Tag Archives: cancer
Dalhousie researcher breaks silence over pulp mill’s cancer-causing air emissions
In Part 3 of the “Dirty Dealing” series, I reported that a study by Hoffman and five other Dalhousie University researchers revealed that air levels of three of the seven volatile organic compounds (VOCs) assessed near the Northern Pulp mill exceeded cancer risk thresholds.
Over an eight-year period (2006-2013), 1,3-butadiene, benzene, and carbon tetrachloride were found to routinely exceed US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cancer-risk levels, which refer to the probability of contracting cancer if exposed to a concentration of a substance every day over the course of a 70-year lifetime.
According to the public and peer-reviewed study published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research — one of the few on record about airborne VOCs in rural Canada — many VOCs are either known or suspected of having direct toxic effects on humans, ranging from carcinogenic to neurotoxic and that “combinations of air toxics may have additive or synergistic adverse health effects.” By analyzing the available data, the study authors were able to show that the Abercrombie pulp mill (currently Northern Pulp) was a likely source of the contaminants.
Breast implants linked to cancer allowed in Canada despite ban in 40 countries
Globally, there are now an estimated 688 cases of lymphoma linked to the implants, with about 28 confirmed cases in Canada. More women are being tested.
Weedkiller ‘raises risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma by 41%’
A broad new scientific analysis
of the cancer-causing potential of glyphosate herbicides, the most
widely used weedkilling products in the world, has found that people
with high exposures to the popular pesticides have a 41% increased risk
of developing a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
of the cancer-causing potential of glyphosate herbicides, the most
widely used weedkilling products in the world, has found that people
with high exposures to the popular pesticides have a 41% increased risk
of developing a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The evidence “supports a compelling link” between exposures to
glyphosate-based herbicides and increased risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma
(NHL), the authors concluded, though they said the specific numerical
risk estimates should be interpreted with caution.