Jasia and Tehreen Rehman visit the HBCAC office

The rates of cancer are constantly going up, while sperm counts and fertility keep going down. With many researchers continuing to adamantly funnel their research towards the genetic components of disease, the more overt environmental causes often end up being overlooked. But the sad truth is that we are all constantly eating, breathing, and yes, storing, chemicals - many of which are suspected to be carcinogens. It is now difficult to find one person on this earth who doesn’t have chemicals, such as DDT, still in their body fat, or in the case of women, breast milk. The fact that DDT can still be traced in our bodies even though it was banned decades ago depicts how these chemicals are even more detrimental due to their persistence in the environment and our bodies.

The Long Island Teen Environmental Activists (LITEA) is an organization whose mission it is to raise awareness of the current precarious state of the earth. Students from grades 8-12 are encouraged to join this activist group in the hopes of arousing our community to take some action and stop any further deterioration of our environment. Certain plans of action that the students hope to achieve include convincing local school districts to implement a district-wide recycling program, disseminating information on hazardous materials used in many products today and the poor job that current federal regulations are doing from protecting us from these hazardous materials, discussing the relationship between rising rates of cancer and pollutants in the environment, and finally, acting as a liaison between students and local activist organizations such as the Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition.

Events for this year include guest speakers such as the presidents of the Great Neck and Huntington Breast Cancer Coalitions Laura Weinberg and Karen Miller, a movie night featuring the film “Erin Brockovich” which discusses the adverse effects a polluted water supply has on people’s health, a book discussion of Our Stolen Future by Theo Colborn talking about the implications of the findings discussed in the book, and cleaning up a local park.

Over the past several years, more and more animal species are becoming extinct or developing abnormal behavior and physical characteristics, such as deformed genitalia. Correspondingly, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, and infertility keep becoming more common among humans. If more and more of our fellow mammals are becoming extinct, why can’t the same thing eventually happen to us?

We are members of the next generation to inhabit the earth. We are the ones who will have the power to decide our fate. If you are between grades 8-12 and are interested in joining LITEA, feel free to send an email to tehreemrehman91@hotmail.com. The first meeting took place on February 4th, from 5 - 6 pm at the South Huntington Public Library which is located at 145 Pidgeon Hill Road, Huntington Station, NY 11746.