Jan. 26, 2011 -- Childhood leukemia and brain cancer are on the rise, and exposure to chemicals in our environment such as chlorinated solvents and the head lice treatment lindane may be partially to blame, according to experts speaking at a conference call sponsored by Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families.
The group is seeking to overhaul the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), but not everyone in the scientific community agrees that chemical exposure is connected to the uptick in childhood cancers. Some suggest that improvements in diagnosing childhood cancers may also have a role.
“There are a number of chemical exposures for which the evidence is strong, including leukemia and brain cancer,” said Richard Clapp, DSc, MPH, a professor emeritus of environmental health at Boston University School of Public Health, during the teleconference.
“Unequivocally the rates of these cancers have been going up for the last 20 years or more with about a 1% increase per year,” Clapp says. “It is clear that at least one complement of the cause is environmental chemical exposure. Certainly a portion can be traced back to damage done at the cellular level from chemicals that are carcinogens.”
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“We need to study these chemicals first, and then try to put out things that have been proven to be relatively safe,” he says. “We advocate for responsible studies before throwing something out into the environment.”
More at http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20110126/childhood-leukemia-brain-cancer-on-the-rise">WEB MD
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