Cancer and our Environment: States leading the fight

When the President's Cancer Panel released a report in May 2010 advising Americans to take specific steps to reduce environmental toxins in their lives and thus reduce cancer risk, it was a watershed moment. The report recommended that Americans drink filtered water, avoid bisphenol-A (BPA), eat food grown without pesticides, and carefully choose the household products they use.

In an interview with the Breast Cancer Fund, Dr. Margaret Kripke, member of the President's Cancer Panel, commented on the creation of the report: "This was an enormously eye-opening experience for me." The panel decided to focus on cancer-causing environmental toxins because they are of concern to many Americans, and because 6% of cancers are thought to be caused by environmental carcinogens – this means that about 20,000 Americans are dying each year due to cancer caused by their environment.

Speaking further on the issue, Dr. Kripke talked about the United States' stance on the regulation of chemicals in commerce today: over 80,000 chemicals are approved for use in every day products, and only a few of them have been tested. Rather than proactively require testing of these chemicals, the federal government allows their use until the chemical is proven to be harmful.

"I always assumed that if something was a known human carcinogen that it would be regulated and this is clearly not the case.

Also, there are carcinogens in our environment that have been banned in Europe, banned in Canada that we are still using and that remain unregulated to this day, and I always assumed that, before things were put on the market, that they would be tested.

And that, too, is absolutely not the case -- we test very few things for cancer-causing properties."

—Dr. Margaret Kripke

In the absence of an overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) on the federal level, it is up to the states to control toxic chemical use to the best of their ability. And advocates are working hard on the ground to protect as many people as possible from the risk of cancer due to environmental factors.

White Lake, Michigan: From contamination to community activism.

Doug Schlaff was a healthy, active guidance counselor when he was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer that is found in only 200 Americans a year. The father of three passed away a short two years later, leaving his family with a lot of questions.

From the outset, the doctors had said that Doug's cancer was not genetic and was due to something in his environment during his short life. Doug's wife Polly Schlaff was left wondering what of the many potential toxins had contributed to Doug's cancer.

"At first, I wondered, 'Why Doug?' Now two years after his death knowing what I do about the many exposures that we all have every day to known or suspected carcinogens, I think, 'Why not Doug? Why not any of us?'"

The Schlaffs grew up in the White Lake area of Michigan, in the western part of the state. In the first part of the 20th century, White Lake was a pristine, placid, clean lake. In 1952, Hooker Chemicals & Plastics Corporation built a plant near White Lake. Hooker is a chemical company now owned by Occidental Chemical Corporation that was associated with contamination at Love Canal. Unknown to area residents, Hooker was dumping large quantities of C-56 – a chemical that was rejected by the U.S. Army for use as a nerve gas because it was too harmful.

After twenty years of contamination, White Lake was considered a dying lake, and the EPA declared it to be an "Area of Concern". The area is now being cleaned up, and due to the tenacity of an active group of citizens, the public is informed and corporations are being held accountable. Polly Schlaff is clear to say that she doesn’t expect to ever know the exact cause of Doug’s cancer, but she wonders about a connection between White Lake’s past contamination and his illness.

Schlaff and her mother-in-law Claire Schlaff are now working with the health department on a mapping project which may help to identify whether a cancer cluster exists in the White Lake area. The area has been identified in a new issue paper released by the National Resources Defense Council, which is identifying 42 areas that need to be studied for high incidences of similar diseases.

Polly Schlaff believes that the key to protecting families from cancer-causing toxic chemical exposure is disclosure of chemicals used in products.

"I would like to live in a country where families are protected from known harm and given the tools to make good decisions about their health. Had Doug never gotten sick, I would have known nothing about the total lack of regulation of the chemical industry. I would have assumed that someone was looking out for us. "

Michigan is taking steps toward this with a proposed law that will require disclosure of harmful chemicals in children's products. Nearly 60 prominent health professionals support this bill and have stated, "Providing families with the right to know about toxic chemicals in children's products is a first step to address a subset of childhood exposures to environmental toxicants so that families can make more informed choices."

You can follow the progress of the children's products bill on the sites of Michigan coalition partners Michigan Network for Children's Environmental Health and The Ecology Center.

Connecticut: protecting its residents while the federal government founders.

Beka Apostolidis is a resident of Cromwell, Connecticut who was diagnosed with breast cancer over three years ago. She's also been a nurse for 15 years, and teaches nursing students in the oncology unit at Hartford Hospital. "I have a family history of cancer, on a personal level it has affected me," says Apostolidis. Her father died from leukemia, and her mother is a breast cancer survivor.

In her job, Apostolidis sees firsthand the effects of cancer on society. As the age of patients with cancer gets younger and younger, Apostolidis often finds herself thinking about the links between environment and cancer. Her father was diagnosed with leukemia, and before that, she says "I didn't really understand the link. Then I began to learn about pesticides and BPA and their connections to cancer."

In February, she spoke in front of the Connecticut General Assembly in support of a proposed bill which would remove BPA from register receipts in the state. "In nursing, we are taught to use the precautionary principle when there is risk of harm," she said. "I applaud Connecticut lawmakers for their leadership on the issue but we must do more."

Connecticut is a leader when it comes to regulation of toxic chemicals. They've passed the most comprehensive bill protecting their children from BPA and last year, they passed a law which sets up a Chemical Innovations Institute – a University of Connecticut institution which will promote safer chemical practices for Connecticut businesses, workers and the community.

Connecticut's proposed register receipts law would be the first in the nation if it passes. The BPA that is found in thermal register receipts is of special concern because receipts are so ubiquitous, and because the BPA that is found on the receipts easily transfers to skin and other surfaces. As of this publication, Senate Bill 210 banning BPA from receipts has passed through committee and is on its way to a full Senate vote.

Last year, legislators passed a ban on the use of cadmium in jewelry intended for children. Cadmium is a toxic metal that is sometimes used on inexpensive children's jewelry that has been tied to many health effects including cancer.

With just the laws mentioned here, Connecticut has managed to make the state safer than the federal government has. While Congress is still unable to take action against harmful, chemicals suspected of causing cancer like BPA and cadmium, the leadership in Connecticut has taken matters into their own hands and gotten rid of the chemicals in children's products.

Our partner coalitions in Connecticut are working hard to protect the residents of the state, and you can read about their progress on the sites Clean Water Action Connecticut and Coalition for a Safe and Healthy Connecticut.

Women's Cancer Action: Leading the charge in Minnesota.

Women's Cancer Action is an organization that is committed to preventing cancer and supporting people affected by cancer.

Based in Minnesota, Women's Cancer Action works to shed light on the link between environmental toxins and cancer and also works to support those living with cancer. They host a yearly conference which results in increased environmental activism in Minnesota, and discussions about environmental causes of cancer.

In December, the Minnesota Department of Health released a study which surveyed Minnesotans between the years 2000 and 2006 and looked into cancer incidences. The report found:

• While heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States at large, cancer has been the leading cause of death in Minnesota since 2000.
• In Minnesota, American Indians were 13% more likely to develop cancer than non-Hispanic white Minnesotans and 40% more likely to die of those diseases. Most of the incidences of cancer among American Indians were lung cancer.
• Based on current rates, about one in two Minnesotans will be diagnosed with a potentially serious cancer during their lifetime, and one in four will die of cancer. In 2006, lung cancer killed the most Minnesotans by a large percentage. The lung cancer incidences track regionally with smoking behavior in the region.

In 2009, the Minnesota legislature was the first in the nation to ban BPA from baby bottles and children's sippy cups. They also passed the Toxic Free Kids Act – part of that law enabled the creation of a list of priority chemicals of high concern. In January, the priority chemical list was published and included the toxic chemicals BPA, cadmium, formaldehyde, the toxic flame retardants deca-BDE and HBCD, lead and some phthalates. While the act was passed that allowed for the creation of the list of the worst-of-the-worst chemicals, the regulatory piece of the law was defeated by the opposition.

The passing of the Toxic Free Kids Act in Minnesota is a great example of the tough fight that the states face. While creating a priority chemical list is a positive step in the right direction, without the regulatory or policy back-up to get those chemicals out of the marketplace, families will continue to face the same environmental threats.

Kathleen Schuler, co-director of Healthy Legacy says, "We'd like government agencies to take a step further and that is actually require manufacturers to tell us if these chemicals are in their products and to move on to some restrictions … So that consumers can know that when they go out and they buy products for their kids that they don't have some of these priority toxic chemicals in them."

Healthy Legacy and Women's Cancer Action are working together to protect Minnesotans from toxic chemicals.

Taking action at the federal level.

While the release of the President's Cancer Panel report was a huge step forward in the environmental health community, advocates are now anxious to ask the federal government to abide by the recommendations that the President's own panel suggested, and to create regulatory reform that will help to protect Americans from cancer-causing chemicals.

News to watch on the federal level includes:

1. The hopeful overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This law, which oversees the regulation of chemicals in our country, has not been changed since the 1970's. Last year, bills were proposed which would help to overhaul the system and would require proactive testing of some of the 80,000 chemicals that are in the consumer chain. Those bills died before they saw the floor, but this spring should see the re-introduction of bills which will address TSCA. You can keep an eye on this bill's path via partner organization Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families.
2. A proposed BPA ban. Last year, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) proposed a BPA ban as an amendment to the Food Safety Bill which would have banned BPA from children's products. While the bill passed, the amendment was struck. At the time, Senator Feinstein vowed to try again. In January, she introduced a stand-alone bill to regulate BPA.
3. "Trevor's Law." Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and Mike Crapo (R-ID) have introduced legislation to target disease clusters and provide coordination between federal and state agencies to bring help to communities like White Lake, Michigan, which may have incidences of disease due to environmental factors.

Until the federal government steps in and passes strong toxic chemicals laws, the states will continue to do the hard work of protecting our citizens from cancer and passing policies that prevent cancer.

As Massachusetts State Senator Steven Tolman said, "Dozens of states around the country are coming together to update our chemical safety laws so that hazardous chemicals are replaced with safer alternatives … If Congress is not going to act quickly enough to protect families in Massachusetts, we're going to move forward at the state level."

References

President's Cancer Panel Report (PDF)
White Lake Cancer Mapping Project
Minnesota Department of Health Study (PDF)