Cancer Society Releases Position Paper Calling for Research into Chemical Exposures
The American Cancer Society has released a position paper, “American Cancer Society Perspectives on Environmental Factors and Cancer,” discussing human exposures to carcinogens, including those in food. The paper calls for additional resources to (i) “accelerate testing of new and existing chemicals for potential carcinogenicity,” (ii) “monitor the bioaccumulation of chemicals in humans and in the food chain,” and (iii) “monitor and evaluate trends in cancers for which incidence is increasing.” Among the positions the society takes on cancer prevention is that “decisions regarding prevention must inevitably be made in the face of accruing but still incomplete evidence.”
While the paper acknowledges that environmental exposures to carcinogens are generally minimal, its authors contend, “there is reason to be concerned about low-level exposures to carcinogenic pollutants because of the multiplicity of substances, the involuntary nature of many exposures, and the potential that even low-level exposures contribute to the cancer burden when large numbers of people are exposed.” Specifically identified as sources of exposure are “additives or contaminants in food or drinking water.” The paper cites limited resources and difficulties in developing quantitative estimates of risk for mixtures as obstacles to reasoned decision-making by regulatory agencies.
According to the paper, the society funds extramural research with more than $100 million in grants annually; it does not state where additional resources for research will be found and does not say that it will lobby government to fill research gaps. Among the paper’s authors are Elizabeth Fontham, Dean of the School of Public Health at Louisiana State University’s Health Sciences Center, and Jonathan Samet, chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Southern California and chair of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee. The paper makes numerous references to the American Cancer Society’s success in advocating for tobacco regulation.
