Changing the paradigm: The biggest polluter and threat to your health is your body

This Commentary challenges the longstanding paradigm that the vast majority of cancers and many other serious aging-related diseases are principally due to environmental contamination. In contrast, it is argued that the major cause of aging-related diseases is the massive generation of oxy radicals produced by normal metabolic processes which, over time, initiate and promote the vast spectrum of aging-related diseases. This perspective leads to the conclusion that our bodies pose our biggest public health and medical threats. Failure to identify the major targets of aging-related diseases by environmental and public health agencies has resulted in incorrect priorities, the wasteful misdirection of funding, and the failure to improve the public health.