[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/EW-03-30-12-Cancer1.mp3|titles=EW 03-30-12 Cancer]
Last year, 1.6 million Americans were diagnosed with cancer, and more than a half million died from it. The process is protracted and painful.
But, how does cancer arise anyhow? Cancer begins with a change in the activity of our genetic material, or DNA. Normal cell division is compromised, and tumors form. Some people are genetically predisposed to certain cancers. For instance, inherited mutations in the BRCA genes, are linked to a family history of breast and ovarian cancers.
A widely-cited study in Scandinavia found that among nearly45,000 pairs of identical twins—individuals with identical genes— breast, colorectal and prostate cancers had a strong genetic link. But the results of this exhaustive study also revealed environmental factors are linked to twice as many cancers as genetic factors.
We are exposed to carcinogens through smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol, breathing industrial pollution, radiation exposure, and infections like hepatitis. Carcinogens are also in a wide range of products designed to make our lives easier: insect repellants, cleaning materials, solvents, and personal care products.
The rates of environmentally-induced cancers speak strongly for the regulation of toxic substances. Unfortunately, only about 200 of the nearly 80,000 chemicals being used in the U.S. have been assessed for their potential to cause cancer.
Knowledge is power. Let’s make analyzing our chemical inventory a priority, so that we can identify substances like dioxin, which need to be eliminated from production.
Photo, taken on December 11, 2007 using a Canon EOS-1D Mark II N, courtesy of Jose Goulao via Flickr.