Scott Sutherland, St. Lawrence County Legislator, David O. Carpenter, MD, Director SUNY Albany Institute for Health and Environment, Donald L. Hassig, Director Cancer Action NY, Kevin Acres, St. Lawrence County Legislator and Factory Dairy Farmer
On September, 20, 2011, a regional news story on the subject of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) exposure cancer risk and activism directed at motivating governmental public health entities including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the New York State Department of Health and the St. Lawrence County Public Health Department to create POPs exposure minimization educational outreach programs within their agencies was broadcast on North Country Public Radio (NCPR), which covers the St. Lawrence River Valley and Adirondack Mountain regions of New York State. The story presents the controversy which swirls around acting upon scientific knowledge to warn the public of the POPs exposure cancer hazard.
Scientists and cancer prevention activists are forging ahead with providing the public with warnings of the POPs exposure cancer hazard. Scientific knowledge supports the conclusion that POPs exposure at current levels of food supply contamination imposes more than an acceptable quantity of cancer risk. In 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) published the document, titled, "Persistent Organic Pollutants: Impact on Child Health". This public health policy document recommends that health care professionals including physicians, nurses, and public health educators make a concerted effort to minimize the POPs exposure received by all children of the global population. Increased cancer risk, damage to the reproductive system and the immune system, as well as increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease were listed by the WHO as adverse effects of POPs exposure. Government public health officials representing New York State and St. Lawrence County take the position that not enough is know about the quantity of cancer risk imposed by POPs exposure to justify provision of a cancer hazard warning. A dairy farmer who also serves as a St. Lawrence County legislator states that he does not want to scare the public.
NCPR's POPs Exposure Cancer Hazard Controversy news story is available at the URL found below.
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