by consultants who work for the incinerator industry.

As a first step, call your state EPA to find out about incinerators in your area; but bear in mind that they will not have a complete inventory of sites. Call hospitals in your area and ask if they burn their medical waste on-site. And finally, use the resources listed below to connect to campaigns in your area.

Justice for the ecosystem and justice for working people are inseparable -- just as pollution respects no national boundaries, neither does the stateless multinational corporation. The rules of the game allow giant corporations to flee to low wage and low regulatory areas of the globe. Just by threatening to leave, these giants gain enormous leverage over North American public policy; to add insult to injury, this also allows corporate interests to pit dislocated workers and environmental advocates against each other. By preying on job fear, groups like the Wise Use Movement reach out to working people, using them as cannon fodder in their attack on environmental regulations.

Any hope of a sustainable future has to rely on getting working people from here to there with their lives and livelihoods intact. What is needed is a "Just Transitions" policy providing full income for working people and support for communities negatively impacted by bans and phase-outs of hazardous substances.