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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Julia Green Brody, PhD, The Silent Spring Institute, 29 Crafts Street, Newton, MA 02458, 617.332.4288, brody@silentspring.org

Emerging science in the area of cancer and its causes demonstrates that the risk of many kinds of cancer increases with involuntary exposures to environmental agents. These include: bladder cancer from the primary solvent used in dry cleaning, breast cancer from endocrine disruptors like bisphenol-A and other plastics components, lung cancer from residential exposure to radon, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma from solvent and herbicide exposure, and childhood leukemia from pesticides. Despite notable gains in reducing incidence and mortality rates for some but not all cancers, cancer constitutes a growing burden on society. The mortality rate for all cancers combined (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) is the same today as it was in the 1940s and the annual rate of new cases increased by 85 percent over the past 50 years.

To elevate discussion about the mounting evidence linking cancer and the environment, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment's Cancer Working Group has created a multi-disciplinary home for collective action to reduce the environmental contribution to cancer. This presentation will highlight a number of new initiatives underway by the Working Group and its partners.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Name at least three environmental variables that can contribute to cancer or early (including fetal) origins of cancer in adults and children;
• Describe how environmental factors may increase cancer risk, and discuss emerging science linking environmental chemicals and cancer;
• Describe at least three examples of collaborative activities led by cancer researchers, health professionals and cancer organizations to elevate the linkages between cancer and the environment and work collectively to reduce the environmental burden on cancer.

Keywords: Environmental Health, Cancer

Related Web page: www.healthandenvironment.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation