Does our environment cause cancer?
The Cancer Research Society has been researching environmental causes of cancer for the past 20 years. Its goal was to collect proof of the link between daily elements that we are exposed to and the long-term growth of cancer cells.
In general, the environment stands for the beauty of trees, the ocean, mountains, flowers and more. For scientists, the environment is any and everything that we come in contact with. The science community calls these contacts “exposures.”
Monitoring our daily lives for better health
There are different risk exposures in our lives that are attributable to cancer. Research has shown that many cancer cells can take as long as 40 years to grow. Environmental pollution is of great concern in the research for cancer. 1
A research study from the University of Illinois under the auspices of the Environmental Protection Agency is looking into whether our environment is linked to the increased rate of cancer cases. Poor environmental conditions can have a profound impact on our health.
The environment that we live, work, play and breath in can effect changes within our hormone and gene functions. Ongoing research is being conducted to look at lung cancer caused by the increased use of pesticides, exhaust systems and invisible radon gas.
A scientist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute published that more than 50 percent of mutated cancer cells naturally form during their division and growth. Nearly 29 percent of cancer growth is attributable to the environment and heredity changes make up the total 100 percent.
Further research is being conducted to find out if wireless technology causes cancer cell growth related to radiofrequency radiation, or RFR. International cancer agencies are concerned about RFR exposure from cell phones, laptops and tablets causing brain cancer, especially over a long period of time.
Cancer causing factors
Additional factors that are known contributors to cancer as an environmental cause, include: 2
- Charred foods: when we dark grill our meats, it releases a chemical compound that has been linked to breast cancer, colorectal, pancreatic, and stomach cancers.
- Dietary choices: a daily diet of red meat and some animal products is highly associated with increased cancer risk. Diets low in whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables are also cancer risks.
- Power lines: many rural areas have a large population of power lines. They emit EMF (electromagnetic field) rays that are associated with leukemia, breast cancer and brain tumors. Higher levels of cancer diagnoses have been attributed to power lines from people who worked on them.
- Water: recently in the news, cities in the U.S. and countries around the world have experienced water that had become contaminated. Liver cancer is the result of contaminated water with high levels of arsenic.
What is being done to help in the research of environmental causes of cancer? Unfortunately, detecting the carcinogens in our lives is nearly impossible. The environmental carcinogens that we come in contact with go undetected because they attach to our DNA cells trying to change into cancerous cells.
The Environmental Cancer Research Program is developing ultra-sensitive tests, to help identify environmentally caused cancer cells. This sound good, as do the many research programs to help find cancer causes. However, all this can changed if the Trump administration cuts the budget for the National Institutes of Health and its many biomedical research arms.