Thursday, January 23, 2014

Interesting Findings Abound, The President's Cancer Panel 2008-2009 Annual Report

Wow, what a great informative report, "Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk". I just finished reading the 2008-2009 Annual Report - President's Cancer Panel, Published April 2010.
The very first thing I did after reading the report was highlight the word WATER, it is mentioned 205 times! I find it very responsible that the writers of the report made the large acknowledgement of water, given the title  "Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk -What We Can Do Now". A staggering statistic is found in the Overview: "Approximately 41 percent of people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives, and about 21 percent of Americans will die from cancer".(fn2)

 The most important statement is made near the beginning of the report is found on pg iv,
" Disinfection of public water supplies has dramatically reduced the incidence of waterborne illnesses and related mortality in the United States, but research indicates that long-term exposure to disinfection by-products such as trihalomethanes may increase cancer risk". On page xix, under the Title: What Individuals Can Do: Recommendations- Filtering home tap or well water can decrease exposure to numerous known or suspected carcinogens and endocrine-disrupting chemicals."

The report spells out in detail the leading causes of drinking water contamination, including but not exclusive to : pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, petrochemicals, man-made organic chemicals and compounds, all have direct links to contributing to developing cancer.  " We use 80 million pounds [of atrazine] annually in the United States. It's the number-one pesticide contaminant of ground water, surface water and drinking water. It's used in more than 80 countries but it's now outlawed in all of Europe or, as the company like to say, has been denied regulatory approval. The main point here is that here's a compound that we use 80 million pounds of, and its illegal in the home country of the company that makes it".  Tyrone Hayes. University of California, Berkeley
   This particular statement of facts is mind blowing, that the U.S. officials and citizens have so little regard for health, we allow our food and water to be direct links to our bodies developing cancer.

I was truly impressed with research and facts of the report, I urge you to go online and read it for yourself. There are numerous facts and recommendations that anyone can apply to everyday life, to reduce the amount of cancer causing materials and chemicals we expose ourselves and our children to on a daily basis. http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/pcp/pcp08-09rpt/PCP_Report_08-09_508.pdf
If you are more engaged after reading the information, another website I highly recommend you visit : The Environmental Working Group: http://www.ewg.org/.

Yours for optimal health,

Mary Woodring (Staff Writer) 

[fn2] Horner JMRies LAG, Krapcho M, Neyman N, Aminou R, Howlader N, et al., editors. SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2006 [Internet]. Bethesda [MD]: National Cancer Institute; based on November 2008 SEER data submission, posted to the SEER web site, 2009 [cited 2009 Jul 19]. Available from: http://www.seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2006/.