In May, the President's Cancer Panel released the 2008-2009 Annual Report on Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk.* The report brought good and bad news, along with recommendations for how to reduce our cancer risks both as a nation and as individuals. The panel gathered opinions from a wide range of governmental, industrial, and academic experts. They noted that while the overall incidence and death rate from cancer have decreased, about 1.5 million Americans developed cancer last year and over half a million died from it. And in certain populations, cancer rates are rising. Unfortunately, cancer can strike anyone at any time--however, reducing your risk factors is a great way to bring down the odds of it happening to you or your family.

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As science continues to advance, our understanding of how cancer arises improves and our ability to isolate and eliminate risks gets better. While many of the changes we implement work on a large-scale level, there are simple changes that we can make as individuals to reduce our risks. Here are some of the practical recommendations made by the panel:

• Decrease chemical exposure in the home by removing shoes before entering
• Launder work clothes separately from other items
• Use filtered tap water unless your tap water is felt to be contaminated
• Store water in either stainless steel, glass, phthalate-free, or BPA-free containers
• Microwave foods in ceramic or glass containers
• Avoid foods that have been produced using pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones
• Limit intake of overcooked, processed, or charred meats
• Dispose of medications and chemicals safely and avoid unnecessary chemicals
• Conserve energy usage to limit fossil fuel consumption, as these fuels create toxins during production
• Limit driving which produces toxic exhaust
• Avoid second-hand smoke
• Use a head-set with cell phones and keep call time to a minimum
• Check home radon levels
• Avoid unnecessary medical tests that use radiation and keep a record of all tests done and radiation dose
• Use sunscreen and and protective clothing and limit sun exposure during peak hours
• Be particularly careful to take all precautions prior to and during pregnancy and with all children as they are more susceptible to carcinogens

To see the full report, visit the link below.
*http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/pcp/pcp08-09rpt/PCP_Report_08-09_508.pdf

By: the Physicians of Health Butler
[8/2/2010]

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