03/30/09

Professor Vyvyan Howard, The Rise in Cancer:

Dr. Vyvyan Howard is Head of the Developmental Toxico-Pathology Research Group and a senior lecturer at the University of Liverpool, England.

Within the last fifty years the incidence of cancer has grown to almost epidemic proportions. Nearly one in two American males contract some form of cancer. Professor Howard looks at the probable reasons behind this, pointing in particular to the rapid rise in chemical pollution. The use of chemicals by industry has grown exponentially since the Second World War (see Part 3, 'Chemical Hygiene'). As a result we are led to absorb into our bodies many thousands of chemicals each year. Some of these are endocrine disrupters which interfere with hormonal activity -- especially in fetuses.

•  The Rise in Cancer: Part 1
•  Part 2

Chemical Hygiene:

The chemical industry is huge. Widely defined, it accounts for 7% of world GDP. Yet despite the ubiquity of potentially toxic man-made chemicals, consumer health protection is woefully inadequate. Professor Howard's work has revealed cancer-causing (or 'carcinogenic') effects of many manufactured chemical compounds, some of which pose particular risk to the unborn foetus. Until health and safety standards improve, Dr Howard advocates a chemical hygiene discipline, just as we have a biological hygiene discipline. With better knowledge and increased awareness of the dangers, certain steps can be -- and must be -- taken to reduce unnecessary exposure.

•  Chemical Hygiene: Part 3

Other Links:

• WHO: Cancer Brochure 2007
• Environmental Factors the Major Cause of Cancer
•  Cancer and the Environment in Ontario: Gap Analysis on the Reduction of Environmental Carcinogens
•  Cancer incidence and mortality in Europe, 2004
•  Cancer Registration is the Cornerstone of Cancer Control
•  Colorectal Cancer
•  Lung Cancer
•  Skin Cancer
•  Chasing the Cancer Answer