Samuel Seymour Epstein (April 13, 1926Biography of Samuel Epstein
/ref> – March 18, 2018) was a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and, at the time of his death,

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

of environmental and occupational health at the School of Public Health of the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

. He is known for his contributions on avoidable causes of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

, for which he was given the Right Livelihood Award in 1998.Right Livelihood Award 1998: Samuel Epstein (USA)
, retrieved 2009-12-13. His papers are held at the

National Library of Medicine The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. I ...

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

Biography

Epstein was born in England on April 13, 1926, to Isidore and Gertrude Epstein and emigrated to the United States in 1960. For ten years, he held a position at the Children's Cancer Research Foundation and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He then became a distinguished professor at

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

before moving to the University of Illinois in 1976. In addition to 270 scientific articles, he published 12 books, and was active in publicizing claims on the carcinogenic properties of

chlordane Chlordane, or chlordan, is an organochlorine compound that was used as a pesticide. It is a white solid. In the United States, chlordane was used for termite-treatment of approximately 30 million homes until it was banned in 1988. Chlordane was b ...

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all p ...

growth hormones Growth hormone (GH) or somatotropin, also known as human growth hormone (hGH or HGH) in its human form, is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration in humans and other animals. It is thus important in ...

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

nitrosamine Nitrosamines (or more formally ''N''-nitrosamines) are organic compounds produced by industrial processes. The chemical structure is , where R is usually an alkyl group. Nitrosamines have a nitroso group () that are "probable human carcinogens", ...

s in

bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

saccharin Saccharin, also called saccharine, benzosulfimide, or E954, or used in saccharin sodium or saccharin calcium forms, is a non-nutritive artificial sweetener. Saccharin is a sultam that is about 500 times sweeter than sucrose, but has a bitter or ...

beverage A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothie ...

preservative A preservative is a substance or a chemical that is added to products such as food products, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints, biological samples, cosmetics, wood, and many other products to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or ...

s, and other

food additive Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance taste, appearance, or other sensory qualities. Some additives, such as vinegar ( pickling), salt ( salting), smoke ( smoking) and sugar ( crystallization), have been used f ...

s. His work drew criticism from the U. S. Food and Drug Administration, which claimed that his book ''The Safe Shopper's Bible'' misleads consumers by labeling safe products as carcinogenic. He was a strong critic of the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

Books

* . * . * . ''Vol. II. Cosmetics and Drugs, Pesticides, Food Additives'', MIT Press, 1976. * . Abridged Japanese translation, 1978. Revised and expanded edition, Anchor/Doubleday Press, New York, 1979. ''The Politics of Cancer, Revisited'', East Ridge Press, Fremont Center, N.Y., 1998. * . * . * . * . 2nd ed. (with Levert), Macmillan, 1998. * . * . 2nd ed., Environmental Toxicology, 2005. Japanese ed., Lyon-sha Publishing, 2006. * . * . * . * .

References

External links

Epstein's Blog
at ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

''
Right Livelihood Award
{{DEFAULTSORT:Epstein, Samuel 1926 births 2018 deaths American public health doctors 20th-century British medical doctors University of Illinois Chicago faculty American oncologists