Cancer From the Kitchen?

[groovedaddy]

The battle over health care focuses on access to insurance, or tempests like the one that erupted over new mammogram guidelines.

But what about broader public health challenges? What if breast cancer in the United States has less to do with insurance or mammograms and more to do with contaminants in our water or air -- or in certain plastic containers in our kitchens? What if the surge in asthma and childhood leukemia reflect, in part, the poisons we impose upon ourselves?

This last week I attended a fascinating symposium at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, exploring whether certain common chemicals are linked to breast cancer and other ailments.

Dr. Philip Landrigan, the chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Mount Sinai, said that the risk that a 50-year-old white woman will develop breast cancer has soared to 12 percent today, from 1 percent in 1975. (Some of that is probably a result of better detection.) Younger people also seem to be developing breast cancer: This year a 10-year-old in California, Hannah, is fighting breast cancer and recording her struggle on a blog.

Likewise, asthma rates have tripled over the last 25 years, Dr. Landrigan said. Childhood leukemia is increasing by 1 percent per year. Obesity has surged. One factor may be lifestyle changes — like less physical exercise and more stress and fast food — but some chemicals may also play a role.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/opinion/06kristof.html?th&emc=th

[havocmom]

1. Might increased exposure to electromagnetic fields be a contributor?

I know a lot of professional seamstresses. The percentage of them who have develop breast cancer seems mighty high. Guess what equipment they use for hours each day is in close proximity to breasts.

Always wondered about that.

[groovedaddy]

5. I think there is something to the emfs. It's also possible that the emfs have

a synergistic relationship with chemicals and cancer in the body.

[trotsky]

6. And what study or physical process indicates this to be true? n/t

[groovedaddy]

9. No studies. Straight from my intuition. n.t

[groovedaddy]

10. Although there is this from the World Heath Organization

"Low-frequency magnetic fields induce circulating currents within the human body. The strength of these currents depends on the intensity of the outside magnetic field. If sufficiently large, these currents could cause stimulation of nerves and muscles or affect other biological processes."
http://www.who.int/peh-emf/about/WhatisEMF/en/index1.html

This only demonstrates an effect on anything with an electrical charge in the body, chemicals included. There has been no conclusive proof that emfs cause cancer.

I also don't know of any studies done in this area or the area of synergistic actions of various chemicals with each other. As I said, my suspicions are intuitive, nothing more.

[TwilightGardener]

2. I just checked my microwave containers (they're all Rubbermaid, Glad and Ziploc)

and they all say "5", so I guess they're OK. I suppose I should replace the ones that look rough, and stop putting them in the dishwasher and microwave.

[Delphinus]

3. OMG ...

a ten year old! Jeez.

[canoeist52]

4. I'm waiting on the results from the "Sister Study"

My sisters and I are part of the sisters of breast cancer siblings. This was a very involved and detailed study following us through the years. Reams of questionnaires, blood work and dust samples from my house.

http://www.sisterstudy.org/English/index1.htm

[KT2000]

7. Absolutely

there is a huge body of environmetnal research that implicates chemical exposures in many of our illnesses. That information just sits there until action causes it to cross over into practical knowledge for the medical community.
Corporations are well aware of the channels for this to happen and block this info. For example, the occupational/environmental medical group in the US has been taken over by corporate medical directors. Journals won't publish these articles.

Philip Landrigan should receive a medal from the president - he has been advocating for environmental health, especially for children, for years.

[Celebration]

8. one way to lower the chances of breast cancer

avoid grilled or seared meat

http://www.sph.sc.edu/news/meatstudy.htm

That would be a much better public health measure than having mammograms every year.