Samuel S. Epstein Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS C 577

Abstract

Dates

Creation: 1933-2007

Extent

23.75 Linear Feet (19 boxes)

Creator

Epstein, Samuel S. (Person)

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English

Access Restrictions

No restrictions on access.

Copyright and Re-use Information

Donor's copyrights were transferred to the public domain. Archival collections often contain mixed copyrights; while NLM is the owner of the physical items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. It is the user's responsibility to research and understand any applicable copyright and re-publication rights not allowed by fair use. NLM does not grant permissions to publish.

Privacy Information

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Biographical Note

Samuel S. Epstein devoted his career to the study and identification of carcinogenic mechanisms in industrial pollutants, pesticides, cosmetics, food, as well as the entire range of environmental contaminants. He used his knowledge and experience to warn the public of risk, to advocate for regulation, to encourage cancer prevention measures, and to serve as an expert witness on the public's behalf in issues of toxic contamination and disease.

Born in Middlesborough, Yorkshire, England on April 13, 1926, Epstein received his medical degree from London University in 1958, where he had spent much of the previous decade studying tropical medicine and pathology. Beginning in 1961, he spent the next decade in Boston at the Children's Cancer Research Foundation and Harvard Medical School leading laboratories studying carcinogenesis and toxicology and as a research associate in pathology and microbiology. Beginning in 1971 he spent five years as Swetland Professor of Environmental Health and Human Ecology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He is Emeritus Professor of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the University of Illinois' School of Public Health, a position he actively held from 1976 until his 1999 retirement.

Dr. Epstein traveled extensively and actively participated in various national and international organizations devoted to public health and the effects of environmental toxins. His pre-eminence in the field led to his expert testimony before Congress in 1973 and 1974 which helped formulate regulation of pesticides and various other environmentally-invasive chemicals. Since 1971 his books warned the public of the dangers inherent in hazardous waste, pesticides, drugs, cosmetics, milk, and meat. Related to these issues, Dr. Epstein concluded in numerous volumes that cancer societies and government cancer research institutions misdirected their efforts towards developing cures rather than addressing the issue of prevention. He participated in the founding of the Environmental Mutagen Society in 1969 and the Cancer Prevention Coalition in 1994, and served as the president of the Society for Occupational and Environmental Health and of the Rachel Carson Council.

Collection Summary

Collection includes information collected by Dr. Epstein on a variety of toxic substances and consumer product industries such as agent orange, Chlordane, Dioxin, Dursban, Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone, pesticides, food irradiation, and cosmetics, copies of depositions in court cases involving the effects of toxins, and his background research files and expert testimony to the EPA and OSHA favoring banning and regulating harmful chemicals. Of his writings, the papers include articles (more than 270 of which are peer-reviewed), press releases and editorials as well as books he has written or co-written. The collection also contains a large number of video and audio tapes. These include news and media interviews featuring Epstein, topical news reports and other toxic substance informational television programming, and a few speeches and lectures given at conferences.