The American Cancer Society (ACS), in collaboration with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute, is targeting 19 chemicals and shift work for additional epidemiological research in the hopes of clarifying their potential to cause cancer.
When questioned about why common and thoroughly-investigated substances such as atrazine and lead wound up on the list, Elizabeth Ward, Ph.D., of the American Cancer Society and lead author of the report, cited two reasons: studies that could make a definitive link to cancer are missing and some of the potential agents or causes are very common.
ACSH’s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan counters these claims. “Atrazine, the most widely used herbicide, has been studied to excess. Even the EPA is on record admitting that it is a well-understood and well-studied pesticide. This report is a waste of time and money, and I’m still bewildered as to why ACS would focus on something so nonproductive?”
“To increase fundraising and make a good news story?” speculates ACSH staffer Susan Ingber.
In addition to atrazine, there exists a plethora of scientific studies exculpating PCBs as a possible cause of cancer. “I consulted the ACSH publication on PCBs this morning, and there’s more data on PCBs and occupational exposure than many other chemicals,” says Dr. Whelan. “Data from high exposure studies show workers experience no unusual problems other than chloracne, a skin disease. Clearly, we have ample human epidemiological data to fill in any data gaps that concern ACS.”
When ACSH’s Dr. Gilbert Ross discovered that DEHP — a phthalate used in flexible medical devices — also made it onto the list, he exclaimed, “I’m shocked that DEHP was among the chemicals on the list since it was given a clean bill of health in 1999, and subsequent studies only further confirmed its safety.”