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Cancer Action Network Radio
June 13, 2009 http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/33824 First her mother and father developed cancer, breast
cancer and colorectal cancer, and then Eileen was diagnosed with breast
cancer. This New York City girl is looking for answers to the question
of why so many people from Queens have developed cancer.June 8, 2009 http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/33814 Don Hassig describes the pollution prevention work
of Cancer Action NY. His organization is leading the way on cancer
prevention that focuses on the minimization of pollutant carcinogens
including dioxins, furans, PCBs, PAHs, benzene and carcinogenic metals.
Born in the new millenium, Hassig's groups guide local communities in
creating environmental health education campaigns.http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/33481The interview with Margaret Roberts/Capitol
Region Action Against Breast Cancer describes the work of her
organization and the serious lack of awareness that exists among urban
women regarding dioxin exposure and the associated breast cancer risk.
http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/33469 This is Cancer Action Network radio on dioxin exposure breast cancer risk. Dr. Linda Birnbaum is the new Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Her interview is the anchor for the series on dioxins/open waste burning/breast cancer.
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Here are the background facts of the issue:
1. An international group of scientists working with data from the Seveso Women's Health Study found an association between dioxin exposure and elevated breast cancer rates. Their research was published in Environmental Health Perspectives in 2002.
2. The US EPA dioxin reassessment attributes over 95 percent of dioxin exposure to consumption of animal fat foods: meats, dairy products, eggs. Dioxins are persistent, fat-soluble air pollutants that accumulate in the fat tissue of animals.
3. The US EPA dioxin inventory lists open waste burning as the largest source of dioxin releases to the environment.
4. Open waste burning takes place in the rural parts of New York State where meats and dairy foods are produced. Dioxins are created in these fires and deposit out of the polluted air onto the feed crops and pasture of cattle.
5. Urban consumers are exposed to the dioxins of these fires when they eat meats, dairy products and eggs. The dioxins are in the milk and beef because cattle eat large quantities of vegetative surfaces (grass blades, corn leaves and stalks, alfalfa leaves and stems, etc.). These surfaces are contaminated with dioxins due to the deposition described above. The eggs, chicken meat, turkey meat, and pork contain dioxins because cow fat is fed to poultry, and hogs. Dioxin bearing particulates fall into large bodies of water as well as upon terrestrial environments. Runoff water contains dioxins that fell on the land and were picked up as a result of soil erosion. Aquatic dioxins bioaccumulate in fish.
6. NYS DEC is currently engaged in rule-making that will most likely ban open waste burning statewide. New York State Farm Bureau is the only opposition to the statewide burning ban. Enforcement of this ban will need to be accompanied by education. Public awareness of the connection between dioxin exposure and breast cancer will result in better enforcement and a larger education program.
The following URL provides access to papers that contain background on the above.
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Transforming Cancer Control into Cancer Prevention
New York State adopted a Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan in 2003. The draft NYS CCCP stated that pollution was not a significant cause of cancer. Cancer Action NY raised a protesting cry and an AP story was picked up by New York Post and numerous other newspapers. We followed the first salvo with a press conference at the Legislative Office Building in the Empire State Plaza and as a result the NYS CCCP was revised. New York's final cancer control plan is far ahead of many other states in matters of cancer prevention addressing pollutant carcinogens. Goal No. 2 of the plan is to Reduce Environmental Exposure/"By 2010, reduce population risks associated with environmental exposures to known or likely environmental risk factors for cancer." The problem with this plan is that it is not being vigorously acted upon. Despite having made many attempts to speak with her, I have not once received an answer from Leslie Larson, Director of the NYS CCC Program. I believe that Goal No. 2 was included in the plan only to smoothe the waters of environmental discontent. The NYS government workers who implement the plan do so as if Goal No. 2 did not exist. And remember, there is now only one year left for NYS DOH to take a step toward achieving Goal No. 2.
Nonetheless, the NYS CCCP is better than the MN CCCP. Under the heading of Guiding Principles, the MN CCCP states: "We support science-based and evidence-informed approaches to address cancer control across the continuum of cancer care." There is no mention of pollutant cancer risk factors in this document.
New York has a superior CCCP to that in existence in Pennsylvania. The PA CCCP, also adopted in 2003, states as a Core Goal: "Prevent cancer from occurring whenever possible." In the section of this plan, which sets forth Priority Goals and Objectives for Cancer Prevention and Healthy Lifestyles there is no mention of reducing exposure to pollutant carcinogens, only cigarette smoke.
The WI CCCP sets forth as Goal No. 1: "Reduce the risk of developing cancer." The priority action of this plan is to: "Develop priorities from scientific data to address Wisconsin's cancer burden." Priority areas of the Prevention Section of the WI CCCP include: Tobacco, Healthy Lifestyles and Sunlight. No pollutant carcinogens to be found in here.
The Michigan Cancer Consortium Initiative fails to list a single pollutant risk factor in its Breast Cancer Factsheet. This Factsheet does not list animal fat consumption as a risk factor. Objective No. 2 of the MI CCI Breast Cancer Priority Strategic Plan is: "Women should receive information to help them understand their risk of developing breast cancer."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program's National CCC Promotional Toolkit contains the following on the subject of risk reduction:
https://www.cancerplan.org/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_324_0_0_47/http%3B/PTPORTAL01%3B8080/publishedcontent/publish/_cancerplan/cp_resources/risk_reduction_print_ad__2.pdfAs you can see, pollutant carcinogens are missing from this document. Hopefully, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will respond to the joint advocacy of the NIEHS and Cancer Action NY by creating a national cancer control program that includes a focus on pollutant carcinogens.
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