Preventive medecine: role of environmental chemicals in cancer development

PREVENTIVE MEDECINE: ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICALS IN CANCER DEVELOPMENT

The exact proportion of cancers that are caused by exposure to environmental chemicals is the subject of considerable debate. Estimates vary from 1 to 3 per cent of all cases. Cancer mortality in England and Wales is 24 per cent higher in manual than in non-manual workers but it is thought that as much as 90 per cent of this larger risk is accounted for by factors like cigarette smoking rather than dangers associated with actual occupation. There are about forty chemicals and processes that are either known to cause cancer in humans or are suspected of doing so. Most of the known carcinogens have been withdrawn or controlled but many of the suspected ones have not. The most common environmental hazards are: vinyl chloride (liver, lung and brain cancers); some chemical dyes (bladder); some compounds of arsenic, chrome and nickel (skin, lung and nose); some wood dusts (nose); some types of tar and soot (skin); and radiation (many types of cancer). Your employer has, by law, to tell you of any known toxic or cancer-producing hazards, and you should tell him or her if you are worried about anything at your place of work. Your union safety representative could be helpful too.

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GENERAL HEALTH

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