A report by the President’s Cancer Panel was brought to my attention recently. The report is from May of 2010, but is still important and relevant.
Here’s an excerpt from the article in Environmental Health News:
The President’s Cancer Panel on Thursday reported that “the true burden of environmentally induced cancers has been grossly underestimated” and strongly urged action to reduce people’s widespread exposure to carcinogens.
The panel advised President Obama “to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our nation’s productivity, and devastate American lives.”
The President’s Cancer Panel was created by an act of Congress in 1971. Yet, this is the first report that focuses on environmental causes of cancer. It addresses the many, many carcinogens and toxins that are found in our food, our water and our air. They’re hard to avoid and the combinations serve a bigger threat than most people realize.
The American Cancer Society tried to downplay the role of environmentally induced cancers in a statement issued in response to the report. Surprisingly, the ACS tries to suggest that these environmental concerns are less important than lifestyle changes and need not be addressed.
Photo Courtesy jenspie3 via Flickr
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