PR WATCH

Wallstreet Journal: A CANCER RISK CONVENIENTLY LOST IN TRANSLATION

A groundbreaking public health study by Chinese doctor Zhang
JianDong in 1987 was used by U.S. regulatory agencies "as evidence
that a form of" the chemical chromium "might cause cancer."

Tenyears later, "a 'clarification and further analysis' published under
his name in a U.S. medical journal said there was no cancer link to
chromium."

But "Dr. Zhang didn't write the clarification" - it was
"conceived, drafted, edited and submitted to medical journals by"
ChemRisk, a firm hired by PG&E, "a utility company being sued for
alleged chromium pollution" by California residents. ChemRisk was
previously paid $7 million to help "save industry hundreds of
millions of dollars in cleanup costs for chromium pollution in New
Jersey."

ChemRisk claims Dr. Zhang signed off on the
"clarification," but records show the final version was not
translated into Chinese for his review. Dr. Zhang died in 1999, but
his son said, "It's impossible that he would have overthrown" his
earlier work linking chromium and cancer.