School of Public Health News

The first of four national meetings on cancer and the environment planned by a federal advisory panel was held in East Brunswick on September 16. The session focused on manufacturing and occupational exposure. The panel reports annually to the President about the effectiveness of the National Cancer Program.

Among the 12 experts invited to testify were Dr. Adam Finkel, professor of environmental and occupational health at UMDNJ-School of Public Health, and Dr. Daniel Wartenberg, professor of environmental epidemiology and statistics at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and professor of epidemiology at UMDNJ-School of Public Health.

Click here to read more.

Previously posted information:
Adam M. Finkel, ScD, MPP, CIH, professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the UMDNJ-School of Public Health, and Daniel Wartenberg, PhD, director of the Division of Environmental Epidemiology and Statistics in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Instute, and professor of Epidemiology at UMDNJ-School of Public Health, have been selected as members for the President's Cancer Panel 2008-2009 Meeting Series, "Environmental Factors in Cancer."

Meetings of the Panel are open to the public; no registration is required.

Click here to see article by Angela Stewart /The Star-Ledger Monday September 15, 2008, 2:59 PM.

MEETING DATES
September 16, 2008 – Industrial and Manufacturing Exposures – East Brunswick, NJ
Hilton East Brunswick Hotel
3 Tower Center Boulevard, East Brunswick, NJ 08816
(732) 828-2000
Click here for directions.
7:30am - 4:25pm

Future Meetings/Topics
October 21, 2008 – Agricultural Exposures – Indianapolis, IN
December 4, 2008 – Indoor/Outdoor Air Pollution and Water Contamination – Charleston, SC
January 27, 2009 – Nuclear Fallout, Electromagnetic Fields, and Radiation Exposure – Phoenix, AZ

BACKGROUND
A significant number of annual cancer deaths in the U.S. are caused by environmental pollutants and occupational
exposures; lower-income workers and communities are disproportionately affected by these exposures (American
Cancer Society, Facts and Figures, 2006).

• In the most recent Report on Carcinogens, The National Toxicology Program identified 58 substances as known human carcinogens and another 188 as “reasonably anticipated” carcinogens (Report on Carcinogens, 2004, National Toxicology Program).
• Less than 2% of chemicals on the market have actually been tested for carcinogenicity (NIOSH, 2007).
• About 1 in 20 homes in the U.S. have elevated levels of radon and up to 20,000 lung cancer deaths are associated with radon exposure each year (Cancer and the Environment, 2003, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences).
• NCI is currently conducting and supporting a number of large studies across the United States, many in collaboration with environmental agencies, focused on the link between cancer and chemical/physical environmental factors (i.e., the New England Bladder Cancer Study and the Agricultural Health Study).

POTENTIAL PARTICIPANTS

• Health Care Experts
• Scientists
• Government Representatives
• Scientific/Cancer-Related Organization Representatives
• Advocates
• Public Health Professionals

QUESTIONS FOR EXPLORATION
General Overview

• Role of the environment in cancer. Review of the general lines of evidence that establish the idea that environmental exposures are important in cancer etiology. The role of “avoidable” or “preventable” factors will be addressed, along with the magnitude of the role of environment.

Questions to be Explored

• What governmental regulations/policies are in place to protect workers from exposure to carcinogenic or potentially carcinogenic materials?
• How effective are the current U.S. regulatory system policies on pollutants and are the research resources devoted to these issues adequate?
• What specific occupational industries and populations are disproportionately affected by work-related cancers?
• How do agricultural chemicals affect the water sources and crops ultimately consumed by people, and what are the links between cancer and soil, water, and food contamination?
• What are the health effects on the U.S. population from air pollutants produced by countries (e.g. China) with few or no environmental regulations?
• What are the health risks associated with increased exposure to ionizing radiation used for medical diagnosis and treatment?

CONTACT INFORMATION
Karen Parker, MSW
Special Assistant
President’s Cancer Panel
301-451-9462
klparker@mail.nih.gov
http://pcp.cancer.gov