Exclusive cancer and the environment fact sheets
Agricultural Exposures and Cancer [PDF]
Industrial and Manufacturing Exposures and Cancer [PDF]
Indoor/Outdoor Air Pollution and Water Contamination and Cancer [Forthcoming]
Nuclear Fallout, Electromagnetic Fields and Radiation Exposure and Cancer [Forthcoming]
These fact sheets were written by Molly Jacobs, MPH and Richard Clapp, DSc, MPH of the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, University of Massachusetts-Lowell, in partnership with CHE and the Breast Cancer Fund.
Contents
• Overview: Meeting basics and CHE's action plan
• Cancer Consensus Statement
• CHE Cancer teleconference series
• Fact sheets and other resources
• Get involved
Overview: Meeting basics and CHE's action plan
President's Cancer Panel - Summary
Starting in September, the President's Cancer Panel will hold four public meetings. This year the Panel's focus is "Cancer and the Environment". These meetings offer a unique opportunity for interested CHE Partners to tell the panel and the American people what we have learned about the environmental causes of cancer. Each meeting will explore a different set of environmental contributors to cancer causation.
The agenda for each meeting includes official testimony by invited experts and 15-20 minutes of open public comment. The list of invited experts for the first two panels includes many CHE partners and friends, including Jeanne Rizzo, Dr. Dick Clapp, Dr. Devra Davis, and Dr. Phil Landrigan.
Next Panel meeting
December 4, 2008
Charleston, South Carolina
Indoor/Outdoor Air Pollution and Water Contamination
[Download meeting flyer PDF]
Past and future Panel meetings
September 16, 2008
East Brunswick, New Jersey
Industrial and Manufacturing Exposures
October 21, 2008
Indianapolis, Indiana
Agricultural Exposures
January 27, 2009
Phoenix, Arizona
Nuclear Fallout, Electromagnetic Fields, and Radiation Exposure
[Download meeting flyer PDF]
We hope to show a strong presence of CHE Partners at the meetings. If you think you may be interested in attending any of the four meetings, please contact CHE Administrative Coordinator Shelby Gonzalez at shelby@healthandenvironment.org.
Preventing the preventable causes of cancer: CHE's action plan
A number of CHE Cancer Working Group Partners have been brainstorming the most useful next steps in order to influence the report of the President's Cancer Panel and to build momentum for broader collective action for cancer prevention. Based on these discussions, the following activities are being prepared.
1. With coordination from CHE Organizational Partner the Breast Cancer Fund, a new consensus statement on cancer and the environment is being drafted and will be disseminated for review to interested CHE Partners. This statement will provide a research and policy agenda to prevent the preventable causes of cancer.
2. With coordination by the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, four fact sheets on the Panel meeting issue areas will be produced.
3. CHE will host a teleconference series based on the different focus areas. A call will take place two to four weeks in advance of each meeting. There may also be follow-up calls after each meeting.
4. CHE will host receptions after each of the President's Cancer Panel meetings. These gatherings will provide a space for CHE Partners to meet one other, discuss how we can work together, and how we can further our collective work on cancer prevention.
We welcome you to share your comments and suggestions on the above plan.
New consensus statement on cancer and the environment
The Collaborative on Health and the Environment, in partnership with the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production and the Breast Cancer Fund, has developed a consensus statement that lays out the scientific rationale for stronger cancer prevention and enumerates specific research and policy initiatives to prevent environmental exposures that contribute to cancer.
We invite you to voice your support for a stronger, science-based national cancer prevention agenda by signing the statement.
Sign the Statement
Download the CHE Consensus Statement on Cancer and the Environment [PDF]
CHE teleconference series on cancer and the environmentThe Future of Cancer: Primary Prevention, the President's Cancer Panel, and the New CHE Cancer Consensus Statement
Thursday, Sept 4, 2008
What would a science-based cancer prevention agenda look like?
As the President's Cancer Panel begins its series of four hearings on different aspects of cancer and the environment, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, in collaboration with organizational Partners, including the Breast Cancer Fund and the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, is working to provide a forum for scientific and public health experts, other clinical, public health, and safety professionals, union members, activists, students and concerned individuals to identify key action steps to ensure the official report of the Panel to the next President addresses the strong evidence base linking industrial agents with cancer and the need for more prevention-oriented research, programs and policies associated with these risk factors.
About sixty CHE Partners and friends joined us on Thursday, Sept. 4 for a call about the President's Cancer Panel, the new CHE Cancer Consensus Statement, and the future of cancer prevention in the United States and around the world. If you were unable to join us, you may listen to the recording with Quicktime by clicking the link below, or download the MP3 recording by right-clicking the link and selecting "Save File As".
Download the MP3 recording of this call
Growing Danger: Pesticides, Other Agricultural Exposures, and Cancer
Tuesday, Dec 9, 2008 at 10am PT/ 1pm ET
Do the people who grow and harvest America's food -- and the many others exposed to harmful substances used in agriculture -- face a special risk of cancer?
Overall cancer incidence and mortality rates are low among farmers relative to the general population, but studies of farming populations routinely reveal elevated risk for several specific types of cancer. Some farm workers face disproportionate exposure levels to various chemicals. While a variety of substances either created by or used in agriculture may increase cancer risk, including solvents, fuels, nitrates in fertilizers, and engine exhaust, the bulk of research to date has focused on pesticides. Farmers and farm workers are not the only ones exposed to these substances.
Join us on Tuesday, Dec 9, at 10am PT/ 1pm ET for a call featuring speakers from the recent President's Cancer Panel hearing on agriculture and cancer. There is no charge for participating in a CHE Partnership call. This call will last one hour.
RSVP for this Call
Main Call Page
Other resources
President's Cancer Panel - Official site
Cancer and the Environment - Meeting series overview [PDF]
Industrial and Manufacturing Exposures
East Brunswick, New Jersey
Sept. 16, 2008
Industrial and Manufacturing Exposures - Meeting flyer [PDF]
Industrial and Manufacturing Exposures - Meeting agenda [PDF]
Industrial and Manufacturing Exposures and Cancer - New fact sheet [PDF]
Testimony materials
Here are some of the materials that invited speakers submitted to the Panel to accompany their testimony at the Sept. 16 meeting. All downloads are in Word format unless otherwise indicated.
Industrial Carcinogens: A Need For Action
Richard Clapp, D.Sc, MPH
B.U. School of Public Health
There is No “War” on Occupational Cancer
Adam M. Finkel, Sc.D., CIH
Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health, UMDNJ School of Public Health and Executive Director, Penn Program on Regulation, Univ. of Pennsylvania Law School
Occupational Carcinogens – Environmental Carcinogens: A Fine Line [PDF]
Elizabeth T. H. Fontham, MPH, DrPH
Dean, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Public Health and Wendell Gauthier Chair in Cancer Epidemiology
Cancer Prevention through a Precautionary Approach to Environmental Chemicals
David Kriebel
School of Health & Environment, Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, University of Massachusetts-Lowell
Childhood Cancer and the Environment
Philip J. Landrigan, MD, MSc, FAAP
Professor and Chairman, Department of Community & Preventive Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics, and Director, Children's Environmental Health Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Preventing Cancer by Controlling Occupational and Environmental Exposures
Franklin E. Mirer, PhD, CIH
Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Hunter College Urban Public Health Program
State of the Evidence: The Connection between Breast Cancer and the Environment
Policy and Research Recommendations for Moving Forward
Jeanne Rizzo, RN
President & CEO, Breast Cancer Fund
Related resources and past CHE Partnership Calls
Findings from the Environmental and Occupational Causes of Cancer 2007 Report- Main call page
New Approaches to Toxicity Testing: Findings from the National Academy of Sciences Report- Main call page
How Teflon Got Stuck: A Policy Analysis Call
Agricultural Exposures
Indianapolis, Indiana
Oct. 21, 2008
Agricultural Exposures - Meeting flyer [PDF]
Agricultural Exposures - Meeting agenda [PDF]
Agricultural Exposures and Cancer - New fact sheet [PDF]
A fact sheet written by Molly Jacobs, MPH and Richard Clapp, DSc, MPH of the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, University of Massachusetts-Lowell, in partnership with CHE and the Breast Cancer Fund.
Indoor/Outdoor Air Pollution and Water Contamination
Charleston, South Carolina
Dec. 4, 2008
Indoor/Outdoor Air Pollution and Water Contamination - Meeting flyer [PDF]
Nuclear Fallout, Electromagnetic Fields and Radiation Exposure
Phoenix, Arizona
Jan. 27, 2009
Nuclear Fallout, EMF and Radiation Exposure - Meeting flyer [PDF]
How you can get involved
Attend a President's Cancer Panel meeting
The meetings of the President's Cancer Panel are free and open to to the public- no need to RSVP. If you are able to attend one or more of the meetings, we would love to hear that you're coming. Please also let us know if you plan to attend the CHE reception afterward.
Send us an email
Tell the Panel what you think
Even if you can't attend one of the meetings, you can still tell the panel what you think about the environmental causes of cancer and the steps the American government should take to reduce them.
Submit a comment to the President's Cancer Panel (email)
You may submit written comments to:
The President's Cancer Panel
National Cancer Institute
6116 Executive Boulevard
Suite 212, MSC 8349
Bethesda, MD 20814-8439
Sign the Cancer Consensus Statement
By signing the CHE Cancer Consensus Statement, you are adding to the critical mass of people calling for a new approach to cancer - an approach that recognizes that many different factors contribute to cancer causation and that cancer prevention should be a major component of research and policy in the United States and around the world.
Sign the Statement
Download the CHE Consensus Statement on Cancer and the Environment [PDF]
Join the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE)
Who joins CHE? Scientists, concerned citizens, health professionals, policymakers, college students, and more - we welcome everyone to participate in the civil, science-focused dialogue that defines CHE. CHE Partners hail from 45 countries and counting. Applying to join CHE is quick, easy and free. You can tailor your level of engagement to your schedule and interests.
Apply to join CHE
Participate in the CHE Partnership Call series on cancer and the environment
What environmental exposures contribute to cancer causation? What steps can governments, regulatory agencies, researchers and individuals take to help prevent cancer?
These are big questions. One thing you can do to advance the cause of cancer prevention is to get informed. A good way to start is to participate in the CHE Cancer teleconference series on cancer and the environment. CHE teleconferences are free, and anyone can participate.
Spread the knowledge
Are you going to participate in a CHE teleconference? Great! Why not invite a friend or two and help spread knowledge about cancer causation and prevention? It's free and only takes a minute.
Invite a friend to join CHE
We welcome your questions and suggestions regarding this initiative. Please direct comments to Eleni Sotos, CHE Program Director, at Eleni@HealthandEnvironment.org.
Best wishes,
Eleni Sotos, MA, Program Director
Shelby Gonzalez, Administrative Coordinator
Julia Varshavsky, Program Associate
