Title: President's Cancer Panel Meeting Series: September 2008 - January 2009

Author:

Section/SPIG: Environment

Issue Date:

Ellie Goldberg, MEd, www.healthy-kids.info

The President's Cancer Panel, a three-person federal advisory committee appointed by the president, will be holding its 2008/2009 series of meetings beginning in September. The meeting series, entitled "Environmental Factors in Cancer" will focus on: industrial and manufacturing exposures; agricultural exposures; indoor/outdoor air pollution and water contamination; and nuclear fallout, electromagnetic fields, and radiation exposure. Below please find a list of the meeting dates and locations: Sept. 16, 2008 - Industrial and Manufacturing Exposures - East Brunswick, N.J.; Oct. 21, 2008 - Agricultural Exposures - Indianapolis, Ind.; Dec. 4, 2008 - Indoor/Outdoor Air Pollution and Water Contamination - Charleston, S.C.; January 27, 2009 - Nuclear Fallout, Electromagnetic Fields, and Radiation Exposure - Phoenix, Ariz.

http://tools.niehs.nih.gov/wetp/newsbriefs/Aug08/PC.pdf_

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.
  • Role of "avoidable" or "preventable" factors will be addressed, along with the magnitude of the role of environment.

Questions for Exploration

  • 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?