All we hear from scare-groups like Environmental Working Group is that chemicals are killing us–dioxin, benzene, teflon, mercury, penta, PFOS, lead, PFCs, PBDEs, phthalates, etc. If their arguments are to be believed, we should all be dead or cancer ridden. But that isn’t what is happening. The NY Times published an interesting article about we are living longer, healthier lives than ever before. The NY Times write:

cientists used to say that the reason people are living so long these days is that medicine is keeping them alive, though debilitated. But studies like one Dr. Fogel directs, of Union Army veterans, have led many to rethink that notion.

The study involves a random sample of about 50,000 Union Army veterans. Dr. Fogel compared those men, the first generation to reach age 65 in the 20th century, with people born more recently.
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Instead of inferring health from causes of death on death certificates, Dr. Fogel and his colleagues looked at health throughout life. They used the daily military history of each regiment in which each veteran served, which showed who was sick and for how long; census manuscripts; public health records; pension records; doctors