Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment
In past decades the number of cancer patients has increased dramatically. Why are so many people suffering from a disease that very few people suffered from in the past? What causes cancer, and what can we do to prevent more cases from occurring? Steingraber was diagnosed with bladder cancer and members of her immediate family were also diagnosed with other forms of cancer. Though she points out that cancer is the result of cellular division gone awry, she also recognizes that the substances found in the environment in which people live plays a significant role in determining the type of cancer people get.
Our environments are filled with a variety of chemicals that can enter the human body through a variety of sources such as the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. The number of chemicals in our environments has increased since industries have begun creating and utilizing a number of synthetic chemicals in their products. Many of these chemicals have not been tested to identify the ecological problems they can cause when they enter the environment. Even more worrisome is the synergistic effect they might have when they mix with other toxic and synthetic materials. With this knowledge, why haven’t such substance been banned from industrial marketing and production?
It is true that the body is able to detoxify certain organic compounds. However, the body only has a certain number of cells programmed to create the enzymes necessary to break down unwanted and toxic substances that enter the body. These enzymes can easily be overwhelmed when a person is exposed to high concentrations of chemicals, thus causing mutations in the DNA of cells when they divide. Chemicals can resemble the enzymes that the body utilizes not only in division functions, but also in other functions such as the signalling and carrying out of messages between cells. As a result, DNA that is mutated can cause unnecessary growth because the proteins that are coded by the affected genes on the DNA are now coding for a different protein. Also, there are many new chemicals in the environment which our bodies have never been exposed too. For these chemicals, there are no specific detoxifying proteins in the body.
Since industries are aware of some of the effects that the chemicals they use in their products have, why doesn’t the government prevent the production and use of those chemicals? Many corporations hide the results from experiments to prevent the awareness of the negative effects their products may have on people. Because the public is not informed of these effects, little can be done when industrial wastes are disposed of in rivers, sewers, and landfill sites because no one has concrete evidence to support their claims should health effects arise. Disposal of the waste in public places further endangers human life and causes much suffering at the public’s expense while the corporation takes in the profit.
When scientists research the causes of cancer, they often look to heritable sources. However, it has been found that very few cancers are actually caused by inherited genes. Most cancers are caused by a variety of carcinogens which then cause certain genes to mutate. The carcinogens that cause certain forms of cancers have been identified by scientists, but since their research is funded by major corporations, they do not explicitly state which products these substances are located in or which company makes the products. If the researcher does find a correlation between a company’s products and a disease or illness found in society, the researcher would lose funding if the findings were presented to the public. When a company’s products are classified as unsafe, the consumer will not purchase them, and thus the corporation will lose its reputation and its profit.
Furthermore, since the government is supposed to be representing the good of the public, why haven’t any laws or regulations been enforced to reduce the chemicals that are contaminating the environment and negatively impacting all living organisms? The governments around the world are allowing corporations the power to harm people, often resulting in many deaths. This is a form of homicide. It may not be as quick a death as a gunshot wound, but the end result is inevitably the same. Also, since people are becoming more aware of the effects that certain chemicals have in the environment, it is a surprise to realize that no one is doing anything to stop the production and distribution of these substances. Direct connections have been made between certain chemicals and cancers that result when a person is exposed to the chemical, yet the chemicals are still present in the environment and still being used to make the products. Alternative substances need to be found for these chemicals and substituted into the production processes, even if the cost of production to the company may be slightly increased.
Lastly, people have the right to know what they are being exposed to in their environments, and they also have the right to know the effects that possibly may result. Work places are supposed to be safe, but safety is often disregarded so that companies can increase their profits as was noted in the previous article, “At the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima or Why Political Questions Are Not All Economic”. Children are supposed to be able to run in the fields and swim in the rivers without having to worry about what they may be exposed to in the air and water. In a sense, people have to recognize their ecological roots as well as their biological ones. The environment in which they live and grew up in has just as great an effect on their overall health and survival as their genetic make-up.
Easton T. Classic edition sources: environmental studies. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2009. pp. 157-61.
Related Links.....
CBC. Proposed Ont. Labelling law would target carcinogens. [Online]. Avail from: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2006/11/23/carcinogen-labels.html [2006 Nov 23]
CBC. Road salt may be hazardous to people’s health. [Online]. Avail from: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2000/01/19/salt000119.html [2000 Nov 11]
CBC. Toxic herbicide could still be on army base, scientist says. [Online]. Avail from: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/06/15/agent-purple050615.html [2005 Jun 15]
