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Turning the Tides II

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Cancer and the Environment -- Make the Link

Did You Know?

WCRC is part of the nationwide coalition of Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), comprised of more than 140 grassroots organizations nationwide. To get involved, link to the HCWH's Web site at www.noharm.org or contact them by e-mail at noharm@iatp.org, or contact WCRC by e-mail at wcrc@wcrcmn.org.

Factors like family history, diet and reproductive history account for only 20-30 percent of breast cancer cases. What causes the remaining 70%?

U.S. General Accounting Office (1991). Breast cancer 1971-1991: Prevention, Treatment and Research. GAO/PEMD-91-12.

Sixteen organochlorines (chlorine-based chemicals) including DDT, atrazine, methyl chloride (an ingredient in paint thinner) and components of PVD plastic were found to cause cancer in breast tissue.

Thornton, Joe (1993). Chlorine, Human Health, and the Environment. Washington, D.C. Greenpeace.

Women residing in areas with toxic waste sites have 6.5 times the normal risk for breast cancer. Women with the highest concentration of certain organochlorines in their bodies were found to have 4-10 times the risk of women with lower levels.

Griffith, J.R. Duncan, et al (1989). Cancer Mortality in U.S. counties with hazardous waste sites and ground water pollution. Archives of Environmental Health. 44:69-74 & Wolff, M., P. Toniolo, E. Lee, M. Rivera, N. Dubin (1993). Blood levels of organochlorines residues and risk of breast cancer. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 85: (8): 648-652.

Israel in the 1970s had high pesticide contamination rates, along with high breast cancer rates. Following the phaseout of these chemicals, the rate of breast cancer declined to levels found in other countries.

Westin, J., and E. Richter (1990). The Israeli breast cancer anomaly. Annals New York Academy of Sciences. 609:269-279.

Increased breast cancer risk was found among atomic bomb survivors in Japan and among women subject to high medical x-ray exposure.

Harris M. Lippman, et al. (1992). Breast Cancer. New England Journal of Medicine. 327:319-328. & Kelsey, J., and M. Gammon (1991). The epidemiology of breast cancer. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 41:146-165.

No studies of dietary fat and breast cancer have considered the effect of chemical contaminants in the fat. Many persistent pollutants that cause or promote cancer, such as chlorinated pesticides, PCBs and dioxins, concentrate in fats.

Thornton, Joe (1993). Chlorine, Human Health and the Environment. Washington, D.C.: Greenpeace & Epstein, S. (1993). Environmental Pollutants as Unrecognized Causes of Breast Cancer. International Journal of Health Services.

Researchers at five major scientific institutions hypothesized that increasing exposures to xeno-estrogens, such as organochlorines and pharmaceuticals, may account for a significant portion of the increase in breast cancer incidence in recent decades.

Davis, D.L., H. Bradlow, M. Wolff, T. Woodruff, D. Hoel, H. Culver (1993). Medical Hypothesis: xeno-estrogens as preventable causes of breast cancer. Environmental Health Perspective. 101:5.

Bill Moyers exposes chemical industry with Trade Secrets program WCRC held a meeting the night after the first airing of Bill Moyers Trade Secrets program, on March 27, to discuss the program and come up with a plan for action. The Environmental Action Group, WCRC's activism group, will be meeting on April 18, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Come at 6:00 for an "Earth-friendly Household Cleaning" demonstration. WCRC building, 4604 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis.

Resources for Trade Secrets: PBS coverage of Trade Secrets: The Problem, The Evidence, The Options and The Program. Order the video or the transcript, make a pledge, e-mail to a friend. http://www.pbs.org/tradesecrets/

Trade Secrets: Archives, Fact vs. Fiction, Chemical Industry's PR spin and take action by joining "Coming Clean" - tell congress what you think! http://www.chemicalindustryarchives.org/

Trade Secrets program press release, Moyers' response to chemical industry critique of trade Secrets, Q & A rebuttal, National Press Club talk, Moyers' biography. http://www.pbs.org/pressroom/2001/spring/tradesecrets/index.html

Links to various articles:

NY Times writes about Moyers and Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/26/national/26chem.html?pagewanted=all

Article in Houston Chronicle and Washington Post newspapers; Bill Moyers' speech to the National Press Club on March 22 http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/