Cancer Action NY conducted a Public Forum On Pollution And Cancer on November 9, 2010 in the Village of Canton, New York, USA. Canton is the county seat of St. Lawrence County. St. Lawrence County is comprised of the St. Lawrence River valley and the northern Adirondack mountains.
Since the founding of Cancer Action NY in January 2000, we have sought to move the St. Lawrence County Legislature to utilize the county public health department to educate county residents on the subject of pollutant carcinogen exposure reduction. Progress has been very slow. County governments, including the government of St. Lawrence County, are part of a system of government and corporations that seeks to minimize the significance of pollutant carcinogen exposure in cancer causation. The federal government health entities, are fully controlled by corporations that seek to deceive the public about pollution exposure as a source of cancer causation. Avoiding liability for cancers caused by pollutant releases is the overarching basis for this corporate strategy. A similar situation exists at the State level of government. In New York State, the New York State Department of Health carefully avoids the subject of pollutant exposure cancer causation because of concerns about offending corporations. The county health departments take their direction from the state health departments. County legislators encounter the powerful alliance of corporations, federal and state governments when they focus attention on the subject of pollution and cancer. The St. Lawrence County Health Department is currently enmeshed in the old paradigm of blaming most of the cancer burden on cigarette smoking, exercise and dietary choices.
We live in a world that is polluted with a large number of chemical substances. During the past several decades, scientific research has provided a vast amount of information on the subject of exposure to chemicals as a cause of cancer. The National Toxicology Program (NTP), which is part of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) periodically reviews such information pursuant to determining carcinogenicity. Every two years, the NTP publishes its "Report on Carcinogens" (ROC). The ROC contains updated lists of know or suspected human carcinogens. In order to make full use of this scientific knowledge to prevent cancer, the knowledge must be shared with the general public. The purpose of this Cancer Action NY forum is to increase public knowledge concerning: (1) the names of chemical carcinogens, (2) the locations in the environment (soil, water, air and food supply) where specific chemical carcinogens exist, and (3) strategies to reduce exposure.
David O. Carpenter, MD is an international expert on chemical exposure and cancer. Dr. Carpenter is a former Dean of the School of Public Health at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany. He currently heads the SUNY Albany Institute for Health and the Environment. Much of Dr. Carpenter's research has focused on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which contaminate all animal fats throughout the world. Dr. Carpenter was the keynote speaker at our Public Forum on Pollution and Cancer. The remaining portion of our forum was dedicated to discussing how to educate the St. Lawrence County public on the subject of POPs exposure cancer risk and exposure reduction.
![<?php echo $config['site_title']; ?>](/static/images/rp-navimg.gif)
![Support the <?php echo $config['site_title']; ?>](/static/images/support.png)
