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The Canadian government must do more to prevent cancers caused by industrial chemicals, campaigners have said. They are pushing the new Conservative government to ban or phase out some chemicals altogether. Cancer rates in Canada are rising sharply. In the 1970s, one in five Canadians could expect to develop cancer in their lifetimes, according to official cancer statistics. Today, the chance for men is one in 2.4 and for women one in 2.7, and the rate is predicted to rise. During the 2006 election, the Conservatives promised Can$260 million (£129m) to go toward a national cancer strategy, part of which would focus on cancer prevention. Campaigners are to honour this commitment.
The Labour Environmental Alliance Society (LEAS) says there must be better regulation. The new edition of its CancerSmart guide identifies known and suspected carcinogens in household cleaners, pesticides, personal care products and plastics. Over the last two decades, the guide says, manufacturing industries have introduced tens of thousands of new chemicals into Canadian homes, workplaces and the environment. 'The World Health Organisation estimates that at least 25 per cent of cancers worldwide are caused by exposure to environmental carcinogens, such as pesticides and chemicals,' said LEAS vice-president Larry Stoffman, who is also a safety specialist with the foodworkers' union UFCW. 'The information that's in this new guide can help reduce that exposure and lower the cancer risk. That's a real contribution to cancer prevention.'
Sources: Risks and LEAS.
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