The Cancer Epidemic

We should all be thankful for people like anchor and host of Marketplace Wendy Mesley. Her ability to use a forum such as national television to spread legitimate concerns about important issues such as the lack of cancer prevention, which she did last night, is so important.
*Read her report here*

The issue being investigated was the fact that there is so much money, time and research being put into cures for cancer, but very, very little into the prevention of cancer, a disease which should be seen as a preventable one. I have previously brought this very issue to the attention of my friends and family. There is a crisis in this country (Canada), and it needs to be addressed immediately.

Highlights of Mesleys report included the fact that there is no money to be made in cancer prevention, so we wait for people to get it, and then provide them with the high priced drugs and care to prolong their life with the disease, an industry that rakes in the profits...where there is money to be made.

It boggles the mind as to why the Canadian government has failed to prevent carcinogenic material from entering our food and other sources.

After conducting just a bit of research, everything from my laundry detergent to the plastic containers that I use to pack my sons lunch contain trace amounts of carcinogens.

Cancer is not caused by one or two exposures to carcenogins. It occurs after frequent exposure to even small amounts of these cancer causing chemicals. And they are everywhere. They are literally impossible to avoid. I don't even know where I could find appropriate items to pack my sons lunch in that did not contain carcinogens. I suppose his soup could go in a glass jar, but how would I wrap his sandwich? And how much would you bet that the school would send me a letter requesting that I not send breakable containers as they are a hazard.

It is really very discouraging, depressing even, that the Canadian government continues to allow corporations to have the last word as to what is okay to sell to consumers, and as to what is labelled as "safe". Companies that sell these products have a lot of money to lobby the government with. As well, there is a pull by the pharmaceutical companies now because of the massive of profit to be made from cancer. There are new drugs everyday, and they are expensive. People are willing to pay anyting if it means they will live longer. Yet they would live even longer if they were cancer free to begin with.

1 in 2 Canadian men will get cancer, and 1 in 3 Canadian women. 1 in 4 Canadian will die from the disease. (Canadian Cancer Society) In my immediate family of 4, that means 2 of us will get it and one of us will die from it. I can only pray that will be my spouse and I and not my children. What an outook to have to have on the world, but that is the reality.

I was talking with some aquaintances of mine the other day about this very issue, and one commented that I worry to much. Isn't that the way of our society though. We ignore what doesn't directly affect our quality of life, until it does, or until it touches someone close to us.

As Mesley pointed out, the Canadian Cancer Society has placed the blame on the people that develop the cancer. It is the person with cancers' fault that they don't eat well enough, get enough exercise, or smoke. There is little if any energy put into placing at least part of the responsibility on those who produce products that contain carcinogens, not just in laundry detergent, but in the things we eat, drink and use on a daily basis. Household cleaners, cosmetics, deoderant, meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, can foods, cigarettes, carpets, furniture, vehicles, lawn care products, food packaging....he list is never ending. If we had even the slightest of responsible governments there would be big changes to regulation of industry in Canada.

First of all, any items that contained ANY carcinogens would be BANNED from our shelves. They would not even be allowed to be produced anywhere. That includes cigarettes...my bet is that once these toxins were taken out of cigarettes they would be far less, if at all, addictive. Bye bye tobacco industry. I think we all agree this would be a step forward.

All forms of esthetic pesticides would be BANNED. Our society has labelled weeds as more evil than carcinogens. I don't even allow my kids in parks where I know that pesticides and herbicides have been used.

All forms of pesticides and herbicides that were to be used on or around any form of consumable material should be carcinogen free. That means the powder they use to keeps worms out of cabbage and that used on fields where cattle graze.

All manufactering sites must use the latest filters in their smoke stacks that remove harmful chemicals from our air.

I could go on but I think you get the picture. It is common sense really.

Any company that breaks any of these environmental and health regulations should not only receive a fine, and if possible be forced to correct the harm that they have done, but be banned from selling, or producing their good/service for ...let's say 5 years, unless they can prove that they are able to comply, let's say after two years. After that they should not longer be allowed to operate AT ALL for failure to comply.

I am sure that the argument against these regulations will be that there will be massive job losses, and the economy will slag. That is a crock. Many of the household and consumable products are able to remove all carcinogens, but choose not to because many of these chemicals are inexpensive. The companies are also cashing in on the time constraints and laziness of our society. Rather than spend time scrubbing the crayon marks off the wall, we would rather expose our kids to cancer causing formaldehyde over and over again in order to clean it faster and more efficiently.

Our meat is banned in the U.K. because it contains carcinogens, yet we here are still sold the product, and are for the most part unaware of its dangers, let alone the fact that it has be banned in several European countries. We also allow companies that use carcinogenic material in their products to sell their products to us without listing the ingredients. Companies will be required to list ingredients as of November 2006. Do you know what Trisodium nitrilotriacetate (NTA) is? Yes, it is a carcinogen, adn it can cause cancer. What do you think it is found in? You know that stuff you use to clean your clothes every week.....in there. So what does our society view as worse...dirt...or cancer?

We are surrounded by these chemicals, and yet it is the lack of fruits and vegetables that the Canadian Cancer society wants us to believe is causing us to develop cancer, a fatal disease. This is one issue that cannot wait another 20 years to deal with. Are we to wait until the cancer rate is 100%?

Remember when SARS came to Canada. More people died from the flue that year, yet we were all freaked out like a bunch of crazy fools. The likelyhood that we are to get cancer is much higher yet we talk about it like it is the threat of old age. We are so bought and sold ten times over an don't even realize it.

It is time to take action. Boycott as many products as you can that contain these materials. Inform yourself. And lobby not for better medications, but for the dissolution of thes materials from our society. Our children are counting on us...or do you plan to be the ignorant generation. They will have more to fix than the energy problem, but the existence of man-kind itself.

I highly recommend reading Wendy Mesleys report.

I also highly recommend the site Scorecard for more information on the chemicals that we are in contact everyday.

Here is another site that lists many known and suspected carcinogens.