Pesticides = Breast Cancer

[Guest guest]

Pesticides, breast cancer linked: doctor

Last Updated: Mon Nov 5 14:01:51 2001

http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/view?/news/2001/11/05/Consumers/cancerpesticides_011105

 

OTTAWA - A doctor has told a federal government

committee that there is a link between pesticides and

breast cancer.

 

Dr. Nicole Bruinsma was testifying before the House of

Commons committee on the environment on behalf of the

Canadian Public Health Association. She was diagnosed

with breast cancer in 1998.

 

The CPHA is a non-profit group comprised of health

professionals concerned about disease prevention and

health protection.

 

Bruinsma says she has found evidence from studies of

lab animals to humans, exploring links between rates

of cancers and pesticide exposure.

 

Bruinsma says the human body has been invaded by at

least 500 chemicals in the last 80 years. She warns

persistent organic pollutants accumulate and

concentrate in fatty tissue, especially female

breasts.

 

Doctors say breast cancer could be caused by a variety

of factors such as environment, diet or genetic

predisposition. Women have been told to eat diets low

in fat, high in fibre, to stop smoking and to cut down

on alcohol consumption.

 

Bruinsma blames the presence of pesticides for the

disease. She points to studies of Inuit in the Arctic

who have high levels of contaminants in their tissue

and breast milk. They absorb these through the food

they eat: whale and seal fat. It means the whales and

seals are getting it from the food they're eating,

too.

 

" There are no unexposed groups left in the world, "

said Bruinsma.

 

Some evidence indicates women who have breast cancer

have 50 to 60 per cent higher levels of

organochlorines in tissues than women without breast

cancer.

 

Organochlorines are chemicals made from chlorine. That

includes everything from bleach to plastics,

deodorants, paints, wood preservers, pesticides and

cleaning solvents.

 

A 1998 study by the Deep South Centre for

Environmental Justice found that black families who

live close to chemical plants had much higher rates of

cancer than people in non-polluted areas.

The families lived in poverty-stricken areas near the

Mississippi River.

 

Canada was the first country in 1998 to sign a United

Nations treaty outlawing the 12 most toxic chemicals,

including PCBs, dioxin and DDT. They are no longer

made or used in this country.

 

However, as some health advocates maintain, these

chemicals are used in other countries from which

Canada imports food.

 

Bruinsma estimates up to 70 per cent of new cases of

breast cancer are not connected to genetic risk

factors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Find a job, post your resume.

http://careers.