 |
From the "Women, Health, & the Environment" conference
(Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 14-15)
Sponsored by
-
Greenpeace
- Women’s Environmental and Development
Organization (WEDO)
- Cancer Prevention Coalition.
Dr.Samuel Epstein summarized evidence
on causes of breast cancer:
- Since the 1950’s scientific evidence has incriminated
chlorinated organic pesticides as breast cancer risk factors
because of
their carcinogenicity, estrogenic effects, and accumulation
in body fat,
particularly the breast.
- The unregulated use of growth promoting
hormonal cattle feed additives has resulted in near universal
contamination of meat products. This results in life-long exposure to carcinogenic estrogens,
and poses a major avoidable risk of breast cancer.
- Where you
work increases your breast cancer risks. Excess breast cancers
were found in the 1970’s in women working with
vinyl chloride. There is similar evidence among petrochemical
and electrical
workers. In spite of more women working in such industries,
NCI recently admitted that it has still not investigated
these risks
among working women.
- Where you live increases risks of breast
cancer. Based on a review of 21 New Jersey counties, and more
recently 339 nationwide
counties, statistically significant associations were found between excess
breast cancer mortality and residence in counties where hazardous
waste sites are located.
-
Living near a nuclear facility increases your chances
of dying from breast cancer. Based on a nationwide survey of 268 counties
within 50 miles of 51 military and civilian nuclear reactors,
CPC member Dr. Jay Gould, showed that breast cancer mortality
in these "nuclear
counties" has increased at 10 times the national rate
from 1950 to 1989. Counties near military reactors, such
as Hanford,
Oak Ridge and Savannah River, have registered the greatest
increases, ranging from 27 to 200%. Dr. Gould charged NCI
with "misrepresentation
of such findings."
- Premenopausal mammography increases
your risk of breast cancer. Increases in breast cancer mortality
have been consistently
reported following repeated mammograms in younger women in six randomized
controlled clinical trials over the last decade. Based on
this evidence, NCI has recently withdrawn recommendations for pre-menopausal
mammography. ACS, with financial support from Dupont and
General Electric (both heavily invested in mammography equipment),
and self-interested radiologists are still promoting this dangerous
practice.
- Participation in the 1972 NCI/ACS reckless, high dose
mammography experiments has increased breast cancer risks for the 400,000
women involved.
- Breast implants, particularly polyurethane
foam, pose serious risks of breast cancer. Evidence on the carcinogenicity
of polyurethane
foam dates back to the early 1960’s. One breakdown
product of polyurethane is 2,4-toluenediamine which was removed
from
hair dyes in 1971 following discovery of its carcinogenicity.
Frank
admission of these risks are found in internal NCI, FDA and
industry documents.
- The Tamoxifen "chemoprevention" trial
is a travesty! Since 1992, the cancer establishment recruited
16,000 healthy women
in a Tamoxifen "chemoprevention" trial. NCI and
ACS claimed in their patient consent forms that Tamoxifen
could substantially
reduce breast cancer risks, while trivializing risks of drug
complications. There is strong evidence of Tamoxifen’s
toxicity, including high risks of uterine, gastrointestinal
and fatal liver cancer. "This
trial is scientifically and ethically reckless, and participating
institutions and clinicians are at serious risk of future
malpractice claims," warned Dr. Epstein.
"
A decade-old multi-million dollar deal between National Breast
Cancer Awareness Month sponsors and Imperial Chemical Industries
(ICI) has produced reckless misinformation on breast cancer," stated
Dr. Samuel Epstein, a leading international authority on
cancer-causing effects of environmental pollutants.
Zeneca Pharmaceutical, a U.S. subsidiary and
recent spin-off of ICI, has been the sole funder of National Breast
Cancer
Awareness Month since 1984. ICI is
one of the largest manufacturers of petrochemical and chlorinated organic
products, such as acetochlor and vinyl chloride, and the
sole manufacturer of Tamoxifen,
the world’s top-selling cancer drug used for breast cancer. Financial
sponsorship by Zeneca/ICI gives them editorial control over every leaflet,
poster, publication,
and commercial produced by NBCAM. NBCAM is promoted by the cancer establishment,
the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the American Cancer Society (ACS)
with their corporate sponsors.
Imperial Chemical Industries has supported the
cancer establishment’s
blame-the-victim attitude toward the causes of breast and other cancers.
This theory attributes
escalating cancer rates to heredity and faulty lifestyle, rather than avoidable
exposures to industrial carcinogens contaminating air, water, food, consumer
products, and the workplace.
"
The ICI/NBCAM public relations campaign has prevented women from knowing of avoidable
causes of breast cancer," concluded Dr. Epstein.
Chicago, October 14, 1996-- released by the
Cancer Prevention Coalition
CONTACT:
Samuel S. Epstein, M.D.
Cancer Prevention Coalition
c/o University of Illinois at Chicago
School of Public Health, M/C 922
2121 W. Taylor Street
Chicago, IL 60612
epstein@uic.edu
|
