Mechanisms, proof, and unmet needs: the perspective of a cancer activist

Environmental Health Perspectives
S Steingraber

Abstract

Cancer activists who participate with cancer researchers in shaping public health policy provide a different perspective on the question of breast cancer etiology. We place a higher priority on reducing women's exposure to suspected breast carcinogens than in debating the specific biochemical mechanisms by which these agents may operate. As the fruits of AIDS activism and antismoking campaigns illustrate, answers to mechanistic questions have not been and should not be the driving force behind public health policy. As such, cancer activists embrace a form of conservatism that advocates prudence in the face of exposure to estrogenic and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals. This perspective stands in contrast to scientific conservatism, which directs its caution toward the issue of proof. Unmet needs for cancer activists refer not so much to data gaps as to the failure to eliminate ongoing cancer hazards. For this author and activist, unmet needs include ending women's continued exposure to such common estrogenic compounds as detergents, triazine herbicides, plastics, and polychlorinated biphenyls.

References

Jan 1, 1988·Teratogenesis, Carcinogenesis, and Mutagenesis·P F Infante, G K Pohl
Feb 1, 1989·Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health·A DonnaF Berrino
Jul 1, 1984·Carcinogenesis·A DonnaD Bellingeri
Oct 1, 1980·Journal of Occupational Medicine. : Official Publication of the Industrial Medical Association·L ChiazzeL D Ference
Jan 1, 1995·Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology·D P Biradar, A L Rayburn
Mar 1, 1995·Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology·A Adachi, T Kobayashi
Jan 1, 1995·CA: a Cancer Journal for Clinicians·L Garfinkel
Jul 1, 1994·Endocrinology·R WhiteM G Parker
Sep 1, 1994·Environmental Health Perspectives·J M BergeronJ A McLachlan

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Mar 29, 2002·Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis·Janice H PlatnerMary D G Barker
May 7, 2002·Nature Reviews. Cancer·Barron H Lerner

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Attention Disorders

Attention is involved in all cognitive activities, and attention disorders are reported in patients with various neurological diseases. Here are the latest discoveries pertaining to attention disorders.