Cancer is an epidemic: 41% of Canadian males and nearly 38% of Canadian females will develop some form of the disease, and 27% of males and 23% of females will die from it. And the incidence is going up. From 1970 to 1998, after controlling for aging, the incidence of cancer in Canada increased by 35% for men and 27% for women. After years of denial, the US National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society admitted at the turn of the millennium that the incidence of cancer is expected to double by 2050.
While the medical profession and cancer research institutions attribute most of the cancer increase togenetic and lifestyle factors, the authors of a new Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study assert that carcinogens in our air, water, food, and workplaces are significant causes of cancer.
Economist Robert Chernomas and researcher Lissa Donner draw from reputable studies and findings to conclude that many cancers could be prevented if the cancer-causing chemicals were removed from our environment.
They note that in 2001, Canadian industries admitted releasing 18 and a half million kilograms of known carcinogens into our air, soil, and water. “Such industries have been called ‘merchants of death’ for putting profits ahead of human health” — but they have been aided and abetted by a lax regulatory and enforcement system that allows such deadly pollution to continue.
The authors are critical of the main objective of the fight against cancer, which is to find treatments or cures rather than promoting preventive measures. “Industries have argued that for every carcinogen there is a safe level of exposure. But our guiding principle should be that the safest exposure is no exposure.”
Meanwhile, worker exposure is probably responsible for up to 20% of cancers. As the Canadian Auto Workers have stated: “Scientific evidence demonstrates that blue collar workers are bearing a disproportionate share of the cancer burden. Workers in certain carcinogen laden industries are contracting cancer at rates well beyond those experienced by the general population. At least 60 different occupations have been identified as posing an increased cancer risk. Studies show that the auto industry is producing laryngeal, stomach and colorectal cancers along with its cars. The steel industry is producing lung cancer along with its metal products. Miners experience respiratory cancers many times higher than expected. Electrical workers are suffering increased rates of brain cancer and leukemia. Aluminum smelter workers are contracting bladder cancer. Dry cleaners have elevated rates of digestive tract cancers. Firefighters contract brain and blood-related cancers at many times the expected levels. Women in the plastics and rubber industry are at greater risk for uterine cancer and possible breast cancer. The list goes on and on.”
Chernomas and Donner argue that the war on cancer can be won, but that the social, economic and political changes that are needed will require collective action by the environmental, occupational health and nutrition movements. Acting together, they can “stem the tide of cancer that is sweeping across Canada.”
—Canadian Centre for Policy Alternativeshttp://www.policyalternatives.ca